Hey guys, Happy New Years!

Not a single post since Thanksgiving.  I know.  I apologize for my absence.  I was WAY too busy getting ready for Christmas and I just came back after a week and a half off.  Hope everyone stayed safe and enjoyed their holidays.

And now, for a holiday anecdote …

Over the holiday, I was at the mall and noticed a new sports card store had opened up.  I don’t usually frequent sports card stores but, as I was walking by I noticed a wall of toys.  Intrigued, I went in and to my surprise, the store actually had a fair selection of 90’s toys.  Stuff like Star Wars, Ninja Turtles, Batman and X-Men.

https://www.instagram.com/p/icJk7KzdqZ/

 

As I wandered farther into the store, I came upon a rack of superhero trading cards.  Now over the years, I’ve already amassed multiple binders worth of superhero cards but, I just couldn’t help myself.  I had to check them out.

And what did I find?

Unopened packs of the 1990 Marvel Universe set … wait for it … for $2.50 a pack.  I was expecting to see some crappy 5-card packs from the late 90’s but, not these gems.  Besides being the first series of Marvel trading cards, they were the first set I started collecting way back in the day.  Needless to say, they hold a special place in my heart.

When they first came out, they were $1 per pack.  And for that single dollar you got 12 cards!  That pricing trend, unfortunately, is something that quickly went away.  The set had great artwork, stats & summary of the character and a fun ‘Did you know?’ fact on the back.

So, being a rational adult, I bought 5 packs.  Maybe it was the caffeine (Starbucks was stop #1), maybe I was still giddy about Christmas.  Either way, I just couldn’t help myself.  I had to get them.

The thought here was that maybe I should try to complete the set.  So, as soon as I got home, I opened them up.  I saw quite a few that looked familiar but, I already had quite a few so, getting some multiples was bound to happen.  I quickly ran upstairs and grabbed the binder that I had this series in and started placing the cards in their slots.  Well, after a few pages, I was starting to think that the checklist card (the last card in the series) was the only real new one I had got in the packs.  Until I got to the last page … when I realized I already had that card too.

I had bought 5 packs of duplicates.

So the task changed.  What few cards was I missing?  I broke out the checklist card and started going page by page.  And guess what folks? I have every card in the set.  Not only do I now have every card in the set but, I had every card in the set before I set off on that caffeinated trip down memory lane.  Am I upset?  Not at all.  I love these cards and I’ll probably give some of the duplicates to my kids when they get older.  Do I wish I would’ve known before I bought them? Yes.

The moral of the story here: Check your inventory before you buy new stuff 🙂