Who had a positive impact on your collection ?

[pawpawdiv9]

MattyC and Begsu changed how I collect cards.
And ALL the pre-war guys give me excitement when I see their cards.
Thanks NET54.

[bnorth]

For me it was my younger brother. He was around 10-12 and I was in my late teens. He stopped out to my place to visit and brought a hand full of cards. He had just started collecting and wanted to show them to me. I opened a drawer and said I have these. His eyes got as big as plates and said do you know how much those are worth. I said no because they had been sitting in that same drawer untouched since I was a real little kid. My older cousin had problems and passed away in the early 70's and gave me the cards before he passed. I had 2 nice stacks of 60's baseball cards and 1 nice stack of non sport cards. The non sports cards were beat to holly heck. The baseball cards looked like they just came out of the package.

I was hooked the second he brought out a price guide and starting looking up the Mantles ,Fords, Koufaxs, and all the other stars. I have been collecting every since except a few years off in the early 00's. I have a little bit of everything now that fills an entire room. Between selling and trading those 2 stacks of baseball cards turned into the whole room full of cards/memoribilia. Best part is I can guarantee overall I have not spent a penny out of pocket for that room full of cards.

Weirdly my brother collected for a few years and stopped. I owe my collection and the fact I collect to him. Sorry for the long story, would also like to read others stories.

[kvnkvnkvn]

Kinem's Sports Cards.

Didn't even have to think twice...So much information, great deals and most importantly, dude is a good human...

[ricktmd]

Goodwin Goldfaden from Adco Sports Book Exchange on Santa Monica Bl in West Hollywood California. A friend and I used to go in 1969 and he would bring out shoe boxes full of T206's with the cards laying on their sides. All were Sweet Caporal or Piedmont with an occasional Polar Bear. He would shout at us "do you kids have money"?. The price was 1.00 for commons and 2.00 for HOF's. I bought the attached Walter Johnson for 2.00. One thing for sure about him he never left a T206 rare back or Cobb (who he was a big fan of) in the shoe boxes. I bought 5 T206's from him over time and still have them all

[oldjudge]

Keith Mitchell helped me navigate the waters of the Old Judge market when I first started collecting in the early-1990s. He was a mentor, a friend, and one of the pioneer researchers in this area. The man from Bettendorf, Iowa is certainly missed.

[Powell]

Bill Latzko has been a huge help for my collection. A wonderful guy. Fair, knowledgeable and honest.

[glynparson]

Vince from Renningers in Adamstown, mike Delaney from Greenwich street in reading, beanie schlottman, chick levengood, Levi, jim and my father have had the most impact on my love and knowledge of the hobby

[Stonepony]

Without question my dad was my #1 influence. He really taught me everything about the hobby that I see as important. He loved the cards and players of his childhood far more than that the " impressive" parts of his collection. Mathewson, Cobb, Mantle, Regional issues , early Bowmans and type cards were
His passion....as they are now mine.

[darwinbulldog]

I didn't have the fortune of knowing many hobby legends, but Bob Lemke was very generous to me with both his time and his tremendous knowledge. I feel fortunate to have gotten to know him a bit in his last few years and proud to have a couple of his old cards.

[Paul S]

Originally Posted by ricktmd

Goodwin Goldfaden from Adco Sports Book Exchange on Santa Monica Bl in West Hollywood California. A friend and I used to go in 1969 and he would bring out shoe boxes full of T206's with the cards laying on their sides. All were Sweet Caporal or Piedmont with an occasional Polar Bear. He would shout at us "do you kids have money"?. The price was 1.00 for commons and 2.00 for HOF's. I bought the attached Walter Johnson for 2.00. One thing for sure about him he never left a T206 rare back or Cobb (who he was a big fan of) in the shoe boxes. I bought 5 T206's from him over time and still have them all

Me too! In the same time period. Also got my T206 WaJo from him - funny. Decades later, when I "renewed" my collection, I realized I had a T206 Duffy Red Hindu. Graded highest any TPG, and sold at auction (Hi Scott and Leon). After he sold off his books/periodicals/etc (to the University of Notre Dame, South Bend, which, at that time, and maybe still, gave them the largest sports text collection in the world), Goodiie moved just a quick bike-ride from where I lived. Was over there a lot. I got stories.

[sycks22]

I always remember growing up and my dad, brother and I going to card shops and trying to find the right '90 Leaf Frank Thomas that I absolutely needed. After some convincing I got it for my birthday and my bro got a bike. Those were the best parts of growing up and hope to make those memories with my two girls. My bro and I would set up card shows in our basement and would price out our cards for my dad to buy when he got home from work. After buying some cards he'd eventually give them back to us, it was a win-win

[Baseballcrazy62]

Anyone remember a guy by the name of Bill Bolio from Armada, Mi. I think he was a teacher at the high school . I remember going to his house a couple of times in the mid to late 70's. He had cards everywhere in his house. I mean thousands and thousands of cards from all years. He was a great guy to deal with as well. Keep the stories coming. I hope you guys are having as much fun as I am reading all these stories. Sometimes we seem to forget how many helpful people there really are in our great hobby. Thanks for posting!!!

[pokerplyr80]

Originally Posted by pawpawdiv9

MattyC and Begsu changed how I collect cards.
And ALL the pre-war guys give me excitement when I see their cards.
Thanks NET54.

I see I responded in this thread 5 years ago, but this post is still accurate today. I haven't talked to Bob in quite a while but Matt and I have become good friends through collecting and have very similar tastes and interests. He completely changed the way I look at cards. Many do the same thing these days, but my ideal card may be lower grade than some would consider, but with centering and overall eye appeal that transcend the grade.

I should add that as for dealers, I've probably bought more cards from Don, of Don's cards, than anyone else. Including one today. He has certainly had a very positive impact on my collection, as have Brady and Jeff who were mentioned earlier, and Sean Bassik.