BECKETT BASKETBALL 17
about the handling of his cards. So he couldn’t even turn
it over until his hands were dry,” says Michelle. “I was like
‘Hurry up! Turn it around!’”
Gomez was, as expected, overjoyed. He may have even
shed a tear or two.
“I even shed a tear!” says Michelle.
Gomez began collecting in 2012 a er accompanying
Michelle on a fateful visit to the nail salon. While she was
getting her nails done, Gomez wandered over to What’s on
Second Sportcards in San Antonio, TX.
“I collected as a kid, but not that much. So when I was in
the shop I was looking for cards that looked similar to what
I had when I was a kid,” says Gomez. “But instead there were
all of these shiny chrome cards with autographs and stuff like
that. I didn’t understand it at fi rst, but I came to like them.”
Autographs helped draw him in and he pulled a Robert
Griffi n III auto, but didn’t realize how big of a pull that was
until he saw RGIII on the hot list in the Beckett magazine
he purchased that day. Once he saw that, he was hooked.
Anthony and Michelle drove up from San Antonio to
Beckett’s headquarters in Dallas to have the card graded.
Gomez says it was nerve-wracking making sure that the
Doncic card was well-taken-care-of on the trip.
e card was graded by Beckett Grading Services and re-
turned with a solid grade of a Mint 9. e corners scored an
8.5, which brought the overall score down a bit. Gomez was
a little disappointed with the result, but kept a bright outlook
on the experience as a whole. A er all, Mint is still Mint.
“We’ve all experienced that initial shock when the grade
isn’t what we expect, but at the end of the day, I love this
hobby,” says Gomez. “Some people get really upset about that
stuff , but to me it’s not about all that. I mean, this is a 1/1!”
Gomez had the card slabbed by BGS so he won’t have to
worry about taking care of it’s condition anymore. He’s still
considering whether he wants to sell the card.
“I’m not on the level of the big money and big cards
guys,” Gomez says. “At the moment I can’t sit on something
like some guys can, so if I can make a little something over
the cost of any box then I’m blessed.”
For now, Gomez will continue basking in the notori-
ety he’s gained amongst his circle of collecting buddies
at What’s on Second. Anthony’s friends went crazy when
he let them know about the card. He says they all seemed
genuinely happy for him, which is his favorite part about
the hobby.
“I’m always happy for everyone else no matter how big
of a hit it is,” he says. “I love getting to point out to people
when they pull really big hits. In fact, I watched a guy pull
two diff erent Luka Doncic hits recently,” says Gomez. “I
remember telling people in the shop, ‘Man, ain’t nobody
going to top that!’
“Well, I think I did.”