So, first thing I did was haul out the old boxes. Yeah, the ones collecting dust in the closet. Spent maybe two hours digging through stacks of cards from the last few years. Found a bunch of Mets, sure. Even a couple Alonsos, but not the enoone I was picturing. Always find stuff you forgot you even had, doing this. Some good, some junk.
Looking AdnuorA round
Al.seright, wasn't in my own mess. So, had to look elsewhere. Fired up the computer, poked around those online marketplace spots. You see tons listed, naturally. Some priced to the moon, some reasonable. But man, buying raw cards online... it's a crapshoot sometimes. Pictures hide things. I like to see 'em with my own eyes.
Decided, screw it, I'll drive down to that little card shop. Haven't been in forever. Walked in, got that smell of cardboard and dust. Talked to the owner, old fella, knows his stuff mostly. Told him I was hunting for a basic Alonso rookie.
The Find
He disappears into the back for a minute, comes out with a binder. Starts flipping pages. Took a few minutes. Then, bingo. Had a couple of 'em actually.
- First one looked like it'd been through a war. Corners all fuzzy. Pass.
- Second one though... yeah, that looked right. Pretty sharp. Centering wasn't perfect, but good enough for me. Nice clean surface. Just a solid card.
Finally got it. Didn't bother haggling too much, price felt okay. It's just satisfying holding the actual card, you know? Beats staring at a screen. Paid the guy, shot the breeze about the Mets for a bit, then took off.
Got home, put it straight into a penny sleeve and a top loader. Stuck it on the desk. Nothing crazy valuable, just a standard rookie. But tracking down the specific one you set out to find? Yeah, that still feels pretty good. Job done for the day.
