Have you ever seen something like this in the trading card section or the toy section of a store and wondered what the hell it is? It’s usually between 5 and 20 bucks, and it purports to have a certain number of cards (usually between 30 and 80) and a pack or two, and sometimes… Read More What’s in the box? Checking out a Fairfield repack
When I look at the portion of my sports card collection I kept from when I was a kid, I see some patterns that reveal my tastes at the time. In football, I loved athletic, scrambling QBs who could wind their way out of the pocket for a first-down themselves or uncork an absolute bomb… Read More Blast From the Packs: 1992 Upper Deck Baseball, a photography master class
When I bought the box of 1992 Leaf baseball, it was kind of an impulse purchase. Like when you have a little too much wine and make a late-night Amazon order: It’s fine, it’s good, but did you really need that hard-boiled egg maker? I didn’t really collect that particular season of Leaf when I… Read More Blast From the Packs: 1991-92, the first year of Upper Deck NBA
As we’ve established by now, one of the greatest joys of collecting sports cards, in my book, is opening a fresh pack of cards. Ahhh yes, the moment when potential meets reality, and a sealed stack of could-be becomes part of a collection of what-is. Until recently, I had never purchased a box of packs,… Read More Blast From the Packs: Ripping a box of 1992 Leaf baseball
I think the most important part of sports fandom as a kid is having your favorites. A favorite team is one thing, and I imagine having a team is much more visceral for kids who grow up in a city with a professional sports team, but I grew up about 90 miles from Chicago, about… Read More Blast From the Packs: I was a Frank Thomas Kid
I always loved the feeling of ripping open a fresh pack of collectible sports cards. I’d hold the foil package in my hands, turning it over and feeling the tightly packed stack of cards within. The best part was always that moment just before opening, just before the mystery and anticipation of what-could-be turns to… Read More Blast From the Packs: A memoir by way of the sports cards of my youth
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