What’s In The Fireproof? Part 2

I met a young lady in the summer of 1993 when I was umpiring on nights that I wasn’t playing city league baseball.  My uncle was the recreation director and he landed me a little side gig to make a few extra bucks.  The young lady in question was playing softball that night and I called her out on a bang-bang play at 1^st base.  She was none too pleased with the call and voiced her displeasure.  That was the first time I came close to tossing a player out for arguing.  I can still hear her muttering something about me being an idiot as she headed over to the dugout.  A year later, she was flirting with me at the Video Superstore, either having forgotten about our first encounter, or falling victim to my boyish good looks.  We would go on to date (off and on) for the next 7 years, eventually becoming husband and wife in April 2001.She came along at just the right time as I was shifting my focus away from my childhood hobby of collecting cards, thanks in part to the baseball strike of ’94.  I left cards in the dust that summer and began a relationship that has lasted now 23 years, give or take a break up here and there.  This weekend, I celebrated my 16 year wedding anniversary with Mrs. Dub and once again, I left cards in the dust.  We went out to eat Friday night and spent all day Saturday fishing the Chickasawhatchee Creek in the backwoods of Baker County, Ga.  It was a throwback to the summers of our youth fishing and swimming in those beautiful spring fed waters.  Today was a total recuperation day before our two kids made their way back from Grandma’s and our hectic life jumped back into high gear.

It’s a lazy, rainy Sunday night in South Georgia and I’ve been looking at a couple of unopened boxes I have sitting on the shelf wondering if tonight would be the night to crack one.  I got a box of 1985 Donruss in the mail during the week and plan to do a rip and post of that sweet nostalgia.  I still have 2017 Donruss Baseball, 2016 Donruss Football, 2016 Optic Football and 1992 Studio Baseball sitting there staring back at me.  None of it seemed to have the right allure for the evening so I thought I would take another dip into the fireproof.  This is Part 2 in the series and I picked out 5 really nice personal favorites to finish out this solid weekend.  If you want to catch up on Part 1, you can check that out Here.1985 Topps Cal Ripken Jr. Autograph PSA/DNA – This beauty came in the 2014 Leaf Cal Ripken Jr. Iron Man Signature Collection.  This was a two card box that came with one Cal Ripken Jr. autographed Iron Man card and one buyback Cal signed on card and slabbed authentic.  These buybacks included anything from his rookie Topps to 1990 Donruss so it was a real chance when I bought it.  The risk was mitigated somewhat by the guarantee of receiving two autographs from Cal Ripken Jr.  I really hit the jackpot with the 1985 Topps as it is still a valuable set and was a very nice design.  When considering the possibilities, other than the rookie or maybe the ’87 Topps, I don’t know if I would’ve picked another choice.2010 Topps Chicle Babe Ruth Atlanta Braves 1/1 – I have no idea if this card has any value whatsoever but it’s an SP in and of itself without the designation of being a 1/1 so I definitely jumped on it when it went on sale on DA Cardworld.  The base card sells anywhere from $5-$10 on eBay but value isn’t really the reason I bought it.  I bought it because he’s sporting the deep red Atlanta uniform and current (2010) Braves cap.  The picture drew me in and the 1/1 sold me.  It was less than $20 during that sale so I couldn’t pass it up.  When I got it, I slipped it right into the fireproof and will hang on to that one until I’m old and feeble as it’s the best reprint Babe I have.2012-13 Momentum Basketball Larry Bird Auto #4/10 – I went through a stretch where I bought a ton of these boxes because they were super cheap and had some great autographs in them.  I pulled 2 Jimmy Butlers, a Kevin Durant and another that’s in the fireproof that we may discuss in the next installment.  Of course there were a lot of busts in the set too with Nando De Cola and Jeremy Pargo but every box had a veteran.  I bought those boxes on the off chance I could pull an Anthony Davis or the aforementioned Butler but also knew that I could add to my veteran collection every time.  I have Vernon Maxwell, Buck Williams, Luc Longley, Cedric Maxwell and Isaiah Rider just to name a few.  This one was the best legend I pulled because Larry is just that, a Legend!  I grew up watching and emulating Bird and his beautiful jump shot.  I loved the dunk and 3-point contest in my youth and I will never forget him raising that finger before the ball ever went in the goal during one of his 3-point titles.  I already had the Jordan/Bird from the first post but it was sweet to add a standalone Bird.1990 Pro Set Herschel Walker Autograph – Mrs. Dub and I like to frequent antique malls and thrift shops when we travel out of town.  We like them for different reasons of course.  I look for cards and sports items and she looks for old clothes, décor and records.  Some of those stores are busts but when you find something, it’s usually a great story.  I picked up my one and only vintage Mickey Mantle at one of these stores, even though it is in horrendous condition.  One holiday season, we took a trip to the North Georgia Mountains, which is home to a ton of these type stores.  I stumbled across this Herschel Walker Pro Set card with a $5 price tag.  Of course, I was skeptical because it had no COA but I knew Herschel’s signature pretty well and I had a friend in a FaceBook group who PC’d him so I reached out to him as well.  Plus, for $5 it was a no brainer.  The card passed all of the eye tests and I have what I consider to be an authentic Herschel Pro Set auto.  I will get it authenticated the next time one of the companies is at a nearby card show.  We just had some great banter on Twitter this week about Pro Set so that one was perfect timing to show.Hank Aaron Autographed Baseball – This installment included Babe Ruth in a Braves uni and also home grown legend Herschel Walker so let’s round it out with this beauty!  This was an amazing find in a 2014 Historic Autographs Five Boroughs autographed baseball box.  The box itself was on sale for around $40 and was a nice value buy for the names that were included.  I bought 5 of the boxes and got two Chili Davis cards but also got a Reggie Jackson and Don Mattingly.  Rounding out the purchase was this Hank Aaron.  At first, I was shocked because the box promises an autograph from a star or HOFer that played on one of the (4) New York City based teams.  I did not recall Hammerin Hank playing in NY.  I started reviewing the checklist and discovered that NLB Stars were honored in this set and included in 1 in 24 boxes.  Aaron was included as a member of the Indianapolis Clowns in 1952.  Aaron is a legend in the game with his 755 home runs standing for years as the MLB record before the steroid era came along.  To add to that, he is a local legend as a member of the Atlanta Braves and now as a still active member of the Braves community.  I don’t know how else I would ever get a Hank Aaron autographed baseball for this price to add to my collection.

Five more items are revealed in the fireproof and I have enough for possibly two more posts.  Again, I’m not going to cover the Cuyler Smith cards that got their own post but they are there as well.  I also just placed the sweet Gypsy Oak cards I got last week in the safe.  These five items are very special to me and will always be a part of my collection.  I am on the verge of having to upgrade the size of the box or either getting a second as two baseballs have taken up 1/3 of the area.  Hopefully you’ll find these items interesting and keep you on the edge of your seat until my next fireproof post.  If not, there’s always that ’85 Donruss box that is on the horizon.

J-Dub