[FrankWakefield]

Hey James...


I read through this, (easy, only three responses), and I was thinking of suggesting where I'd gone, W514s and more recently W572s.

I found myself agreeing with both what Jeff said, and Snap... Twenty years ago I had maybe half a dozen of the Sporting News cards, I'd shy away from buying more. Now I have about 3 dozen. But it didn't become a focus. Back then I avoided strip cards; they seemed course, crude. The difference in strip cards and normal cards, to me, seemed the difference between the Sunday comics and a hardbound book. Now I'm barely still in my 60's, and I love W514s and W572s.

I'm reminded of something a veterinarian friend of mind told me. He went to a multi day vet practice seminar. One presentation was about the business side of things. Succinctly put, a cattle farmer probably was financially stable that they could pay their vet bills. When a cattle farmer moved to sheep the advice was that they could pay a vet bill, but don't extend too much credit. However, if a cattle farmer started raising goats instead of cattle, sheep, or horses, be sure and get paid up front for any services.

With that in mind... peruse auction catalogs, eBay, the standard catalog, BST here, and see what series interests you anew. Read a bit about baseball, biographies, or The Glory Of Their Times, AND, Baseball When the Grass Was Real. If you read about a player you'd like to collect, find a copy of Dr. Beckett's Baseball Card Alphabetical Checklist. Buy a used one on ABAbooks, Alibris, or eBay, you won't need a new one because you're after old cards anyway, and I think it's out of print. Then you can decide if you wanna go after a few players, a certain team in a certain year or time period (1930s Cubs for example) or a certain series or set.

I saw my first big league game in 1963, saw Mr. Musial play. To this day I'm a Cardinals fan.

Maybe those strip cards are my goats, but I find that I really like them, used to hate 'em.