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After 15.5 years, I finally received the last of 286 cards to finish this set. I've picked up some rare cards this year, either players I collect or to complete sets, and it feels great to finally finish this one. I started chasing it when the set came out in June-July of 2005 and fell in love with the gold parallels. Beautiful design, solid checklist of modern players, HOFers, and prospects in a trim 200-card set, and #/20, which I had deemed a challenge but attainable if I was consistent and committed. They added 86 cards from a multi-brand update set later in the year, and I was able to collect those without too much trouble as I recall. But this one card from the main set eluded me, #156 Chris Burke.
I missed out on one in the spring of 2006, IIRC. The Origins product, a bit of a strange duck with 2 versions of the set in the package (1940 Play Ball and 1887 Old Judge), frequent autos, and a metal sign included in each box for a reasonable price of about $40, was popular with breakers and collectors. So I wasn't concerned because these parallels were being listed pretty consistently and I was sure another Burke would show up before too long. I was wrong. I don't think I saw another on ebay for about 10 years when one got listed. I missed that one, despite another collector who had been building the set sending me an email alerting me to the listing. Sadly, I wasn't using that email too much so I missed it. Then I think the next year one was listed but I did not bid and forgot to set a snipe, sure of being able to manually snipe it but of course I forgot about it till it was too late. I didn't think I'd ever get this card. Being in Texas, I figured I would find one at a Houston Tristar show or something, just from geographical affinity. Finally, one showed up on COMC a couple months ago and I bought it instantly. Actually, my wife bought it for me and I had to wait for her to get a shipment together. Last night, it arrived. Now I'm sliding that one home.
I couldn't have done it without help from another collector. I kept getting outbid on Ryan Zimmermans by the same guy, back when you could see who other bidders were, and I contacted him. He turned out to be pretty cool about it, and we either traded for one or he let me win the next one that got listed. And we traded a few others we each needed, so it all worked out. I don't think he's on here but he's on BO as "Wood Minis" or something like that. He has one of, if not the largest, and best collection of A&G Wood Mini 1/1s, among many other things. Pretty impressive. So shoutout to Dan.
I always feel a little guilty that something so coveted, once it's finally in hand, is destined to get stuck in a box and that box put in a closet in a spare room. It feels like it should be celebrated somehow. We need a Set Collectors Horn or something to blow when the last card is put in place. I can imagine across the land, mailmen make their deliveries and trailing behind them are echoes of the Horns, ringing out like sonic fruit that they have sewn in mailboxes.
Anyway, if anyone is interested in these cards, I have a bunch of doubles I picked up through the years from lots and intent to trade. And I'm always looking for the black 1/1s, which are really sharp.
I missed out on one in the spring of 2006, IIRC. The Origins product, a bit of a strange duck with 2 versions of the set in the package (1940 Play Ball and 1887 Old Judge), frequent autos, and a metal sign included in each box for a reasonable price of about $40, was popular with breakers and collectors. So I wasn't concerned because these parallels were being listed pretty consistently and I was sure another Burke would show up before too long. I was wrong. I don't think I saw another on ebay for about 10 years when one got listed. I missed that one, despite another collector who had been building the set sending me an email alerting me to the listing. Sadly, I wasn't using that email too much so I missed it. Then I think the next year one was listed but I did not bid and forgot to set a snipe, sure of being able to manually snipe it but of course I forgot about it till it was too late. I didn't think I'd ever get this card. Being in Texas, I figured I would find one at a Houston Tristar show or something, just from geographical affinity. Finally, one showed up on COMC a couple months ago and I bought it instantly. Actually, my wife bought it for me and I had to wait for her to get a shipment together. Last night, it arrived. Now I'm sliding that one home.
I couldn't have done it without help from another collector. I kept getting outbid on Ryan Zimmermans by the same guy, back when you could see who other bidders were, and I contacted him. He turned out to be pretty cool about it, and we either traded for one or he let me win the next one that got listed. And we traded a few others we each needed, so it all worked out. I don't think he's on here but he's on BO as "Wood Minis" or something like that. He has one of, if not the largest, and best collection of A&G Wood Mini 1/1s, among many other things. Pretty impressive. So shoutout to Dan.
I always feel a little guilty that something so coveted, once it's finally in hand, is destined to get stuck in a box and that box put in a closet in a spare room. It feels like it should be celebrated somehow. We need a Set Collectors Horn or something to blow when the last card is put in place. I can imagine across the land, mailmen make their deliveries and trailing behind them are echoes of the Horns, ringing out like sonic fruit that they have sewn in mailboxes.
Anyway, if anyone is interested in these cards, I have a bunch of doubles I picked up through the years from lots and intent to trade. And I'm always looking for the black 1/1s, which are really sharp.
