Pulling That One Card

As a kid, I must've opened tons of junk wax.  I probably could have made a hundred puzzles out of 1991 and 1992 Donruss, and had fifty of every team sticker out of Fleer.  But I didn't really open a ton of 1989 Upper Deck.  It was just too expensive for 7 year-old me, and it seemed to stay out of my price range.  Luckily for me but unluckily for the thousands of hoarders that held cases and cases of this thinking they were going to retire on the profits, this wax remains quite plentiful even to this day.  And really, it hasn't appreciated much, if at all, especially if you take inflation into account.

Despite all that has happened, this is still an iconic release.  And on top of that, they had the astute observation to make Ken Griffey Junior the #1 card in the set.  I always wanted to pull that card.  I know of all the sequencing issues, and being able to predict what you're going to pull based on what was already there (though obviously not as bad as in the 1986-87 Fleer Basketball release), but I had to try anyway.

My wife humored me, and we bought a low series box a few years back.  And nearly at the end of the box...  There it was.  The card that I always wanted.  I had to grade it, and even though it doesn't nearly make up for the box price, it's a card that I'll hang onto for a long time.  Sometimes it just isn't about the money.