Didn't you know PSA originally started out as Professional Spud Authenticators

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Thanks, I enjoyed yours as well!

Bike Spokes Treatment
 

With apologies to all of Red Sox Nation — this card is from my personal, childhood collection. Note the definite crease line — from bending and attaching it to a fender bracket — on the left side of the card. Yep, this one got the bicycle spokes treatment! I was eight years old in 1960 —how was I to know he was going to have a HOF career? I still love this card!

Really enjoy hearing stories about cards that were saved even though they are no longer in their best condition...as most of us are not in our best condition as well...myself included...lol...thanks for sharing

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I searched high and low for one of these forever before I found one. Steve Dalkowski's life has always fascinated me, not only for the what could have been aspect but also because his life was incredibly sad and a tragic reminder of what sometimes happens when things don't work out for someone with all the natural talent in the world. I find him to be a kindred spirit in many ways when it comes to things in my own life. Anyway, I'll never sell this card and even if I wanted to, what would I get?

https://live.staticflickr.com/4534/3...a6cbef7c55.jpg

His is a tragic story...as an Oriole fan I always wondered what might have been...have been thinking recently about getting one of Dalkowski's "cards that never were"...saw a 1963 Topps style recently on Ebay

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Bump

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Bump

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Years ago, an accident changed my life. Most of the injuries would eventually fully heal, but my hearing loss is permanent. The recovery process was brutal, moreso emotionally than physically.

As I was trying to pick up the pieces, my boyfriend (now my husband) gave me a baseball card. It was basically worthless, a beat up 1951 Bowman Lou Brissie. He told me of Lou's story....

Lou was a decent pitching prospect, threw for none other than Connie Mack around 1940 or so, but the world had other plans at that time. Like many young men, Lou did his duty and shipped off to fight a war for his country. One day in Italy, things got pretty bad. Most of Lou's platoon was killed or wounded, and Lou was no exception. An exploding artillery shell shredded one of his legs.

At the army hospital, doctors insisted that Lou's leg would have to be amputated. He flat-out refused to let them take it, saying "I'm a ballplayer.". He intended to keep his leg even if it cost him his life.

Lou spent a lot of time recovering and he never gave up on his dream. He was fit with a leg brace and made the best of it. One day he found himself once again in front of Connie Mack, trying out for a spot in the roster.

Lou had a pedestrian career, nothing special. He pitched wearing a customized brace on his leg for maybe 6 years (I forget). His card isn't worth squat. But that card, Lou's card, gave me inspiration. Every time I wanted to give up, cry, whine, feel sorry for myself, Lou's card reminded me that life goes on and great things are still possible.

A beat up, worn out 1951 Bowman Lou Brissie card saved me. I'd guess I couldn't sell it for $5, and I promise I wouldn't sell it for $5000. My copy is so crappy the writing on the back is barely readable, so I pulled a pic off the internet to post here.

Lou, you're my hero. Rest In Peace.
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What a great story Rachel. So cool you could find such inspiration from a baseball card.

Here's a good story and references to a couple Norm Cash baseball cards:

https://baseballhall.org/discover/ca...42555-52571801

Rachel, that is a wonderful story...thank you for sharing it.

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The link doesn't work for me, unfortunately. I can't even copy/paste because it's not all shown. I'd like to check it out though.

Thank you for starting this thread, Orioles70. And thanks for everyone posting here. I'm reminded why we put up with all the frustration that comes with this hobby: because of the priceless moments that come with it.

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Bruce, you ever have any issues with the movers? I served 26 years in USAF at 9 different bases. I would always stress when the movers packed up my collection. I was lucky and never lost or had any cards stolen.

Meaningful Worthless Card Stories
 

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It’s not much, but this is one of my very first vintage cards. I had thought all of these were long gone, but found this one in a box I had forgotten about in the basement last night. This is from probably 1987 or 1988 in Cornelius, NC - and an antique mall in our small town had several boxes of older cards for sale, and others that were just on display. I later learned the cards were from the collection of former Milwaukee Braves catcher Paul Burris, who lived in the area. The “1954” stamp you see on the bottom of this card was put on there by him. I picked out a generous helping of cards that were for sale, which Mom allowed me to take home. The cards that I remember that were there but NOT for sale, included a 1954 Topps Ted Williams and a 1933 Goudey Gabby Harnett.

