My Favorite Pickup From 2012

2012 Topps Heritage Ken Hubbs Cut Auto
I wanted to take a chance to show off my favorite pickup from 2012.  A portion of my collection is devoted to trying to gather at least one auto for every player who has ever played for the Cubs.  The autos don't have to be on a card, I actually prefer just on a plain piece of paper or index card.  One of the tougher autos on this list is Ken Hubbs.  I think most Cubs fans are familiar with the story of Hubbs tragic death in a plane crash at the age of 22.  His early death makes his auto rather hard to come by, and it is especially hard to come by a 'good' copy his auto.  By 'good', I mean a clean single auto.  Most of his autos tend be as part of a group on a program (with something printed behind the signature), or Upper Deck used some 'autos' from his work as a school boy in SP Legendary Cuts a few years ago.  I've passed up chances to own these types of autos over the years.

Then late last year, an auction popped up on eBay for Hubbs' 2012 Topps Heritage 1/1 Cut Auto card.  The thing was, there was no photo with the auction and it was noted in the auction that a photo would not be available (the seller seemed to indicate he didn't have the technology to provide a photo).  The opening bid price on the auction (it was a straight auction, no Buy It Now option) was decent, but not what I would call a real steal at $199.00.  For a good cut of Hubbs, this would be cheap and I would be happy to pay it.  For a less desirable cut, I wouldn't want to pay this much (and wouldn't really want it all).  I tried to communicate with the seller, but didn't get a whole lot of information.  I eventually decided to place the minimum bid, and figured that the worst outcome would be I would try to resell the card if I didn't like it, and the popularity of the Heritage brand would keep me from taking too much of a hit financially in that case.  And I figured I probably wouldn't even win the auction.  Well, I ended up winning the auction for my minimum bid, and when the card came, I must say that I was very pleased!


It is one of the best autos I've seen of his, in bold blue ink on a plain white piece of paper.  The only thing that could have made the card better would be if Topps had included a photo of Hubbs on the card.  But beggars can't be choosers, and I ended up with a great auto for a very reasonable price.  And this was my clear #1 pickup from 2012!