Quote:
Originally Posted by robw1959
I remember first buying Topps wax packs in 1969. No matter how many I bought with my brother and our combined allowance money, we could never get a Mantle. But we did get probably 8-9 cards of some nobody called "Rod Carew". Who knew?
I was even more into cards in 1970, and remember pulling quite a few major stars like Hank Aaron, Brooks Robinson, Mays, Clemente, and even Johnny Bench, just to name a few. I loved the gray borders and clean look compared to 1969 Topps. Just to get those took a lot of buying. Once I made the mistake of opening a pack right outside the drug store. Another kid, watching me thumb through the cards, had the temerity to tell me, "They all stink!" And he was right!
In 1971 I was even more impressed by the black border design Topps put out. But for some reason, my interest waned at that time, and it didn't return until age 16 when a good friend of mine told me there was value in old cards. Up until then I had no idea that old cards could even be bought! So starting in 1976, I began buying 1950s HOFers in great condition. The first mail order I placed included a 1958 Topps card of Brooks Robinson for 75 cents. It seemed a bit expensive to me at the time, but at least I didn't have to suffer the disappointment of opening pack after pack only to find scrub after scrub.
I had big plans during the summer of '77 when I landed a job toward the end of the school year at the local GNC store stocking shelves. I was calculating how long it would take me to save up for two baseball sets I was planning to buy: a 1956 Topps set ($300-NM) and a 1958 Topps set ($100-EX). I was going to get the '58 set first, but they laid me off due to summer cutbacks, so it never happened.
In '78, I was off with the Marines, and really didn't get back into the hobby again until about 2002.
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Hey Rob,
Glad you reached out to me on NET54 the other day. It was great talking to you yesterday! Your memory is so much better than mine, but I do like the story about us going to a card shop looking for Babe Ruth cards back then.
Rob and I, living in different neighborhoods, were bused to Dr. Martin Luther King Elementary School, back when race-integration busing started. We became quick friends. I have a school class photo from back then of us, so I sent him a copy.
It's funny that we both joined the military in 1978, both collect sports cards, and have been on NET54 since 2011/2012. Rob saw a few of my posts, where I stated I was from Syracuse, NY, graduated from Henninger High School, so he thought "could this be the same Tony Baldwin I went to elementary school with?" He reached out to me on NET54, and turns out, yes I was. We talked for over an hour yesterday, and it was great to catch up on what we've done over the years.
We will now keep in touch! What a great experience! I don't want to create a new post, but I would like to hear if any of you have had the same experience. Either someone from your past who reached out to you on a site you were on, or you reaching out to someone from your past.
Again, thanks for reaching out Rob!!!!
Thanks, Tony