[B O'Brien]

I marked myself in the 16+ age. My turning point was my 12th birthday (1988) and my dad said he would buy me any card or cards I wanted as long as I didn't cross $40, and that was it. We went to JR's in Powderly, KY and I had my heart set on a sharp Mattingly 1984 Fleer. JR had just taken in some trade stock and he had two 1956 Topps Campy's. One was nice crispy with a wrinkle and the other had a slightly rounded corners but no creases. Please remember that Mattingly, 45 minutes south of where he grew up was king at this time, and that is still one good looking card! The color on the wrilke free Campy was super vivid and I fell in love, my turning back the years in the card world had begun. The prices on both were $35, so I grabbed the Campy a new Beckett and a pack of clean top loaders (never had any new ones before that!). I still have that card and always will!

As I got a little older I set up at the local shows and sold new stuff from wax and would take in trade of whatever had value, so I started to amass some good post war stuff. I was set up at a show in Charleston, WVA in 1992 (we moved, coal mining family), and one of my regular guys was working on a 1955 set in EX or so, and I had a nice Clemente to fill his slot. After months of trying to work out a deal (I was asking $500) he shows up with an Old Mill White Cap Matty that is crease free and $300. I managed to squeeze out a NMMT Payton RC to sweeten the deal. That Matty was my first PW card and I loved it.

My sell off lasted right at 5 years. When I decided what I wanted to do for real, need to relo and go back to school (Culinary degree this time), I had to sell of nearly all of my stack of cards. I sold the Matty on ebay (2001 or early 2002 after getting married, it was the last to go) in a PSA 3 holder to a guy in Sea, WASH. I have tried to find him for last few years to get it back, but no luck. Between my time as being broke with the wife when we started out and the college days (I had expensive recreational choices then, and very little income), I sold off all of my prewar cards for next to nothing (just before the internet). I used to keep really good records in my notebooks from show deals (what I took in on trade) and the same stuff that I sold off at $10 a card in college is staggering for me now, as I would just bulk out my T206 (VG-EXish) hoard to the local dealer in LEXKY because he had a guy that was framing them and would take all I would bring for the flat price.

I managed to stay away for 5 years before joining Cardtarget and the partial shares market. I figured if I only had a portion of some T cards it would be OK! When I found out we had to close down, I could not think of letting the Lenox Johnson go to someone else, so I bought it in the summer of '08 to fully knock myself off the wagon.

As with some of you all, I think the baseball cards have been one of the things that have linked the stages of my life. My first set for the holidays in 1986 from the JC Penny catalog, because I thought it would be fun to have 792 tiny presents, to learning math and statistics as I got older from the backs, to trying to find tough backed T206 HOFers or just cards I always wanted when I was little, as I do now (I bought beater Duke Snider and Pee Wee rookies the other night!!) It is the one constant no matter what else changes around me.

I love me some ball cards and prewar just makes it that much more fun. I love to learn the history of what was going on when these cards were being produced to set the players or company up with what was going on in the times. My next little project will either be the Bluegrass League or the LA issues T cards. Since both groups of cards seem to be out of my price range, I may take a new route on collecting. The journey continues!!!

I just reread that, sorry for the ramblings!!,
Bob