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To my fellow forum members,
As many of you know, I have just returned from the National Sports Collectors Convention which ended yesterday. For the first time in my life, I viewed a plethora of sports related collectibles. From the Uber T-206 Honus Wagner to a simple card for $0.25, there were or was a little of everything there.
My one big purchase was a 2012 Panini Absolute hobby box. Upon breaking the hobby box the last card to be pulled was the Andrew Luck hit. It's really great to pull a hit like that, I'm a first hand witness to this. At the same time, I don't expect anything from my breaks. I always say; "If you don't expect a specific outcome, there are no disappointments to the non-expectations". My collecting partner Brett has been a witness to this streak of big hits. I almost never open a pack nor share with him my breaks without his being there or having the knowledge of such a break. He knows my collection better than I do. Due to his youth, he by no fault of his own, as well as the many forum members in the past have always been surprised by Mrs. Toshi and I breaks. Sure we've honestly beat the odds yet, we've had our fare share of normal and or sub par pulls.
A great example is my love for 2012 Panini Black. I've purchased 3 hobby boxes, that's a $600.00 purchase. Looking back, that's some crazy sh**! Yet, it yielded only one big hit, a Andrew Luck RPA. The other two breaks consisted of a Michael (Eggplant) Egnew RPA and a Brian Quick RPA. Both lackluster hits. But I did not spend that kind of time, money, nor effort in getting big hits. If I truly wanted to, I could have gone in the direction of singles off of eBay.
So why purchase such a high end product? Well first of all, I love the card stock. Second, the beauty of the simplistic design and concept is fascinating! Last but not least I'm in love with the base cards. If you're going to purchase a hobby box, it might as well be a product that has base cards that appeal to the collector since these are the majority of the cards.
In itself, it's never about the big hit that makes me want to continue in this hobby. It's about the connection with my fellow forum members, a brotherhood if you will. Sure, having that big hit is great, but like life itself, it's never going to be about the successful hits, it's about the consistency, discipline, and the passion of the hobby that drives us all. Like life, "It's not always about the successful hits", it's about gaining a foothold in humanity and making or adding a belief that you, yourself can make a difference in your life and the lives of others.
I still have not been able to find the 2014 Panini Prestige "Blaster Box" at my local Walmart. Until then, Mrs. Toshi and I have par-taken in 2 blasters of secondary products not knowing what successful and positive out come would occur. Luckily, we've finally pulled a SP of a base Sandcastle. As you see in the photos, we also obtained a jersey card of Brandon Marshall. Not shown in the photos are two 2012 Panini Prizm Doug Martin and a Barry Sanders card. Overall, on a financial aspect, we made our $40.00 back, at the same time, it truly was about the time spent with my wonderful and beautiful wife. Memories of a point in time that will forever be remembered of a joyous ocassion!
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As many of you know, I have just returned from the National Sports Collectors Convention which ended yesterday. For the first time in my life, I viewed a plethora of sports related collectibles. From the Uber T-206 Honus Wagner to a simple card for $0.25, there were or was a little of everything there.
My one big purchase was a 2012 Panini Absolute hobby box. Upon breaking the hobby box the last card to be pulled was the Andrew Luck hit. It's really great to pull a hit like that, I'm a first hand witness to this. At the same time, I don't expect anything from my breaks. I always say; "If you don't expect a specific outcome, there are no disappointments to the non-expectations". My collecting partner Brett has been a witness to this streak of big hits. I almost never open a pack nor share with him my breaks without his being there or having the knowledge of such a break. He knows my collection better than I do. Due to his youth, he by no fault of his own, as well as the many forum members in the past have always been surprised by Mrs. Toshi and I breaks. Sure we've honestly beat the odds yet, we've had our fare share of normal and or sub par pulls.
A great example is my love for 2012 Panini Black. I've purchased 3 hobby boxes, that's a $600.00 purchase. Looking back, that's some crazy sh**! Yet, it yielded only one big hit, a Andrew Luck RPA. The other two breaks consisted of a Michael (Eggplant) Egnew RPA and a Brian Quick RPA. Both lackluster hits. But I did not spend that kind of time, money, nor effort in getting big hits. If I truly wanted to, I could have gone in the direction of singles off of eBay.
So why purchase such a high end product? Well first of all, I love the card stock. Second, the beauty of the simplistic design and concept is fascinating! Last but not least I'm in love with the base cards. If you're going to purchase a hobby box, it might as well be a product that has base cards that appeal to the collector since these are the majority of the cards.
In itself, it's never about the big hit that makes me want to continue in this hobby. It's about the connection with my fellow forum members, a brotherhood if you will. Sure, having that big hit is great, but like life itself, it's never going to be about the successful hits, it's about the consistency, discipline, and the passion of the hobby that drives us all. Like life, "It's not always about the successful hits", it's about gaining a foothold in humanity and making or adding a belief that you, yourself can make a difference in your life and the lives of others.
I still have not been able to find the 2014 Panini Prestige "Blaster Box" at my local Walmart. Until then, Mrs. Toshi and I have par-taken in 2 blasters of secondary products not knowing what successful and positive out come would occur. Luckily, we've finally pulled a SP of a base Sandcastle. As you see in the photos, we also obtained a jersey card of Brandon Marshall. Not shown in the photos are two 2012 Panini Prizm Doug Martin and a Barry Sanders card. Overall, on a financial aspect, we made our $40.00 back, at the same time, it truly was about the time spent with my wonderful and beautiful wife. Memories of a point in time that will forever be remembered of a joyous ocassion!
<a href="http://s1282.photobucket.com/albums/a538/hayn0824/?action=view¤t=cf3de3ee5ac3320abc5e7bce532ee 2ab_zps9a6fa4cf.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1282.photobucket.com/albums/a538/hayn0824/cf3de3ee5ac3320abc5e7bce532ee2ab_zps9a6fa4cf.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket Pictures, Images and Photos" /></a>
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