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The Twenty-One Year Wait Is Over
Back in 1993, certified autographs pulled from packs were a lot less common. Signature Rookies, Be A Player, Donruss Signature, and other products loaded with autographs were just around the corner... but hadn't quite arrived.
And even though Upper Deck, Pro Line, Star Pics, Fleer, Classic, and Leaf were inserting thousands of autographs into their packs... the odds of pulling one was extremely small due to the companies flooding the market with their products. Even my local card shop barely had any certified pack pulled autographs in their display cases and the ones they had were usually of the Classic, Front Row, Star Pics, and Pro Line variety.
Then it happened. One day I was killing time in between classes at a card shop across the street from San Jose State, when a guy pulled a Frank Thomasautograph out of a pack of 1993 Leaf. C'mon... we all know the feeling of pulling that insane card. It was like he won the lottery and he instantly became the most popular guy in the shop.
I remember he bought a 1" lucite holder for it and let everyone in the shop check it out. At the time, Frank Thomas was arguably the hottest player in the hobby and we were all extremely jealous.
Over the years, I completely forgot about that card and the story. One of those out of sight... out of mind issues. Then it hit me while re-watching Frank's Hall of Fameinduction speech and I immediately added the card to my eBaywatch list.
I wasn't expecting to find any in my price range, since completed auctions were closing between $50 and $100 delivered... which is a little more than I could afford. But last week, I targeted one on my sniper program and ended up winning it for $41.50 (+ $2.50 shipping).
It may not be the most beautiful Frank Thomasautograph I own... but it's definitely one of the most memorable. Crossing off a card from your twenty-one year old wantlist will have that kind of effect. Now if I could only find a reasonably priced 1982 Topps Traded Ripken.
Happy Tuesday and sayonara.
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