Blog Bat Around: First & Favorite

My First- 1977

    The first baseball cards that I remember buying were packs of 1977 Topps. I was living in Germany at the time, and would buy cards at the shoppette that was located at the edge of the housing area. I was 10 years old back then, and I earned spending money by cleaning the stairwell (5 floors with no elevator), and I also made a little more money if I accepted a babysitting job. I spent most of my change at Betty's (bratwurst stand) on pommes frittes and candy, but I would also walk over to the shoppette and pick up a pack of 1977 Topps cards.

    Funny thing about the 1977 Topps cards is that although I remember the fronts very well, I don't remember the green backs. I do remember the orange backs of the 1978 Topps though. I'm not sure why this is, but it is. Thinking on these cards for this write-up has prompted me to add the Chicago sets to my want list at the TCDB. I have some really crappy copies of the 1978 White Sox cards. I mean they were brutalized, or erm... well loved back in the day! Zip said a friend picked them up at a yard years ago thinking she'd want them. Anyway, it's been 40 years since I bought that first pack and I'm thinking I'd like to give these sets another go 'round.

My Favorite- 1958

        Life had already become completely complicated by the time I bought my first pack of cards. Which brings me to writing about my favorite baseball card set, the uncomplicated 1958 Topps. I love the design of '58 because it reminds of a time in my life when the world I saw was innocent and simple. A time when grand adventures flowed from imagination, and adults lived in a separate world. It was a time when going outside to play meant everything, and having to pee was an exercise in bladder strength. Holding it, meant staying outside and playing longer under the beautiful blue sky and bathing in the perfect warmth of the sunshine. Going inside always held the risk of not being allowed to go back out. I developed a bladder of steel, and I wore dirt like a second skin. Yeah, 1958 Topps can take me back there, and being of the same design, so can the 2007 Topps Heritage.

    I actually have a 1958 Topps card, the Cubs team card. My copy is not as crisp as the one in this image, but it's in good condition and I love it. See Ernie?!

     And I have 2 of the 2007 Topps Heritage cards in my collection.

       So there you have it, my first baseball card purchase, and my favorite baseball card set. What are your first and favorite cards?

Thanks for reading!