30 Day Baseball Card Challenge

Monday, July 24, 2017

Where It All Started

We all have to start somewhere.  1977 Topps Star Wars were the first packs of trading cards I ever ripped into.  Four years later, I would officially make the transition to baseball cards.

That year, my parents and I took a trip to Seattle to visit my cousin Keith who was studying to be a dentist at The University of Washington.  While we were there, we stopped at one of those sports stores that sold MLB lamps, NFL wallets, and NBA blankets.  In addition to all of the officially licensed novelties, the shop also carried baseball cards.

That's where my mom and dad purchased my very first baseball card set: 1981 Fleer.

The set's design is average at best.  There aren't any rookie cards of hall of famers.  And it's never really held any significant monetary value.  However when I was thinking about a card that reminded me of a family member for Tony's 30 Day Baseball Card Challenge, I immediately thought my mom and this set.

A few cards popped into my head like the Fernando Valenzuela rookie card and the Phillies' Triple Threat card featuring Mike Schmidt, Pete Rose, and Larry Bowa, but ultimately I went with the base card of my favorite player at the time:

1981 Fleer #574

Back then times were simpler.  I didn't think of cards in terms of values.  I held them, arranged them, read them, and organized them.  I can still picture myself sitting at the family room table watching the game with my A's team set in front of me.

1981 Fleer is a pillar of my childhood.  It represents the first set I ever owned and whenever I see a card from it, I'm reminded of my mother and our trip to Seattle.

Happy Monday and sayonara!

6 comments:

acrackedbat said...

Henderson makes this set look good actually. Even if it were highly valued, your memories are priceless in comparison. thanks for sharing!

Anonymous said...

1981 Fleer might not be much to look at through 21st century eyes, but within the context of the time it was a cool set. Thanks for sharing your memories and showing 81F a little love!

BobWalkthePlank said...

I need to ask my Mom what year she first started buying cards for me. My guess is 87 or 88 Donruss.

No price on memories

Man said...

Classic set-one of the first I purchased as a kid

Collecting Cutch said...

1987 Topps was it for me. I have so many memories of that set, the players, and all the times my dad would bring home some packs for me. Cardboard memories are awesome!!!!

Fuji said...

julie - fleer agreed with you. there's actually one more henderson in this set that's almost identically to this card. and you're absolutely right. i actually purchased unopened boxes of this product and built a hand collated set a few years ago. lol... can't remember exactly how much i spent, but it was probably 5x more than going out and purchasing a set on eBay.

shlabotnikreport - it's a simple design. but the more i stumble across singles in dime boxes, the more i appreciate it.

matthew scott & collecting cutch - 1987 donruss/topps would have been an excellent year to start collecting. there were so many great rookies to chase.

b man - no wonder we get along so well :)