I remember that night well … it was 2010.  Everyone kept talking of this Strasburg dude, and he hadn’t even pitched a single game in the bigs yet.  As I contemplated the greatness of Strasburgmania, and almost subconciously was a bit jealous that I didn’t participate, I began to give excuses.  “It’s speculation … he may never make it.  I don’t want to waste money!” 

Then I got to thinking.

“He has a baseball card out … in bowman….doesn’t Walmart and Target sell Bowman???”

So out the door I went to scrounge up all the 2010 bowman I could get.  It was night time already, and most places didn’t have any left, but one Target did.  YAY!!! 

I cleaned them out, which meant grabbing what was left of a 2010 bowman retail box, and a few blasters of the same. 

Heart racing, I drove back home to bust the wax that may have this Nationals pitching phenom. 

Retail packs … none.

Blaster one … nope.

Blaster two … zilch.  Until, wait … what is this?  The last pack has something … it’s purple … it’s a purple refractor rookie!  STEPHEN STRASBURG PURPLE REFRACTOR ROOKIE!!!!

Talk about luck!  One of the few times I didn’t hate busting wax at retail pricing!  I sold it online, and a few months later, he had Tommy John surgery.  I REALLY lucked out there, didn’t I?

Well, fast forward now … Strasburg has solidified himself as one of the absolute best pitchers on the planet.  He’s a hoss.  I ran into a collection that someone was selling.  It was Strasburg … over 90 rookies!  That’s right … NINETY ROOKIES OF STRASBURG! 

I thought that was cool, but the pricing seemed high, until I started looking at some of the gems in the collection.  There were several bowmans, topps, and different variations in the lot.  I was at about $50 less than the seller wanted to go, and he said he would meet half way.  I told him I’d stay at where I was, and he said if the other guy who wants them drops out, they are mine. 

Welllll…the other guy dropped out, and Strasburgmania is alive & well again in my household!  I won’t show pics of alllll the Strasburgs, as hopefully they will be leaving the fold soon.  But I will show the significant ones. 

Topps blue and purple refractor rookies
Topps green refractor rookies
Topps red hot rookie refractor rookies
Bowman regular and purple refractor rookies

Pie in the Face Short Print Rookie!

This is one of those deals like the Pujols deal that I will be super happy to get into the black with, and have some very cool extras to keep in my temporary collection for a while.  My favorites are the Pie in the Face card, and of course, getting the bowman purple refractor back into the fold.