An Accidental Baker: Cards You Don't Need and then Do

In my many hours spent eBaying, I end up picking up cards that I don't really need or that don't really fit into my collection, just because they're interesting and cheap. For example, I can't seem to stop my mouse from clicking a bid for framed Diamond Kings cards from the 2000s sets, especially if they have a hunk of bat or shred of jersey mushed into them. They're just cool-looking cards. Case in point:

I got this for about a buck shipped. It's from the 2004 Diamond Kings set, and it's numbered out of 50. The black frame looks awesome, as do all the details: the foil DK insignia, the amorphous blob of green behind Baker, even the interestingly hexagonal windows used to showcase the bat chunks. It's a sweet-looking card, but I had no idea what to do with it, no real place for it in my collection. I was thinking it would become trade bait someday, and poor old Jeff Baker and his cool black frame would be just so much trade fodder.

But then I found out he just got traded to the Tigers. Well, happy accident! Now he has a place in the collection. I don't really collect random Tigers, am more of a player collector, but I can certainly make an exception here. And Baker's not doing terribly so far. He adds a little more depth to the bench. Also, he's from West Germany, and I can't think of another baseball player from that country. So, Baker's birthplace anomaly adds another element of collectibility to this card.

I end up being more pleased than I thought I'd be to own this card. I guess I shouldn't even be purchasing cards unless I really want them in the first place, but such is the life of an obsessive collector, snagging up every piece of interesting cardboard he sees, and occasionally a random purchase works its way into the collection perfectly. Have you experienced these happy accidents before? Picked up a card you didn't really need and then ended up finding a place for it in the collection?