I want a happier thread [Archive] - Net54baseball.com Forums

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04-23-2007, 12:55 PM

Posted By: Rich KleinSo let the board (and me) know when you realized you were hooked on collecting -- and if you started with modern cards/memorabilia and moved back -- what was the epiphany that brought you to the pre-war world. Regards Rich

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04-23-2007, 01:09 PM

Posted By: Bill StoneThanks Rich !! I was a collector as a youngster and fortunately some of my 1950 era cards survived. In the 70s I acquired a whole lot of Mothers Cookies cards as well. I began my pre-war collecting as a result of buying a framed group of T-206 and T-210 cards at a flea market. I had never seen the T-210 series before and it started me on my research of the Blue Grass League and eventually collecting the series.

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04-23-2007, 01:13 PM

Posted By: Dan BrettaI knew very early on that I was a collector. My parents were very big into collecting (Dad: Stamps/antique toys, Mom: Dolls) and they went to estate auctions and sales nearly every weekend when I was growing up. I started collecting cards in the late 70s as a kid with both sports and non-sports cards by buying packs and putting sets together. I gravitated towards vintage when my dad gave me some N172's that he found in a scrapbook. He told me if I was smart I would stop buying up boxes of new cards and go after the vintage cards....well I stopped buying the new stuff, but I also didn't really go after much vintage either as I pretty much stopped collecting when I went to college...it wasn't until I got out of college that I started collecting again attempting the T206 set....I got about 90 cards into that before I sold them off to concentrate on other cards and memorabila. edited punctuation. <img src="/images/happy.gif" height=14 width=14>

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04-23-2007, 03:50 PM

Posted By: PaulI started collecting cards in ther late 60's when I was a kid, & a huge Mets fan. Collected cards from packs at the store, & chewed up all the gum I could. About 1980 I put all my cards (thousands of them) in a huge box with no lid in our attic, & started concentrating on rock-n-roll & girls <img src="/images/happy.gif" height=14 width=14> While my cards were up there, we had a cat who would climb the ladder into the attic, & hang out there for long stretches of time. Hmmm, wonder what he was using for a litter box?<img src="/images/sad.gif" height=14 width=14> Everyone of my cards were stuck together in one big clump of piss!!! Started again collecting the shiny stuff on & off until the mid 90's when I went to a card show at Los Arcos Mall in Scottsdale. I bought some T206's of Johnson, Tinker, & Cobb. I was amazed how interesting they were compared to the new stuff, & along with my strong passion for the history of the game, I was hooked. Sorry for the frowny face in a happy thread.

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04-23-2007, 04:13 PM

Posted By: MikeUGreat thread Rich. I started collecting in 1980 with a strong interest in the Detroit Tigers. They had some good success through much of the 80's, so collecting the new cards each year was of great interest and anticipation. My vintage collecting or what I considered vintage, consisted of going back to the mid to late 70's to get Tiger cards of active players e.g. 1978 Topps Trammell, Whitaker, Morris and Parrish was a pinnacle year for Tiger rookies. I would also really go deep into "vintage" to buy an Al Kaline card as a treat. In 1992, the amount of new product became too much and I quite collecting new cards vigourously and have never collected much post 1992 material since then. I strongly believe that if the product offerings never proliferated to absurdity, I would have never stopped collecting new products. As far as getting into pre-war vintage, Kit Young's recent quote hit the nail on the head for me. He mentioned that he simply did not get excited anymore when he came across a 1957 Mantle, since he already had 10 in stock. Most of the cards I buy are post-war, but they are not that hard to find. It is simply a matter of condition and money. Pre-war cards bring a little more excitement for me, as any given card is not listed on eBay everyday. This makes it a little more of a challenge and exciting when you find a card.

