Posted By:
billyOne of my fondest memories is when I was a youngster sleeping on Sunday morning and my dad would come home from getting the Sunday paper. He would wake me up by tossing a couple of packs of cards (probably Topps 1971) onto my bed.
I collected packs and traded and flipped...and even stuck them in my bike tires for the "motorcycle noise". But I would never do that with a card I needed for a set. It didn't matter who the card was if it was a double, but if I needed that number card I would not risk or ruin it. In fact, I recall trading a handful of my remaining Topps 1974 (I think) to get the 1 card I needed to finish the set. It was one of the special cards Topps did each year...a Lou Pinella childhood card.
I also recall visiting a cousin who kept come cards in his drawer. It was so cool to see those 196x cards. He gave some to my brother and myself. One was a 67 Mantle that I still have today.
At some point I got into buying sets complete (someone in this thread mentioned Renatta Galasso and boy did that bring back memories). My thinking was that I liked the cards and I'd love to one day have some child (mine or someone else's) who would go bug-eyed looking at my cards like I would do when I saw old cards.
And because that's why I collected, I decided I would put all of them in albums instead of keeping them in boxes. This way they can easily be looked at. Otherwise, what's the point???
It doesn't matter to me if I have a card valued at a few hundred dollars...I take it out of its case and put it into its album.
I have albums for Topps regular issues (no way I was going to get involved in all the other manufacturers and special gold/chrome/stadium/spend-more issues) for 1971 through 1990...including a few albums that have just the traded/update sets for 74, 76, and then later on when they came each year.
I think I stopped in 1990 because my interest in the game and players was gone. Collecting cards of business men didn't appeal to me.
My favorite album is the one I titled simply "Ooooooooooo". That's the album that has the Mantle, a Satchel Paige, Jackie Robinson, Lou Gehrig, almost every pitcher that pitched a Cy Young. I'm still looking for an affordable Ernie Shore (27 outs of perfect relief) and John Richmond (1st perfect game ever...1880) and Monte Ward (who followed Richmond's 5 days later!).
That's the album that has the cards I look for now. Though I have also thought about finishing the 70's decade by getting a 1970's set via collecting poor condition cards...not buying the set...just like I remember it being done...a few cards at a time.
I also stopped in high school or college, and then got back into it via card shows for a couple of years. I had a blast going to shows and using all the items I had collected that I didn't want to trade for what I wanted. The 1933 Gehrig I mentioned above was a swap for an entire Topps football set (76 I believe with Payton rookie). If I sold something, I'd use that money to buy something. Basically I was using my hobbie to finance itself, and it lasted for a lot longer than I would have thought. Plus I was fortunate that back then there were still shows that had older cards. I went to a "large" show a month ago and found 1 table with interesting older cards. So I may be done with shows...or at least until I can find "vintage" card shows.
Now I look for cards that meet some interest of mine for some theme I made up myself or just for the history of the card or just to recall back when it was a game. As long as it adds "ooooo"mph to my "Ooooooo" album, I might try and find it. I think part of the fun is in the search too.
Enjoy for whatever reason you enjoy it.