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mrmopar
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- Jan 19, 2010
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A play on words with the old saying, The gift that keeps giving.
First, a brief background on how I used to (and still do) collect base cards. I have not purchased packs or boxes for a very long time and after the 80s and buying factory sets each year for a decade or so, I have never been much of a set builder since. I have traded or sold off large amounts of what I would call commons over the years, trying to get to where I just have cards I want to keep. This is what i would call the stars, semi-stars and fan favorites. I have no use for commons unless they were Dodgers. I don't get a lot of random base cards anymore, so this is mostly a thing of the past, but occasionally I will stumble upon a random box, purchased lot or something like a giveaway that leaves me looking through boxes of commons.
That said, my definition of a common is probably vastly different from the typical collector. Any player who had a few decent seasons and sticks in my mind is no longer a common. ALL Dodgers are automatically keepers, as are any players who formerly played for them. As an example or how relaxed my definition of keeper can be, I won a lot of 30 1979 OPC baseball cards with a few obvious star names and all-star cards like Garvey & Foster. There was also a Monday and Money who were noted AS cards that year too, so they automatically count as stars regardless. . Also keep in mind this is my sweet spot, as I started collecting in 1978. These names have been kicking around in my head for almost 50 years! I don't know if it was a couple packs or a random lot, but out of the 30 cards, I sorted out 29 to keep and 1 went into my common boxes. Names like Steve Henderson, Butch Wynegar and John Hiller all made the cut. Cards most of you would likely consider obvious commons.
Now to the story and point of this post...
Around 2014, I bought this Bowman mini boxed set on ebay. I was not specifically looking for it, but it was a large seller and I had won a number of items from them already, so I was just seeing what else was going for cheap that I could buy and attach to an existing order to save on shipping. I have no idea what I paid for it, but guessing it could not have been much more than maybe $20. I could be wrong, but remember I was not even looking for it and not chasing modern cards. I doubt I would have been willing to pay anything more and it's possible I got it for less than $20. The seller had already pulled the "good" cards. I don't recall if the set was complete and just the inserts were gone or not. I feel like that was the case, the set was intact and all the inserts/parallels were yanked. I do know that Kris Bryant was shown on the box and his card was included to give you an idea. Pretty sure he was sought after right out of the gate.
When it arrived, I pulled out the Dodgers and all the players I recognized as "non-commons" or hot prospects and set the rest aside. There were probably 50 cards I pulled initially. Anyone who knows my collecting habits or me knows that I do not follow the prospect world and most of these names were unknown to me at the time. I have since gone back and looked through the box maybe a half dozen times over the last 10 years and each time, I find a few more cards to pull out and save.
Today, I noticed the box and decided to go through it again. I don't recall when I last did this, but each time I have done so in the past, I managed to pull a few more cards and always felt like I had stripped it clean of any decent cards. However each time I have come back, I find a few more! Today was no different. It is a stark reminder and the reason why I am posting this. To anyone who likes to collect and isn't in this for the flipping and $, that holding on to things for a few years is never a bad idea. I started doing this with autograph cards too, as I would win or trade for lots that often had cards i didn't really need and try to move them right away, but often I was having to chase down these players after they became Dodgers later. Eventually I started keeping all extras and a few would find their way into my permanent collection through deals where the player came to the Dodgers or maybe he had a couple solid years and was no longer a common.
This is what still remains as commons from this set, at least 2/3 to 3/4 of it. Considering this was all rookies and prospects and the set is now 10 years old, I am not sure how many more cards i can pull out in the future, but I will set it aside again and wait a bit longer.
Here is what I pulled today. Most are probably not cards the average collector would care about. All but one are currently or were Dodgers at one point, so they made the cut.
First, a brief background on how I used to (and still do) collect base cards. I have not purchased packs or boxes for a very long time and after the 80s and buying factory sets each year for a decade or so, I have never been much of a set builder since. I have traded or sold off large amounts of what I would call commons over the years, trying to get to where I just have cards I want to keep. This is what i would call the stars, semi-stars and fan favorites. I have no use for commons unless they were Dodgers. I don't get a lot of random base cards anymore, so this is mostly a thing of the past, but occasionally I will stumble upon a random box, purchased lot or something like a giveaway that leaves me looking through boxes of commons.
That said, my definition of a common is probably vastly different from the typical collector. Any player who had a few decent seasons and sticks in my mind is no longer a common. ALL Dodgers are automatically keepers, as are any players who formerly played for them. As an example or how relaxed my definition of keeper can be, I won a lot of 30 1979 OPC baseball cards with a few obvious star names and all-star cards like Garvey & Foster. There was also a Monday and Money who were noted AS cards that year too, so they automatically count as stars regardless. . Also keep in mind this is my sweet spot, as I started collecting in 1978. These names have been kicking around in my head for almost 50 years! I don't know if it was a couple packs or a random lot, but out of the 30 cards, I sorted out 29 to keep and 1 went into my common boxes. Names like Steve Henderson, Butch Wynegar and John Hiller all made the cut. Cards most of you would likely consider obvious commons.
Now to the story and point of this post...
Around 2014, I bought this Bowman mini boxed set on ebay. I was not specifically looking for it, but it was a large seller and I had won a number of items from them already, so I was just seeing what else was going for cheap that I could buy and attach to an existing order to save on shipping. I have no idea what I paid for it, but guessing it could not have been much more than maybe $20. I could be wrong, but remember I was not even looking for it and not chasing modern cards. I doubt I would have been willing to pay anything more and it's possible I got it for less than $20. The seller had already pulled the "good" cards. I don't recall if the set was complete and just the inserts were gone or not. I feel like that was the case, the set was intact and all the inserts/parallels were yanked. I do know that Kris Bryant was shown on the box and his card was included to give you an idea. Pretty sure he was sought after right out of the gate.
When it arrived, I pulled out the Dodgers and all the players I recognized as "non-commons" or hot prospects and set the rest aside. There were probably 50 cards I pulled initially. Anyone who knows my collecting habits or me knows that I do not follow the prospect world and most of these names were unknown to me at the time. I have since gone back and looked through the box maybe a half dozen times over the last 10 years and each time, I find a few more cards to pull out and save.
Today, I noticed the box and decided to go through it again. I don't recall when I last did this, but each time I have done so in the past, I managed to pull a few more cards and always felt like I had stripped it clean of any decent cards. However each time I have come back, I find a few more! Today was no different. It is a stark reminder and the reason why I am posting this. To anyone who likes to collect and isn't in this for the flipping and $, that holding on to things for a few years is never a bad idea. I started doing this with autograph cards too, as I would win or trade for lots that often had cards i didn't really need and try to move them right away, but often I was having to chase down these players after they became Dodgers later. Eventually I started keeping all extras and a few would find their way into my permanent collection through deals where the player came to the Dodgers or maybe he had a couple solid years and was no longer a common.
This is what still remains as commons from this set, at least 2/3 to 3/4 of it. Considering this was all rookies and prospects and the set is now 10 years old, I am not sure how many more cards i can pull out in the future, but I will set it aside again and wait a bit longer.
Here is what I pulled today. Most are probably not cards the average collector would care about. All but one are currently or were Dodgers at one point, so they made the cut.