Especially with the onset of the holidays after the loss of my mother earlier this year, I find myself turning to the cards as tangible survivors of a childhood that was steeped in my parents love and tender care. We rarely realize how lucky we are while we are experiencing such moments, but it’s funny how things can come back to hit you later in life and let you know for sure. Happy Holidays, folks...[emoji4]

Very nice story...thanks for sharing...stories like this keep me focused on the true spirit of why we collect

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Bump

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This card isn't worthless, no - but it's worth substantially less both than it used to be, and in comparison to Nolan's 1968 Topps rookie card with Jerry Koosman:

Back in the early 1990's when the Ryan Express was really getting up a head of steam - both in terms of his popularity in the sport and the card hobby - this was THE Ryan card I wanted. I had first seen it in an episode of Johnny Bench's "Great American Baseball Quiz" which used to come on ESPN. They were going over the Ryan for Fregosi trade in December of '71, and I distinctly remember they showed Nolan on this card because of the airbrushed (at the time I didn't know it was...) old school Angels logo - I had never seen it before and was just intrigued and thought it was very neat. All these years later, this is still probably the best bit of Topps airbrushing I've ever seen - which is to say it doesn't look like total crap. The artist must have actually taken their time in doing it. I'm pretty sure they also showed the Jim Fregosi "truck scoop" card from 1970, which showed him on a spring training diamond with a pickup truck in the background.

Anyhow, sometime after that I realized that "the pawn shop" as all the kids called it - which was actually The Aisle Pawnshop in Mooresville NC, which sold the typical guitars and knives and lawnmowers, but also had an extensive collection of vintage baseball cards - had this particular card for sale in their glass case at the back of the store. At the time nice copies even of this - Nolan's 5th base card from Topps - were going for around $200. Recall that in the late 1980's and early 90's when Nolan first went to the Texas Rangers, his cards were exploding. His rookie card, which had been worth maybe $150-200 in 1988 was going for $1,000 or more in decent shape by 1991-92. This of course had a trickle-down effect on all of Nolan's other cards, particularly his earlier ones. So, the pawn shop wanted either $200 or $150 for their copy of his '72, which was way, way out of my reach as a 13 year old kid. Though I pined for it, I never landed that particular copy of the '72 Ryan. I did however later find elsewhere about an affordable EX, but badly O/C copy of his 1973 Topps base card - which I then treasured for years.

Fast forward to the internet age, and a few years ago I was finally able to get an SGC 4 '72 Topps Ryan off of eBay for only $15 plus shipping! The Holy Grail! I was in heaven. In the years that followed of course - while the Ryan Express never really lost popularity, some of his cards after the fabled RC (actually even including it...) did eventually settle down in value - and I guess somewhere along the line folks realized that number 595 in the '72 set - while still a semi-high number and an absolute bear to find centered nicely without any tilt - probably did not need to cost $200 in EX or so condition. They simply aren't that scarce, even today and even in high grades. I later upgraded the SGC 4 to the 7.5 that I have now, and was even able to add some other early Nolan Ryan treasures - including 1968 #177.

The memory of that card chase, that show with Johnny Bench, and just the wonder of the elusive '72 Ryan sticks with me though every time I catch a glimpse of this card. For a brief few seconds, I'm transported back to being a kid again.

-John

I really enjoy reading stories like this...thanks for sharing.

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Speaking of worthless cards, has everyone seen the trailer for '14 Back' where Spaceman Bill Lee holds out the 1971 Craig Nettles card?

I've not been able to find the entire video online, but I've watched the trailer several times.

Wow, the 1971 Topps set is one of my favorites but I'm not sure if even I would save that Nettles card...and I saved a 1957 Sal Maglie...see pic and post #8 of this thread

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At the National; Mark A. gave a great story on a 1969 Ernie Banks card, if we have video of that, I wish someone would post. If not, he needs to tell that story again in this thread.

