Featured autographs - Tony Armas

Through a Facebook post, I picked up a pair of extras [$12.50 each] from a signing featuring the Venezuelan slugger who peaked in the 1980s as sort of Dave Kingman / Rob Deer lite - I had to get a 1984 Donruss, where I'm trying to chase down signed cards from the set and a 1990 Score, which goes into my Angels all-time autograph collection.

The 30-Day Baseball Card Challenge - Day 7

"A card you bought in person and the story behind it."

1977 Topps Tony Armas / Steve Kemp / Lopez / Woods RC #493 - a copy of this card may have been the first I've sought out to purchase at a card shop.

When I started getting interested in collecting baseball cards, I'd look up books in library - one book I stumbled upon mentioned something about collectors saying that the Armas rookie card had good potential.

At some point, I managed to get to a baseball card shop and said I wanted an Armas - I don't know if I was amazed, but I might have thought it was neat where the person I was talking to might have gone to the store's storage room and came back with the card I'd asked for.

I think he looked in a price guide and let me have the card for about a dollar - I didn't know what I did with the card after the fact, it was probably thrown away at some point, though I got another years later and sent it to Kemp for a through the mail autograph.

Looking back, the book I read was printed in 1983 and by the time I got the investment tip - the playing careers of the guys pictured had played out.