A "Real" Jackie!

Holy Cow! I own this card.

When I was 10, I bought a T-206 Christy Mathewson card for $35, easily the most I ever spent on a card growing up. It was one of the few times I chose quality over quantity. My 37 year old self is pleased that my 10 year old self ponied up the cash to add a first class Hall of Famer to his collection of 1980's baseball cards. 

Last year, I excitedly went to the Jackie Robinson biopic, 42, at the theater soon after its release. Jackie is a legend through and through. His legend is so great that I had always listed him among Ruth, Wagner, Cobb, etc as a player whose "real" baseball card I could never own. ("real" card = a card produced while the player was an active player.) Robinson has shown up in many recent releases by Topps but those just aren't the same.

How can I consider giving my kids my collection, filled with vintage Pete Rose, Willie Mays, Stan Musial cards and not so vintage Jeter, Pujols, and Kershaw cards without Jackie Robinson? It suddenly seemed like the largest hole in my collection. 

I did my ebay research and put in my max bid of $60. I won the card. There will never be a card that cost me more than this one. I am proud that my most expensive card will always be Jackie. Thanks Jackie for making the game I love better.

Now, how exactly do you split ONE Jackie Robinson card between TWO kids??????