Fun time....Show-n-Tell us of experiences pulling cards from wax-packs in your youth

[tedzan]

Originally Posted by robw1959

I remember first buying Topps wax packs in 1969. No matter how many I bought with my brother and our combined allowance money, we could never get a Mantle. But we did get probably 8-9 cards of some nobody called "Rod Carew". Who knew?

I was even more into cards in 1970, and remember pulling quite a few major stars like Hank Aaron, Brooks Robinson, Mays, Clemente, and even Johnny Bench, just to name a few. I loved the gray borders and clean look compared to 1969 Topps. Just to get those took a lot of buying. Once I made the mistake of opening a pack right outside the drug store. Another kid, watching me thumb through the cards, had the temerity to tell me, "They all stink!" And he was right!

In 1971 I was even more impressed by the black border design Topps put out. But for some reason, my interest waned at that time, and it didn't return until age 16 when a good friend of mine told me there was value in old cards. Up until then I had no idea that old cards could even be bought! So starting in 1976, I began buying 1950s HOFers in great condition. The first mail order I placed included a 1958 Topps card of Brooks Robinson for 75 cents. It seemed a bit expensive to me at the time, but at least I didn't have to suffer the disappointment of opening pack after pack only to find scrub after scrub.

I had big plans during the summer of '77 when I landed a job toward the end of the school year at the local GNC store stocking shelves. I was calculating how long it would take me to save up for two baseball sets I was planning to buy: a 1956 Topps set ($300-NM) and a 1958 Topps set ($100-EX). I was going to get the '58 set first, but they laid me off due to summer cutbacks, so it never happened.

In '78, I was off with the Marines, and really didn't get back into the hobby again until about 2002.

Hi Rob

Thanks for posting your story, "Gyrene".....and thanks for your Service to our Country.

I was a "Fly-Boy" (USAF) in the 1960's. Speaking about the 1960's.....here you go......
a normal 1969 Mickey Mantle card; and, an extremely rare blue variation card.
I've never seen another 1969 MM like this one. These are my only 1969 cards.



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TED Z

T206 Reference
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