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EricTownsend88
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- Jun 13, 2014
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A little background on myself. When I was a kid baseball cards were everything to me. It's what I wanted for birthdays, Christmases, good report cards you name it. I spent all my allowance on baseball cards when my friends were out spending theirs on super nintendo and sega genesis games. And when I got older and my buddies would "reading" the sports illustrated swim suit issue I would be reading my Beckett. I started subscribing to Beckett when I was 12 and read the dang thing cover to cover until the next one came out 30 days later. I had all the prices memorized. I couldn't memorize my spelling words in 2nd grade but I could damn sure tell you how much a 1990 Topps Frank Thomas rookie was worth. I am a huge baseball fan who happened to be lucky enough to grow up in the right time period. Oh yes the 90's! Being a Cleveland Indians fan was fun back then and that was the golden era of baseball cards (especially for those gorgeous inserts.) In my teens I would fantasize about what my collection would look like in the future when I got a good job and hand (in my teenage mind) boat loads of money coming in each week. Well fast forward a few years from the magical mid to late 90s era of baseball cards. My favorite company - Donruss stopped making cards after 98, in 2000 my favorite player & the guy that got me into collecting baseball cards - Albert Belle - was forced to retire...and I just started to discover girls and got myself a highschool sweetheart puppy dog love thing going on. Those three things in a short time period put my card collecting on the back burner. I bought packs here and there, maybe once a year I would buy a box when Donruss started to make cards again, but a hobby that as a kid I devoted 100% of my time, money, energy and love into was an afterthought. I had a pretty decent collection I guess but everything was locked away in the closet collecting dust.
I won't get into this next part too much but in 2005 I got into a bad accident and long story short would have nine surgeries in a three and a half year period. You can probably guess whats coming next right...after 9 surgeries in such a short time period and being prescribed bottle after bottle after bottle after bottle of pain killers for years....I became a full on drug addict. When doctors declared me "healed" and back to 100% physically I would go to the street to get my fix. After being on this mess for years my tolerance was really high and when I was at my worst I was spending at least $100 bucks a day on the sickness that took over my life. When I couldn't find pain killers with fear of withdrawal in my mind I would purchase whatever I could get my hands on. Prior to 2005 I was a 19 year old kid with my whole life ahead of me and I had been working & saving money since I was 14. My grandmother passed a few months after my first surgery and left all of her grandkids about $4k in bonds a piece. Between the money she left me & the money I saved from working at one point as a young man I had over $10k in the bank. A few years later in my early/mid 20's I was a shell of a person, full on drug addict. I felt sorry for myself and condoned my use in my head. I thought hey its not like I woke up one day and said I'm bored today screw it I'm gonna be a drug addict! I had 9 surgeries...I had doctors giving me 90 pills a month for three years straight. When I was at the lowest point in my life, when I was just absolutely sick of living this double life, it was early 2012. I'd been on this poison for 7 years straight now. The $10k I had in the bank had been long gone, I was working 60 hours a week just to feed my addiction and those amazing baseball cards I had as a kid were long gone as well. Sold my whole collection, hell my whole childhood to a local card shop owner for somewhere in the $1200-$1500 range which at my worst was maybe 10 days of using. In 2012 I made a pact to myself - get help or give up. I wasn't going to live this life anymore. I was going to get clean and get my life together & if I couldn't I was going to "check out." Very long story short here but I got saved, gave my life to Christ and with the help from the big man upstairs in 2012 I kicked my addiction.
I noticed Topps came out with Albert Belle cards again (the whole "game used" thing was pretty much new to me as well!) and I would buy some Albert Belle memorabilia cards here and there, every once in awhile I'd stop at a LCS and pick up some Indians base that other people pulled for cheap. But it wasn't until May of 2014 when I really channelled my inner kid and started collecting cards again. I made a deal with myself, it had now been over 2 years since I got clean, I was going to treat myself! I started working for the State of Delaware and was making very good money (like I had imagined as a kid) but I did not have the bomb ass collection I always day dreamed about. I looked at my bank account, and its crazy when you don't spend every dime you have on drugs and you save your money...it stacks up nicely! I had a decent amount in the bank and I was gonna treat myself. I gave myself a budget. I'd spend the $1200 or so I sold my collection for years ago and that would give me a nice start to building a new collection (re-starting my collection at age 27 now LOL.) So - sometime at the end of last May I started to collect again. I spent the $1200 on all Albert Belle & Cleveland Indians cards I found on eBay, an '89 UD Griffey RC and three or so boxes of wax at the LCS. I was off to a good start...but then I started to think about those sweet insets of the 90s. I couldn't stop at $1200 - I was in love with this hobby again! So for the past year, I have been putting 10-15% of my check away for my first love - and a hobby I certainly do not feel bad about spending money on after the battle I had with addiction.
