50 years ago today -- Mike Aronstein Yorktown Heights, NY convention

[TCMA]

50 years ago today, on March 15, 1970, my father hosted a landmark convention at his home in Yorktown Heights, NY. I've compiled several scans related to that day provided by David Kathman (trdrcrdkid), along with material from our family archive for my first SABR Baseball Cards Research Committee (https://sabr.org/research/baseball-card-history-and-influence-research-committee) blog post. Hope you guys enjoy:

https://sabrbaseballcards.blog/2020/03/15/50-years-ago-today/?fbclid=IwAR20TP8KMcYmNMUdc7nWU_iVh78v2Cne_dCf0ofi Nh8U0i9SZXwCzVIZPFM

Mike Aronstein sorting 1963 Topps:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49662677557_f8fcd170e5_o.jpg

[Hot Springs Bathers]

Great stuff!

[jefferyepayne]

Fantastic, Andrew! Thanks for posting this.

jeff

[Fred]

Collecting history is pretty cool.

[Jay Wolt]

Andrew that was a great read, thanks for posting it

[WillowGrove]

Thanks for posting Andrew! That was great. I was a kid collector in the later 1970s and corresponded with some of those guys.

Thanks again!

[samosa4u]

SIX of these men (that I know of) either owned a T206 Honus Wagner at the time or would shortly after the event.

Wow!

[CurtisFlood]

Awesome topic!

[whiteymet]

I guess I should comment on this thread since I believe I am the only Net 54 member who attended this early get together.

Andrew Aronstein who wrote this great piece had contacted me awhile back asking for help ID'ing some of the guys shown in the photos. I could help with some, but my mind 50 years later did not recall them

But, yes my 19 year old college Sophomore self was there wearing his college baseball team jacket, not the coat and tie others of the guys were wearing. Now at the National the preferred dress is cargo shorts!! But looking at the list of those in attendance I was only about the third youngest there. Bill Mastro and Mike Jasperson where younger. I am not sure about Dennis Graye. Anyone know whatever happened to him?? He just disappeared from the hobby.

I remember thinking I was a small fish in a big bowl with all these older guys with better collections than mine. But I got to know most of them well over the years.

Everyone there does not show up in the photos unfortunately. I make one appearance down low in the bottom left of one photo under the fellow in the blue jacket with his arms folded. I am sitting next to Bill Haber.

Bill worked for Topps writing the backs of the cards. Bill brought to the get together a trunk load full of Topps uncut sheets!! I recall standing there in awe of what I was seeing. The host Mike Aronstein got the majority of them. As I recall us youngins, Mastro and McKie got to pick over the "dregs". I remember getting a sheet of the SP 59 Bazooka baseball, candy lids, deckle edge set and about 12 or so more.

A little while later Bill who was asthmatic married and decided to move to Wisconsin for the fresh air. Bill offered me his job at Topps. At first I thought it was a dream come true. I went into Brooklyn from my home in New Jersey and met with Bill and "interviewed " with Sy Berger. I had already been into Topps offices before and met Woody Gelman who designed the cards and owned Card Collectors Company one of the first companies selling cards, and was allowed to go through their "archives" as it were, because some of us collectors at the time were going to update Burdick's Standard Catalog and I was the "Topps" guy at the time, having collected all the inserts, errors, etc, and was writing articles about them in The Trader Speaks.

Topps was not located in the best of Brooklyn neighborhoods at the time. Bill would tell me of times he would drive into work park on the street under the EL and come out after work and find the battery in his car missing! I did not want to live in Brooklyn and had nightmares of the traffic driving into the city everyday from New Jersey, so I turned down the job. As it worked out Topps allowed Bill to work from his home in Wisconsin. But that did not last long. Bill's new wife was a city girl and hated Wisconsin so he soon moved back to Staten Island and resumed his job at Topps offices. Sadly Bill died at a relatively young age.

Sorry to get off topic. Yes, this was one of the first collector get together's and this led to big "conventions" as we called them. It was basically just tables set up in a hall, few if any outsiders would come in off the street. If they did and had cards they wanted to sell, everyone would stop and an auction was held then and there for us table holders to bid on the collection. No autograph guests. Just us collectors in one room with our tables as our "base". Sure was a fun time. The best conventions were in Detroit, Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Cleveland

Andrew noted that i was one of the guys there to have a T206 Wagner, but I did not have mine at the time of the get together. However there is a connection. I was at a convention in Detroit a few years later when the host of the meeting written about , Mike Aronstein in NY turned up the Wagner from a guy on Long Island . He wanted to buy the card outright, but the fellow refused to sell. Mike did have a Wagner at the time so he did not need it for himself. He told the guy about the convention in Detroit and the guy agreed to auction it off at the convention. I caught wind of the fact that a Wagner would be auctioned off that night. I had just received my income tax refund before I left home, so I was "floating" in money, yeah right, but I then sold the entire contents of my table to another guy for $500 hoping to gather enough funds to get the Wagner

When the night was over I was the proud owner of a Wagner for the sum of $1,100. The second highest ever paid at the time next to $1500 Bill Mastro had paid. As soon as the convention was over we drove straight to Mike's house, the location of the meeting we are talking about, to pick up my Wagner.