Rich

Duplicate Post: Sorry

Rich

These are great stories. In the mid/late 80's basketball started getting popular with the Lakers, Celtics and 76'ers. So my brother wanted my Charles Barkley RC (Fleer 86) for his 62 Mantle. The Morgan and Yaz amazingly survived my mom's purge when my folks moved and were part of the mid/late 70's cards that my brother and I had. But these three were brought back and forth to college and to all the apartments I lived in before moving to my current house.

The Mantle became one of the 1st cards I slabbed and along with the others reminds me of my youth which looking back was so much fun. We played baseball everyday possible just like Sandlot until dark or when the dads came home. Breaks were only taken when the ice cream man came by--and as my mom worked, a rare thing back then, she always gave my brother and I a few bucks so we could get a creamsicle. The change was then used to get a slice of pizza and some Topps wax packs at the 5 & dime or Woolworths which we rode our bikes to WITHOUT helmets!!!!

Fantastic story...my childhood was very similar...we are very lucky to have such memories...thanks for sharing

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Bump...could really use a good story...news is so depressing

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As a kid my brother took horseback riding lessons. When he was just starting they had group lessons - a bunch of kids on horses riding in circles, sometimes going over low jumps. My parents thought that I was too young to stay home by myself, so they dragged me along. It was sssooo boring. I spent most of my time throwing clumps of dirt at things, climbing trees, stuff like that. As it happens, Ed Whitson's daughter was in the same class as my brother, and apparently he also thought it was boring to watch kids ride horses in circles, so sometimes he'd hang out with me. Strangely, considering that I was a baseball-crazy kid and he was a major league baseball player (or maybe a recently retired one), we didn't talk about baseball much. Mostly we tromped around in the woods and did general outdoors-stuff. Ed taught me how to track deer, for instance. It was a lot of fun, although it didn't last long, probably just a few months. Then my brother moved on to individual lessons. But anyways, here's my contribution to the thread, and the only autograph in my collection. 1991 Fleer Ed Whitson.

Great story...Thanks for sharing...my faith in humanity has been restored...at least temporarily

John

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1985
 

Ed Whitson, the only one of Billy Martin's sparring partners to come out on top, even though it took four rounds.;)

Bump

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https://net54baseball.com/picture.ph...ictureid=30549

When I started my signed 1953 Topps project by writing to the surviving players, I was in college, so it amounted to buying champagne on a beer budget. That meant I had to buy the cheapest cards I could find, and often a difference of a couple dollars determined which card I got. I found #211 J.W. Porter on some site that didn't have pictures but advertised the card's condition as 'Good'. It was $1, with shipping another $2, so I pulled the trigger. It showed up in a plain white envelope, and as you can see (if my picture loaded...) calling it good is a stretch that would put Rose Mary Woods to shame. When I sent it off to Mr. Porter, he sent it back with one of his own signed custom cards, and a note saying he felt so bad about the condition mine was in that he threw in the custom to make up for it.

Bump...anyone have a story?

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This is a really cool thread. Here's my most prized card.

On a whim this year I bought a box of Topps Heritage to open with my kids (ages 5 and 2). They loved the experience; cards were scattered everywhere, piled, sorted, and scattered again.

Naturally, the only black card in the entire box caught both of their eyes. After they both got plenty of time to play with it, I managed to sneak it away. I now keep it at the desk in my office, and smile every time I see it.

That's nice...hang on to it

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Bump...I need to read a good story about a meaningful worthless card to distract me from the catastrophic debt default, sky is falling we are all doomed blah blah blah talking heads on TV

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The Only Ernie Banks Card in The World
 

Having appeared on Net54 in August of 2019, and per Rich Klein's request, here it is:

I was ten years old in 1969 and years later I was given the duty to carry on and tell the story of, "The Only Ernie Banks Card in The World."

