Has a card ever mesmerized you?

[Leon]

Just curious if a card has ever mesmerized (not crazily) our board members when looking at it? I admit, as a card addict, I have been before. Or is this not normal?

[ullmandds]

Those Kelloggs 3-D cards definitely mesmerize me!

[Enfuego]

When I first laid eyes on a Satchel Paige card, i was in a state of awe for a few min.

[wheels56]

not necessarily in order:

1. 56 Topps Ted Williams (total beater, creased in several places. gift from my Dad. very sentimental)
2. 52 Topps Mantle (totally cliche, I know. but true)
3. 53 Bowman Pee Wee Reese (the visual + the back story)
4. 54 Topps Ernie Banks (I never get sick of looking at this card. Like the Golden Gate Bridge, but on a different scale)
5. T206 Evers Portrait (the green background, the jersey)
6. 33 Goudey Gehrig #92 (sentimental, love the baby blue background)
7. 80 Topps Bird, Magic, Dr. J

As a kid:

1. 1989 Score Bo Jackson #697 (truth be told, I still love this card)
2. 1985 Topps Mark McGwire Oly (bittersweet)
3. 1989 Upper Deck Ken Griffey Jr. (captures youth and optimism, just like the Banks rookie)

[paulcarek]

1933 Goudey Mickey Cochrane.

The bright red background. The crisp white uni. The deep blue eyes...

[MattyC]

Too many times to count.

As for many, the 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle seemed like it only existed in a dream. The first one I ever held or saw in person was one bought as an adult. It gave me chills and thrills that the card continues to give me to this day. I stare at it for long periods, and it does what I imagine Xanax is intended to do.

The Babe Ruth Rookie and Lou Gehrig Rookie do the same for me, but less for any magic lingering from childhood, as I didn't learn of them until many years later; rather, they mesmerize because of their significance to the sport, their age, their subject images, the near 100-year journeys through time that such a card must have taken to wind up in my hand-- depicting the game's best players, the cards must have been handled and beloved by all hands they passed through before mine. I hold the 1933 Goudey Ruths and the 1933 & 1934 Gehrig in nearly the same regard, and enjoy them in hand almost as much.

A child of the 80's, 1984 Mattinglys, Goodens, and Strawberrys will always send me in a trance back to days when smashing homers and scorching line drives in schoolyards or streets or little league fields was all I cared about, alongside baseball and cards-- as opposed to all the annoyances and malaise of adult life.
I enjoy images of these cards and others several times a day. As the old saying goes: they soothe the savage beast.

[Econteachert205]

1975 topps baseball partial set I bought in 1988 when I was 6. The color!

[AK11]

I have one in mind from my youth:

1994 Upper Deck Ken Griffey, Jr. #224

The glossy photo stock and design complementing the awesome leaping catch pic does it for me everytime.

[Eggoman]

Even though I will probably NEVER own one, the Blue Background AND the high collared uniform work PERFECTLY on the T206 Plank...

[tinkertoeverstochance]

For me it was my first Broad Leaf 460....Simply beautiful!

Lee

[Bicem]

What's yours Leon?

[atx840]

Yep. When I first held the Chance ghost I spent the evening in a state of awe mixed with giddiness. Then proceeded to loupe like I've never louped before.

Oh and then there are these which still get me:

[edjs]

Originally Posted by tinkertoeverstochance

For me it was my first Broad Leaf 460....Simply beautiful!

Lee

Your first? Man. I am so looking forward to when I can say things like that. "Oh, my first Wagner, how well I remember that ol' beater....I wonder where I left that, let me check my closet...."

and yes, if by mesmerized you mean having a card hold your every thought, constantly, I have been mesmerized by a few cards (most of them Leon's).

[edjs]

Chris, that strip proof is one that "mesmerizes" me for sure. I think about it often. I always think where there's one, there has got to be two.

[tinkertoeverstochance]

Ed et al.,

The BL 460 took me 5 years to obtain....it was a journey. I had at least half a dozen slip through my fingers before I finally nailed one down. Patience and a lot of luck!

Best,
Lee

[quinnsryche]

T206 Walter Johnson portrait. Still the best looking card of all time IMO.

[edjs]

Lee, I am sure you paid your dues, I was just playing around with my remark. I am trying to get one of every back, I am at 28, but I have only been collecting a bit over a year. Those last five backs (I am not even dreaming of the Cobb back) are going to be, well, something I won't put in print. And I doubt I will get them in five years.

[pawpawdiv9]

A few years back. A&G made those Erin Andrews & Kate Upton cards.

[kcohen]

Mesmerized may be a bit strong, but for me the 33 Goudey Mickey Cochrane would be it. His eyes are staring right back at you.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Slow day?

[4815162342]

When I was a kid, I finally saved up enough money to buy a 1983 Topps Ryne Sandberg. I was as giddy as a schoolgirl. I took that card (along with the rest of my Ryno collection) in and out of toploaders and binder pages more times than I can count, destroying them all in the process; but it was fun. I now have that card in a PSA 9 slab just for the memories.

In my adult collecting life, this Matty mesmerizes me well above all others:


Hopefully one day I will be able to add the Cobb to my collection, at which point I'm sure I'll be hypnotized for a while:
e105 cobb.jpg

[mark evans]

No, but when I first saw a '57 Mantle as a young kid, it made a lasting impression. A perfect card, in my view, and an early acquisition once I got back into cards as an adult.

