1954 Topps #24 Granny Hamner

My son has discovered and embraced Star Wars, becoming completely and totally obsessed with everything Star Warian. (Or is it Star War-ish?) He's only 3, so we're limiting his Star Wars intake to select scenes from the first movie (Episode IV to be precise), and his Star Wars universe consists solely of the characters from that movie. What's this have to do with Granny Hamner, you may ask? I'll get to that in a bit.

I'm trying to track down newer Star Wars toys for Doug to play with, but I'm having a difficult time wading through the sheer magnitude of Star Wars product available. On Friday afternoon, I ventured into a local hobby and collectibles shop in pursuit of something Star Wars to bring home for Doug to add to his collection. His collection currently consists of his Dad's old broken-down toys - chipped paint, loose limbs, missing pieces and all. (And a new Chewbacca action figure received from his grandmother on Easter.)

I was completely overwhelmed and unprepared. There are no less than a dozen different "collections" of Star Wars action figures, including the Saga Collection, the Legacy Collection, the Clone Wars Collection and others. All I wanted was a decent Luke Skywalker to bring home to the kid and I was faced with a wall of unknown droids, Jedi knights and other aliens. Confused and defeated, I left the Star Wars wall of the shop and found more familiar territory in the form of a rotating display case containing vintage Phillies baseball cards.

The familiar visage of Granny Hamner gazed up at me, and I was happy to instantly recognize something in this crazy world of far too many Star Wars characters. And that's how this baseball card came to be in my collection. Sometimes you go searching for a Jedi and you come home with a Granny.