Alright, so I was rummaging through a box of stuff I hadn’t touched in a while, mostly commons and odds and ends from packs I’d opened over the years. You know how it goes, stuff just piles up.
Anyway, I’m flipping through this stack of baseball cards, mostly just base stuff, nothing too exciting. Then I hit this one card. It was from the 2018 Topps set. Recognised the design right away.
Pulled it out for a closer look. And there he was, Aaron Judge. It wasn’t any fancy parallel or insert, just the regular base card. But still, it’s Judge from his early years after that monster rookie season.
Looking it Over
So I held it up. Checked the corners first, habit I guess. They weren’t razor sharp, maybe a tiny bit of white showing on one if you looked really close, but overall, pretty clean. No creases, no major surface scratches I could see. Just looked like a card that had been sitting in a box with others, which is exactly what it was doing.
Thought about what to do with it. It’s not like it’s a super valuable card right now, just a base card. But Judge is a big name, and it’s better than just letting it get banged up further in that loose stack.
Taking Action
Decided it deserved a bit more protection. Went over to my desk where I keep some supplies.
- First, I grabbed a standard penny sleeve. Gently slid the card in, making sure not to nick the corners.
- Then, I found a decent semi-rigid card saver, or maybe it was a top loader, one of those slightly thicker plastic holders. Yeah, it was a regular top loader.
- Carefully slipped the sleeved card into the top loader. Fit nice and snug.
There. Felt better having it properly protected. It wasn’t a huge discovery or anything, but finding a solid card of a star player like that is always kinda neat.
Put it aside in a different, smaller box where I keep cards that are at least somewhat notable or that I just personally like. Better than getting lost in the shuffle again. Just a small part of the process, keeping things organized, one card at a time.
