My Matt Kemp Golden Moment

I have been trying to pick up as many Matt Kemp cards as possible in recent weeks, as the Dodgers center fielder is back in the lineup everyday and starting to produce. Part of me wants his cards to stay as cheap as they are currently, but I would happily spend more money on his cardboard if it meant a dramatic return to his 2011 self. That is unlikely to happen, but I can live with Kemp batting .269/.346/.479 over the course of a full season. 

A couple of weeks ago I came across a seller who had a Matt Kemp card that I have had my eye on since getting back into the hobby. My grand re-entrance into the card game came in 2012, and my poison was 2012 Topps Series 2. Seriously, I knew so little about cards when I got back into the hobby that Dikran and I spent about six-hundred bucks on single packs of Series 2 at Target in a single month. That is when we got smart and took a visit to my LCS. I now have a much firmer grasp on the hobby, and I will never spend that much on packs of Flagship again. 

I wasn't fond of the base design in 2012, but the Golden Moments inserts tickled my fancy. The seller I ran across happened to have the Matt Kemp autographed version of the card with a low BIN with a best offer option. I made a decent offer, then perused the rest of his items. 

That is when I ran across this sweet card to pair with the John Hancock above.

That card just so happened to have a low BIN price with a best offer option yet again. I made an offer on it and a few hours later the seller graciously accepted both of my offers. 

But I was in for a surprise when the bubble mailer showed up at my door. You see, inside was a card that I had not ordered, but was more than happy to accept.

Following the 30-30 theme of the Golden Moments card, this beauty exhibited the greatness of Kemp's 2011 season rather blatantly. Kemp was a home run shy of joining the 40-40 club, though the Dodgers only got to play 161 games in 2011. A game in Washington was rained out and never made up. I was hoping they may be able to fit it in for the sake of the record, but they didn't. 

Because this card is not something I would normally expect as a throw-in, I contacted the seller to ask about it. He told me that he was planning on sending it to me, but decided against it right before shipping. He chalked up its presence to his sub-conscious wanting to help out a fellow collector. 

This begs the question: 

What is the best throw-in you have ever received in a trade or a purchase online?

Believe it or not, these cards were shipped to my door for under 15 bucks. It's a wonder I ever bought single packs from Target.