Saturday, January 29, 2022

Celebrating Ten Years

There was a time when I wanted to stand out in a crowd.  I wanted to be an all-star in Little League.  I wanted to be known as the kid who could consistently nail a baseline jumper.  I wanted to be the classmate who would deliver you a good grade on your research paper (for the right price).  I wanted to be every kids' favorite teacher.  I wanted to collect every card of every favorite player in my collectionThose days are in the past.

I haven't played baseball or basketball in over a decade.  These days... I'd much rather write blog posts than research papers... and I'm content with not getting paid.  And sure... I'd love it if every student loved my class and the way I teach... but I've accepted that there's no pleasing everyone.

As for the super collector thing... I just don't have the finances to collect every card of every player I collect.  But I'll happily add new cards to my collection if the price is right or if people want to send them my way.

Last week, AJ over at The Lost Collector sent me a PWE that included this card:

2008 Upper Deck Farmers Oakland A's SGA #OA17

I don't show off Kurt Suzuki cards very often on my blog anymore, but ten years ago... I was trying my hardest to be a super collector of his cards.  I'd pay top dollar for autographs I needed and would actively trade for any card of him I didn't have.  That's why I figured I already had this card.  But a quick peek into my binder revealed that this card was nowhere to be found.

Thank you AJ for filling another slot in my Suzuki collection.

This isn't the first time AJ has sent me a Suzuki card I needed.    Ten years ago, he drew this sketch card of my favorite player and generously donated it to my collection:


It's crazy that AJ and I have been exchanging care packages all these years.  I might not have turned out to be the Kurt Suzuki super collector I thought I'd become, but at least I've kept in touch with fellow collectors like AJ... who remember when I tried.

Happy Saturday and sayonara!

9 comments:

Elliptical Man said...

I guess if you want to be a super collector, it would be easier to collect somebody who played during the Topps era. Suzuki has 1,156 cards listed on TCDB. Joe Rudi has 188. Sal Bando has 231.

The Lost Collector said...

Thanks for the kind words. Glad you needed that Suzuki. It was randomly in a box of cards I bought on FB Marketplace in November.

Matt said...

I keep digging myself into too many player collections. I have learned i cant be q super in each one

Johnnys Trading Spot said...

That is cool as the weather on the east coast. Seriously, that is really cool.

Jafronius said...

I'm assuming you're still the premiere Kurt Suzuki collector out there, therefore a super collector!

Bo said...

Nice timing by the two of you with these posts.

Fuji said...

elliptical man - it's funny that you mention rudi. i've considered targeting someone from those 70's swingin' a's team... and he's the guy i'd most likely collect. haven't actually gone out of my way yet... but i am looking to add a graded rookie card of him. maybe after that, i'll start a pc for him

the lost collector - thanks for thinking of me when you found it in that box of cards.

matt - maybe not each one... but your hampton collection puts into into the super collector category

johnnys trading spot - hope things aren't too cold for you guys out there. the weather has been weird lately out here. we had a couple of nice storms which brought us some much needed rain, but now it's starting to feel like spring. the weather forecast says it'll be in the low 70's in ten days. that's way too warm for winter

jafronius - i should load my cards into tcdb and see where i rank

bo - yeah... and it wasn't even planned

SumoMenkoMan said...

I can only imagine being a super collector is super hard. Great little care package!!

Jon said...

I wasn't around to see that sketch card the first time. It's really great!