Thanks most sincerely, Rich. Empathy from someone as esteemed as yourself is much appreciated.
No doubt the one principal reason so few "filet mignon" books have been written about vintage cards goes back to this very integral problem of collector oysters that keep their pearls of wisdom, riveting sea stories, and technical knowledge SHUT UP TIGHT. Then hobbyists wonder by the hobby has gradually receded. The strike of '94 played its part, true, but vintage baseball card collecting interest was already waning amid grading corruption and outright fraud and deceit. Sports history books helped ignite the fire of future hobbyists. After all, SABR (Society of American Baseball Research) was founded by a healthy inclusion of baseball card collectors! Be that as it may, sometimes you want to know the history behind the sets, what it was like to collect them (sure, to a point, it is duh-ee, just as we have always collected!) Yet, especially with the regionals, there was built-in scarcity. The problems and seemingly insurmountable vicissitudes a kid would encounter in collecting them at the time have not really been articulated and thus appreciated by collectors. Another reason for so few indepth collecting books is the amount of time and effort required to research and write one. We don't even see that many great articles, much less books. OK, verbosity erupting again. I'll stop.
Would someone please get a hold of Kevin Glew for me? If his boss definitely wants a Stahl-Meyer article ASAP, I believe I can supply him with some mouth-watering info not in my book regarding the very underrated and exceedingly valuable 1 of 1 1954 PSA 9 Stahlie of Willie Mays. I'd be most happy to help. Tell him to email me at
bfpowell2003@yahoo.com.