Funny story. When I was 10 I was on my way to Little League game and on the ground near the field was a 1990 Score Ricky Jordan card. It was a third-year card for the Phillies first base prospect, but at the time I was playing for my Little League’s Phillies’ team, so I figured that I put it in my back pocket for good luck. Well, with Jordan in my back pocket I managed to hit two doubles and played catcher for the entire game. From that point forward I decided that it was my “lucky charm” and when I started carrying a wallet later that year — it was a black 49ers Velcro wallet with exactly ZERO dollars — but it held this Jordan and a “driver’s license” for a local go-kart track. I had the card in that wallet until high school when I upgraded to a black leather wallet. Through high school and college the card stayed in whatever wallet I owned. The Jordan was flat. It was folded at times. At one point it was soaking wet from me spilling water on it. But I kept in in the wallet until a few years ago when I switched to a smaller wallet-type of device that’s much easier to use at work. I’ve since placed the seemingly worthless Ricky Jordan card in a massive screw case, not unlike one from the era in which this card was produced.
Well, I recently learned that what I had been doing was what people in the hobby refer to as their “Wallet card.” So, naturally, I decided chose one for the upcoming year. I could have gone back to the Jordan card, but I opted for this 1987 Topps “Turn Back The Block” Reggie Jackson card. There’s no real story behind the Jackson card, but it does hail from the 1987 Topps set, which is one of the first products I ever opened. Additionally, I do find it amusing that a card of this Hall of Famer, who had an infamous interaction with Beckett Baseball editor Chris Olds at the 2012 National Sports Collectors Convention, will be traveling with be in the back seat of my pants where ever I go.. I was standing next to Chris when this incident occurred. It was awesome.
On a side note, the wallet shown here is a Rawlings Red Label Trifold with stitched seams. You should own one.
cardboardicons.com 