Aaron Schunk's father, Eric, is like most parents. He's really proud of his son.
So, it comes as no surprise Eric spends time on eBay buying unique cards featuring his son, the Colorado Rockies' second-round pick in the 2019 Major League Baseball Draft.
Things changed this summer when Aaron had the chance to control things a little more. As Aaron was signing his Rookie Debut Patch Autograph card for Topps this summer, the father and son spoke on the phone.
"I want that card," Eric said. "Put a phone number on the back."
So, the 28-year-old shortstop did as his father told him.
"If found, call ..."
Eric has a 100-card holder he's mounting on the wall of Aaron's cards. He has 65 of the slots filled. He says five people on eBay have given the cards he has "bought" for free after learning he was his father.
The RDPA represents a special chase for him, though.
"I think people need to understand why I want this," Eric told cllct. "Not every player is going to be an All-Star or a batting champion. For an ordinary player, who accomplished the feat of playing in the majors, this card might be evidence of their crowning achievement. And I know it's only 2 years old, but it's amazing."
The card hasn't been pulled yet from the 2025 Topps Chrome Update Series Baseball release, but the strategy was revealed Sunday, when Topps' X feed revealed the back of the card with Aaron's patch from his debut June 29, 2024, when he was called to pinch-hit in the ninth inning for his first major-league at-bat.
"I remember, they called down to me in the dugout and said, 'You wanna hit?'," Aaron told cllct. "I was like 'Hell yeah.' So, I scrambled to the on-deck circle and felt like I had it together. I flew out to right. It was only when I got back into the dugout that my legs felt like Jell-O from the magnitude of the moment."
Now, back to that phone number.
Realizing he wanted a little privacy, the number is not Aaron's cell, as has been speculated.
"It's not a main number, but it does get to us," he said.
Aaron himself collected cards when he was younger. He said he recently got back into it to collect cool variations of some of his cards and those of his baseball-playing friends.
Aaron did say he noticed chatter on social media about whether a player should have the rights to his own debut patch, given players can keep their batting gloves, bat and cleats from the moment.
"It's something that we don't own from that day, so, of course, we want it," said Aaron, who played 39 games with the Rockies in 2024 and 16 games this past season.
Many players have publicly sought their RDPA cards, with the Astros' Joey Loperfido writing, "DM me" on the back of his card. Mariners outfielder Dominic Canzone was gifted his RDPA by his mother.
"I had seen the player who wrote, 'DM me," Eric told cllct. "And I thought, 'That makes a lot of sense.' Obviously a player has no rights of ownership to this card."
But Eric also has a possible solution to help players get the coveted memento from their debut.
"I think Topps, in the future, should put two debut patches on the players," Eric said. "They make one card for the player and one card for the collecting public."
Aaron was an offseason free agent and recently signed a minor-league deal with the Atlanta Braves. If he gets called up and plays well before that Rookie Debut Patch Auto is pulled, it might get a little harder to get it.
Schunk is a native of Atlanta and played his college ball at the University of Georgia.
Want more stories like this? Subscribe to the cllct newsletter and follow cllct on X and Instagram.
Darren Rovell is the founder of cllct and one of the country's leading reporters on the collectibles market. He previously worked for ESPN, CNBC and The Action Network.