[jchcollins]

As a kid in the late 80's / early 90's, my white whale was a '56 Mantle. I saw a picture of one in a Yankees Tide book, and just thought it was one of the coolest looking cards I had ever seen. I made that happen when I was about 13 - walked into a shop one afternoon and saw Mick in the showcase and my jaw dropped. I traded a majority of my vintage collection that day, but I walked out with it.

As an adult, my whale was probably the '67 Topps Seaver RC. Though not particularly rare if you have the money, it was a card I had wanted for a long time that was always just a little bit north in price of what I could afford or was willing to pay for a very long time. I finally got a PSA 5.5 copy early last year, which is currently the cornerstone of my fledgling '67 set efforts.

Beyond that, I don't know. Just personally right now, either of the cards I mentioned are kind of on the high end of the spectrum for what I think is reasonable to spend on a piece of cardboard. While I could afford pricier pieces for my collection at this point, there is kind of an internal struggle of whether or not I want to. I'm trying to keep my "hobby" just that, and not make it into something larger - which I feel like more financial input would do at this point.

Grail pricey card if I could have a genie in a bottle right now? A '68 Topps Test 3D Clemente would be nice...