[phillies816]

Don't have the first card I got but I do have a story on starting collecting. Started when I was 7 or 8. Had to do a report on a book of my choice in 1st grade and for whatever reason I chose a book about Lou Gehrig. Read the book and enjoyed it even in 1st grade. Then saw a Saturday afternoon game in 1985 (on NBC I believe) between the Angels and the team I just read about, the Yankees. I was hooked and took a particular liking to Don Mattingly. I saw kids in school with baseball cards and asked my dad if I could go with him when he went to get his cigarettes and lottery and saw the 1985 Topps box and begged my dad for packs and got them. Of course got a Mattingly. Didn't know they had value so I would staple them to cardboard pieces sorted by team. Got a few packs here and there until 1987 when I started to save any money I earned or got as gifts and began buying as much 1987 Topps as I could...and I was off and running in this hobby. I'm 33 now and still root for the Phillies, Yankees, and now the Dodgers until they eventually fire Mattingly. To this day I still vote for Don Mattingly as the AL All-Star 1st Baseman with one write-in vote per year. To sum it up, Don Mattingly is the main reason for my love of baseball and collecting.