Out in Illinois farm country, about 1 1/2 hours southwest of Chicago, Craig O. had the only Ernie Banks card in the world (1969 Topps #20). At least that's how all of us kids thought. No one else had an Ernie Banks card and Ernie was KING in our little neck of Cubs country. Everyone tried to trade for it, but without success. I think Craig got great pleasure from being The Big Man On Campus, keeping the card with him at school and on the bus. He beat it up pretty bad too. It didn't matter.

Six years later, I was buying 1975 packs of cards, building a set, and Craig learned I was still collecting cards. He asked if we could do some trading as he wanted a Mike Schmidt card. We put together a trade and I got the 1969 Banks from him. I was thrilled! This was before I learned there was an organized hobby. All I knew of at the time was the Card Collector's Company.

It wasn't too much longer until I learned about the Chicagoland Sports Collector's Association shows and found a nicer copy of the 1969 Banks.

Brad B., a neighbor down the road, was just getting serious about cards and he wanted the beat-up Banks. So, we made a trade, but he didn't keep the card for long as he upgraded and then traded it to Mark S. The card stayed with him until the late 1990's.

Mark met Ernie Banks at a downtown Chicago appearance and had him autograph the card. Ernie was taken aback, "Do you really want me to sign this card?" Without going into the history of the card, Mark explained that it would mean a lot if he would. And so Ernie signed the card in black ball point pen.

Shortly thereafter, Mark gave the card to me to keep, saying it was only appropriate that I have it as I knew the history of the card going back to the spring of 1969. And so, I'm the keeper of the flame, so to speak. I treasure the card and think fondly of my collecting childhood and The Only Ernie Banks Card In The World.:D

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I don't have any one specific card that has deep meaning for me. Many cards from those early days shake something loose in the old brain. I have all of the cards I collected as a kid and although that was not as long ago as many, it was over 40 years ago now.

Growing up where I did, we had a great neighborhood, filled with kids all around the same age range. We played a lot outside (and sometimes inside as video games were starting to be popular). Wiffle ball, tag, riding bikes, tossing the football, hide and seek and whatever else we could come up with. There are a lot of great memories associated with this time for me and some things that bring those memories into a little bit clearer focus. Things like the RC Cola cans with the baseball players, Marathon bars, just about any card produced in the 78-80 range, sport or not. I used to buy sets each year through the magazines/catalogs starting around 1981. I spent a lot of time wishing I could buy more, filling out order forms i'd never actually send in because I didn't have the money. A few TCMA/RGI sets seem to have made the rounds within my friend group as they were broken up and traded, probably because they were free gifts with orders.

Books too. I used to get to order a few books in the Scholastic order each year and they were always sports related. The annual Weber stars of 78, 79, etc, The Baseball Card, Flipping, Trading & Bubblegum Book and many others. there was a set of sport encyclopedias at school that I wish I could ID now, as I had fond memories of looking through those at school. The elementary school I went to let us laminate some stuff once and I got several cards done, including a 78 Topps Rose that managed to survive. Most of the rest I peeled the lamination material off and ruined the cards.

I had a "Johnny Bench Batter Up" toy, which actually kind of sucked as I kept breaking the large rubber bands that made it work, but I had to buy one not that long ago for the memories. I went to a lot of Mariner games in that era, scrounging for autographs at the foul lines. Those were fun times!

So, here are just a few things that I picked up recently (had most of it already) that help bring those memories back...in no particular order or preference, just things that make me think of my childhood. Some I had then, others I obtained later because I always wanted, but never could find...

Hall of Fame worthy story...I needed to read about a memorable card like this...Thank you.

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Thank you for sharing these memories...it is what keeps me rooted to my childhood and will keep me in the hobby.

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The card definitely isn't worthless, but what I was given for free, certainly tells a story. I'll update this post with a picture, when I am home, from work.

On my first trip to Cooperstown, I stumbled upon a small store, in Doubleday Court. It was then, and forever will be, to me, the perfect baseball hobby shop. The store, which recently closed, was Baseball Nostalgia. It opened in 1974, and was a longtime staple of Cooperstown. I spent so much time in that store on that day, talking to Peter, about all things baseball cards. I was able to scrounge enough money together, with the help of my father to purchase a 1953 Topps Willie Mays. As a bonus, Peter threw in a signed lithograph of Johnny Mize.

