The Hit of a Lifetime

Many of you who follow this blog or just read the blogs in general know that I was fortunate enough to grab a once in a lifetime card from a group break recently held by The Sandlot. The cards came via insured mail a couple of weeks ago and here's a few of the images of what I got.

I really like the Topps Unique design, although it's not usually the type of set I'd normally ever pursue. Let's just say that the timing (and pricing) was right when I jumped in on this. A lot of times I get beaten out by other Cardinals' collectors on group breaks and am at least partially relieved because I know it means there will be no burden on my bank account.

I think I'm just a big fan of black bordered designs, at least when done correctly. I still think I like blue better, but these are nice. The rookies are serial-numbered, but I did get one - Tyler Greene. I'm not sure why these are serial numbered, however, as this might be one of the most mass-produced serial numbered cards in my collection now as there were 2699 produced. Just how many "regular" Topps Unique cards are there, anyway? Talk about "unique".

There were cards from a couple of other sets in the break, including my first few 2010 Topps Chrome cards. Topps Chrome came out late this year, so I still have plenty of the Cardinals to collect.

Finally, here's the big one...

I had emails, comments and even a message on Facebook from fellow collectors waiting for me when I returned home from work before I even got to read about this card for myself. It was just stunning. For the record, this is hardly a "card" as it is thicker than a wax pack from the '80s. This is my first "1 of 1" and I couldn't have asked for it to be of a better player. Many thanks again to The Sandlot and all of the other well-wishers who congratulated me at the time. I hope that you all get to pull something as good as this at some point, if not better.