Favorite Past Memories Of Collecting

[RGM81]

As a wee lad, I often got to go to the annual Andy Moog & Friends Golf Tournament held every summer in Penticton. This was when I was between 7-10 years old and hadn't fully formed the loathing of the Boston Bruins that I have now. And hey, Andy was a local guy so he was cool. My cousins and I would run around the place getting autographs of all the players. This past summer, I was going through mom's crawl space, and lo and behold, what do I find?

[Yzerfan]

I have two top memories. Back in 2001, my dad met up with me after school and we went to our LCS, which happened to have boxes of 97/98 score for really cheap. So my dad got me 3 boxes. Once my dad handed over the cash to the guy behind the counter, I was in an immediate rush to get home. Once i did, i took off my jacket went to my living room table, laid out all three boxes and ripped all packs one by one. I remember getting a bunch of epix and artists proof cards, which at the time i thought were the best looking cards of all time. I spent the rest of the night, meticulously organizing and putting all cards in sleeve protectors and top loaders. When a person uses the cliche, "i'm detail oriented" in an interview, i'm actually telling the truth. Its just part of my nature, i can sit for hours on end organizing and mapping things out with pleasure. Well fast forward to today, i have all the base cards and 80% of the inserts that i pulled which sort of disappoints me because they got lost in translation throughout time.

Now about a year and a half ago, i got a small part time job at a restaurant across the street from my building to put some cash in my pocket while i was attending college. It was hard work but it also yielded some good money, so for the first time in my life i was able to bust wax that i personally paid for myself. This was pretty big, because i was ALWAYS a singles guy, but i gave into the temptation of a new experience and decided to break a box of 01/02 Crown Royale Hockey hoping to get a Pavel Datsyuk Rookie card /267. Around 3/4 of the way through the box, all i had gotten were my two triple threads jersey cards and an insert, still awaiting the promised rookie. I believe i had around 2 or 3 packs left and at that time i was feeling a bit bummed, once i opened the next pack, i saw difference in the shape of the card, indicating that it was the rookie, but i didn't know which one. So i slowly went through the cards and pushed the rookie out of the bunch, slowly revealing the color of the players jersey. Sure enough, once i saw a red jersey, with the letters "Pa" in the name, I freaking jumped up for joy, yelling and running around my apartment as if i was an 8 year old kid. Keep in mind i was 21 at the time. As i'm writing about this, i have the hugest smile on my face because of the emotions and joy that i'm reliving. Its not the most valuable card out there, but i mean cmon, how often does someone actually buy a box for a specific card and ACTUALLY gets it. Once that happened, i tried to my luck again and brought a box of titanium with the FOOLISH hope of landing Kovalchuk's rookie /17....yeah it didnt happen.

The hobby provides me with joy that doesn't compare to other activities or hobbies in my life. Not to say that collecting cards is the beginning and the end of my life, but im sure you guys know what I mean.

This happened to me a few months ago when I got into a 02-03 Titanium group break here on the forum. I got into it with the hopes of hitting the Zetterberg RC /99. I got last pick in the first half of the break which meant that I got first pick in the second half of the break. Well, the red Zetterberg RC /299 was pulled in the first half so I didn't really think that the Zetty /99 would be in the second half. The first card of the first pack of the first box that Don opened in the second half of the break was the Zetty /99. I ran into my bedroom and woke my pregnant sleeping wife to tell her the good news. She didn't really share in my excitement, but it made me feel like a kid again. I have a picture of it in my inventory.

[redwingsfan11]

This happened to me a few months ago when I got into a 02-03 Titanium group break here on the forum. I got into it with the hopes of hitting the Zetterberg RC /99. I got last pick in the first half of the break which meant that I got first pick in the second half of the break. Well, the red Zetterberg RC /299 was pulled in the first half so I didn't really think that the Zetty /99 would be in the second half. The first card of the first pack of the first box that Don opened in the second half of the break was the Zetty /99. I ran into my bedroom and woke my pregnant sleeping wife to tell her the good news. She didn't really share in my excitement, but it made me feel like a kid again. I have a picture of it in my inventory.

Wow, thats something else, you definitely made good with that break. Its funny because i think i remember seeing that break before on youtube. When i saw the Zetty being pulled, I was excited as if i pulled it myself lol. At least now i know who was the beneficiary of that break lol.

[jmatchett]

Mine isn't a hockey card, or even my card.
I got "seriously" into collecting in 92/93 with my dad (9/10 at the time). We did mainly hockey, with a little basketball and a trickle of baseball.
At the local shop, I got a reputation for having a lucky hand. One night, a guy was busting a box of 92/93 Topps Basketball. This was when the Golds were the big parallel pull. He was striking out like crazy. He got to the last pack and handed it to me and said, "I need you to pull me something." Inside was the biggest hit you could get; a Gold Shaq Rookie. At that point, the shop manager yelled, "Quick; give me 3 numbers," and, after I did so, about 10 guys went down to the local 7-11 to play the lottery on those 3 numbers. It's not an expensive card now, and I never owned it. But it was just really fun and, to me, that's what this hobby is all about, having a good time and being able to see a great pull like that.

[iamhannah]

My best memory of card collecting happend here on the forum. I was looking to complete my set of 2007-08 OPC Premier Original Six Signatures and a really helpful member on here helped me track down the rest of the cards I needed. Without him I don't know if I ever would have completed the set. I am forever grateful. That set is by far my favorite and every time I look at those cards I smile.