Sometime in late 2000 or early 2001, I made the decision to sell the bulk of my collection in an effort to pay the debt I had accumulated. In some regards, it was one of the best decisions I ever made, because it eventually opened up the opportunity to buy a home. On the other hand, I sold off most of my childhood collection.
Right around the same time, I also stopped working at the card shop across the street from the elementary school I taught at. Within a year, the owners closed that shop and I pretty much lost touch with all of those guys.
I pretty much walked away from the hobby. I had to. When I purchased my place, all of my discretionary funds went towards furnishing this place. rebuilding a savings, and learning how to become a financially responsible adult.
That's why when it comes to card products from early to mid aughts, I'm not as proficient as some of you. But the beautiful thing about our hobby is the more you are exposed to something... the more you learn and soak in.
Today's post recaps a PWE I received last week from Matt over at Diamond Jesters.
Four of the five cards he sent were from my time away from the hobby. Let's check them out and see if I'm more knowledgeable because of them.
2000 Topps MVP Promotion #242
I was probably still hanging out at the LCS when collectors were ripping into packs of 2000 Topps baseball. However, I don't remember opening any of this stuff myself.
This particular card is a very rare parallel which doubled as a contest card. I was vaguely familiar with these parallels, but I'm pretty sure I learned about it in recent years from someone on YouTube or in the blogosphere.
I definitely missed out on this product:
2002 Donruss Originals Silver Sample #82
Next up is an insert I am familiar with...
This card is from one of those Topps Online Exclusive products. I wasn't too familiar with this set, but it looks like Topps released it on March 9th. That's right around the time I returned to my classroom after a year of "distance" learning due the pandemic.
2002 UD Piece of History Tape Measure Heroes #TM14
I wrote about the Tony Gwynn from this set last fall, but don't remember opening up this product myself.
That being said... I definitely remember the home run this card is referring to. I'll try to include a YouTube clip, but if it's blocked out here's a link.
According to Baseball Monkey this is one of the longest home runs in MLB history.
The next card is very familiar...
2007 Topps Turkey Red #33
But that's because Topps has produced a bunch of different Turkey Red products and inserts over the years. This particular card was from a product released right around my return to the hobby. Unfortunately, I doubt I opened any of this product back then.
That year Topps released a 200 card base set that was loaded with SP's and "Ad Back" variations. This Kurt Suzuki is one of the SP's on the checklist which were inserted into one out of every four packs.
My return to the hobby in late 2007 or early 2008 was inspired by YouTubers opening up boxes of high end products like UD Black and Topps Triple Threads. I was drawn to the autographs and relics being released at the time. Unfortunately stuff like that was way out of my hobby budget, but that's what molded me into the "bargain bin" collector that I am today.
Speaking of today, here's the final card from Matt's PWE:
2021 Topps X Derek Jeter #15
Ironically... the pandemic led to the hobby boom... which led to me selling a bunch of cards on eBay and at my buddy's card shows.
There have been two times in my life when I went out of my way to sell cards... and both of them relate to cards from Matt's PWE. Don't worry Matt... all of these cards have been integrated into my collection and I zero plans to sell cards anytime soon.
Happy Saturday and sayonara!
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