LINDEN CARD OF THE WEEK - Cup Completion

A big Linden card hit the mailbox this past Friday.  Big for a number of reasons.

First, it was a bigger ticket Linden addition price-wise....the biggest of the year so far.  It was from the highest-end product he's ever been in - The Cup.  It was a low-numbered beast to boot.  But most of all, it put to rest one of the most challenging product chases in my 15+ years of Linden card collecting.

That's a lot of buildup.

2011/12 Upper Deck The Cup

#CF-TL Foundations Patch Auto  /5

For the past two years, the challenge that The Cup has posed to not just my Linden collection but the ideals I have about collecting in general have been huge.  I've been up and down the scale - when is enough... enough?  How much is too much?  This is not a race.  When do I pounce and when do I sit back?  Patience will prevail.

In the end though I think having 11 Cup cards (not including 1/1's), many numbered to 25 or less has given me a new perspective on what being a player collector is all about.

I have no control over what cards go into what product.  How many Linden cards get added to my wantlist list with every release.  But what I do know is that I can choose to chase.

If there's a Linden card out there that does not jive with me be it because of the price, the design, the rarity, or the product it's in, I have the choice to say "No thanks".  I've know for years now that the possibility of owning one of each Linden card there is is an impossibility.  But now I have decided that my card pursuits are determined by each individual item that comes available.

If there's a card /5, /10, /100 that shows up online....I can do one of two things, chase it or let it pass.  And there's nothing wrong with either choice.

Now back to this Cup card.  With this pickup, I have landed all 11 non 1/1 cards from the inaugural Linden Cup appearance.  There are also 7 1/1's and I own one of them.  And to be honest, I'm thrilled with that accomplishment.

Many of the cards were not picked up right off the bat.  Some took a while to obtain (mostly in the hopes of getting them for a cheaper price than the initial wave).  I even had the luck of tracking down a couple of them locally - something I definitely was not expecting.  This final Cup card /5 is a perfect example of all of that.

I really didn't know if I would ever have a chance at snagging this piece.  I knew of a couple other copies that have been tucked into collections so there were only 2-3 copies left out there.  When I saw this card go up for auction, the price was a little higher than I wanted to spend.  But some good communication with the seller and firm but honest approach on my part led to the sale.  When the card arrived Friday, I couldn't wait to rip open the bubble envelope.

I love the multi-colored patches in every window, the hard signed autograph and the low serial number.  Too bad Upper Deck couldn't match the patches in the card with the picture to the right.  But such is life.

Crossing it off the list really made me smile at the fact that I tackled The Cup the way I wanted to.  And there should always be satisfaction in that.