Which Aspect of BB Cards Is Your Passion?

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Posted By: peter chao

Guys and Gals,

This is a fun thread so we are going to be civil and we are going to find out why people collect the cards they collect. Let me know what thrills you the most about the cards you have.

For me it has always been the biographical sketches on the backs of cards, also the stats about the previous season. Then as I got older I started appreciating the fact that I had a piece of baseball history in my hands. After that I started appreciating the photography and the artwork, then I was hooked.

Note that I didn't mention the cardholder. But if the PSA holder turns you on, let me know. Or if it is the thrill of opening a wax pack, let me know.

Peter C.

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Posted By: Mark L

I'd say it's the front.

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Posted By: Leon

I am going with the back on this one...

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Posted By: Seth B.

I like opening wax packs and bubble gum. That's why I collect vintage cards! Whoopee!

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Posted By: Dave Hornish

I like the edges myself....

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Posted By: dennis

in the early days,i liked opening the cigarette packs,the smell of that tobbacco that remained on the card for months afterward,i can still smell it. but as i got older,i quit smoking so it was great that gum replaced cigarettes. oh those big league cards, that sugar from the gum stayed on those cards,try as i might i could not rub it off.

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Posted By: Erick Lewin

"Note that I didn't mention the cardholder. But if the PSA holder turns you on, let me know. Or if it is the thrill of opening a wax pack, let me know."


Peter--PSA plastic holders really do get me hot and bothered. However i wanted to "let you know" what i like most about cards is their size. I like how they fit in my pocket, at least most of them. That's the only drawback to holders, I can't fit as many in my pocket.

P.S. Colors of the cards really fascinate me also!

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Posted By: peter chao

Dennis,

It took me a while to figure it out, but you will find two kinds of stain on cards. The gum stains are more harmful. But also the card can be stained from the wax from the wrapper.

Peter C.

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Posted By: Steve

Prewar; Imagining the many hands that opened the packs of caramel, smoked the butts, held, studied and admired these scraps of paper long before I was even born.

My postwar stuff is ho-hum. My grandkids, hopefully, will one day have some passion for those.

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Posted By: peter chao

Dave H.,

I assume you mean the borders of the cards. You aren't really saying that you actually look at the edge of the card first are you?

Peter C.

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Posted By: Bottom of the Ninth

Most definitely their taste.

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Posted By: DaveL

I'll bite. I like simultaneously tapping into early twentieth century baseball history and nascent American pop culture. Plus I think that the cards are cool.

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Posted By: john/z28jd

My favorite aspect of vintage cards is just getting a bunch of them together,laying them out on the floor and then listening to them talk about baseball back in the day,some of the old judge players memories are foggy but you still get some good stories out of them. I remember this one time i put a Pirates player( i wont say who to protect him) in the middle of a few Giants players then started saying stuff about how bad the Giants were and they got angry and surrounded the one Pirates player and were about to hand out a terrible beating on him when all of a sudden i put 18 Pirates cards around the Giants players and they got their New York butts handed to them! The mascot on my Ewing/mascot card hasnt been seen to this day but i have noticed that the Pirates uniforms have never looked so white!

It is also fun to have doubles of a player and while hes in the middle of a story and everyones paying close attention to him,just take out the double and have it walk past the crowd just to see his reaction. Thats the only reason i collect old cards.Thanks for the thread Peter!

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Posted By: barrysloate

I didn't need to read the responses to guess where this thread was heading.

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Posted By: brian

I collect T206 because I like the sound that vintage T206 make in the spokes of my bike. Reprints don't give off the same cool sound.

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Posted By: Fred C

John,

I do the same thing with my OJs. The only problem I have is that I can never understand King Kelly. He always seems to slur his words and then Billy Sunday starts preaching at him. I've always wanted to listen to Larry Corocoran talk but his cards seem to be non-existent... I don't know why that is...

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Posted By: Jeff Lichtman

Peter always mentions how he has never been able to follow the rules; that he's a rebel on this board in his constant struggle with the Establishment. Peter reminds me of a famous actor who was also such a rebel. No, not James Dean, but Pee Wee Herman. Pee Wee once explained what he and Peter were all about:

"There's a lot of things about me that you don't know anything about, Dottie. Things you wouldn't understand. Things you couldn't understand. Things you shouldn't understand. You don't want to get mixed up with a guy like me. I'm a loner, Dottie. A rebel."

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Posted By: john/z28jd

Fred its because i bought enough of his cards just so i could re-enact the Flinstone episode where Fred gets cloned,you havent lived till youve seen 24 Larry Corcoran cards saying yabba-dabba-doo in unison

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Posted By: barrysloate

Jeff- Pee Wee's Big Adventure is a cool movie. I always liked it, especially Danny Elfman's soundtrack.

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Posted By: Al Simeone

Sigh! Peters Back! He came to the Memorabilia side and died a quick death with only 5 responders! Remember if you bop it on the nose with a rolled up newspaper it usually quiets down!!!

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Posted By: Lee Behrens

My evolutionary decision is to give Peter his own click link to the Peter C board.

