[Brent G.]

Originally Posted by whitehse

The cards were stored in bags and put away in attics, Garages, and even barns. I started collecting at a 9 year old in 1973 and by the end of the decade my dad and I were putting ads in local papers offering to pay cash for cards. At that time people were shocked we would pay for the very things they were likely to throw out and eagerly allowed us to come to their home with cash for their cardboard. This was before the Beckett guides and you struck a deal with the seller based on nothing more than common sense. We bought unbelievable collections with unbelievable cards. We had nearly a complete run of Topps sets, both football and baseball from 1954 going forward just from these purchases. When we had doubles we would do the old fashioned thing and take them to the monthly collectors shows held at Holiday Inns, VFW halls and even school cafeterias and trade others for the cards were needed for our sets. Looking back, we didnt spend a great deal of money but back then the cards were only worth what someone was willing to pay for them. To be honest, those were some pretty awesome times to be a collector as you got to know so many other people and what they collected and we would help each other out with want lists.

I remember spending 50 dollars each on two 1933 Ruths. I spent the same on a '34 Gehrig and thinking I over paid. I have a vivid memory of a older gentleman who still had his collection from his childhood which was mainly a large cigar box filled with '33 and '34 Goudey's. As we were goin g through the cards I saw several beautiful hall of famers and even a pristine Lajoie that he remembered getting through the mail. The gentleman decided to put the cards in a safe deposit box and pass them on to his grandkids.

The cards were out there and they survived. They are still out there and are waiting to be found. Sadly, its all about the money and the grade the cards will fetch and not about the people depicted on the cards and it certainly isnt about the relationships that so many of us formed in the days before the internet and price guides.

I don't think this is universally true. I got into collecting vintage last year, and I've enjoyed reading about every player whose card I purchase. My main takeaway from Year 1: There sure were a lot of guys who died of TB in the 1890s-1920s.

I gotta think there are more people like myself who love the history behind the cardboard.