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DMcD Guess I have to step out and take a bow. Lyman H. gave me a heads-up about the OC Collector's Dugout sidebar article but I still blushed when I read it (and I blushed some more when I read the gracious comments in this thread from guys for whom I have great respect. Thank you). In case anyone is interested in the backstory, following is the brief saga of McDonald, Marquette and Smokey Joe as related in my reply to Lyman. (Forgive me, Moderator Dude, for violating the post-no-emails ordinance. Hope you'll let it slide this once).
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Dear Lyman,
Thank you for your note. Here is a little background on my "Good Deed". Hope you don't make too big a fuss over it. The people who are doing "Great Deeds" in The Hobby are those such as you and Brett in producing a wonderful magazine and Leon for doing riot control at Net 54 and numerous collectors such as Keith O'Leary, Rob Adesso and, yes, Bob Marquette, to name but a few, who generously share knowledge of vintage baseball cards and passion for collecting them.
Back about three years ago (and a few months before I discovered the N54 board), I won a beautiful autographed M116 Joe Wood with a last second eBay snipe. Turned out that TBob was the underbidder. Once I began to participate on the board I saw what a good guy Bob is and I always felt bad that my win was his loss. I picked up another Sporting Life Wood in an auction some months back and was keeping it for trade bait. But when I saw Bob's profile in your Collector's Dugout and learned that it was the only card he needed to make the set, I thought "What the Heck!" and sent it to him with my best wishes. Now he's got the set; can't be too many guys who can say that. It's an awesome accomplishment for Bob. I am happy I could help with that last tough card. I got a nice letter from him saying how getting the card from out of the blue made his day and such. Fact is, it made my day, too.
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Collecting vintage cards brings me great pleasure, and learning about all the aspects of collecting as well as about old-time baseball in general fascinates me. (And you can't beat this hobby if you're after a second childhood). Above all, I enjoy being part of the cast of characters of Net54 and I value the friendship both virtual and realtime. Still sometimes I feel like I have to adopt the mentality of a commodities broker in order to go with the flow, although that is definitely not my style. Some people might think I am a chump for giving away a hot card but I feel pretty friggin good about it.
OK, everybody. Group hug's over. There's a ruckus brewing over at Broken Grading System and it might be a good one.