Voting: Show & Tell Contest 9.0 - FINAL WEEK!

[aweeks]

The winner of week 29's Show & Tell was johnse27! Second place went to Bimola :)


I've never entered this category before, but, things have changed for me over the last year. Flashback to 1976 and I was fortunate to have a Dad who took his son to the occasional Leaf game at Maple Leaf Gardens. Hockey was a bond we enjoyed and we would make the 2 hour trek down to TO for the evening and I would sleep in the back seat on the way home. One of those nights happened to be Feb 7, 1976 - the night Darryl Sittler scored his infamous 10 points and there we were taking it all in. That was a special moment we shared and reminisced about many times. When ITG launched their Superlative Franchise set in 2011, I was lucky to pick up two Greatest moments cards that highlighted that special night - one for my collection and one that I gave to my Dad where he proudly displayed it in his basement 'office'. Unfortunately, I lost my Dad to cancer last summer, however, the memory of experiencing that historic moment will live on with me forever. The card below is the copy I gave to him back in 2011 - it is now back in my collection and will be displayed together from now on as a tribute to the moment we shared.





Well, I can't compete with a guy and his dad (especially because my mom wouldn't let me go to Seals games when I was a kid because she thought hockey was too violent ). But I do have a good story. I got reintroduced to card collecting in 1989, just in time for the industry to try killing itself with over-production. So I wasted a LOT of money in the early 90s, just like everyone else. Even by the mid-90s when we were realizing that we weren't all going to retire early by investing in cards, I still couldn't resist. Sometime during the 96-97 season, I was going to go to a show, and I asked one of my hockey buds if he wanted to go. He said he couldn't, but he wanted me to pick up a box of the new SPx cards that just came out. So I went to the show and picked up two boxes.

On Monday, I brought them in to work, and I let my friend choose which box he wanted, and we sat down to open them up. He didn't get anything remarkable, but I pulled the Holy of Holys, the Wayne Gretzky auto insert! Now, you have to remember that this was back in the day when autographed cards were relatively scarce. It was the first one I ever pulled, and to this day, it is still the nicest card I have ever pulled from a pack. I have some nice cards in my collection, but the vast majority have been purchased separately. And the few that we have pulled have always been pulled by my wife. We typically open boxes together, and the good cards somehow always show up in the packs she pulls.

I was offered $500 for the Gretzky shortly after I pulled it, but I turned it down (idiot!). Probably couldn't get half that these days, and $500 back then was probably about $1500-$2000 now. But I keep it now just to remind me of a day when card collecting was more about opening packs and having fun than about how much money you can make off hitting a big card. Plus, I always put it out on display whenever my friends come over to play poker, so I can remind my buddy of his poor choice. To this day, whenever he sees it, he (jokingly) claims that I somehow knew which box had the auto and gave him the other one. I have had that card for 20 years now, and I still get a smile on my face every time I look at it.

[Sharky94]

Guess who voted first???

[Sharky94]

Guess who voted first???

I guess this is more appropriate...

[creasecollector]

Voted! Nice, meaningful stories guys.

[johnse27]

Was on vacation visiting New York City last week for my very first time. Unable to put in my story but it wouldn't have been as meaningful as either of these! Thanks for sharing and great cards!

[pwaldo]

Voted!

[etmill01]

Vote..Ed