One of the big reasons that I'm still in this hobby -- and still blogging about it -- is that my life is fairly boring actually.
I do the same things day after day. Even the things I don't do day after day I've done before. It's a whole lot of mundane. Much like baseball, not a lot happens until some explosion of everything all at once. Only, unlike baseball, that chances of that "everything explosion" being good things is highly unlikely.
Trading cards are the excitement in my life. They are the guarantee that each day of my life will produce a little spark. If all those other daily things can't do it, cards will be there for me. Often that spark is a card that's new to my collection. Now, there's something that will make my eyes light up.
For example, this Freddie Freeman All-Star card that arrived recently. I received it with some other items from reader Grant, who is one of those folks nice enough to comment here (try it, it's fun!). This is a card from Topps' 100-card All-Star Game set, issued in conjunction with the ASG in Atlanta in July.
The only place I have seen these cards are on Johnny's Trading Spot blog. So this card is new to me! And I'm sure glad I got to see one in person. Looking at it online, it looks like chaos, all that writing all over the card. It's not quite as muddled when you see it in person -- still not my speed, no chance of trying to collect this.
But, wow, something new in my life today! How's that job, got anything like that for me today? I doubt it, any of your surprises, I don't want.
Even if I've seen the set, or the parallel before, any card I don't already own is still new to my collection. Let's see life try to produce that kind of newness consistently on a week-to-week basis. "Hey, hon, I've got a new coffee creamer to try." OH BOY.
Cards can cheat a little on the "newness" aspect, of course. I own this Topps 206 Shawn Green card (shown against Green's Fleer Genuine card from the same year for comparison). But it's a Polar Bear back that I didn't own. NEW TO ME.
Sometimes cards -- or, in this case, stickers -- can create the "new to me" sensation and combine it with that nostalgic feeling. Those are really the best kinds of card experiences.
These are 1981 Topps stickers. I bought these along with regular Topps cards in 1981. But I didn't save any of them (or even stick them) except the Dodgers. It's a rush to see a few of them re-enter my collection. For example, I remember that Ellis Valentine card in my collection distinctly.
Again, much of life cannot produce that wonderful nostalgic newness that cards can. I'm not wishing I could pay off my student loans again so I can get a whole new book of payment stubs.
Cards are there for me daily, offering up something new, whether it's new cards on the store shelves or cards from when I wasn't collecting or regaining cards I once had. And blogging about them is often the vehicle for gaining those new experiences more often. Because if I was just collecting by myself, as I did for many, many years before I discovered card blogs, I'd have a whole lot less new-to-me.
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