Tell us a little bit about yourself and what your collecting passions are
 

There are Veterans (Old Timers) and Rookies (Newbies) on NET54, so I thought it would be a good idea to start a thread where everyone can tell a little bit about themselves, tell how you got started, and share what your past and present passion in collecting is. Also, adding a picture of yourself would help put a face to the name, if you desire.

My name is Tony Baldwin, I’m 60 years old, and I’m from Syracuse, NY. I served 30 years in the military (Navy), followed by 11 years of civil service with the Navy, and I will be retiring at the end of next year at the young age of 62 for the rest of my life!

I started collecting baseball cards at the age of 14 (well, I actually wanted the gum), then started collecting oddball stuff, then got into autograph collecting, then was a big rookie card collector, and now my primary passion is game used player memorabilia, but I still collect some of the other stuff. Owning something a player used or wore in games is awesome to me. I’m a huge diehard Yankee fan. Yes, I hate the Red Sox!!!!

This is a picture of me and Harmon Killebrew from 2003. He came to our squadron, with a few other players, for a meet and greet with the military. It was truly a pleasure to meet him. He signed the card for me that I'm holding. He was very friendly and his stories were awesome.

Thanks for your service to our Country Tony. And great picture.

Welcome aboard

Thank you for your service, Tony...

That's a great pic of you and Killer. I have heard nothing but glowing things about him, both as a player and a person. What a class-act, to do such a cool meet & greet event.

I'm trying to remain a Reds fan, and that's a big part of my collection. I have Johnny Bench's first HR Ball, Tony Perez' Helmet from the '75 World Series, Perez' flannel Jersey from his best season (1970), Pete Rose's Rookie Cap, an original Box Office Sign from Crosley Field, and a bunch of other Reds junk.

But I have no focus whatsoever, and collect almost every segment of the hobby. I guess pennants like the ones pictured below are my first love.

Anyway, hope others will post here, as it would be great to see some new faces on the memorabilia side.

Thanks! Can you add a pic of your Tony Perez' Helmet from the '75 World Series? Tony

My name is Mark. I am a Family Physician and am 53. I started collecting as a child, like everyone else.
My passion, or obsession, as some might characterize it, started more in the late 70s. My father and mother were in a car accident. They took the fairly decent sized settlement and purchased the contents of a sports collectibles store. Their idea was to give me something to focus my youthful years on as well as trying to start a business and make some money.
That business continued from around 1978 to 1992ish. At various times we had a brick and mortar store that i worked in as well as going to probably 40 shows per year. Most were in the NY netro area, but we traveled all over including driving to Vegas a couple times and to the National in San Francisco.
In 92, my father's health declined and i was in med school, so we stopped the business and put everything it storage. Most if it is still there now.
Around 2000 or so, i got the bug and started to collect again. My collection focuses on Lou Gehrig related memorabilia primarily, but i will collect anything that catches my eye. Gehrig became a hero for me very early after seeing Pride of the Yankees as a child. His quiet grace and dignity while still being one of the greatest of all time struck me as being profound even then. I think it is even more impressive considering we live in a time of such self aggrandizement and self importance.
Anyway, thats me. I love the community here. Though we all have different back stories, we all share the love for the game, the people that played it, and the hunt for that perfect item to add to our collection.

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Excellent stuff, Mark...
No better role model or subject to collect than The Iron Horse.

Tony...
I'll post some pics of Perez' 1975 Helmet over the weekend... Thanks.

My name is Robert Miller from Philadelphia PA, age 59. I will be retiring in 2.5 years when I hit 62. I have a daughter who just graduated from Kutztown University on the Dean’s list and a son in his first year at Temple University studying Cinema. He wants to produce movies and I have no doubt he will be a success as he is very driven when it comes to something he has a passion for.

I started collecting cards as a child like everyone else. I mostly remember the 1968 and 1969 cards. I also collected stamps until I was about 20 when I focused on sports cards. I bought and sold as a part time dealer on weekends about 15 times a year.

Some of my proceeds would go to buying more things to resell and most went to buying anything I liked that was old, mainly T206’s.

I had a lot of fun in this hobby opening packs, making sets, and going to shows. I don’t post a lot but this is a great site and am glad I joined back in May 2009. There are a lot of helpful people here.

Have a great Day!

Robert

I have little self control and have dabbled in all things baseball. Nonetheless, I collect primarily the 1971 Pirates. I grew up in the military in a family where Spanish was spoken. My mother's friends were all Mexican, Panamanian, Puerto Rican, Chilean, Venezuelan, and Dominican. Our home was a nexus of culture, food, and ethnicity. In1971 I was eight and realized what was occurring in my home was not necessarily happening in my friends homes. My father was blonde and blue eyed and from Pennsylvania. He was and remains a passionate Bucs fan. The 1971 Pirates reflected what was happening in my home at that time. At eight I fell in love with baseball because of that team and I learned from watching them that it was alright, if not a bit cool, to be different. As they say it is best to stay with who brought you to the dance so I have remained loyal to Roberto, Willie, Dock, Scoop, and Digger. Anyone know where I might locate a September 1, 1971 Pittsburgh Pirate ticket?

