By Amar Shah

The card was sold. Like so many collecting transactions, the 2018 Topps Transcendent Japan Autographs #TA-SO17 Shohei Ohtani Rookie Red #1/1 PSA GEM MINT 10 sold on eBay for $10,000. Our consignor Ryan didn't think much of it. He had pulled the card in a break.

"It was like $130 to get into the break," he remembers.

The card was raw and ungraded. It was still sealed in the Transcendent case, with the sticker over the top that had never been opened.

A few days later, though, the eBay buyer had second thoughts.

"He sent it back," Ryan says. "Shortly after getting it, he contacted me and said he wanted to return it and that the card didn't look like it was in the condition he expected."

Ryan was super disappointed at the time. Adding to the uncertainty, Ohtani had a slight injury scare, which reflected the fickle rise and fall of modern player card prices.

Unsure of what to do next, Ryan held onto the card. Upon inspection, he realized the imperfections were on the case, not the card itself. He decided to get it graded.

"It came back graded a ten," he says.

Although Ryan considered keeping the card, he recognized that Ohtani was having an unprecedented year. He decided to sell, and he turned to a trusted friend for advice.

Ryan's friend suggested he contact Tom Morgan, the host of a sports-collecting radio show in Chicago.

"Tom mentioned it to Brian [Dwyer from REA]," Ryan says. "Brian is on the show every Saturday. I was listening in Florida, hearing them talk about it, and I thought, 'This is crazy.'"

This 2017 Topps Finest #FA-AJ Aaron Judge Rookie Refractor BGS GEM MINT 9.5 with GEM MINT 10 signature is one of two Aaron Judge cards Ryan has consigned to the Fall event at REA

After talking to Brian, Ryan decided to consign the card with REA.

Ryan has other cards in REA’s Fall Catalog Auction, which runs through December 8, but for the 44-year-old collector, it marks a nostalgic return to a hobby he once left behind.

Like many kids growing up in the '80s, Ryan was drawn to the bright designs and excitement of baseball cards.

"I vividly remember the '86 Topps with the black top border and the bright block letters," he says. "I can remember that from being a kid. I grew up in New York on Long Island, so I went to a lot of Mets games when I was younger. My dad wasn't a fan of taking us to Yankee Stadium, and then I got older and migrated to the Yankees. I’m a big Yankee fan now."

Beyond the cards themselves, certain moments deepened Ryan's connection to baseball.

"I remember going to a Mets game at Shea Stadium, seeing Will Clark," he recalls.

Ryan leaned over the gate. He was a seven-year-old. To his delight, Clark handed him his mitt to hold and signed one of his cards.

"It was like those little experiences," he says. "It drew me to it as a kid."

After a hiatus from the hobby for several years, Ryan has gotten back into collecting as an adult

Though he played different sports growing up, Ryan eventually shifted his focus away from cards.

"I migrated away from collecting," he says. "Probably in the early teens, early mid-teens. I set it aside and didn't pick it back up until I started having kids.”

In 2017, Ryan's friend reintroduced him to collecting and he saw it as an opportunity to bond with his son over a shared love for the hobby.

"I got back into it and just started figuring out the new products. It had obviously changed so much from when I was a kid and it got more expensive too."

Being a Yankees fan, Ryan also started collecting Aaron Judge cards and is auctioning off two of them as part of the Fall event. The pair includes a 2017 Topps Finest #FA-AJ Aaron Judge Rookie Refractor BGS GEM MINT 9.5 with GEM MINT 10 signature and a 2014 Bowman Inception Prospect Autograph #PA-AJ Aaron Judge Pink #49/50 PSA MINT 9. Perhaps it’s fate that Ryan’s three cards feature both MVP winners from this season.

However, unlike the Ohtani card, the Judge cards are part of a broader plan to expand his collection.

"My plan with those is to get other Judges," he says.

Ryan also has this 2014 Bowman Inception Prospect Autograph #PA-AJ Aaron Judge Pink #49/50 PSA MINT 9 as part of the Fall Catalog Auction at REA

Ryan wants to continue collecting. As a Yankees fan, he's collecting the Ruths, Gehrigs, and Jeters, but he also hopes his son gets the bug.

"I'm still holding out hope that my son gets into it with me," he says, "and we stay on the modern path and collect his favorite players as we go."

He's off to a good start.

Amar Shah is a multiple Emmy-winning writer and producer who has written for ESPN.com, NFL.com, The Wall Street Journal, The Orlando Sentinel, Sports Illustrated for Kids, Slam Magazine and The Washington Post. In the 90s, Amar was a teen sports reporter and got to hang out with the Chicago Bulls during their golden era. He even landed on the cover for Sports Illustrated for Kids with Shaquille O’Neal. His debut novel "The Hoop Con" is now available with Scholastic. You can order it here:  https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-hoop-con-amar-shah/1143287376?ean=9781338840315