Junk Wax Dig

As I spent some time sorting recently, it came time to sort through my Upper Deck stacks. This brought a lot of memories to the forefront. It was 1989, and 12 year old me discovered this new set. Sixth-grade me was really discovering cards. It had been 2 or 3 years of serious collecting for me, and sixth grade brought a lot of new friends who loved cards as much as I did. We knew Topps well, in addition to Donruss and Fleer. 1988 also saw the addition of Score to the mix. But Upper Deck was something all new - and it was amazing. Topps, Donruss and Fleer were cardboard treasures. But Score tried to up the game. Thicker, stronger card stock and pictures on the front and back were new and welcome. But what Score tried to accomplish, Upper Deck excelled in. It was thick card stock and there were pictures on front and back. Glossy cards weren't familiar outside of those KMart, Kaybee or other small sets you'd pick up for $1.99. Upper Deck was nearly there. Middle school...

The Tournament I grew up a Junk Wax Junkie. Born in 1976, by the time I was really focused on baseball - and able to get some cards, junk wax was my thing. I didn't know any better, though. Junk wax was just baseball cards to 9-year-old me buying cards in the summer of 1986. By buying cards, I mean using the change from grandpa's cigarettes to buy some Topps packs. It started as simply trying to accumulate cards, but it progressed into chasing the big-time rookies of the 1980s and '90s. Boy, was pre-teen me mistaken. These rookies turned out to be work very little nowadays. That Barry Bonds 1987 Topps I thought was special wasn't. That 1988 Tom Glavine? Yeah, not so much. Thinking back on some of my misguided youth, I began wondering about those Junk Wax Rookies. There were so many guys we thought were going to be superstars. Todd Van Poppel, Gregg Jefferies, Todd Zeile ... I could go on and on.  Those names inspired a Twitter tournament: JUNK WA...

To many, a pile of cards strewn about three folding tables in no particular order may seem like a nuisance. It may seem like a waste of space. It may seem like kindling for your next bonfire. But to me, a stack of cards in desperate need of organization is a blessing. Here's some backstory. I may need to write this in parts, because I got emotional just thinking about this topic for a blog post. Growing up, I found baseball cards around 9 years old. It was the summer of 1996, and I remember buying a pack of Topps cards from the local convenience shop in my grandparents' small rural Wisconsin town. I don't remember much about who was in that pack - except it included two Brewers: Tim Leary and Jaime Cocanower. If you weren't alive back then - or if you didn't focus on baseball as much as me - you have no idea who those two were. That pack started me on an adventure. By 1987, I was buying packs of cards any chance I could get. I got my allowance? Cards. Mo...

My return to card collecting has been slow. I've bought cards at stores here or there, but never really going full bore into it. I've stopped at Goodwill and added a lot of junk wax, and ShopKo, Walmart, Target and Walgreens has really helped me pad my collection (even if it is still in disarray). But recently, I've hit a hot streak with adding to my cards.  Twitter is to blame for my re-entry into card collecting, and it's starting to pad my card numbers. If you are on Twitter, you no doubt see the countless "Retweet to win this card" posts. Well, I admit I'm guilty of retweeting a lot of those. That leads me to my first new addition. Bong Puffer and my retirement plan There are always fun cards out there that really don't have much value. Jay Johnstone with an umbrella hat made out of Budweiser labels comes to mind. The Menendez brothers have recently popped up on a junk wax basketball card. There are always those fun cards out...