I ran across a pretty cool card “challenge” a few weeks ago from Hall of Fame blogger “Cardpocalypse.”  I knew I wanted to participate and I even have “7 Day Trading Card Challenge” written on my work “task list” which tells you that I have no shame mixing work and pleasure – shhhh, don’t tell my boss.  Now that I think about it, I doubt he would mind.  He fully endorses ANYTHING that helps his employees stay sane and focused – even if it means breaking from work for a bit to “reset.” That to me, is cool.

Life is pretty unorthodox right now which I know you all can understand.  I have a list of things that I’ve been meaning to get to but it either seems that other things get bumped up on the priority list or time simply slips away.  Then there are the evenings where I have the time…but not the energy.  I guess the added stress of navigating the world live in can take a toll.

First it was the coronavirus…then social unrest due to the unfortunate event in Minneapolis…and now apparently, anti-fascist groups can just move right in and decide they now own 6 blocks of public city space.  And, whatever happened with the murder hornets?!  They promised us MURDER HORNETS!!!

SO anyways – you can imagine how excited I was to find out that one of my favorite bloggers added me to his blogroll.  I read his blog several times a week and consider it a “Hall of Fame” baseball card blog.  Thanks Night Owl Cards!  I’m seriously “fan-girling” over here!

He posted up his card challenge selections tonight – all at once.  Which honestly is more my style too.  I’d rather knock it all out at once.  After all, it’s been on my “to do” list since the end of March.    

Ok so let’s get to it. 

Favorite Card Acquired During Quarantine

About three weeks into this government imposed house arrest, uhhh…I mean, “quarantine even though I’m not sick” a good friend of mine called me and said, “So how is the quarantine going? You’re in heaven aren’t you!” Of course, she was making light of the fact that despite what some may thing, I’m a pretty introverted homebody. I have no problem staying home – I just take issue with the government mandating that I do pretty much anything that I don’t want to do. So anyways, best card that I’ve acquired over the past few months? Gotta be this Gary Carter art card. I’m not a huge collector of art cards but I do collect Gary Carter and I have always loved Carter’s 1977 Topps card. When I was about 10 years old, my Uncle Tom bought me this card at a card show.

Card from Current Year with a Unique Photo

While there are certainly more EXCITING photos out there, I don’t think I have ever seen a card committed to featuring someone such as Nolan Ryan taking a lead off of first base.

Favorite Football Card in Your Collection

I’m a baseball guy through and through so I would say that 98% of my collection is focused on baseball cards. I do have many of the key rookies from 1980 through the late 90’s though. One of my favorites is the 1986 Topps Jerry Rice. It’s a classic card and I will never forget how I got it. In 4th grade, a kid in my class asked if I wanted to buy a binder of cards. He showed me the binder and it was the complete 1986 Topps football set. He said he wanted $10 for it. The next day, he had $10 and I had the cards. My favorite card in my collection is far from the most valuable though. DJ Dozier was a local two sport superstar from my area. After being drafted by the Detroit Tigers in 1983, he would turn down the offer to play baseball and go on to be a Heisman finalist at Penn State and then drafted by the Vikings. He also decided he wanted to play professional baseball. In 1990, the Mets signed him as an undrafted free agent. For a few years he played AAA ball here in Norfolk for the Tides so it was quite a big deal to see him in person. Dozier was a two sport player before Deion made it a big deal.

Favorite Basketball Card in Your Collection

Not a lot of basketball cards to pick from if you were to thumb through my collection. I do have an absurd amount of Jordans and some of them are spectacular as you would imagine. This John Havlicek is probably my favorite though. In the early 2000’s, I was the Food & Beverage Director at a private golf and yacht club here in Virginia Beach and we did a ton of weddings. One summer my team had the privilege of hosting the wedding and reception of John’s son. John was there and was an absolute pleasure to be around. Scott Van Pelt was there too. He was the best man and gave one of the best speeches I have ever heard at a wedding.

Favorite ‘other’ Sport Card in Your Collection

I have an old college roommate that would fight you to the death if you said that wrestling wasn’t a “sport” so I feel comfortable enough featuring this sweet WWF card of the Ultimate Warrior. I was never a fan of the “sport” as a kid which was rare given that it was the 80’s. I did however appreciate the “characters” of the sport. My brother was a big “Hulkamaniac.”

Favorite Non Sport Card in Your Collection

I mean, One-Eyed Willie is only ONE of the MANY great characters in this Spielberg classic but if I had to choose from my very few non-sport cards, it would go to this guy. He gave an eye for it after all. The Goonies is one of my all-time favorite movies as well.

Best Hobby Trend to Emerge This Year

I’m admittedly one of the most unenthusiastic collectors out there. Especially when it comes to new “trends.” A lot of bloggers have said that the Topps Project 2020 is the most exciting trend of the year. Personally, it’s not for me. Like, at ALL. I think the biggest trend that I have seen this year has been the proliferation of collectors showcasing their collections and box breaks on social media. Of course, this is a result of so many card shops being shut down and folks being inside with little else to do. I’ve found myself reading more blogs and following more collectors on Instagram. While I don’t partake in Facebook, I’m sure more and more collectors are connecting on Facebook as well. I think this is good for the hobby.

Well this was fun! Many thanks to Cardpocalypse for putting this challenge together! Have a great week.