The Phoenix--rising from the ashes!
 

Let's try this one. How many of you guys, like me, were originally drawn to the hobby during the 80's and/or 90's, when the modern rookie card fever was all ablaze, stayed on and migrated to older, pre-WWII cards after the crash?

As regards those of you falling into this category, what motivated you, and continues to motivate you?

Larry

Well for me , I was drawn in when a buddy of mine needed to raise funds for books back in 89 or 90 . I bought a 5000 ct. of football cards from him for 30 bucks. About a week or 2 later a cousin of mine said he would trade me a box of baseball cards for my football cards.

Well when i got the cards home and searched , I found a 1971 Roberto Clemente . It was beat up but I thought it was cool . Still have it today.

After really enjoying the cards for a while I started checking out card shops in the area and started picking up the oldest cards I could find . Didnt really care about condition at the time. I just thought it was cool to have really old cards.

Nowadays I collect (slowly) T206 and T210 cards because it fascinates me to think about where these cards have been and what these cards have gone through the last 100 years.

I gravitated towards vintage for the pure love of the history of the game. I wanted to put together a nice collection that one day I can leave to my daughter. She's three years old and loves to look at the "little cards"(T206). I hope I have an aspiring collector on my hands and will keep my collection after I am long and gone.

Good question...
 

I started collecting in 1984 when my Mom brought home a pack of 1984 Fleer from the grocery store to assist with my boredom during the sumemr break. Never looked back.
I love baseball history, had a couple of cousins who played MLB in the 30s and 40s, and listening to my Dad's stories of his favorite players (Eddie Mathews, Roy Campanella, etc...) helped fuel my interest in the older cards...been lost to the habit ever since.

I collected in the late '80s-90s, but got out of it around '91. Most of my time and money went into music & instruments. A little over a year ago, I started watching baseball again when I got HD and found the MLB Network. I loved the old games they would play and the history shows (it was the off season) and started thinking about the box of cards at my parents house. That's what got me back in it, but still mostly collecting 50s-60s cards and modern. Then I started getting into some pre war after watching Ken Burns Baseball and finding sites like this one. I still collect mostly 50's, but my nicest three cards are pre war (Ruth, Gehrig, and DiMaggio).

Thanks for your feedback, guys, and I am in complete agreement re the history of the game. Back in the early to mid-nineties, a collecting friend and I did our best to analyze/simplify the attraction the vintage cards presented, and we came up with this: the cards connect you vicariously to the player, and take you right back to the time. They truly are the history of the game you can hold right in your hands!

Larry

That is so true

Now if only my wife could appreciate that!

Larry

LOL good luck with that:D