Posted By:
ChuckkieBMy 1977 Topps Dave Kingman card is my most cherished card. I became obsessed with the Mets during the 1976 season (I was 7), and Kingman was my favorite player. The following summer was when I first dove head first into baseaball card collecting, and I couldn't get enough Kingman cards. I used to flip with friends every day, and I always insisted that if they had a Kingman card, to include it in the flip. After a while, I'm pretty sure that I had accumulated every single 77 Topps Kingman card in my neighborhood. To this day, I still have a stack of them in my possession, kept together by the very same rubber band that I used to keep them safe that summer. Ripping through wax packs searching for the next Kingman card is one of my fondest memories of childhood. For my birthday that year, my dad had arranged for a "Happy Birthrday Charlie" message to be displayed on the scoreboard at Shea. What a thrill that was. After the game, My dad and I were approached by a stadium official who handed me a baseball signed by most of the Mets, including Kingman and Tom Seaver (both of whom were traded just a few weeks later - I was crushed), a gift arranged by my dad as well. He was friends with a newspaper reporter who had access to the team. Lucky me! Unfortunately, the ball soon died a gruesome death as my little sister decided to "color" it with some magic markers a few months later. 
Oh well, at least I still have the cards. 
To this day, everytime I see the Kingman card, I think back to that summer.....the summer that really sparked my love for baseball and card collecting.
