[Fluterofd]

I'm new to the forum. I started in the '60's taking cards to the ball parks in Florida during the Spring and mailing to the players via their clubs.

In the '70's I used Jack Smallings' address list and mailed out hundreds of cards to the players at home. TAR put me in contact with other autograph collectors with whom great relationships were established. In the late '70's I offered my services as a photographer to a small weekly paper and that gave me the opportunity to apply for press credentials during Spring training. That was an incredible time for me. Card shows in the 80's allowed me access to some of the West coast players that seldom came to Florida. Golf tourneys in the Winter were great opportunities. It just kind of grew until one day I had some pretty good percentages of sets from '51 Bowman thru '75 Topps.
I was lucky as a kid living in Ft Myers where the Pirates trained. I got three Clemente cards signed- '64 Topps Giant, '61 Topps, '63 Topps. The bigger problem in those days was getting the older cards for the players to sign rather having access to them!

I think my story is similar to other collectors out there. The '33 Goudeys posted were really impressive. I remember meeting an older gentleman from St Pete at a card show years ago. He had a many of the Goudeys signed, most of the biggies and was about to sell them to a dealer that weekend for more than he ever dreamed they were worth-and a fraction of their value now!

I'm still looking for the tough guys in many of the sets. I have duplicates to trade and would enjoy the chance to touch base with other collectors.

Good luck to all!