It was a Saturday in April or May. It had been raining throughout the morning, squashing any chance of card hunting. In the early 1980s, that's what I did with my dad. Every garage sale or yard sale around our Alsip, Illinois neighborhood, was hunting ground for baseball cards and memorabilia. We searched hard those years, but more seasoned hunters came away with better game.

That afternoon, we went out for a drive. The rain had stopped after lunch, and my dad thought we might find a sale or two. I was happy to go, as I often was. There were no sales on our drive out, but on our way back home, I spotted a family loading up their front yard. We stopped in. Lots of useful stuff I suppose, but nothing that caught this 14 year old's eye....except a large cardboard box the size of a milk crate. Inside? The colorful splash of thousands of 1972 Topps baseball cards, with a disproportional amount of high numbers (I didn't know that at the time). My dad paid for it, I think it was $10. Boy was I excited on the drive home. There was everything in multiples....Mays, Clemente, Aaron. I can't recall if I noticed then that the bottom quarter of the box was a bit damp.

I started my story with rain, so it must end with rain. That cardboard box was likely out on the lawn that morning, which became evident the deeper I searched. The high numbers, Carew, Garvey, you know.... were mostly at the bottom.

But for $10, it's a great memory that has lasted all these decades....that's a score!
If you took the time to read this...Thank You.

I had bought a pack here and there from 1970 and 1971. But... this set (1972) was when I really started collecting cards. I was 12 and had no income but my father would slip me some change and send me up to get a few packs. I fondly remember once when he gave me a $5 bill and told me to go up to Boyd's and get as many packs as I could! The catch was that he got to open them. He would open a pack, read the name and team then hand me the card. I sat on the floor at his feet and started stacking them by team. By the end of the year, I realized the whole numbering thing and I was hooked on set building from then on. Sadly, I sold all my cards in 1987...
But I am back!

My first pack of cards was from the 1972 Topps baseball set. I thought the players were great and the colors were wonderful. Collected 72, 73 and then found girls and sold everything. After my kids finished college I was able to start collecting again and started with 1962 Topps then 1972 Topps. Now I have many many sets and cards including three complete 72 Topps sets. I still love these cards.