Cards from My Parents - Happy Birthday to Me!

No, today is not my birthday.  It was actually all the way back in September.  My parents gave me an incredibly generous gift in the form of a $100 eBay gift card.  For a sports card collector like myself, it doesn't get much better than a shopping spree on the site with the greatest selection in the entire world.

I'm the type who seems to save gift cards for a while as it is, maybe it's the same personality trait that allows me to hang onto unopened packs for weeks, months or even years.  On top of that, with this one I really wanted to do my research and use the funds to land a smaller number of significant cards that are more meaningful to me.  After a whole lot of auction watching, research, and a few missed snipes, I finally ended up with three very special cards that will always remind me of my 33rd birthday...

Here's the big one right out of the gate!  My very first Stan Musial auto, and yet another on-card beauty from the 2005 Upper Deck Baseball Heroes set (my 14th to date).  I've talked about these Emerald autos, which are serially numbered to /99, many times now, so I'll spare you my thoughts on the design.

This particular card honors Musial for appearing in an amazing twenty All-Star games!  Only the legendary Hank Aaron was selected as an All-Star more times (21).  What a cool card, instantly one of the more impressive autographs in my humble collection.

The Musial auto sapped up about half of my funds, but I was able to land two equally cool cards with the remaining half...

First is a great new addition to my small collection of The Little Professor, Dom DiMaggio.  I've been tracking this particular card for close to a year now, and I feel I got a real steal on this copy.  I don't really care about the grade, but what a sharp looking card.  The image is bright and vibrant, and the centering is pretty spot-on.

Here's a better look at Dom and his awesome specs.  I'm up to around 10 or so cards of Joltin' Joe's little brother, and this might be my favorite one yet.

Alright, so that's a new autograph, and a solid new card for my Red Sox collection.  To round out the birthday fun, I went with completely random for the final card...

What a beauty!  This is one of those cards that I've always admired just because of the fantastic photograph.  I know Reggie's '69 Topps rookie is perhaps more iconic, but give me this great image of Mr. October taking a cut in the stadium that would become the backdrop for some of his most impressive feats later in the decade.  This might be one of my favorite photos on any card from the '70s, period.

Here's a better look.  I have no earthly idea why this card was graded just a 5 by PSA, but I certainly don't care either.  Good centering, crease-free, good visual appeal, sharp corners; this one has it all if you ask me.  I'll certainly never need to upgrade it, not even sure I really could when you look at the condition.

This was probably the best bargain out of the three cards I picked up, I really did my homework on it and waited quite a few weeks before snagging this copy shortly after it was listed as a Buy-it-Now for less than $20.

So there you have it, a delayed birthday gift that was certainly more than worth the wait.  I know my Dad occasionally checks in here, so if you read this thanks Dad!