Now that the season is over, I find myself looking for (and thinking about acquiring) the sets of my youth. I noticed this happen last year, too, when I bought a bunch of old wax from the late 80s to replace or supplant some of the cards I collected as a kid. Now, I'm looking at two sets that are taught of as the "Cadillacs" of junk wax (mostly due to the players contained) - 1985 Topps (the first cards that I actively purchased with my own money and traded with friends) and 1989 Upper Deck

'89 Upper Deck of course has THE GRIFFEY CARD and is the set that I always considered out of my reach as a child because I was too damn cheap to spend a buck on a pack of cards. I mean, come on - that same dollar could buy me two packs of Topps cards. I was always think of quantity over quality back then.

Of course, now that I'm older, I can easily afford to spend some of the prices I see for these sets. But I'm not pulling the trigger for some reason. Maybe it's because I've just placed an order for modern cards (that reminds me, I need to check the tracking on that package) and I don't want to annoy the missus when the bank statement comes. But honestly, I think I'm still just too cheap. The prices of '89 Upper Deck have risen with inflation, almost entirely on the strength of Ken Griffey's sterling reputation as a ballplayer. Who would have thought of Junior as an inflationary safeguard? But at the same time, even though I can pay these prices, I don't want to. I still think a lot of people on eBay have no idea how little their cards are actually worth and I don't want to play into their fallacy.

So I'll just continue to wait for that bargain to show up. After all, I was looking at '85 Topps and '89 Upper Deck last year, too. It's been a year and I have neither. I ended up getting my second and third favorite sets from the era, adding a 1986 Topps set and replacing the 1987 Topps set that I scarred with rubber band marks because I just didn't know any better when I was 11.

In the meantime, you can find me on eBay. I'll be patiently waiting.