A few years later a new guy hit the hobby scene named Barry Halper. As it happened he lived about 20 minutes from me. I had sold him a few things previously and he asked if he could visit to see my Wagner. I said sure. When he arrived he asked how much I would sell my Wagner for and I said it was not for sale and that I would have to sell my whole collection before getting rid of it. Barry then asked, how much do you want for your whole collection. You have to remember this was 1975. This did not happen in those days. But, I was getting ready to get married and figured this may be the time, so I sat down and wrote out in long hand everything I had in my collection. I still have the list! Added it up and in those days if you were selling a big group of things you would give a discount to the buyer. For the time it was a rather large number, or so I thought. I told Barry the number expecting him to say no thanks or at least negotiate. Without batting an eye he said "fine". A few days later he paid me with quite a few money orders, with the issuer's names of Joe Tinker, Frank Chance, John Evers etc. I used the money a few years later to start a business which allowed me to retire at the age of 55. But if I had just held onto my collection about two or three years longer I could have sold it and retired before age 30 as the values really took off in the late 70's.

I always wondered what happened to my Wagner as Halper ended up with three. A few years back there it was in an auction from Bill Goodwin. I would know it anywhere due to it's unique crease. It "only" sold for $1.2 MILLION!! OUCH. But I always tell myself if I would have held onto the cards I would be card rich but money poor and as much as I wish I still had my original collection, it did allow me to have a good life and retire early, so I guess it was worth it.

[bswhiten]

Great article Andrew and wow Fred what an amazing story! Thanks for sharing.

[ALBB]

Wow, incredible story of the early days !

thanks

[trdcrdkid]

FYI, Bill Mastro posted a comment yesterday on this article.

https://sabrbaseballcards.blog/2020/03/15/50-years-ago-today/

Bill Mastro says:
March 17, 2020 at 8:14 pm
I had my dad drive Fred McKie and I up to Aronstein that day. I was 17 years old and all the guys wanted to do was trade. I remember it like it was yesterday. A few of those guys became dear friends of mine after that afternoon, Mike Aronstein included!! Bill Haber always called me Master William as a term of endearment. Dennis Graye rode his motor cycle all the way in from Detroit that day. He had a briefcase full of pre-war cards and sold me a T 206 Magie error card for $45. I asked McKie why I didn’t appear in any of the photos and he said I was probably in some closet fleecing some poor guy out of his cards. I never thought I’d still be collecting 50 years later. I still love the hobby today. It’s different but my blood still boils over those little masterpieces. My best to Mike Aronstein and his family for hosting us and making the hobby technicolor for all of us!!! XOX

[ValKehl]

Fred, your recollections are absolutely fantastic!

[Rickyy]

Really enjoyed reading this.

Ricky Y

[jchcollins]

Great read, thanks for posting.

[Leon]

Great recollections, Fred. Thanks for regurgitating it. :)
Take care...

I guess I should comment on this thread since I believe I am the only Net 54 member who attended this early get together.

Andrew Aronstein who wrote this great piece had contacted me awhile back asking for help ID'ing some of the guys shown in the photos. I could help with some, but my mind 50 years later did not recall them

But, yes my 19 year old college Sophomore self was there wearing his college baseball team jacket, not the coat and tie others of the guys were wearing. Now at the National the preferred dress is cargo shorts!! But looking at the list of those in attendance I was only about the third youngest there. Bill Mastro and Mike Jasperson where younger. I am not sure about Dennis Graye. Anyone know whatever happened to him?? He just disappeared from the hobby.

I remember thinking I was a small fish in a big bowl with all these older guys with better collections than mine. But I got to know most of them well over the years.

Everyone there does not show up in the photos unfortunately. I make one appearance down low in the bottom left of one photo under the fellow in the blue jacket with his arms folded. I am sitting next to Bill Haber.

Bill worked for Topps writing the backs of the cards. Bill brought to the get together a trunk load full of Topps uncut sheets!! I recall standing there in awe of what I was seeing. The host Mike Aronstein got the majority of them. As I recall us youngins, Mastro and McKie got to pick over the "dregs". I remember getting a sheet of the SP 59 Bazooka baseball, candy lids, deckle edge set and about 12 or so more.