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04-23-2007, 05:02 PM

Posted By: DavidThe moment I was hooked was 1989. Gee, what an awesome year to get started. lol I had bought a few packs of cards before then but not much. I had heard about the 89 Fleer Billy Ripken nasty phrase on the end of bat from who knows where. A day or two after I did I was at a local gas station and notice they had packs of 89 Fleer. I bought one pack just to see and there it was. I was hooked from that moment on. I quit collecting a few years after that. Just within the last year I turned to vintage. Was amazed how cheap 90 year old+ cards were compared to modern shiny stuff. Still love that Ripken though. It will always stay in my collection. David

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04-23-2007, 05:17 PM

Posted By: RCPaulPaulPaul - I forgive you for having a frown face in your post, I think everyone will agree that cat piss will do that to a person! My collecting started in late '66 through the early 70's, exclusively Topps. Then as high school and college came around it took a nosedive for 5-6 years. Then around 1980 I got going again for a few years but like many other collectors, the plethora (always liked that word) of cards turned me off. Just in the last few months I have gotten into cards again and vintage really excites me. Never would have thought I would own any pre-war cards and now that's all I look at and I spend an absurd amount of time on Net54. Lots here to learn and to be entertained with, although some of the recent negative posts are somewhat of a turnoff but I can choose to stay away from those if I wish. Thanks for the great topic. RC

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04-23-2007, 08:04 PM

Posted By: Dave FI started collecting at six years old in 1982. It was all Topps for me...and I'd trade any card for a card of my worthless Braves at the time. The mid 80's was pretty painful as I'd trade Clemens and the likes for Bob Horner's and Bruce Benedicts. I got into pre-war cards about a year and a half ago after a small attempt at the 1952 topps set.

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04-23-2007, 08:20 PM

Posted By: Jason CarotaI collected as a kid from about 1987-1994'ish. At that time, I collected all modern. I stopped around '94. I have my wife to thank for getting me back into the hobby. A couple of years ago, she booked a series of card shows at the hotel she worked for at the time. When she told me, I decided to check the show out and see how the hobby was. I noticed quite a few changes since I left (game used/autogr/serial numbered cards.) Needless to say, the hobby bug bit me and I was back. In early November '06, I made my first vintage purchase, a T206 Johnny Bates. Since then, I have started to piece together as much of the T206 set as possible, as-well-as picking up pre-war/vintage Red Sox cards. I still collect modern, as well (Red Sox team collection and a Manny Ramirez player collection.)

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04-23-2007, 11:53 PM

Posted By: barry arnoldgreat thread, Rich. Very positive. i started collecting in 1960 when playing little league baseball. like many of you, i had the best Mantles, Mays, Musials,Koufaxs,etc. Many i placed in my bicycle spokes; many i placed in the front of my baseball cap to make it stand extra straight and tall; many i traded for some of the older cards like the nifty ones with players on the color tvs---the beginnings of my vintage yearnings. in grad. school, i sold everything for cash---at one of those 'extravaganzas' where folks offer very little for treasures but we take the cash anyway. some regrets there, obviously. around '82, near the end of the ole PhD, i inherited some beautiful 206s,203s,205s,and 210s. Vintage took hold but didn't give it my all until i made the commitment to '206s only' some years back, selling all but my 206s, and singlemindedly becoming a conquistadore---now at 501 different 206s with examples of almost all backs. and i am HAPPY about it Rich. all the best, barry

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04-24-2007, 07:48 AM

Posted By: RobMy parents bought me the 1986 topps set when i was around 8 yrs old. I taped many of the cards to my door. I was hooked for the next 8 years. Although by 1992 I stopped buying "current" cards and was more focused on getting early-mid 80's George Bretts and Eddie Murrays and single players that interested me. Stopped collecting from end of high school and through college. Then when Cowboy's Roy Williams came on the scene, I wanted to pick up a few of his football cards, and then I found myself looking at 48-55 baseball Bowmans on ebay. Was into that for a while and during a search for vintage (to me, 1950's was vintage hee hee) forums I came across this site just a few months ago and now I am mostly interested in vintage stuff. So its ALL YOU NETWORK54 MEMBERS' FAULT!!!!! <img src="/images/happy.gif" height=14 width=14> Rob <img src="/images/happy.gif" height=14 width=14>

