Who Is Larry Fritsch?
 

I've seen his name on a couple threads this week, including the fake/repop Babe Ruth W551. I imagine some of you had actual dealings with him as a collector.

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One of the biggest dealers in hobby history. Larry Fritsch discovered the T206 Doyle variation among many other things, and was one of the early guys to turn third party card sales into a proper business. His son runs the company now, after his death. His pricing was and is often high. In the older days, he was largely known for having pretty much everything.

The reprints he had made are not attempts at fraud and are easily discernible as different. He just put out some affordable reprint sets for people in his catalogs.

www.fritschcards.com/about-us/


About 25 years ago I talked to Jeff on the phone when I was buying about 15 T213-1 from their one of a kind catalog. Nice guy. He kept wanting to know if I was a dealer, because he only wanted to sell to me if I was working on the set. I believe the grandson runs it now.

Actually Jeff passed away over five years ago. The company is still operated by family members. A large amount of unopened material that Larry and Jeff stashed away years ago is regularly brought to market by an AH in the area as well.

Thanks for the web link. I have read stories about group auctions in California homes in the early 1970s. Super casual but with big name early collectors. Was Larry a part of that group as well?

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I recently picked up some of his Bowman reprint sets. Only way I can get a run of them and not have it cost the price of a new house.

Now I wish someone would do a 54 and 55 Bowman reprint set to complete the run. Sadly, I do not believe that will ever happen, especially now that Topps has been sold.

Butch

There is a 54 set but no 55. I have one and will look who made it and get back to you later.

Ben

Awesome, I did not know that. Sweet!

Thanks,

Butch

I believe I was wrong. I thought I had a set of them but can't find them. I must be misremembering from seeing all the single reprints from the set.

Darn now I need another set.:(

I bought complete current sets from Larry Fritsch as a kid in the late 70s. He used to advertise in Street and Smith.

I started buying singles to fill out my Topps sets in 1973. Larry Fritsch was one of 3 dealers that I bought from. Woody Gelman of Card Collectors Company and Bruce Yeko of Wholesale Card Company were the others. Larry billed himself as the first full time card dealer. He was the first dealer who really priced cards by condition. The other two mainly sold mint condition cards. You would send Larry a list of cards that you wanted and a condition range. He would send you back what conditions he had and prices.

Larry ran his shop out of what was basically a farm in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, I (originally being from the area) went to his place back in the early 80's and was overwhelmed. He was a great guy and very easy to talk to.

Wow

He had a very interesting life and amazing the impacting he had on the hobby/industry

Just thinking about Larry makes me remember the 80's and being a young collector. Nothing but good memories about Fritsch.

I don't think I have used them since the early 90's but those reprint sets introduced me to vintage sets and players, I would not be the collector I am without.

At one point he opened a card museum in Cooperstown (which didn't last very long if memory serves me right).

That was 1987 and closed in 1992.

The first cards I ever bought, other than single wax packs at the corner Speedy Mart in San Diego County, were 1975 Topps Padres and Reds team sets from Larry, after seeing his ad in The Sporting News. Then in 1976, I bought the entire Topps BB set from him.

When I was working on a 1955 Topps set in the early 1980s, I finished it when I bought a Willie Mays from his catalog for $60.

Steve

He was one of the very few who has 1972 topps nfl high numbers in bulk.