A little while later Bill who was asthmatic married and decided to move to Wisconsin for the fresh air. Bill offered me his job at Topps. At first I thought it was a dream come true. I went into Brooklyn from my home in New Jersey and met with Bill and "interviewed " with Sy Berger. I had already been into Topps offices before and met Woody Gelman who designed the cards and owned Card Collectors Company one of the first companies selling cards, and was allowed to go through their "archives" as it were, because some of us collectors at the time were going to update Burdick's Standard Catalog and I was the "Topps" guy at the time, having collected all the inserts, errors, etc, and was writing articles about them in The Trader Speaks.

Topps was not located in the best of Brooklyn neighborhoods at the time. Bill would tell me of times he would drive into work park on the street under the EL and come out after work and find the battery in his car missing! I did not want to live in Brooklyn and had nightmares of the traffic driving into the city everyday from New Jersey, so I turned down the job. As it worked out Topps allowed Bill to work from his home in Wisconsin. But that did not last long. Bill's new wife was a city girl and hated Wisconsin so he soon moved back to Staten Island and resumed his job at Topps offices. Sadly Bill died at a relatively young age.

Sorry to get off topic. Yes, this was one of the first collector get together's and this led to big "conventions" as we called them. It was basically just tables set up in a hall, few if any outsiders would come in off the street. If they did and had cards they wanted to sell, everyone would stop and an auction was held then and there for us table holders to bid on the collection. No autograph guests. Just us collectors in one room with our tables as our "base". Sure was a fun time. The best conventions were in Detroit, Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Cleveland

Andrew noted that i was one of the guys there to have a T206 Wagner, but I did not have mine at the time of the get together. However there is a connection. I was at a convention in Detroit a few years later when the host of the meeting written about , Mike Aronstein in NY turned up the Wagner from a guy on Long Island . He wanted to buy the card outright, but the fellow refused to sell. Mike did have a Wagner at the time so he did not need it for himself. He told the guy about the convention in Detroit and the guy agreed to auction it off at the convention. I caught wind of the fact that a Wagner would be auctioned off that night. I had just received my income tax refund before I left home, so I was "floating" in money, yeah right, but I then sold the entire contents of my table to another guy for $500 hoping to gather enough funds to get the Wagner

When the night was over I was the proud owner of a Wagner for the sum of $1,100. The second highest ever paid at the time next to $1500 Bill Mastro had paid. As soon as the convention was over we drove straight to Mike's house, the location of the meeting we are talking about, to pick up my Wagner.

A few years later a new guy hit the hobby scene named Barry Halper. As it happened he lived about 20 minutes from me. I had sold him a few things previously and he asked if he could visit to see my Wagner. I said sure. When he arrived he asked how much I would sell my Wagner for and I said it was not for sale and that I would have to sell my whole collection before getting rid of it. Barry then asked, how much do you want for your whole collection. You have to remember this was 1975. This did not happen in those days. But, I was getting ready to get married and figured this may be the time, so I sat down and wrote out in long hand everything I had in my collection. I still have the list! Added it up and in those days if you were selling a big group of things you would give a discount to the buyer. For the time it was a rather large number, or so I thought. I told Barry the number expecting him to say no thanks or at least negotiate. Without batting an eye he said "fine". A few days later he paid me with quite a few money orders, with the issuer's names of Joe Tinker, Frank Chance, John Evers etc. I used the money a few years later to start a business which allowed me to retire at the age of 55. But if I had just held onto my collection about two or three years longer I could have sold it and retired before age 30 as the values really took off in the late 70's.

I always wondered what happened to my Wagner as Halper ended up with three. A few years back there it was in an auction from Bill Goodwin. I would know it anywhere due to it's unique crease. It "only" sold for $1.2 MILLION!! OUCH. But I always tell myself if I would have held onto the cards I would be card rich but money poor and as much as I wish I still had my original collection, it did allow me to have a good life and retire early, so I guess it was worth it.

[maniac_73]

That is old school cool at its finest!

[kailes2872]

I guess I should comment on this thread since I believe I am the only Net 54 member who attended this early get together.


Isn't Zimp a Net54 member? (although I don't think he posts much, I remember his posts when Wayne was sick and eventually passed)

Edit: I think I read incorrectly and Bill was in the picture from the '71 gathering - not '70. (sorry)

[perezfan]

Great story Fred... many thanks for sharing!

Can you briefly tell us how you got back into collecting after selling everything to Halper? Did it happen suddenly, or gradually over the years? And how long did it take to amass the world's greatest Hartland collection (after selling everything off in 1975?)

Fascinating stuff!

[Leon]

That is old school cool at its finest!

Yes it is. Great stuff.
Yes .Zimp (hi Bill if you are reading) is a member. He has posted around 40 times but not in several years.

Here is part of an old letter I haven't posted in a while.. From Buck Barker to Walt Corson, penned on New Years Eve 1956.

https://luckeycards.com/poletterbarker.jpg