Hey this is just a fun response, I admit I can't follow rules I don't want to follow rules, I own no vintage cards, my parents have locked me up in the basement, I pretend to be a lawyer, who am I?

The TROLL, Peter C.

Isn't evolution great,

Lee

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Posted By: ScottIngold

Does he buy vintage ? Sell vintage ?

I have never seen a pic nor heard of any pick ups from our esteemed attorney.

Does he even do baseball cards ?

Or just likes to hang with the cool kids.

That makes it okay of course....... The smiles that is.

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Posted By: john/z28jd

About the only place hes qualified to be an attorney is Tuckerton

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Posted By: Bottom of the Ninth

Scott,

Peter C's main purpose here is to get attention and to provide the measuring stick (albeit a low one) with which one can assess if he/she is suffering from a personality disorder.

He has never posted a picture and I would wager he does not own a card though he has described having a 53 T Paige and 53 B Mantle in EX condition, I believe. Moreover I am not sure he has ever started a cogent thread, however I admit I may have missed one of his posts. And I think I have counted 6 posts in total within other threads which were on point and not meandering.

We probably should not feed the animal but sometimes it is just so hard to resist.

Greg

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Posted By: ramram

Personally, I always like the clitty-click sound of a new card in the spokes. Doubles, in the front and back, are especially thrilling.

You've got the high frequency pitter-pater when rolling at full speed but nothing beats the low "thump" at slower speeds...kinda like that low flying military helicopter.

Vintage cards tend to be a little muffled because of their age.

Rob M.

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Posted By: peter ullman

there are so many things about collecting that I have enjoyed...the speculation of the life that the cards have lived...who owned them throughout time...where they originated...the history of the game and the changes in equipment/uniforms depicted on the cards...and of course the pretty pictures don't hurt!!!

pete ullman

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Posted By: boxingbaseballgolf33

I have always liked the colors and designs of the older cards.

Jimmy

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Posted By: Gilbert Maines

its the backs
when they are upside down
and how you can tell its them
and not the fronts which are upside down
unless they both are
but then it is still allright
but you know.

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Posted By: Anonymous

My evolutionary decision is to give Peter his own click link to the Peter C board.

Hey this is just a fun response, I admit I can't follow rules I don't want to follow rules, I own no vintage cards, my parents have locked me up in the basement, I pretend to be a lawyer, who am I?

The TROLL, Peter C.

Isn't evolution great,

Lee


Lee,careful!
Peter knows private investigators and will threaten to sue you for telling him of the myriads of comments and e-mails telling of your,Jeff's and Greg's
thoughts circulated amongst many of the collectors. It could be costly! A vg 55 Bowman Mantle may be at stake!

BcD

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Posted By: Rich Klein

That this was a good idea for a thread.

I collect cards because for some reason, I've never figured out, I have the collecting passion and having these pictures of famous athletes have always intrigued me. When I was growing up I'd put them into team order and create my own all-star teams. Now, I look for things I want to own, for my collecting specialites. I got excited this year when in an obscure regional 2007 Mets SNY set there was a card of my college classmate (and now Mets lead announcer, Gary Cohen). It was nice to find a card of him and I frankly don't care what I'll do with the other 7 cards in that set

I suspect we collect for the relationships we forge with other collectors, to set managable goals AND possibly as a springboard to learn more about some part of baseball.

Regards
Rich

Edited to fix spelling mistake

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Posted By: peter chao

Rich,

When I was in second grade I collected because it was fun trading with my friends. It was all about favorite players and teams back then. We had no idea the cards were worth anything, back in those days, few people were actually buying and selling cards.

Peter C.

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Posted By: Danny Grimes

My passion is mainly by team, NY Yankees collecting anything Pre-1970, my interests also derail and i also like collecting significant players and people who distinguished certain feats or records. As of late i been collecting players from my home state and city which is fun.

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Posted By: JK

I also thought that this thread started with a perfectly legit question by Peter. Ive been critical in the past, but Im also going to give him a serious answer if I have something to offer when the post/question is worthwhile. Those of you who want to put him on a short leash, fine, but lets grow up and give him a break when the question is a reasonable one.

Personally, I like the artwork/photography and simply think its pretty cool to own cards of players like cobb, wagner, johnson, etc.

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Posted By: Dave Hornish

My other response was flippant, still not sure if that's wrong but I generally go for the graphics and composition on the front, sort of the overall aesthetic. Plus I like to research the sets that interest me and sometimes doing that I find another treasure.

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Posted By: Dan Kravitz

The image on the front and a scarce/rare back...
e104-1 Plank

e92 Wagner Blue Croft's

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Posted By: Rick McQuillan

Peter, I like to try to imagine the timeline of the cards. Just think, 98 years ago some guy went into a store to buy a pack of smokes. He opened the pack and pulled out the card. What happened then? Did he give it to a kid? Take it home and throw it in a drawer? Did he collect and put the card in a shoe box with his other cards? How did a T206 manage to survive for this long? How did this card survive moving, kids, deaths, paper drives, fires and insects. Why didn't someone throw the card away when they were spring cleaning? How many people owned this card during the past 98 years? What was the person thinking when they wrote something on the back of the card? What happened that caused the big crease down the middle?


