They say you don’t forget your first love. In Hobby vernacular, that often means the year you opened your first pack of cards or perhaps the year you received that first card from a cousin or grandparent. My “first love?” Well, let’s just say I’ll always cherish 1976 Topps (baseball and football). That was the year my mom ignited what mostly has been a life-long love of cardboard by purchasing my very first pack of cards (1976 Topps Baseball). But it wouldn’t be the last love of my Hobby life.
Though my collecting journey started shortly before I turned 7 that Bicentennial year, it took a turn at Fourteen and Busy Street. Other interests dominated most of my teenaged years and let’s be honest: it’s hard enough discovering who you are without that ‘nerd’ label attached. Seven years later, at the pinnacle for “coolness” (age 21 for those of you keeping track), and the irony certainly not lost on me, I decided I’d rather spend my money at card shops or card shows rather than at the bars. Enter my new love- one that I hold with equal veneration, if not more, as I do the ’76 release: 1991 Topps Baseball.
Thirty-three years later, the flame still burns brightly for my hobby rebirth set, which is why I recently reached out to Greg of Night Owl Cards and asked if he would be willing to sign the cover of a copy of the March 2021 Beckett Baseball magazine. You see, Greg wrote the cover story that looked back at that landmark 1991 set. And Greg, awesome dude that he is, happily obliged. (Thanks again, Greg!!)
Rather than sending my actual copy of the price guide, I downloaded a PDF of the cover that I found online, sent it to our pre-press department at work, and had them print it off. After all, the cover featured my favorite ball player of all-time and I sure as Topps wasn’t going to risk it getting damaged through the United States Post Service.
So now I need to decide how I want to display this unique piece of my collection. Perhaps I can create a little shrine that’s dedicated to the set that, in many ways, marked the end of an era. But one that marked the beginning of a new era in the hobby for this collector.
The Card Chop 