Card(s) of the Day . . . 2001 Bowman Chrome Was The Last Time . . . Until Now. I've Been Dragged Back In

Sigh....

2001 was the last year I collected baseball cards and I was a high end type of buyer and buying up that year's Bowman Chrome. If you don't know that was the year Bowman Chrome came out with autograph refractors and the world would never be the same. That was the year as well that had Albert Pujol's rookie card. I chased that one to no avail and after that I decided that my wallet and my habits could not survive the hobby and I bowed out and concentrated on life issues and moved on from collecting all together. I got back into comic reading in the late 2000's and collecting autograph baseballs became more common place as well. But card collecting was still not on the radar. Until now.

I thought about getting back into it but in my eyes it was always cost prohibitive and I didn't feel like getting back into card gambling. There is a thrill but I wanted to enjoy it without breaking the bank. I have always kept an eye on the hobby and even own two BGS 9.5 Refractors of Kemp and Kershaw's Bowman Rookie Cards but never jumped back in fully. A few factors contributed to me getting back in. Better product, better odds of getting pricey chase cards and a set idea of what I am trying to acquire instead of me just buying and holding onto everything.

As noted earlier I got back into comic reading ( read not collecting ) as it is almost a free hobby now. I buy a $4 comic which comes out to $4.32, but then I go to a store that gives me a 20% discount which brings the cost down to $3.46. I then sell the digital code that comes with the comic on eBay for a final profit of $1.50 which brings the cost down to $1.96. I then sell the physical comic on eBay for at least $2.25 if there is no bidding war. Free Hobby !!! I will be using that same technique in the card collecting hobby.

This time around I will only be collecting Dodgers and will not be going back in time to get their cards like some of my fellow bloggers. Since I am reentering the hobby this year I will stick with 2013 and go forward and will basically concentrate on Topps Heritage, Bowman and Bowman Chrome. I have watched the prices of cards and since I am only collecting Dodgers I will sell whatever else I get in a box on eBay which for the most part will cover my costs if not make a profit. At worst I think it will only cost me pennies on the dollar to collect Dodgers on cardboard.

The good thing about focusing on one team is that there is a finite amount of cards to get. I won't be trying to get the hot rookie or the rare card and if I get either I will just sell it and it will cover my costs while I also get my Dodger cards. If for some reason this gets out of control again then I know for a fact I can just walk away. I hope to find some great looking Dodger cards and then maybe even having the Dodger depicted on the card to sign it.

With that in mind I bought a retail 2013 box of Bowman at Target which will get it's on blog entry and these 4 cards from 2013 Topps Heritage on eBay for a total of $5.00 delivered. Sorry for the no scanner. Never got around to buying one and don't see the reason to start now. LOL

Matt Kemp Purple Refractor Insert

Hanley Ramirez Purple Refractor Insert

Matt Kemp New Age Performers Insert

Clayton Kershaw / Sandy Koufax Then And Now Insert

A nice variety for my first jump back into the hobby. Can't get enough of the Bison and anything with Koufax and Kershaw great and on the same card is a plus.