December 20, 2024:
1988-89 Topps #120 Wayne Gretzky
The trade that sent Wayne Gretzky from the Edmonton Oilers to the Los Angeles Kings took place in the summer of 1988. I was about to head into the 4th grade that year. I was not a hockey fan (at least, not an NHL fan, but we had/have the minor league Milwaukee Admirals in town) since my family didn't have cable television, but I knew of Gretzky through cards, Panini stickers, and sports magazines. That year our teacher had us do an art project where we would find a picture and cut it out of a magazine. We would then cut that picture in half, paste one of the halves onto a piece of white paper, and then draw the missing half of the picture. I chose the cover photo of Gretzky from this issue of Sports Illustrated.*
I wish I could say that I still had this art project, but it has probably been lost to time. (Actually, my mom still has a file box filled with stuff from school, organized by year. It could survive.) The best part of all of this is that I remember doing this project almost 40 years later. Support the arts, every time. They make more of a difference than you might realize.
*For some reason, I also remember the picture that a buddy of mine chose, a streaky exposure photo of sprinter Ben Johnson, well ahead of his competitors in the 100m final in the Seoul Olympics. Ahhhh, 1988, good times. We were some awesome 4th graders.
Gretzky cards are good gets.
ReplyDeleteThat art project sounds like a lot of fun. I hope your mom kept it... and that one day it makes its way into one of your posts. As for that Gretzky card, it was the first hockey card I remember wanting. Before that, I had zero interest in hockey cards.
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