It then became a ritual, everytime I visited the Hall of Fame, I would have to stop into Baseball Nostalgia. Many years later, in 2019, right before they closed, I visited the store, for the last time and spoke to Peter again. I bought some cards, one of them being one of my first 1952 Topps, a Warren Spahn, and told Peter the story of my first time in the store. He proceeded to dig around for a little bit, and found one more copy of the lithograph, of Johnny Mize, and gave me a second copy. It was a gesture I thoroughly appreciated and a bittersweet last memory of one of my favorite places to go, when I visited Cooperstown.

I thankfully was able to experience that store myself on my first (and only, to date) trip to Cooperstown in 2018. I agree, it was exactly what a sportscard and memorabilia store should be. Easily one of the best shops I have ever set foot in and I came away with a gem as well, a cheap ($1) Steve Garvey card I did not have already. It was a fitting part of a "magical" story that I wrote describing the entire experience, but lost due to a computer freeze before I could publish it. I lost my momentum and later posted a more hurried/revised version of it to one of the card sites. In a nutshell, I made my first trip to the Baseball Mecca, met in person a long time online collecting friend for the first time 20+ years after we first "met" online, also hit the Basketball HOF and it was just a fun experience all around. That card I found was a wrong back 78/79 Topps with a 79 front and a 78 Garvey back.

I started collecting in the early 90s as a 5 year old boy in Billings, MT. I bought my cards from Buttrey's Grocery Store....well actually, I smiled at my mom and had puppy dog eyes, and she bought me my cards. By about 1994, I discovered a real card shop, and it was the generic well organized, glass case, supplies. We've all been in these stores - it's almost like a Mr Clean card shop. For a 8 year old boy, that wasn't my thing. In 1996 I discovered a card shop that I liked much much more. It was a small house, perhaps even a double wide trailer. Its closeness made the shop feel very friendly - you were always within close distance of the owner, and that meant me, a 10 year old, got to talk to the owner about my growing interest. Because it was so small, not everything could be kept behind the glass cases. It felt like there was something to be discovered. 1996 was a fantastic year for baseball cards. While I didn't buy a lot of them, Topps Laser came out that year and it was exciting to see the die cuts. At this little shop I pulled a KGJ Powercuts. The pic isn't mine - it's borrowed off ebay. My card actually has foil separation at the very top of the card because I still wasn't a master at opening packs. Anyway, I was very excited to have that card after the 1995 season. The whole Laser set was fantastic.

Another story I have is more about friendship. My friend Alex, in Billings MT, was the nephew of goalie Andy Moog. I actually didn't care to play hockey, but it was fun to watch. We the junior ice hockey AFHL Billings Bulls. They played at the local arena and it was big time sports entertainment for a town in the middle of Montana. My friend would go visit his uncle, get cards signed, and then would share some with me. These were the only hockey cards I owned. After I moved away late in 1996, I found a card shop near me in Spokane. This card shop was in the same vein as the double wide trailer shop I loved so much in Billings. It had three vendors, and the main owner sold primarily vintage cards. I was introduced to so many items I had never seen before. It was amazing. One of the vendors sold hockey cards, and he had a 1981 Topps Moog RC. After looking at it for a year, I finally decided to buy it. It might have been $10-$15. This remains the only hockey card I have ever bought for myself. This pic is not my card - borrowed off ebay - obviously it's the OPC version. My card has all the hallmarks of "collector grade." Probably would grade a 5 or 6.

Nice memories...keep them coming.

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JW Porter worked security for a spring training camp. I can’t remember which one. Maybe it was the Cardinals? But I do remember this old guy in a security shirt walking around and every now and then someone would show up with a 53 Topps for him to sign and tell everyone who he was. They were always cool moments. There would be this retiree in a yellow shirt just standing around and a person wild go up to HIM for an autograph. Everyone there would be wondering what happened and then the guy would come back and say something like “that guy played with Satchel Paige.” Porter seemed like a really nice guy.

That is fantastic...it is little stories like this that make me think my optimism in humanity may actually survive another generation.

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