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04-24-2007, 08:12 AM

Posted By: MikeI started getting involved with baseball cards when I was about 6. 1960. Virtually every boy I knew had a shoebox full of cards. We traded them, we used them in the spokes, we made up games with them. One game a friend of mine and I made up was, a form of hide and seek I suppose, whereby one of us would hide a card, in my grandfathers garage. ( i was living there then.) If the person looking for the card found it, he could keep it. I am sure there are still a few in there somewhere. I grew up with a very cruel and somewhat psychotic step father who used to like to beat the crap out of me when I was small.( every week) Among other things, but one time when he really wanted to punish me, he took all of my cards and hid them from me. Now that was more than I could handle. talk about hitting where it hurt? he knew just how to hurt me the most. But walking to the store, shooting the breeze on the way there, and on the way back, wow, such fantastic memories. I wish I could go back sometimes. I bought thousands of cards. I still have every one of them. None are graded, and PSA wouldn't give me more than a 2 if I did. They were well loved and played with. I have a 57 or 58 Minnie Minoso with a hole through his face. I will never let that one go.

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04-24-2007, 09:48 AM

Posted By: Rob LI started collecting baseball cards in 1970 when my family in San Diego. I was 5 at the time. I remember waiting for the ice cream man and jumping on my bike to pay a quarter for another pack of Topps cards. I seem to recall (but I'm not completely sure), that they came in small boxes and had more than 10 cards at the time. In 1972, my father was transferred to Japan and can remember my excitement when I was able to buy those disco looking Topps cards at the commissary. Back from Japan in 1974, I continued collecting until I started high school. I didn't collect modern cards again until 1997. I wasn't much into baseball after the strike in 1994. In 1996, my 2 year old son became enamored with baseball and Troy Percival in particular. He also liked baseball cards. By 1997, my son and I would started collecting modern cards and continued for the next 4 years. In 2001, I purchased a T206 Cy Young (bare hand) from SCP and the T201 Mcbride/Elberfeld card. I have collected the T201 in fits and starts since that time and have recently started collecting The Monster. Rob L

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04-24-2007, 09:58 AM

Posted By: Jason LI was home during the summer break, and Mom came home from the grocery store late one morning (Cubs game hadn't started yet)....We had a split-level home, with the stairs just outside the kitchen door, and to this day, I can vividly remember it was a sunny, hot day already, and I recall her handing me that first pack of 1984 Fleer, saying she saw it at the checkout and thought I might get a kick out of it, since I'd been indoors watching so many ballgames that summer...I sat there on the third step, opening it and going through it while she unpacked the groceries. 2 cards I recall getting in that pack are Pete Rose and Keith Moreland. And that was all I needed...a star and a Cubbie. Then I found out there was a secondary market for them...ooo boy! Thanks Mom, you have cost me thousands since! but to be honest, what an incredible gift it was, I have made friends through the hobby, and having a hobby can be a critical part of a person's development, in my opinion....which doesn't really explain what happened to me, but hey! <img src="/images/happy.gif" height=14 width=14> Thanks for the thread...

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04-24-2007, 01:55 PM

Posted By: Bruce BabcockThank you, Rich. I collected as a kid (1959-1965) after my mom brought home a shoe box of 1956 Topps and 1955 Topps All America from a church rummage sale. I sold about 3000 dupes for $60 to Goodie Goldfaden in 1976. In 1981 I got interested again after some stories in the papers about card collecting and found a store nearby (Van Nuys, CA) owned by Eric Cooper and Dave Hamilton. I spent lot of time in the store and bought my first Old Judge card there. They also ran a monthly show with about 30 dealers in Granada Hills and sponsored some pretty big shows at S. Calif. hotels. My first T206 came from one of those shows. This is where I got hooked on older cards, but after first splurging on 50s-60s I hadn't seen before. edited for spelling

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04-24-2007, 02:11 PM

Posted By: Silver KingI was born in 65 and lived in Sacramento. In the 70's the A's were great and I spent a lot of time at the ballpark getting autographs. I witnessed an inside-the-park grand slam which made the Centerfold of SI and when the issue came out I was in the picture up cheering for the opposing runner to score because it was an incredible event. I purchased tons of packs of cards hoping for an A's player in each pack. One day I caught a foul ball hit by Willie McCovey (he played on the A's for 1-year). He signed the ball after the game and I was hooked on everything baseball related. I quit collecting cards in the 80's and have boxes of cards in my attic. One day I find out my great-great-grandfather "Silver King" played ball in the 1880's. For 20 years I thought I could only find him in books. Ebay came around and all of a sudden I realized I might be able to find some of his items. I have a small Silver King collection and now I've expanded to a few other cards and am now trying to figure out a way to explain my obsession with my wife.

