Wednesday, March 2, 2016

So I guess I'm a Blogger Now...

Dodgerpenguin hooked me up with a lot of cool people, and it's only the first day!  Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to comment and look at the page.  I have a feeling this is going to be a lot of fun.  Before I show the next card, I wanted to let everyone know a little about myself  and how I got into collecting cards.  First off, I'm a female collector in a male dominated hobby, which is very rare these days.  When I was a little girl I always tagged along with my dad and brother on their weekly trips to Northridge Collectibles (shout out to the owner, Brian and his bid board).  I can still remember my first pack of cards- 1988 Topps, which is still one of my favorites of all time-yes, I'm biased.  Inside that pack was a Orel Hershiser card, and from that moment on, I was hooked!  To me cards are like pieces of art.  If I think a card is ugly, I move on.  No point in spending money on a card that isn't visually appealing.  Anyway, I digress.  From about age 5-12 I collected every year of Topps and practically memorized every single players stats.  Baseball was literally my first love!

Flash forward to 1993- Mike Piazza was the man!  I had a little crush on him and his fu manchu, and I loved the way he crushed the baseball.  I started collecting all the Mike Piazza cards I could get my hands on.  Then around age 13-14 something happened----puberty lol  I decided I liked boys more than baseball cards, and I completely gave up the hobby.  So how did I get back into the collecting game?  Let's just say it was a total accident.  I was looking at random Dodgers videos on youtube when I stumbled across a video titled something liked "Dodgers PC."  I watched the video and couldn't believe how much cards had changed from when I first started collecting.  Certified autographs, patches, bat barrels, whaaat?  The cards were literally like pieces of art!  Then I started reminiscing about the old days of busting packs with my dad and brother.  My dad passed away in 2002, and collecting cards with him was always one of my favorite memories, so maybe this was my subconscious telling me to do it.  All I know is, that very night I went on ebay and bought the Clayton Kershaw Bowman Chrome auto and the following day the '05 Matt Kemp Bowman Chrome auto.  The rest is history.

Now on to the card:  This was given to me as a gift by the very same guy whose video got me back into collecting.  He decided last year that he wanted to sell his entire collection and move onto other things.  I wish Alex the best, and I totally wish he didn't stop collecting, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.  This card was his very first Kershaw card, and it happens to mean a lot to me.  Here it is in all its glory:


Thanks to everyone that took the time to read this and GO DODGERS!

14 comments:

  1. Welcome to the blogosphere. Just have fun! I think I know (traded with) the Alex you mention. I used to send him all of my Cameo Dodgers and guys for his PCs.

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    1. Hi John, thanks for stopping by. I'm sure you did make some trades with him. Alex loved to make trades, especially for Kershaw's!

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  2. I'm another one that found you via DodgerPenguin. I can relate to the collecting break during your teenage years. The owner of my local card shop even told me when I was 15 that when I turned 16 and could drive I'd lose interest in coming in. I didn't believe him, but sure enough, it happened. Anyway, welcome to blogging!

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    1. Thanks Wilson. Yeah, isn't funny how everything comes full circle?!

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  3. Welcome, nice to see a new face blogging about baseball.

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    1. Just wait until the season starts. I'm sure there will be a lot of negative rants about the Dodgers, but I'm hoping to keep it positive ;-)

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  4. Congrats on getting started! Have fun.

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    1. Thanks! Now I just need to learn how to set up my page better.haha

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  5. Glad that a lot of people came your way. Its always fun to interact with new people. Great story and Alex is a great guy. Met him once as well as he usually does a yearly trip down here for a Dodger game. I think he will be back somewhere down the road as I think a lot of people (including myself) take a break at some time or another as I got out in the early 2000's and came back in 2013.

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  6. Oh wow, I had no idea you knew Alex! The collecting community is pretty small though when you think about it. We were supposed to meet up at a game last year, but he had some family obligations so it never happened.

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  7. Welcome! There are always plenty of Dodger bloggers in this community (aka The Cardsphere) but not too many ladies. Let me know if you want some Dodgers cards; I'm sure I can send a few over.

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  8. Welcome to the realm of card blogging! Always nice to see a new face join the community.

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  9. Welcome to the world of blogging! I just spotted your blog on Night Owl's blogroll tonight, and gave it a look. Our collecting paths are somewhat similar in that I started in 1988 as well, and I also lost my dad in 2002 (to cancer), but I never got into baseball too much- NBA is king for me. (I still read lots of baseball only blogs, though, as any new knowledge I can acquire is good to me). I also never took any breaks from the hobby. Hope to see some Lakers posts from you in the future, I'll be adding your blog to my blogroll shortly.

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    1. Hi Ben. thanks for stopping by to check out the blog. I have always been a diehard Lakers fan, but my interest just hasn't been there these last few years. I grew up a huge fan of Michael Jordan, but of course I switched over the the purple and gold within a year. I loved listening the Chick Hearn, and some of my favorite times were before the Lakers got Shaq and started dominating, ie. Van Exel, Jones, Ceballos etc. Now days I'm just bored with the Lakers. I'm definitely not a fair weather fan, but it's just been difficult to get into the team. I REALLY hope that changes soon!

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