Here’s mine… I come from a small town in Wisconsin called Marinette. Marinette is one hour north of Green Bay, which isn’t really a big city, but very big compared to my hometown.
When I was about 11 years old, in 1989, my parents would usually travel to the big city of GB to watch a movie and go out for dinner. On occasion they would go shopping and even pick me up some cards or magazines that I couldn’t get in Marinette.

I will never forget this… one Saturday in 1989 my parents planned their regular trip to GB and asked me if I wanted them to bring anything home for me.

I somehow had $16 saved up and I said “Yes. Go to Baseball Card World and get me a pack of 1986 Donruss cards. Make sure you get the right pack. The blue pack with the baseball on it.”
I will never forget that pack.

Some of you will be able to remember how hot the 1986 Donruss Jose Canseco Rated Rookie was. At that time, I never opened a pack of those cards. Back then the only time I saw them was in the pages of Sports Collectors Digest. I think at that time the Canseco carried a value of $100.

BCW in Green Bay was known for charging quite a bit on its vintage packs of cards. They got away with it because nobody could find them anywhere else. My parents thought I was crazy that I wanted to pay $16 for a pack of cards, but I earned the money somehow, so they got me the pack.
Whenever my parents went to Green Bay they usually got home way past my bedtime. I would not be sleeping this night. I waited up until they came through the door.

Finally, at about 10:30 I heard them come through the door.

My dad handed me a small brown paper bag and inside was the pack of ’86 Donruss.
I will never forget it. I was standing in the kitchen as I opened up the pack.
I don’t even remember how many cards were in the pack, but I think there were 660 cards in the set. My odds were horrible.

I opened the pack very slowly. My first few cards were commons, but when I came up on the fifth card my heart skipped a beat. Staring at me was Mr. Canseco, with his mustache and the words “Rated Rookie” right in my face.

That card can be picked up nowadays for only a few bucks, but that story is priceless.