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04-24-2007, 02:21 PM

Posted By: Jason LIt's ok to be obsessed with your wife! That helps in alot of areas. Sorry, couldn't help it <img src="/images/happy.gif" height=14 width=14> I don't have any words of wisdom for the actual problem that you are probably trying to describe...

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04-24-2007, 02:46 PM

Posted By: Mike MassenzioI started collecting in the late 80's. Like many others my age I ripped through packs of 1987 Topps and those horrribly designed 1988 Donruss looking for Corey Snyder and Greg Jefferies rookies. Good thing the stories my parents told me about the players from the 1940's - 1950's ignited a passion in me to ditch the new stuff and try to find cards from that era. But also like many other 13 year olds I rarely had the cash to purchase any quality pre-war or early Topps and Bowman issues, but that didnt stop from buying any VG vintage cards that came through the local dealers door. And unlike many others my age the collecting bug was still with me through out high school and college and once I discovered Ebay and my collection took off. The hardest part is keeping a straight face when my friends say that their collection from the late 80's early 90's must be worth thousands by now.

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04-24-2007, 02:57 PM

Posted By: Bob PomillaFirst started buying/collecting cards in '57. Continued buying through '65, at which point, lost interest. Picked up buying current stuff again in 1997 as I entered my second (third, fourth?) childhood. In 2000, I took the plunge into the world of vintage. The beauty, the history-marvelous! Not too long afterwards, became disgusted with the direction current cards were taking and decide to concentrate on vintage. So, I guess I've been "hooked" on more than one occasion. This time it's to stay, I think.

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04-24-2007, 03:06 PM

Posted By: peter chaoA few years back I went to a coin and card show in Santa Clara, CA. I brought a lot of my shiny new stuff to trade in case I found a card I couldn't afford. The show was a dud because there was only one table with any cards on it. But on that table was a T-206 Walter Johnson Portrait, but better than that the dealer was willing to take part trade and part cash. I ended up giving him half of the shiny stuff I brought with me and about 50 bucks in exchange for the Walter Johnson (about PSA 3 or 4). A great deal and had a lot of fun making the deal happen. <img src="/images/happy.gif" height=14 width=14> Peter

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04-24-2007, 03:09 PM

Posted By: davidcyclebackWhen I was a kid bought both the new and old cards. I bought packs at stores and, as I liked Laurel & Hardy, old movies and cards, it was natural to also be interested in the old stuff.

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04-24-2007, 06:43 PM

Posted By: Dave WilliamsI ripped my first pack in 1971, and got a Steve Carlton which I promptly trimmed and put in my wallet in the picture section, as I was a Cardinal fan thanks to Harry Caray. A couple years later a guy who worked with my dad gave me about 200 early 60's cards, including 50 or so Hall of Famers, including Mantle, Mays, Aaron, Banks, and I was hooked. I spent all my spare change on packs for the next few years, kept every card I ever got, and during the 70's I was picking up Goudey's, occasional T 206's and lots of 50's stuff at garage sales and flea markets. I kept all my friends cards when they gave them away, bought stuff at garage sales and flea markets, and then in 1980 went to college and didn't buy a single card for about 6 years. In the late 80's I thought my retirement was in cases of 87,88, and 89 Topps (who'd want that junk Fleer anyway??????) When I woke up in 1990, I started a card shop, did the show scene and found a whole lot of idiots chasing Kevin Maas and Dave Justice. Now I chase Cardinal stuff, but I've still got most of my old stuff.