Great thread idea, however as a kid in mid 80's, I never really had a mentor. My dad would be about the closest thing as he would take me to many card shows, but he was never a collector, just enjoyed taking me to the shows because I enjoyed it and enjoyed seeing vintage cards. It all started with a price guide I received back in the mid 80's with the Wagner and Plank on the front cover with prices that (at the time) seemed so expensive and exotic. From that point forward I tried to learn everything I could about these little cards.
I can remember my dad walking me into card shops when I was 8-10 years old and just watching me try to make deals with these 40 and 50 year old shop owners, lol. Here's this 10 year old kid walking in with a 1976 Walter Payton rookie and trading it for a late 50's Mantle. I always did all of the talking while these shop owners would look at my dad just have a chuckle. Crazy to think back at that kid now and how much balls I had at such a young age. So yeah, I was basically self taught if you can call it that, lol. I wish I could give credit and say I had a mentor that showed me the ropes and helped me along, but that wasn't the case with me.
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