Iconic Card Pick Up

I was amazed this evening at the number of 2013 goal posts that are up today.  I am personally a goal and list kind of guy so you will be seeing one from me soon.  However, I am still working on my 2013 collecting goals, getting close but not quite ready to publish.  Give a guy a break, I do have a 4 week old baby at home :-).

I thought I would share a recent pick up from Sportlots that by just about every definition I have seen across the blogosphere would be characterized as iconic.

This card is one of the most showcased and discussed card and for obvious reasons.  You have the great 1971 Topps design with the huge All-Star Rookie Trophy - loving it!  The picture is an awesome play at the plate featuring a star player who left us too early. You even have the awesome Green and Gold Oakland A's uniform on the player getting tagged out is a cloud of dust.  There is nothing about this card that isn't great.

My reason for posting this today is threefold.  As mentioned above, even thought it is the first, I am not quite ready to finish off my 2013 goals - still debating a couple of things.  Second, I watched a show I had taped off the MLB Network about the 1970 baseball season while my little girl was napping in my arms and Munson's debut was briefly showcased.  The show was really just a trigger for the third and final reason.

When going through my goals for 2013, I have reflected quite a bit and my approach to this hobby has changed so much since I started reading and then participating in blogs, definitely for the better.

In my past life, most of my focus was on the "value" of cards.  I traded on SCF by book value, I bought products based on potential pulls and what I could sell or trade them for.  A card like this Munson would only have been bought to be flipped and only if I could have acquired it at a great price.  In the case of this card, I can't remember what I even paid for it (I believe it was under $10 delivered but may have been as much as $15).  I have no idea what the Book Value is (I just looked it up - holy cow it is $120! - I had to justify my Beckett subscription).

In my past life, this card wouldn't have fit into my Personal Collection and I would have been looking to figure out what I could trade it for.  Today, I have no "PC", I just hold on to cards I like and trade cards that don't excite me.  This has widened my scope of what I look for and I have picked up a ton of nice vintage cards that aren't Giants or set needs which has made me very happy.

Another change that has taken place in my collecting is on my buying habits.  When going into a card shop or looking through Sportlots auctions, I find myself identifying cards other bloggers may want in trades.  I have found this to be a ton of fun and something I plan on doing more in 2013.  I have a knack for finding good deals and enjoy passing on the goods to others.  If you want me to be on the lookout for a particular category of card, let me know.

I appreciate cards for so much more than potential value now and still think this will continue to grow.  As a set builder I still have the tendency to flip through a pack quickly and put them in numerical order but I have promised myself I will slow down and smell the roses more often.  I am amazed and the little things that get noticed in cards by so many of the bloggers out there. 

Thanks to all my fellow bloggers for making a hobby I already enjoyed immensely so much more enjoyable.  Happy 2013!