My name is Tim, I'm 35 y.o., and I am a Reds fan, like Mark (perezfan). I currently live in WA State. I grew up in Billings MT in the 90s, and their Rookie affiliate team, the Billings Mustangs, was my introduction to the love of baseball. They had this beautiful, old, rickety wood stadium that I adored. I am devastated to think they may not exist beyond this year. They have been a Reds affiliate FOREVER! I used to collect everything! And that got overwhelming when I had to box it up during college. So I got rid of most of it, and refocused on collecting the Reds. I have moved to earlier and earlier vintage over the years. I've been collecting the 1939/40 Reds for the last 5 years. I'm about to do another pivot, though. I'm selling most of my collection to help with a down payment on a house (my wife and I are part of that millenial generation that has delayed buying a house). Not sure what I'll turn to after we buy a house. It's TBD.

I also collect Tris Speaker. He was a distant relative on my Mom's side. The family split, and her line moved from Texas to New Mexico. She had an uncle named Tris, named after the ballplayer. He was an early introduction to the history of baseball, and I've always been fascinated between the various generations of ball players.

I go to Mariners' games occasionally, but always when the Reds play interleague ball. This picture was in 2019. I'm a quiet Mariners fan. In MT we rooted for Seattle, Colorado, and Minnesota, the closest teams geographically to us. Fell in love with the 1995 Mariners, but was soooo excited when Junior went to the Reds in 2000.

Great looking family, Tim (and best of luck with the new house!)

That is a relatively new photo. I remember driving by the park when the T-Mobile stuff was going up (March 2019).

First off, thank you for your service, Tony. My name is Sherman and I've posted a few times on this forum before but never introduced myself so this is a great opportunity. I was born, raised, and still reside in Seattle. Very cool to see some other Mariners fans in this thread. I collect Seattle sports memorabilia and primarily focus on game worn/used items. I love the tangible connection these pieces have with the players we watched and adore. Like others, I started by collecting cards before finding my own niche. I've included a couple images of my collection. I have more photos and was thinking about posting them in the man cave thread.

Nice Seattle collection there. No Sonics or Storm?

Excellent uniforms!!!

Those early Pilots/M’s styles are so tough to find. Yours look fantastic. And are Curt Warner, Steve Largent and Russell Wilson included among those Seahawks gamers? Just spectacular.

I live in the Seattle area too, and those are all off the charts! Please post more in the “man cave” thread!

Thanks! I'll post some of my Sonics stuff when I post in the man cave thread.

I appreciate the kind words. All of the Seahawks jerseys in that photo are game worn and photomatched except the Mack Strong. The Wilson is from the 2019 preseason. The Warner is photomatched to some 1988 games including the December 11th game against the Broncos where Largent got his revenge on Mike Harden. The Largent is photomatched to a 1981 card as well as a 1984 practice photo but I suspect it was worn during the 1979 season.

Well I guess I qualify as hobby old fart now since I started collecting seriously in the late 1970s, though I did take a break when I was 15 for several years to pursue girls; I was better at the card collecting, by far. I've written two books on collecting: America's Great Boxing Cards and Exhibit And Related Sports Arcade Cards (which is about arcade cards), so those are two of my main interests. I helped edit the Standard Catalog's section on Exhibit cards. I've also written articles for various publications (VCBC, Old Cardboard, Sports Collectors Daily), co-promoted a few local card shows in sunny, er, smoky SoCal, and consulted for various auction houses. Also been to every National since 2004.

I'm primarily a card collector, always have been, but dabble in some memorabilia. My main foci are cards from the 1970s and my international boxing type card collection, which is well over 1,000 different types and continually growing. Also Hank Aaron, Sandy Koufax and Al Rosen. In terms of memorabilia, I collect mostly boxing stuff related to Jewish boxers, Joe Louis, Benny Leonard and Manny Pacquiao.

https://photos.imageevent.com/exhibi...ove%20edit.jpg

I also hoard items related to two of my cousins who fought, Ray Miller (my avatar) and Benny Berris.

https://photos.imageevent.com/exhibi...ler%20auto.jpg

I also collect rock and roll autographs and a smattering of paper memorabilia related to bands I like.

https://photos.imageevent.com/exhibi...s%20Poster.jpg
https://photos.imageevent.com/exhibi...bsize/RUSH.jpg

Also comedian autographs; I have been a stand-up comedian for several years (currently on a COVID hiatus since all the clubs are closed and Zoom shows are just weird to me):

https://photos.imageevent.com/exhibi...utographed.jpg
https://photos.imageevent.com/exhibi...BCF%202016.JPG

The last image is me at the 2016 Burbank Comedy Festival

^^^^ Very interesting bio, Adam!

It’s funny how I related you avatar to you and then I see the real you. A bit of a difference . :p

Thanks, Mark. My son does home shopping for us dependent on whether there is a lego room. Only 3 bedrooms? Out of the question. Lol

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It's hard to remember stadium names anymore when they lease the naming rights and change every 10-20 years.

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