So one day earlier this year I was looking over my Tony Gwynn want list and noticed that I didn't own the 1997 Score Reserve Collection card and decided I should hunt it down and buy it. And so I did... I receieve the package in the mail with my newly purchased cards to see that what was sent was the Hobby Reserves and not the Reserve Collection. So I contacted the dealer to let him know of the mistake and he told me to keep the card I had and he would send the correct card. Another few days goes by and the card comes in the mail. I open my package to see that the same exact card was sent. Knowing that this dealer is extremly knowledgable about their sports cards I had to assume that the error was on my end. So I grab the Hobby Reserves card that I have in my collection, (the one that is not in my doubles boxes) and decide to look closer at both and see if I see something off. Then I noticed the card number on the back of the card, the Hobby Reserves that I had in my collection had an HR prefix on the number, the 2 that I had been sent as Reserve Collection did not. Promblem Solved! I scan the cards front and back and add it to the worlds greatest database on the web.
A few months go buy and many Tony Gwynn purchases later I am uploading scans into the database and I see that the front image of the 1997 Reserve Collection I had uploaded earlier is in my list of cards with no images. So I start thinking ok there must be a mistake. I started looking at other cards in the database that are from the Reserve Collection set and see that most of the them have a silver background on the front and an emblem on the back with the letters RC and with a prefix on the card numbers of HR. So now I must investigate! I have spent about 2 weeks investigating and ordering 3 more cards listed as 1997 Reserve Collection and have recieved the same card all 3 times. I looked through my doubles of Gwynn and see that I actually had 4 without the HR prefix and 13 with. I seem to get mixed information depending on what source I am using to collect what information I can to get to the bottom of this mystery. The more I look into this, the more I hear Rod Sterling narrating my attempts!
