Hey guys, Happy New Years!
Not a single post since Thanksgiving. I know. I apologize for my absence. I was WAY too busy getting ready for Christmas and I just came back after a week and a half off. Hope everyone stayed safe and enjoyed their holidays.
And now, for a holiday anecdote …
Over the holiday, I was at the mall and noticed a new sports card store had opened up. I don’t usually frequent sports card stores but, as I was walking by I noticed a wall of toys. Intrigued, I went in and to my surprise, the store actually had a fair selection of 90’s toys. Stuff like Star Wars, Ninja Turtles, Batman and X-Men.
As I wandered farther into the store, I came upon a rack of superhero trading cards. Now over the years, I’ve already amassed multiple binders worth of superhero cards but, I just couldn’t help myself. I had to check them out.
And what did I find?
Unopened packs of the 1990 Marvel Universe set … wait for it … for $2.50 a pack. I was expecting to see some crappy 5-card packs from the late 90’s but, not these gems. Besides being the first series of Marvel trading cards, they were the first set I started collecting way back in the day. Needless to say, they hold a special place in my heart.
When they first came out, they were $1 per pack. And for that single dollar you got 12 cards! That pricing trend, unfortunately, is something that quickly went away. The set had great artwork, stats & summary of the character and a fun ‘Did you know?’ fact on the back.
So, being a rational adult, I bought 5 packs. Maybe it was the caffeine (Starbucks was stop #1), maybe I was still giddy about Christmas. Either way, I just couldn’t help myself. I had to get them.
The thought here was that maybe I should try to complete the set. So, as soon as I got home, I opened them up. I saw quite a few that looked familiar but, I already had quite a few so, getting some multiples was bound to happen. I quickly ran upstairs and grabbed the binder that I had this series in and started placing the cards in their slots. Well, after a few pages, I was starting to think that the checklist card (the last card in the series) was the only real new one I had got in the packs. Until I got to the last page … when I realized I already had that card too.
I had bought 5 packs of duplicates.
So the task changed. What few cards was I missing? I broke out the checklist card and started going page by page. And guess what folks? I have every card in the set. Not only do I now have every card in the set but, I had every card in the set before I set off on that caffeinated trip down memory lane. Am I upset? Not at all. I love these cards and I’ll probably give some of the duplicates to my kids when they get older. Do I wish I would’ve known before I bought them? Yes.
The moral of the story here: Check your inventory before you buy new stuff 🙂
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