Lionel Carter on 1970 West Coast convention

[trdcrdkid]

Despite Bob Jaspersen's efforts to organize a national sports collecting convention in 1956 (as I recently posted about here: http://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=221393), the first successful convention of this type was the First Annual West Coast Sport Collectors' Convention, held in Brea, California at the home of collector Jim Nowell on August 23, 1969. I posted about that convention and the other very early ones here: http://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=218969, though without any detailed account of what happened there. It turns out that Nowell wrote a very detailed account of that first convention for the November 1969 Ballcard Collector, and I'll try to post that in the next day or two.

What I'm concerned about here is the second West Coast Sports Collectors' Convention, held in 1970, also in Nowell's home. I posted a very brief one-sentence account of that 1970 convention from The Trader Speaks as part of a post on the conventions of 1970 in general (here: http://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=219073), but at the time I hadn't been able to find a longer account. Nowell wrote up the 1971 West Coast convention in issue #68 of the Ballcard Collector, which I posted here (http://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=218371), but he doesn't appear to have written anything about the 1970 convention in Ballcard Collector, unless he did it in issue #54, which I don't have. Well, Lionel Carter flew in from Chicago to attend that 1970 West Coast convention (the first day, anyway), and he wrote up a characteristically detailed account for the September 1970 Sports Advertiser's Journal (mailed on September 18, less than four weeks after the event). Here is Lionel's account, including the auction (in which a 1952 Topps set failed to attract the minimum bid of $210), and his sale of an E92 Keeler for 50 cents.

[tiger8mush]

neat read, thanks for sharing and the background info!

[Stonepony]

Fun read. Interesting they were having auctions with just a hand full of people in a house.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by Stonepony

Fun read. Interesting they were having auctions with just a hand full of people in a house.

I wonder if there was colluding? Did they have bid paddles?

Thanks for posting these, David.

[ls7plus]

Fascinating! Thanks for posting.

Best wishes,

Larry

[trdcrdkid]

Here is Bob Jaspersen's article about the same convention from the September-October 1970 issue of Sport Fan. It's not nearly as long or detailed as Carter's account, but it does include one of the group photos that Carter mentioned on page 5. Note that Carter is the only one wearing a tie -- such get-togethers were still a new thing, and I'm guessing he got dressed up because he wasn't sure how formal or informal it would be. I've also scanned the back page of the issue, which shows that it belonged to Ray Medeiros, who was also at that 1970 convention, and is third from the right in the back row of the group picture. A lot of hobby publications in my collection (including all the Sport Fans from 1970-82) originally belonged to Medeiros, who always wrote the date he received each issue in the upper right corner of the front cover. This issue was postmarked October 14 and reached Medeiros on October 18.

[trdcrdkid]

Below is a color snapshot from that 1970 West Coast convention that Mike Jaspersen, son of Bob Jaspersen, posted on this forum in 2013. It pictures Irv Lerner, Ray Hess, Ray Medeiros, and Lionel Carter. Here is that 2013 post:

http://www.net54baseball.com/showthr...71#post1142671

Since starting this thread last month, I've been in touch with Ray Medeiros, who is still around and very friendly and helpful, still active in the hobby as a collector of stadium postcards, among other things. George Vrechek wrote a profile of him for SCD a few years ago that is now on the Old Baseball Cards website:

http://www.oldbaseball.com/refs/Ray_Medeiros.pdf

[oaks1912]

Another of the collectors mentioned in the article, Jim McConnell is still active in the hobby. I ran into him last week in Southern California. Jim just released a book on Bobo Newsom, a project that he has worked off and on for more than 40 years. Not sure if Jim posts here, but the book is certainly worth a plug...

[Leon]

And people want to know where the idea for name tags at the Net54baseball dinners came from...

Originally Posted by trdcrdkid

Below is a color snapshot from that 1970 West Coast convention that Mike Jaspersen, son of Bob Jaspersen, posted on this forum in 2013. It pictures Irv Lerner, Ray Hess, Ray Medeiros, and Lionel Carter. Here is that 2013 post:

http://www.net54baseball.com/showthr...71#post1142671

Since starting this thread last month, I've been in touch with Ray Medeiros, who is still around and very friendly and helpful, still active in the hobby as a collector of stadium postcards, among other things. George Vrechek wrote a profile of him for SCD a few years ago that is now on the Old Baseball Cards website:

http://www.oldbaseball.com/refs/Ray_Medeiros.pdf

[clydepepper]

I'm just glad to see the name on my Diamond Stars Sam Rice card in the flesh - nice to meet you Mr. Carter.

.

[tbob]

Thanks for sharing the great story by Lionel Carter. I really enjoyed reading it. I'm glad I have several cards once owned by Lionel in my collection (as well as Frank Nagy and Buck Barker).

P.S. A complete 1952 Topps set didn't meet the minimum bid of $210??? Yikes.

[tbob]

I think this is the reason I like attending today's Nationals so much, it's not just the cards offered for sale but more importantly the comeraderie with fellow collectors. Two of my favorite moments are sitting in a hotel room with Mike Peich and Tim Newcomb for hours discussing tobacco cards over drinks and enjoying a couple of hours in Mark Macrae's room discussing Pacific Coast cards from the early 1900's, with emphasis on the 1911 Zeenut set which I was at that time attempting to complete. Mark graciously shared his knowledge of the set and all the variations of the cards and I came away from our talk with an immense bit of knowledge I doubt anyone else in the hobby could have provided.

[ls7plus]

Originally Posted by tbob

Thanks for sharing the great story by Lionel Carter. I really enjoyed reading it. I'm glad I have several cards once owned by Lionel in my collection (as well as Frank Nagy and Buck Barker).

P.S. A complete 1952 Topps set didn't meet the minimum bid of $210??? Yikes.

The hobby's grown quite a bit--you ought to read "The Sports Card Explosion," published in the '90's by SCD--they thought the same thing then, and still really didn't have a clue re where we are now!

Best wishes to all,

Larry

[topcat61]

Originally Posted by trdcrdkid

Below is a color snapshot from that 1970 West Coast convention that Mike Jaspersen, son of Bob Jaspersen, posted on this forum in 2013. It pictures Irv Lerner, Ray Hess, Ray Medeiros, and Lionel Carter. Here is that 2013 post:

http://www.net54baseball.com/showthr...71#post1142671

Since starting this thread last month, I've been in touch with Ray Medeiros, who is still around and very friendly and helpful, still active in the hobby as a collector of stadium postcards, among other things. George Vrechek wrote a profile of him for SCD a few years ago that is now on the Old Baseball Cards website:

http://www.oldbaseball.com/refs/Ray_Medeiros.pdf

That is such a great photo!