I hit my one year anniversary a week or so ago & wanted to share my pickups with you guys and gals! Hopefully I can come back this time next year with a 2 year anniversary thread and show off some nice pieces I added to my collection. Now this isn't the greatest collection but keep in mind I'm still a "newbie" and this is year one. I am so excited to keep building onto it!!!
Some Griffey's....
The Big Hurt...
Ripken, Bonds & Maddux
Piazza, Gwynn, A-Rod
A Few Of My All-Time Favorite Insert
Some Oldies But Goodies
To Ben Continued......
I won't get into this next part too much but in 2005 I got into a bad accident and long story short would have nine surgeries in a three and a half year period. You can probably guess whats coming next right...after 9 surgeries in such a short time period and being prescribed bottle after bottle after bottle after bottle of pain killers for years....I became a full on drug addict. When doctors declared me "healed" and back to 100% physically I would go to the street to get my fix. After being on this mess for years my tolerance was really high and when I was at my worst I was spending at least $100 bucks a day on the sickness that took over my life. When I couldn't find pain killers with fear of withdrawal in my mind I would purchase whatever I could get my hands on. Prior to 2005 I was a 19 year old kid with my whole life ahead of me and I had been working & saving money since I was 14. My grandmother passed a few months after my first surgery and left all of her grandkids about $4k in bonds a piece. Between the money she left me & the money I saved from working at one point as a young man I had over $10k in the bank. A few years later in my early/mid 20's I was a shell of a person, full on drug addict. I felt sorry for myself and condoned my use in my head. I thought hey its not like I woke up one day and said I'm bored today screw it I'm gonna be a drug addict! I had 9 surgeries...I had doctors giving me 90 pills a month for three years straight. When I was at the lowest point in my life, when I was just absolutely sick of living this double life, it was early 2012. I'd been on this poison for 7 years straight now. The $10k I had in the bank had been long gone, I was working 60 hours a week just to feed my addiction and those amazing baseball cards I had as a kid were long gone as well. Sold my whole collection, hell my whole childhood to a local card shop owner for somewhere in the $1200-$1500 range which at my worst was maybe 10 days of using. In 2012 I made a pact to myself - get help or give up. I wasn't going to live this life anymore. I was going to get clean and get my life together & if I couldn't I was going to "check out." Very long story short here but I got saved, gave my life to Christ and with the help from the big man upstairs in 2012 I kicked my addiction.
I noticed Topps came out with Albert Belle cards again (the whole "game used" thing was pretty much new to me as well!) and I would buy some Albert Belle memorabilia cards here and there, every once in awhile I'd stop at a LCS and pick up some Indians base that other people pulled for cheap. But it wasn't until May of 2014 when I really channelled my inner kid and started collecting cards again. I made a deal with myself, it had now been over 2 years since I got clean, I was going to treat myself! I started working for the State of Delaware and was making very good money (like I had imagined as a kid) but I did not have the bomb ass collection I always day dreamed about. I looked at my bank account, and its crazy when you don't spend every dime you have on drugs and you save your money...it stacks up nicely! I had a decent amount in the bank and I was gonna treat myself. I gave myself a budget. I'd spend the $1200 or so I sold my collection for years ago and that would give me a nice start to building a new collection (re-starting my collection at age 27 now LOL.) So - sometime at the end of last May I started to collect again. I spent the $1200 on all Albert Belle & Cleveland Indians cards I found on eBay, an '89 UD Griffey RC and three or so boxes of wax at the LCS. I was off to a good start...but then I started to think about those sweet insets of the 90s. I couldn't stop at $1200 - I was in love with this hobby again! So for the past year, I have been putting 10-15% of my check away for my first love - and a hobby I certainly do not feel bad about spending money on after the battle I had with addiction.
I hit my one year anniversary a week or so ago & wanted to share my pickups with you guys and gals! Hopefully I can come back this time next year with a 2 year anniversary thread and show off some nice pieces I added to my collection. Now this isn't the greatest collection but keep in mind I'm still a "newbie" and this is year one. I am so excited to keep building onto it!!!
Some Griffey's....
The Big Hurt...
Ripken, Bonds & Maddux
Piazza, Gwynn, A-Rod
A Few Of My All-Time Favorite Insert
Some Oldies But Goodies
To Ben Continued......
