Favorite Card Of The Day!

The XRC!As a kid,these were what separated the men from the boys.I say this because you were considered to be "Da Man" If you were fortunate enough to own a players extended rookie card.An 89 Topps Walt Weiss was cool to have,but easy to obtain.Having a players XRC from an Update or Traded set meant that you had to do some leg work to get over to your closest hobby shop to either ask the vendor to break up a set for you or special order a factory sealed box.You couldn't find traded sets or packs at your nearest, neighborhood corner stores so you literally had to go the extra mile If you wanted some of that Topps Traded goodness.Known more for his defense,Walt Weiss was the third Oakland Athletics player In a row to receive ROY honors In 1988 (Canseco '86,McGwire '87).

Picking Up Where I Left Off

My card collecting days pretty much  ended  the night Jose Canseco was traded to Texas.I was an avid Canseco card collector as well as an A's fanatic,and right around that time (early 90's)the magic In Oakland had subsided along with my cardboard obsession. I still watched my Met games and kept up with Texas to see how J.C. was doing,but baseball cards would ultimately take a back seat to video games,sports,girls and video games ;) I wouldn't pick up another pack of baseball cards until '05-'06.The game had changed significantly and young studs like Prince Fielder and Ryan Zimmerman were just breaking into the league.Not to mention a switch hitting,fleet footed Dominican SS named Jose Reyes who had managed to make me a Met believer again.I was back In baseball mode ,and once again enamored by the on field antics and  dominance of a player named Jose!Reyes quickly became a personal favorite ,which meant that I was going to have to own his RC along with any other cardboard releases of New York's newest speed demon.Reyes along with guys like Fielder and Verlander made me want to "watch" baseball again.Collect again.I became a RC hound,searching them out online as well as In local card shops.I still bought the occasional pack but mostly enjoyed rounding up rookies.Flash forward to 2008.Much like Oakland In the early 90's ,Mets baseball had reached a low point.Reyes couldn't shake the injury bug ,much like Canseco In the tail end of his tenure In Oakland,and after a Madoff scheme ,a couple of losing years  highlighted by a N.L. batting title,Reyes was off to Miami.Again,my interest In the game and collecting had faded. Fortunately things are on the up and up these days for N.Y. and once again I enjoy watching the game.Matt Harvey ,Degrom and Lagares have sparked my interest  as far as collecting goes and It seems like I'll be looking to add some of their cards to the old collection.I don't see myself getting too deep into the hobby,though,just cherry picking players that I like and picking up a pack here and there.I'm not a huge "Auto" or "Game Used" collector but do enjoy running into one every now and then when opening packs.Maybe this will snowball out of control at some point but for now It's all about fun  In moderation.Below are some of the Reyes cards I picked up at the height of his career In N.Y.