Favorite Cards

I have collected baseball cards off an on for my entire life. I would guess my most valuable card is worth about $100, extremely small potatoes in the collecting world.

One of my earliest vivid memories is from when I was four years old and I had just gotten some sort of shot at the doctor. Because I had handled it so well, I was able to go to the Red Owl to pick out a toy and rent a movie.

The trade was made and I went on with my day, until there was a sudden loud and angry knock on our front door. As it turned out, Tony's mom realized that the Aaron card wasn't vintage or valuable at all-- it was just a common card from the 1989 set.

Tom talks about his collection, where he gets his vintage cards, how important the condition of cards is to his collection, about his favorite cards and what he hopes happens to his collection years down the road.

My grandpa, who really had no interest in baseball cards at the time, paid $3 for the card and handed it to me. I'll never forget what he said when he gave it to me.

Any time my dad went to the convenience store in 1993, there was a good chance that he was going to bring back some baseball cards. Scratch that- there was a 100% chance that he would bring back cards.

Every collector has a white whale. Maybe it's a '52 Mickey Mantle, or a 2011 Topps Mike Trout rookie. For me, and my dad, it was the 1984 Fleer Update Kirby Puckett rookie card.

Every year for my son's birthday, I get a custom baseball card made with a current picture and a short bio on the back. I give them to our family at Christmas in place of a traditional card.

When my dad and I would set up our booth at a card show, we would put this mutilated Ryan on the table with a price tag of $10. We both knew if anyone actually tried to buy the card we would not be able to follow through with the sale.

My all-time favorite card is a 1989 Topps Gary Gaetti, which is worth about $.07. For me, the memories are more important than the value.