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Kid tested

This card is evidence that I had a happy childhood.

It more than likely was:
  • Flipped against a wall
  • Wrapped with 100 or so other 1976 cards with a pair of rubber bands
  • Brought to school and shoved in my desk
  • Carried in my back pocket
  • Thrown
  • Shuffled while I scouted for cards to trade
  • Used in an improvised baseball game involving dice (roll a "9" for a double, "12" for a home run). Each card was required to take a trip around the bases to reflect the action
  • Stuffed under my pillow after looking at it with a flashlight after the lights were turned out for the night
  • Dropped on the sidewalk
  • Had food spilled on it as I looked at my cards at lunch
  • Harmed in a brief, jealous frenzy when I let a friend see it
  • Categorized by team, or by earned-run average, or by pitchers who weren't scary ugly
  • Walked on
  • Stared at and fingered, oh, about 3,467 times. And that's just the front of the card.

But please note that it was not:

  • Folded into a paper airplane
  • Placed in my bicycle spokes (even at that young age I thought that was going too far)
  • Carried in my front pocket
  • Tacked up on a bulletin board
  • Tossed in the air with the rest my collection so I could produce a "it's raining cards!" effect.

But here's the sad part: one day soon -- maybe as early as this weekend (there's a card show coming up) -- I will upgrade this card.

Because I can remember being a kid, but I can't relate to them at all anymore.

Comments

madding said…
I still remember the feeling of cards sticking to my bare feet as I walked across my bedroom floor.
Unknown said…
nice "childhood" card - we all have those in our collection. Good luck in upgrading it . . . you deserve it - so does the card.
gcrl said…
i used put all my 78 topps on the floor and lay on the pile. no wonder i'm upgrading that set.
but hey - one of my favorite cards is the 78 opc ron cey that i tacked up on my bulletin board. nothing wrong with that!
"Stuffed under my pillow after looking at it with a flashlight after the lights were turned out for the night"

Glad to know I was not the only one doing that. Although mine was a 1981 Topps Johnny Bench.
PunkRockPaint said…
I think that I am going to run an experiment and attempt to artificially "love" a card. It will be interesting to see if I can duplicate the effect.

Look for an upcoming post on Things Done to Cards...

Thanks for the idea!
Matt Runyon said…
I've got a few cards like that. The worst one for me is a 1960 Harmon Killebrew that I got in a trade from a kid who was given some old cards by his uncle. The kid didn't think Harmon was any good because he had a low batting average. I left that card and several other oldies in my pocket and my mom washed the pants. :(
Anonymous said…
Can you actually touch your card enough to damage it? Hmm... Also, what do you mean by "upgrade" the card? Can you really fix a bad trading card? hmm...
Eggrocket said…
I have a 1973 All-Time Home Run Leaders card with Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron and Willie Mays on the front that I actually pulled when I was seven. I took it everywhere and did many of the same things you speak of. I also always wanted it in my pocket when I played baseball. It's totally ruined now, but I still have it. In fact I keep it in a lock box with a few other semi-valuable cards (pre-1957 Topps, Bowmans from the '40s, etc.) but I have vowed to never put it in a card protector. It represents to me what collecting should be about and it is a link to my own childhood.