First, I think I have to explain myself a bit. Those of you that don't know me (or maybe even those of you that do...) might think that I'm all full of my self because of things like my "Ladies and Gentlemen" post Friday where I announce something without really having anything to announce. It might seem like I am getting a head start on some bragging rant over a cherrypick or something like that, but that's not the case. The simple truth is - I am a child! I get so excited about what ever it is that I just can't contain my self... like a kid on Christmas! Well, Christmas came REALLY early this year! So come along with me on a journey down memory lane...
Let's start way back in 2010. I had only been involved in VAMs for a couple years at that point and was still REALLY overwhelmed by all of the possible VAMs to collect and all of the possible tangents of the hobby. Would I become a die studier? I had figured out some things involving the 1921-P VAM-3F series that seemed to be helpful, but man was it a lot of work for a little difference. Would I try to collect the major lists? I was a clash junky from the start so the ECD/SCD seemed like a natural, but, to be honest, some of the VAMs in the Top100, Hitlist and Hot50 just didn't have enough "pizazz" for my liking. I'm in the "style over substance" crowd I guess. So where do I go?
At that time there was some good discussion on VAMworld about putting together a list of VAMs for beginning collectors to go after to give them a good feel for what to look for in each of the types of VAMs (like clashing, doubled dies, die breaks, "crumbled" dies, "buffed" dies, die gouges, etc.), but the idea kind of stalled due to differing thoughts on what would be presented. It was a great idea though, so it sat in a little nook in the back of my mind for several months before I decided to act. I started compiling a list of the most outrageous examples of each of the "types" of VAMs there are because, well, for beginners they had to be easy to identify. I secretly involved all of VAMworld with a "What VAM makes you say 'WOW!' the most?" post and got leads on several cool VAMs that were not known to me yet and, of course, found out what I already knew - the most amazing VAM out there is the 1889-P VAM-23a. I published the set on VAMworld in 2011 (I think) and it had a couple cuts and it got a couple replacements (I think I forgot about the Tailbar at first!) and it ended up as a sixty slot set. So the "WOW! VAMs" set was officially born, though I still saw it mostly as a personal list of VAMs that I wanted to find...
Someone may need to help me out a little here, but I believe the SSDC registry was launched in 2012? Anyway I asked JC if there was a way for him to include the WOW! set, even if it was kept "off the record" so I could keep track of what I had. His response was to make it an actual registry set! At that point I believe I had exactly 50% of the set and the hunt continued. At some point I over took Ash and "Vamseeker" (who I believe was leading at the time) for the top spot, but I sadly just poked the bear and Ash registered the rest of his set and I will never have that top spot again...
Now it's 2014 and, with a little unbeknownst-to-him nudge from JB, I returned home from the FUN show with a single minded purpose: CREATE AN OFFICIAL GUIDE FOR THE WOW! SET!!! For two months every minute of spare time from when I got home from work until I forced myself to bed (usually at around 1 AM!) I worked on that guide and, by some miracle and with a lot of help from lots of VW friends, I had a finished product in my hands for the spring Baltimore coin show!
After the fury of producing and distributing the guide died down I got back to tracking down my VAMs, while looking out for upgrades along the way. I think I was at around 80% complete at the time and I was getting closer!! It's been so long that I can't recall when I filled the next to last slot in my set or even what VAM that was, but I do know that I've needed ONE for a very long time and that one is the 1921-S VAM-29A. Many of you know this too and SOOO many of you have been hunting with me and I am beyond thankful for all the extra eyes! But alas, for every beginning there is an end and my end has come...
LADIES and GENTLEMEN, may I present to you THE VERY FIRST COMPLETE WOW! VAMs SET...
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