Evolution of collecting habits (aka "slow Thursday")

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Posted By: Jeff Kennedy

Well my story seems to take that same turn that alot of others took. I started out collecting cards in 1988 when I was in fourth grade. That is when my fascination with the game of baseball began as well. Living in the southern Indiana area I had no other choice but to be a Chicago Cubs fan. We had WGN and back then they broadcast damn near every game that the Cubs played. That was also Mark Grace's rookie year and in '89 the Cubs won the pennant and went to the playoffs. The Cubs got spanked by Will Clark and the Giants but Grace was my favorite player and it was easy to be a Cubs fan in '89 because they played so well. It was also great to be able to come home from school and turn on a matinee ballgame at Wrigley. That is around the same time that I began to collect baseball cards. I focused primarily on trying to accumulate every card that Grace appeared on. I was able to accomplish this task but back then, that was'nt too hard as not as many card companies existed. That was also the year that Upper Deck debuted and me and my best friend opened box after box of Upper Deck in hopes of building the entire set. In this effort I was also able to pull a handful of Griffey's rookie cards which would later be worth more then any other card that I had ever owned at the time. After collecting a couple of years, I recieved a box of The Sporting News "Conlon Collection" as a birthday present. These cards which exhibited pictures of the famed baseball photographer Charles Conlon turned me on to an entirely new side of baseball. I had always heard of Babe Ruth and the likes but the pictures of some of the "not so famous" players opened up a whole other side of the game that I wanted to learn more about. So learn I did. I began to read and learn as much as my youthful mind could retain in regards to these players and the history of the game. After reading several books it became clear to me that my main level of interest existed within the "Dead Ball" era and it's players. It was'nt long after this that my interest in the current cards took a dive. I still was a huge Cub fan but my interest in the current cards just was'nt there. I put them up in my closet and kept my Conlons out where I could flip through them on a daily basis as I learned about some of the players depicted in the set. I continued to follow the Cubs on a downward spiral and continued my research of the "Dead Ball" era as the years went by. Then came junior high and high school where alot of my focus on baseball was curbed to girlfriends and dates. When I got my license, I gathered my cards from my closet and took them to a local card shop where I sold them for mere gas money. That ended up being one of the best investments I ever made as a Friday night date with the prom queen Heather Brown, was worth any amount of Griffey Upper Decks that you could throw at me. Although my cards were now being housed under a glass cabinet at the local card shop, I still continued reading and reading. Did an extensive 40 page essay on the "Black Sox Scandal" senior year of high school and continued my courtship with young Heather Brown. Enter 2001, where I discover EBay while at a friends house. Just piddling around I enter T206 into the search field and BAM!!!, you have 221 results. I could'nt believe it. There is was. So many of these cards that I had only seen pictures of in books were now right before my eyes, ready to be purchased. My first purchase, a Ty Cobb (Green Portrait) in VG-EX condition. After recieving it in the mail, I was officially hooked! After learning about the set and the newly established grading companies, I then decided to try and attempt the entire T206 set (minus the Big 4) in a PSA 6 EX-MT. In the beginning, this was'nt too unrealistic, as I could win common PSA 6's on EBay for around $50. This changed shortly thereafter and I began to spend the majority of my funds on PSA graded T206's only. There were some other issues that I also had interest in such as T207's, but the T206 set had me 'bogged' down. After accumulating a very nice collection of some 25 or so HOFers and commons, I then decided that it was more in my budget to go after PSA 4 graded T206's. The market on PSA 6's went crazy and it would have taken me some 40 years and several thousands of dollars to collect the T206 set exclussively. Needless to say, I got burnt out. I would see other items that I wanted but would hold off on purchasing them because that would get into my T206 budget. Therefore a little over a month ago, I decided to sell off the majority of my PSA graded T206 collection to raise the funds for a T207 set. I spoke with other people about what I was doing and I got the same response from all of them. "You are crazy". Now I know that T207's are probably tougher then T206's but I have to admit, 200 cards as opposed to 523 cards sure sounds easier. Alot of people despise the T207 set because of it's gloomy colors and lack of HOF players but you have to go beyond the cards. The majority of this set is made up of obscure players many of which have fascinating stories behind them. In a little over a month, I have accumulated T207's Big 3 (I. Lewis, Lowdermilk, W.Miller)as well as a nice size collection of some of the other rare cards in the set. I figure that this is a good start and that if I start with the hardest ones first, it will only get easier. Right? If you have stuck with the thread this long, Heather Brown is now Heather Kennedy and is also the mother of Ty Kennedy . She is 100% supportive of my love for baseball and these little pieces of cardboard and rarely complains about what I spend on them.

(119) random Mark Grace cards (1988-1992) $42.25

(6) Ken Griffey Jr. 1989 Upper Deck cards $725.00

Marrying the prom queen Heather Brown and having a beautiful baby boy together..........Priceless