Forget about era, investment, etc. The question I asked myself was why am I doing this? The answer was because it was a way of recollecting what I felt like during the happiest time of my life, as a boy following sports of the time and collecting cards. That instantly refocused my attention to acquiring as many of the iconic cards of my childhood as I could afford and getting them into my albums just like I did when I was a kid. All of the slabs, the high grade stuff, modern cards, etc., instantly out of the picture. I also went back to my childhood heroes for collecting inspiration and started career-contemporary player collections for Aaron and Koufax and Ryan. My childhood heroes. Being an adult fan just isn't the same. Even the cards of the players I regard most highly in the modern era--Jeter, Paul O'Neill, Mariano Rivera, Clayton Kershaw, etc.--pale in comparison to my boyhood heroes. Because they were boyhood heroes.
|