Completed my childhood set build - 40 years on

[UKCardGuy]

It's taken me 40 years but I just bought the last card that I needed for my 1960 Topps set build.

As best that I can remember, I started collecting the 60T in 1981 (though it might have been 1980). A baseball card store opened in the Prestonwood Mall in North Dallas and they had trays of cards going back to the 50s'. I chose 1960 because I really liked the look of the cards (and probably more importantly because I could afford the commons with my $2 per week for mowing our yard).

Over the 4 years or, I'd completed 485 out of 572 cards in the set with almost all the stars and high value cards. (I know because I still have my checklists from back in the day.)

The set has a special place for me. My Dad coached me on the players in the set and despite him grumbling about it, he drove me to 2 or 3 card shows a year.

Then I left the hobby - got car, grew up, got married...

I re-discovered the cards at my parent's house in 2004. With a young family to raise, I took the cards to a LCS near their house and sold most of them. The dealer happily bought them but really wanted the stars and high numbers.

I was left with about 60 mid-grade commons. These came back to the UK with me and resided in my attic until late 2019 when I re-discovered them and re-started my collection.

I managed to add a lot cards through Net54 members. Thank you.

Today, I placed the orders for my last 2 cards.

• The penultimate card - a very nice NM #28 Brooks Robinson that I picked up at Clean Sweep Auctions
• The final card - #539 Gene Baker that I bought off eBay.

I don't think I ever envisaged that Gene Baker would be the last piece of this puzzle. But, he's a favorite now.

I've completed other sets but this one's a bit special for me.