Favorite Raw Pick Ups of 2023....

[G1911]

Mine is easy! I was able to secure 3 of the 4 panels of the T220 silver sheet I didn't have, all in separate and unrelated purchases. Very happy that 3 more folks were willing to let them go and be reunited together. The James J. Corbett has to be my favorite; this card is a notorious short print in boxing land. There are only 4 or 5 known copies of this card in existence outside of the sheet and it wasn't even known to exist at all until the 1990's. As my favorite set, securing uncut sheets of the Donovan and Corbett would be like a T206 collector getting uncut panels of Wagners and Planks - nothing I ever get again can be as cool as these two are to me. I have cards I want still, but all my whales I really wanted for years I have managed to cross off.

My favorite baseball raw addition of the year is a cheap one. I bought some 'better' cards but my Dad and I bought up C46's in the mid 2000's during my teens. They were pretty cheap and we liked the design and learning about new players we didn't know. We got about halfway through the set by bidding $11.11 on each one we needed. Why we picked that number, I don't know, but we did and that was our rule, never a penny more. He surprised me on Christmas with this card of Tom Hughes, which cost him more than $11.11. Hughes was a former Highlander who would go on to have a couple fine years with Boston. It was a very fun nostalgia add to the collection, which are so very much more fun and meaningful than an investment card.