Hobby Outposts From The North – Defining a Favorite
“Just when I think I’m out, they pull me back in.” – Joey Tribbiani, imitating some actor
So I guess the best way to start is to properly (re-)introduce myself, as many of you have likely not seen my name in sports and entertainment hobby writing in quite some time.
For the first time in a couple years, I’m back on this side of the pen, writing for a collectibles entity. To put it one way, the break I had for the last couple years was the first since I wrote my first column for a long-deceased website known as fatstacks.com. Back then I was a bright-eyed cub, still a bit away from going to Ryerson University and yet to write an article for my magazine class on game-used jersey cards that used artifacts of retired legends. This, by the way, was in the late 1990s / early 2000s, where cutting a Babe Ruth bat or Georges Vezina leg pads were a novelty that stirred controversy.
After those first columns and that article, which I think I got a B+ on, I embarked on a long career in hobby media. This included writing for SLAM! Collectibles, Canadian Sports Collector, Sportsology, Beckett‘s various magazines and a few mainstream media publications. I also penned two books on the hobby (but more on that at a later time).
Through it all, my preferences in collectibles have pretty much remained the same. The biggest space in my hobby boxes are reserved for cards of retired legends. Rather than having monster box after monster box of cards from pack and box 
openings, I’ve got a couple bins held, where I hunt down a card of a Superstar in a given sport. It’s a hallowed ground, in a sense – hot prospects have to earn their way into the box. They don’t just get in by being the first overall pick or winning Rookie of the Year honors. Including cards from the big four sports and others, the box contains some of my most treasured pieces, including a card that has been my favorite since those first journalistic ventures.
That card is a 1993 Cracker Jack reprint “Shoeless” Joe Jackson.
To most collectors, the card is fairly pedestrian – no signatures, no game-used swatches. Heck, it’s not even an original card; but its this simplicity that has the indelible charm and keeps it at the top of my collection.
To give you a bit more of the story behind this card, the famed candy confectioner paid tribute to its landmark baseball series from 1915. Far from rare, the set of 24 Superstars were inserted one per box of Cracker Jack. Also part of the set were Ty Cobb, Christy Mathewson and Joe Tinker among others.
The never-actually issued “Shoeless” Joe Jackson card from Field of Dreams.
What makes this piece stand out, naturally, is the story behind Jackson, or more accurately the fictional story. A few years before Cracker Jack issued this card, Kevin Costner appeared in Field of Dreams, a film adaptation of W.P. Kinsella’s famous Shoeless Joe book, in which a farmer plows over his cornfield so that the spirit of Shoeless Joe and the other players in the infamous Black Sox Scandal can play ball again. An image of the famed 1915 card – or, more accurately, a weird reproduction of it with a different photo and the denotation of the White Sox rather than Cleveland, appeared at the start of the movie.
As soon as I saw that card flash on my tube TV, I wanted it. Unfortunately, being 10 years old, I couldn’t afford it. Today, I couldn’t imagine dropping the five figures required to own this card.
So when the reprint of the original Cracker Jack card was discovered amid my parents shopping at Costco for some candy treats, I had to break boxes until I found it. Thankfully, they loved Cracker Jack. I hated it.
This is one of the great things about our hobby – there is something for everyone. Whether you’re a high roller who goes in on group breaks or you’re a plucky youngster opening their first pack at the corner hobby store, the experience is largely the same. The wonder. The desire. The jubilation that comes with getting “the” card you want.
In the coming weeks I’m going to share more stories from my hobby history and look at the hot-button topics of the day; but until then, I challenge you to share your favorite cards and the stories behind them. Who knows – your story may end up being featured here, on Go GTS.
Hobby Outposts From The North – Defining a Favorite
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