Monday, October 27, 2014

I'm Impressed - My Friend Completed the 1954 Topps Set

Rarely do I use my blog to tout the collections of others, but today is an exception.  My buddy, Jet, has completed the 1954 Topps set.  The last card he needed was Johnny Sain and he just recently purchased it from Ebay, meaning that he now has in his posession, all 250 cards.

This set is a dream set of mine.  I love the design and the fact that there are legendary cards in the set.  I took it upon myself this summer to help Jet realize his dream when I picked up something like 50-60 cards that he needed from a card shop in Detroit.  For his birthday, I helped his mom pick out some key cards that he needed, namely the Jackie Robinson.

This set consists of rookies of Hall of Famers Hank Aaron, Ernie Banks and Al Kaline.  The Jackie Robinson is a "tough get."  The fact that there are TWO Ted Williams cards that bookend the set also makes it a tough one.

Jet has given me credit for helping him reach his goal, but in reality, I don't want any credit at all.  The cards I sent were all part of a trade, I just helped facilitate getting him closer to his goal.  I also mentored him through the process, and made a really good friend.

I'm just really proud to see a young person, such as Jet, pick a difficult set to collate and stick with it.  Jet is 14 and most kids his age believe that baseball doesn't exist outside of Mike Trout, Bryce Harper or Manny Machado.  For someone like him to have a passion for set building and vintage cards really makes me feel good about the state of the hobby.  I just wish more folks Jet's age felt the same.

Congratulations on the accomplishment, buddy, you earned it.

If you want to follow Jet on Instagram, his screen name (shown on the screenshot above) is @base2theballz

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