Dealers (or fellow collectors) who lit the fire

[batsballsbases]

Here is one I found! 1952 Topps complete set 407 cards 125.00
1953 complete set 20.00 1954 complete set 18.95 I wont put any more prices if you saw them it would make you sick...

[tedzan]

Starting in the 1970's......here is a list of BB hobby dealers (nationwide) who I have had some great deals with,
and shared some great hobby knowledge with. I returned to collecting sportscards in the mid-'70s....and, I can
thank my daughters, Debbie and Zoe for this. I brought them up to be avid BaseBall fans and Tennis players......

Frank Nagy....Mich
Mark Macrae....Calif
Bill White....Phila
Irv Lerner....Phila
Bob Schmierer....Phila
Bill Heitman....Calif
Kit Young....San Diego
Kevin Savage....Ohio
Charlie Conlon....Mich
Barry Sloate....NY
Dan Paley....Phila
Joe Dugan....Phila
Ron Oser....Phila
Rob Lifson....Phila
Levi Bleam....Phila
B. A. Murry....St Lo
Don Steinbach....Chi
Pat Quinn....Chi
Carl Berg....Kans
Rich Hawksley....St Lo
Jim Hawkins....Mich
Lew Lipset....NY
Bill Henderson....Wisc
Bob Lemke....Wisc
Steve Ellingboe....Wisc
Ron Gordon....Ariz
Bob Steinberg....NJ
John Broggi....NJ
Alan Rosen....NJ
Phil Specter....NJ
Steve Clark....Ohio
Roger Neufeldt....Okla
Max Silberman....Phila
Rich Klein....NY, Tx
Jim Beckett....Tx
Dan McKee....MD
Bob O'Leary....NJ
Bob Thing....ME
Don Flewelling....Cooperstown

Many are familiar names to most of you. They come to mind first, as I have enjoyed long time friendships
with them since 1977 (and the early '80s). When this hobby really got started....what a glorious time.

TED Z

[camlov2]

For me it was my dad. I remember going out to the baseball card room growing up and being able to go through the drawers and binders of cards that he had collected. When I had to give a speech in Jr. High I decided to do it on the history of cards, it was pretty easy since he had already shared with me enough knowledge to speak for the time allowed. It seems that every time we get together we end up talking about a set or card that I have seen online.

[smokeyjoewood]

Mr. Schaeffer on Plymouth Rd., a crusty old bugger who sold me all 4 Cobbs for a hundred bucks. I had to mow a lot of lawns to save that kind of dough as a ten year old. Unfortunately he passed away not long after that and his little store closed down.

I worked at a couple of card stores during high school and college, this helped me acquire a lot of vintage material. People would bring in collections all the time and I would get to go through them and cherry pick. Mostly 50's and 60's stuff, but still fun. At one store, "The Old Ball Park"(anyone remember this place?), Chuck Scrivener(former Tiger) was in charge and I used to bust him all the time about his 78 Topps cards. I must have had about 40 of those babies, one in every pack it seemed like.

[Mrc32]

Ditto on those who said their Dad.

If Dad didn't have that old Stewarts Department Store box full of cards from his collecting days in the mid 50s, I don't know if I would have ever gotten started.

I miss ya Dad!

[toppcat]

Marty Perry and Bob Sevchuk at the old Baseball Card Collector's Exchange in Hicksville, Long Island, New York. Picked up the first issue of Baseball Cards magazine off the newsstand and headed straight there. Haven't looked back since.

[yazfan08]

As expected, I didn't see Max Tracy's name in any of the responses. First, I'm not sure if "my Max" is the same as the one who had a card shop in Simi Valley.

In 1979, I answered a wanted ad in the Orange County, CA Pennysaver. Max came to the house and cherry picked my Bob Horner's, but also introduced me to his binders. I was mesmerized by the '61 Koufax and '66 McCovey as I'd never seen cards issued before 1973. Our friendship grew and I started manning his tables at conventions, including a Bob Lee show in SF and one coordinated by Randy Thyberg in Vegas. From there, Max introduced me to other dealers such as Josh Evans and I helped out with their tables. More significantly, I was that kid who would sit next to the sports celebrity and collect your items to be signed.

Max was a Fountain Valley High (I think) classmate of David Kohler, I believe they played on the same basketball team. The monthly Fountain Valley, Ca. show was a must do, as was visiting a card store nearby run by Mark Christiansen (very tall guy.)

Very fond memories, I hope we can reconnect someday.

[Dan Carson]

Mark Macrae, Ray Sarsceni, and Don Hazelwood

I first met Mark in 1990 at a card show in the Santa Rosa California area and have been hooked on Zeenuts ever since. I was looking for a Lefty O'Doul and ended up with a 1921 O'Doul and 1922 Lazzeri as my first Zeenuts.

[Fuddjcal]

Originally Posted by Writehooks

For me, it started with mailing $8 (Canadian!) to a guy in Detroit for a four-issue subscription to The Sports Hobbyist, circa 1974. I remember the price, because he sent a note with the first issue, commenting on how "cool" the Canuck $2 bills looked. It was a pretty amateurish publication, but fascinating nonetheless.

As I recall, the only professional-looking ad was for The Card Collectors Company in NYC. When I received their first catalog, I spent the whopping sum of $40 to acquire complete Topps hockey sets from 1962-65. I subsequently acquired a couple of dozen T206s (which I later swapped for more hockey cards) and began corresponding with some of the classified advertisers. Subscriptions to The Trader Speaks and SCD quickly followed, and I've been hooked ever since...

In 1974, I was 13 years old and had been collecting with every penny I could find, including searching for pop bottles. I too saw the Sports Hobbyist and couldn't believe what was available. 1952 Mantle was $75.00. I worked all summer to get the funds and my dad told me I was crazy when I gave him the money for him to write me a check.

Mickey never came. I received a 1955 Sandy Koufax, a 1956 Campanella and 1955 Jackie Robinson. I think they snuck in a few others like Spahn and so forth and.....a friggen $25.00 credit. Memo. Probably didn't order too much through the mail again. Makes for a great Story though. I believe they were selling a Wagner for $1,500 at the time. Glad I didn't end up with a $1000.00 credit memo.