great nostalgic fun
 

Posted By: <b>warshawlaw&nbsp; </b><p>I recently picked up 4 old issues of SCD (1978 and 1979) for a buck a piece at a show and had a blast reading them. The issues more or less bridge the time from the card club days (the issues had numerous notices from the various clubs that formed all over the place and were the backbone of the hobby in the days before the for-profit promoters) to the first national (one issue had an open letter from Gavin Riley to the collectors about the first ever national convention and what it would mean). Here are a few excerpts:<BR><BR>"The West Coast Card Club . . . will hold its regular monthly meeting on Thursday October 18, 1979 at the Northridge, CA Women's Club . . . Twenty-five tables form a swap meet style and you are welcome to attend . . . (SCD, 10/15/79, page 121)"<BR>--This is really what it was like folks, back before the intense commercialization of the hobby. Card clubs met in church basements and rec rooms to buy, sell and trade. A few bucks bought you a table for the night, there were auctions every night, and there was no rule against vest pocket dealers "fraternizing" with the "customers", who were still called "fellow collectors". You took a table because it was fun and provided you with a base of ops for getting rid of your doubles. Yet the winds of change were blowing. In the same issue on page 2 is "An Open Letter to the Sports Collecting Hobby" by Gavin Riley stating that "A national convention . . . is an idea whose time has come." Mr. Riley and his partner Mike Berkus would go on to promote that first National here in LA, and things would never be the same. <BR><BR>"With the soaring rate of inflation, many people are looking for alternate forms of inveetment . . . In a recent edition of our local Sunday paper [a columnist valued] a 1957 Topps Mickey Mantle card for $12.50. . . Everyone who has a batch of 1950's cards now thinks they are worth much more than they actually are!" {SCD, 3/31/79, page 4, "Cartophilic Notes" by Steve Freedman.<BR>--Yeah, I sure hate those overpriced Mantle cards!<BR><BR>"Los Angeles, California . . . Third Annual Memorial Weekend Sports Collectors Show . . . Tables $35.00" (SCD, 3/31/79, page 29 Convention Calendar)<BR>--$35 for a whole weekend show??? There'd better be free beer included or I am OUT OF THERE!! I mean, come on, the year before a table was only 20 bucks (SCD, 2/28/78, page 26 ad). Talk about price gouging!!<BR><BR>I didn't even mention the columnists and advertisers. Wirt Gammon, Gar Miller, Lew Lipset, Don Steinbach, etc. There are also ads for long-dead publications like Card Prices Update at $15 for 12 issues. In 1987 after seven years away from collecting I walked into a store near my home and asked for a CPU. The owner looked at me and said "Boy, have you been away for a long time." He then handed me a Beckett's. Yipes. The hobby became the "Hobby" for me in one sobering shot. On the other hand, I had a hell of a valuable collection in my file cabinet at home, something no grad student objects to. <BR><BR>For those of you who have been at this thing of ours for decades, like me, these old hobby mags are great nostalgia; for those of you who are new to it, they are invaluable historical peeks at the roots of our collective obsession. <BR><BR><BR><BR>

great nostalgic fun
 

Posted By: <b>Jeff O</b><p>I agree entirely! If you want some really entertaining stuff, go back to the really early issues of SCD or The Trader Speaks... or Sport Fan, Sports Scoop, etc.<BR><BR>These old pubs have become quite the collectibles in their own rights. Mastro recently sold a 1939 US Card Collectors Catalog in excellent condition for over $1,000, and I can confirm two sales of much lesser condition copies in the $400-500 range. Rotman auctios recently auctioned off a number of groups of old hobby pubs that went for some serious money.<BR><BR>Jeff<BR><a href="http://www.seattlehockey.net" target=_new>http://www.seattlehockey.net</a><BR>

great nostalgic fun
 

Posted By: <b>Brian Weisner</b><p><BR> Hi Adam<BR> My wife has been trying to get rid of my old Scd's, CPU's and Becketts for the last 2 years.<BR>She doesn't understand how valuable they are for research purposes, only that they take up too much room in the attic. I also took time off from the Hobby from 1992-1997, because the chase card mania almost made me buy a POG from Mr. Mint. Or was it a beanie baby? I don't want to remember. <BR> I do have fond memories of receiving my TCMA Baseball Advertiser magazine in the late 70's early 80's. I used to order a Topps set and 2 vending boxes every year as well as T206's and Mickey Mantle cards. It was nice to find the free Renta Galasso sets shipped with each purchase, they were great for trading to the uninformed neighbor kids.<BR> Thanks for the walk down memory lane. Be well Brian

great nostalgic fun
 

Posted By: <b>Tom Boblitt</b><p>always good to think about when things were a little simpler. Unfortunately for me, I wasn't collecting vintage as much in 1979-1980. I also remember the Renata Galasso days where I'd order (or my parents would order) a set and other junk from her. Wish I'd been buying T206's and Old Judges back then! <BR><BR>I have about 30 CPU's and a whole run of Old Judges plus a bunch of Lew's older auction catalogs, some Trader Speaks, etc. It's always interesting to look at the prices and see that people were astounded then that a Mantle 52T in gem condition sold for $250 or something crazy. It's probably entombed now and recently sold in the six figure range. <BR><BR>Ah, all the boxes and cases of 1981/1982/1983/1984 Topps, Donruss and Fleer would have bought a really nice lot of Old Judges back then.............<BR><BR>

great nostalgic fun
 

Posted By: <b>runscott</b><p>I bought so much modern garbage in the '80s - I could kick myself now!

great nostalgic fun
 

Posted By: <b>warshawlaw</b><p>the string on old publications

great nostalgic fun
 

Posted By: <b>godvls</b><p>It's funny, I just pulled out a bunch of SCD's from 75/76 and The Trader Speaks from 1974 and my earliest hobby publication, a 1972 edition of The Sports Hobbyist. I run across these once a decade or so (usually after moving) and it's always fun to look at the old ads. It brings back memories of my first card show back in 1976. It was either the Southern California Memorial Day show or the Labor Day show in Orange County. I remember passing up a Leaf Babe Ruth in pretty decent shape for $25 in favor of a 1951 Yankees World Series press pin. Lord only knows why I wanted the press pin so badly; I've hated the Yankees all my life. Oh well, at least mom never through out my collection.