Along those same lines - where was the card purchased? Was it a Coupon that someone bought in a bar in the French Quarter of New Orleans? If so, where was it during the hurricanes and floods?

I wish I could track just one card from it's purchase through the next 98 years, but I guess that is impossible.

Rick

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Posted By: Paul S

As a kid it was the anticipation of who I'd get while opening waxpacks. Visually, T206s still do it for me though; I can romanticize the hell out of them. Their olde tyme flavor (no, I don't eat them) of the dead ball era, the players, the idealized backgrounds, the type-style on the backs, their size, etc.

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Posted By: leon

I am right there with you again...but I did a double entendre (and also got to know how to spell that word by this post). I am a back collector....

This subject wouldn't have been met with some sarcasm had it not been from Peter C....who admittedly doesn't follow rules. I still like Peter C( Hi Peter) but following board etiquette is not a strong point.....I won this V31 this evening and got it for a fraction of my high bid....(cool back and coupon...which is always a plus)

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Posted By: BcD

I wonder how many of these are trimmed!
or not trimmed for that matter!!

BcD

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Posted By: Kenneth A. Cohen

Along with aesthetics, I enjoy the tie-in with the commercial culture of the country. Therefore my interest diminishes if no product or company figures on the card - so I would, for example, collect E97 over E98. In addition to tobaccos, caramels, gums, etc, I like many of the oddball 50's issues (albeit not prewar) for the variety of products (dog food, cookies, potato chips, hot dogs, bread) not commonly associated with baseball cards.

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Posted By: shane leonard

Peter,
Have you ever had a friend jump off a bridge or run in front a bus going 45 miles per hour? If the answer is yes, were you talking to them when this happened?

I like my Wilson Weiner cards. It makes me feel large for some reason.

Shane

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Posted By: JK

Shane,

Really - what's the point? Absolutely no place for that on this thread.

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

The history behind the cards, pics and postcards are the reason I collect...I look at a photo and I just have to know more about it. When it's all said and done I want my collection to tell a coherent story...that's why I'm selling off all the stuff that doesn't fit my focus.

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Posted By: Jason L

that it has been an evolutionary process.

It started out in its most basic form, and with every successive step, the previous thrills remain, but another layer of enjoyment was added.
First, I liked seeing players I liked on cards
then,
I liked seeing different card designs
I liked the gambling-type thrill of the unknown when opening up a pack and seeing what I got
I liked seeing how much $ worth of cards I got for my $0.50 outlay
I liked trying to complete a set from packs and boxes
I liked trying to figure out packing patterns
I liked trying to get deals
I liked discovering new sets and new eras
I liked Ebay
I liked learning the history of the older generations, both the cards and the players
I liked discovering the concepts of true scarcity and focused collecting
I liked discovering this forum, and "meeting" some really neat folks who could help me learn more.

So...I dunno what the question was, but these days, I just know that I have a fascinating hobby that has no limits on learning, spending, and Ebay shopping!

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Posted By: shane leonard

JK-
You mean what's the point of this thread? I have no idea, this dude is absolutely a tool. I have asked myself at least twenty times, "is this ass-sandwich for real?" He does not have five cards to his collection and yet he posts the most out of all of us.

Oh, did you mean what's the point of my post? My point is to tell Peter that I can't bear to hear another word from his mouth.

I hope you understand. Leon, please I beg you to drop kick this sucker out of here.

Shane

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Posted By: John H.

This actually was a pretty good idea for a thread. Way to go, Peter!

To me, sports card collecting is a combination of my two greatest passions; collecting stuff and sports history. Back in the late 80's and early 90's I bought a lot of card sets willy-nilly just like a lot of people. When I grew tired of the constant barrage of new products and the insert card craze I cut way back and for the last 15 years I have only purchased cards, new and old, that have meaning to me.

John

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Posted By: Bob Pomilla

For my two cents, this is a fine idea for a thread. What do I rhapsodize over regarding the cards? Fronts, backs, bios, ads, the thrill, as a kid, of opening a pack. Everything but the prices

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Posted By: JK

No Shane,

My point is that this is a legitimate topic for a thread. If you want to give Peter a hard time for ill conceived threads, by all means do it in one of those threads. Whatever he does, he doesnt deserve harassment about a thread that is well within what I would consider an on-topic thread.

Further, whether he has 5 cards or 5 million cards, it shouldnt make a difference if he is interested in vintage cards and can contribute positively. I realize that contributing positively is a culmulative thing, but this thread is a start and he shouldnt be criticized for it. Doing so comes across as nothing short of immature bullying (that comment applies to many of the posts above, not just yours).

I hope that is clear enough.

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Posted By: peter chao

JK,

I appreciate that vote of confidence. I don't think I post too much, instead I think that you guys don't post often enough. You guys are passionate about cards, I don't understand how you can restrain yourselves from posting.

Peter C.

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Posted By: John H.

Peter, we're too busy spending time with our families, collecting, working, watching and reading about sports, etc., etc., etc. to post as much as you would like us to.

Now, how about some scans of your collection?

John