When I was 11 years old (1982), my old man produced a shoebox of 1100 cards from his closet. There were 300 prewar, and 800 1950s cards in that box. I was floored. We bought a "price guide", and hoped that one of the T206s was a Wagner, to no avail. Still, it was AMAZING to a me as a boy, and is still amazing to me as a man. I took care of those cards, placing them in binders and plastic pages. I poured over them, and read about historic players in the local library (from BOOKS). Remember books?
I learned about players that my child will not really ever have any interest in. Cy Young, Joe Jackson, Ty Cobb, Christy Mathewson, Zach Wheat, Mordecai Brown, Walter Johnson, Sam Crawford, Eddie Plank, Frank Chance, Napoleon Lajoie, Fred Clarke, Rube Marquard, Johnny Evers, Tris Speaker, Hal Chase, Hugh Jennings, "Home Run" Baker and more...
I was a kid playing ball at the local Kiwanis field, and had a few cards from the late 70s. I began collecting cards in earnest from the 80s and 90s, and now I have some worthless shiny stuff, and a lot of great memories. I wouldn't trade all that for the world!!
BUT... I have some shiny stuff for trade, going cheap! I can't call myself a collector anymore, just an enthusiast, and a fan. I wish every collector here the best.
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