[Exhibitman]

"In 1955, there were 77,263,127 male American human beings. And every one of them in his heart of hearts would have given two arms, a leg and his collection of Davy Crockett iron-ons to be Teddy Ballgame."
--The Great American Baseball Card Flipping, Trading and Bubble Gum Book (Little Brown, 1973) by Brendan C. Boyd & Fred C. Harris

[GoldenAge50s]

Being raised in the Mickey Mantle years, idolizing him and never knowing there was a '52 Topps of him back when I was opening packs, I was floored to eventually find out there were cards issued ABOVE #250 & he was one of them!

The card has haunted me ever since because now I'll probably NEVER own one.

[oldcardboard]

T206 Ty Cobb red portrait. There are many others,but the Cobb is at the top of my list.

[clydepepper]

In 1993, I was shown what I still feel sure was an authentic T206 Wagner.

Doggonit! I just know I could have outrun that guy!

But, then, I was far too light-headed from the site of it to make any sudden movements.

I will never, ever forget that moment!

But, Hey - it's just cardboard, right??

[jthorst75]

Originally Posted by quinnsryche

T206 Walter Johnson portrait. Still the best looking card of all time IMO.

+1. Even though after seeing the T206 Wagner in Cooperstown, the WaJo portrait is still breathtaking and affordable. I will never part with mine.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by Bicem

What's yours Leon?

We have all seen board members cards that are beauties to behold. I like so many of them. I admit I probably look at cards more than I should though . As for cards and which ones mesmerize I own/have owned. There are a lot of them. I guess one of them from the Luckey Collection I, and destined for a new home, is the D381 Wagner (and original photo). Such a great portrait and the card has it's coupon too. Then, in the newest collection, I only have the few Zeenuts with crazy poses, some generic rppc's and this new acquisition, E90-1. When I first saw it I tried to quickly, visually find something wrong with it. I couldn't. Then I looked very closely....still can't. It's almost like it's 50/60 Top to bottom and almost 50/50 side to side. To my OCD self, and knowing how this card usually comes, it's almost distracting. (scans not to size)... and yes, Peter, slow day!! It's a chat board...I am chatting....

[Sean]

Originally Posted by pawpawdiv9

A few years back. A&G made those Erin Andrews & Kate Upton cards.

Post them!

[Sean]

As a kid, the 1965 Topps Yastrzemski. I loved the pose, where he was catching a fly ball.

As an adult, T206 Cobb bat off shoulder. The subject, the pose, the background colors.

[VoodooChild]

Mesmerized or awestruck, whatever you want to call it. It happens to me almost everyday on this site. Most recently with Mikehealer's T216 Matty!

[Deertick]

1986 Sportflics.

Seriously, I am surprised no one else has said the Turkey Reds! I just drool over the beauty of those cards.

[clydepepper]

Originally Posted by Sean

Post them!

Not Erin or Kate, but this one will do in a pinch!

This particular card has a totally different AWE inspiring effect on me!

CHRISTY BRINKLEY.jpg


I see that Christie's Case needs to be cleaned...She's So Dirty!

[pawpawdiv9]

Originally Posted by Sean

Post them!

These were 2012 A&G cards:

This card at one time was selling for around 500.00!!!!


And here a link to her signing them in her casual attire:

[ALR-bishop]

Any card (every card? ) that highlights Don Mossi's ears

[pokerplyr80]

The first year I started collecting was as a kid in 1989. For me it was the 89 upper deck Griffey. I remember trading for a beat up one that today probably isn't worth $20, but back then it was pretty awesome.

[CW]

Just to mesmerize Al a bit... And, yes, this is actually my card, proud to say.

[brian1961]

...

[terjung]

I get mesmerized by Kawika's signed '34 Goudey of Lou Gehrig. That is the most beautiful card in the hobby to me.

[btcarfagno]

As a kid growing up, a neighborhood friend bought a 1953 Topps Willie Mays from an ad in SCD. All of us in that class idolized that card from then on. I think there were ten of us who called him every day to see if the card had arrived in the mail yet. We all raced over when it finally did arrive.

The 1955 Bowman Hank Aaron was the first "vintage" card I got as a kid. Aaron was so much larger than life to me, but he seemed so young on that card. I still treasure it.

Since I got back into collecting a few years ago, I have become particularly enamored with the T3 Addie Joss.

Tom C

[CW]

Nice choice, Tom.

[Exhibitman]

I'll see your Brinkley and Upton and raise you a Gardner, Newmar, Grable and Monroe:

[Leon]

It seems they got a bit more risque in the later years. She's got Bette Davis eyes.

[clydepepper]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

I'll see your Brinkley and Upton and raise you a Gardner, Newmar, Grable and Monroe:

Ah, Julie Newmar! Definitely my favorite Catwoman!

[Stonepony]

Julie Newmar still signs. I got my son a signed Cat Woman photo from her website a couple months ago

[TheBig6]

Horner Cabinet Speaker & T206 Johnson Portrait come to mind.

[Bicem]

No? Maybe? Why the hell do you collect? Just the $$$ aspect?

[abothebear]

[CW]

This card mesmerized me long ago when I first started collecting cards. I might've first seen it in the Sport Americana baseball card price guide, on one of the color pages, and I dreamed of one day owning a copy of the card. It took some time (over 20 years), but I eventually added it to the collection.

[tiger8mush]

prewar - M101-2 Cobb
postwar - 1952 Bowman Mantle