So What’s Your Story?

[Archive]

Posted By: Paul

I thought I'd try to revive this thread with my story.

I started collecting when I was 4 1/2, opening first series 1970 Topps cello packs. I thought they were the coolest things. Every year, I looked forward to the new cards coming out (but even at my age, I knew the 1972s were just garish). By the time I was 7 or 8, I knew exactly when the local drug store would be getting its first boxes of cards (the first Wednesday in February).

For my first several years of collecting, I had no idea that cards existed before I started collecting them, although I had seen one "old" card from 1969. It's kind of silly, but that's the way kids think, or at least that's the way I thought.

That all changed in about 1975 when I got my hands on the catalog of the Card Collectors Company, then owned by Richard Gelman. I couldn't believe that I could actually buy cards of guys like Ted Williams, Stan Musial, Yogi Berra, Warren Spahn, Sandy Koufax, and Whitey Ford -- guys I had only read about. And I couldn't believe that could get early cards -- sometimes even rookie cards -- of my favorite players like Mays, Aaron, Brooks, and Yaz.

My first vintage cards were 1951 Topps cards of Berra and Rizzuto. The catalog didn't list the names of players in 1951 (I don't know why, names were listed for all other years). Only the numbers were listed, so I picked 1 and 5. I was satisfied with my picks.

My greatest regret came with a Card Collectors Company catalog that I received probably a year or so later. It listed "white border" and "gold border" cards of Ty Cobb, Cy Young and others. They were $5.00 each. I couldn't believe there really were baseball cards in 1910 and was afraid that it was a scam, or that I just didn't understand what they were trying to sell. I asked my father if there were cards back then. He didn't know. So I didn't buy any.

I soon learned the error of my ways, but it was probably a few more years before I picked up my first tobacco card -- a T206 Young from Paul E. Marchant. He also sold me my first Goudey -- a 1933 Bill Terry. And my first Caramel Card - and E90-1 Keeler. I can't believe I still remember all this.

I've never stopped collecting. I long ago fulfilled my original goal of getting a Topps or Bowman card of every Hall of Famer who has one. (Luke Appling was the last one). Now I am pursuing the elusive Bid McPhee to complete my collection of all Hall of Famers who have a card.

I thought the posts on this thread were long, but now I see why!