What was your first pre-war purchase?

[Piratedogcardshows]

T206 Killian portrait. Good memories from the start.

[jcmtiger]

T206 red Cobb $100.00 in the 1980’s. THe other 3. Cobb’s in an SCD auction for $265.00 also in the 1980’s. Collected the complete Detroit set, since sold.

[Yoda]

When I re-entered the hobby circa 1990 and decided to make Full Count a pre-war dealer, my first card was a 1914 Cracker Jack Fred Clarke. The pose just seemed to me to capture the spirit of baseball at the time. Still have it and will never part with it.

[metroac]

When I graduated from college in 1970 and got my first job, I bought some cards sets that I'd collected as a kid. I bought complete sets of '55, '58, and '60 Topps from Stan Martucci for about $35-50 each. A few years later, maybe 1974 or 1975, my then-wife, who was an arts administrator, mentioned my interest in cards to Tom Akins, who I remembered as the double-bass player for the Indianapolis Symphony. (When I googled him just now, I learned that he was, in fact, the tympanist.)

He invited me to go to a card show with him where I passed on a 1959 Bob Gibson for $3, since I didn't understand the concept of a "rookie card" (although I think I got "high number.") At the end of the show, Tom gave me a T206 Cobb with the bat off shoulder that had a large diagonal crease the width of the card. He reckoned it was worth about $5. I sold the card (with most of the rest of my collection) around 2009 when my younger daughter was off to college. I remember the card fondly, though, and Tom, if you're out there, thanks so much for taking me to that card show.

[kkkkandp]

Bought my first two - WG5 National Game John McGraw and a T206 Jimmy Collins - on the same day (1/14/1995) at a Parsippany, NJ card show.

[campyfan39]

My first pre war card and the only one i currently have.
My favorite all time movie is Field of Dreams and i wanted badly to have one of the "Black Sox." Means even more now that my Dad has passed with plot of the movie etc.

[BabyRuth]

My first pre-war and first Ruth. This led to all the Ruths and Gehrigs. Then the Lajoie and eventually the rest of the set.