Looking back...

[Sean]

I started collecting cards when I was seven. I collected the 1965 Topps set. My father gave me my first cards, and after that I spent what little money I had on packs of baseball cards. They were 5 cents for a pack of five cards. For some reason it seemed like every pack had a Gary Bell card in it.

Back then my friends and I always searched for Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, or Sandy Koufax. I got a Mays and Koufax, but not the Mick.

A few years later my cards were thrown away when we moved. I only have one card left from my childhood:

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[Rich Klein]

when you traded the Aikman RC for the Canseco -- I'd bet that was an 86 SF Canseco you traded for and if that was the card with Mike Greenwell on the card, that was a pretty sweet card back then. That was when that was Greenwell's only 86 card and we all thought he had a great future based on his early years/

Just goes to show, you never can tell as Chuck Berry sang.

[baztacula]

I was always obsessed with 1975 minis when I was a kid. I began cobbling together a set in the late '80s and early '90s. One day a friend of mine told me that his sister had some '75 minis in their basement and that they were probably perfect because he remembered opening packs with her when they were kids. He explained that she would carefully remove the cards from the wrappers and then gingerly place them in a box which she never opened again. This really got my attention. Soon after hearing this intriguing story, while I was playing softball with that friend, I saw his sister sittinig in the stands, watching us play. Excited, I nudged another teammate, who apparently wasn't all that interested in baseball cards, and pointed at the bleachers and said, "Do you see that girl over there? She has minis!" He looked at me strangely and then silently gazed over in her direction. After a few minutes of confusion and me blabbering on about how much I craved her wonderful minis it dawned on him. "Are you talking about baseball cards?" When I nodded yes, he responded, "Ohhhh, I thought you were talking about her boobs."

[ATP]

Being born in the late 1970's and a child of the 80's collecting culture, I couldn't wait to get each months Beckett. I have always been a numbers person, and I would pour over that thing each month seeing what went up and what went down (I think they used to use plus and minus symbols, and then arrows if I am remembering correctly). And then wow, if a card you had ever went into bold type then you really new you had the key card. I think part of the mystique for me back then was that I really had very little access to vintage cards from my local store. I knew what the sets looked like, and could recognize the key cards, but I had no idea what a 1959 Clemente looked like unless I saw a photo in a mail order catlog, Beckett article, or happened across one in person. Money was different back then or course as well, so seeing a card worth $50 seemed out of this world at the time.

[DHogan]

I remember being in 3rd grade at St. John's Catholic school in Worcester Mass. in the late 60's and trying to trade cards at recess time. Or, if the nun's minding the school yard at recess saw anyone with cards in their hands worse yet playing flipping card games against the school building. They would come over and take everyone's cards away and never give them back. I guess they considered it gambling !


A strange thing was, that no one wanted anything to do with rookie cards. Kids would give them away or even throw them away !

[cockrellcollection]

I remember at some point in the early 90s when I was 10 or 11 years old my mother would help me bid in Ron Wilson's (if I remember the name correctly) mail auctions. He was out of Ohio and we would get a typed list in the mail (no pictures that I recall) and I would pick out the lots I was interested in. I really wish I remember how I went about picking out those lots. I do remember winning my first three T206s, all sovereign backs: Shaw 350 (which I don't have anymore), Phelan 350 and Pfeffer 460. I also remember winning a Yuenglings Dugan and a whole lot of 50s commons through a year or so of doing these auctions. I learned some great lessons in collecting and got to spend some fun times with my mother going through those lists. I guess I caught the auction bug early and still love the excitement of it. Did anyone else participate in these auctions?

[ValKehl]

My 3 best buddies and I were always doing sports together, and we all collected cards (mostly baseball) in the mid-1950's to the early 1960's. Being very competitive kids, we spent countless hours trying to win each other's cards - we did some card flipping, but we mostly played two games that we called "sail touch" and "knock down," both of which turned NM cards quickly into G cards! We mostly played with our dupes, but one day my ego and that of one of my buddies got the best of us - we agreed to risk our best singles, my Wash. Senators vs. his Brooklyn Dodgers - I happened to have one of my best days ever, and I cleaned my buddy out of his Koufaxes, Sniders, Reeses, etc.! After we learned how to play cards, we spent countless hours playing blackjack and poker for each other's cards. Those were fun times!!
Val

[z28jd]

When I was about 10, I bought a Willie "Puddin Head" Jones card and I thought that was one of the best cards at the time because my dad still used his original four-fingered glove when we played catch. The glove was from when he was a kid and it had a facsimile autograph of Jones. It was beat up, but he could still use it and he still has it to this day, though he eventually bought a new glove.

Not only was the nickname cool to me, I spent part of my meager allowance to get the 1960 Jones card for my dad, so at the time I thought it was a big deal.

[vintagechris]

I discovered cards in 1980 at the local mall where my Mom worked. After discovering them and buying some for myself, My Mom would bring home two packs of cards for me everyday from work. She did this for 7 years.

I'm still at it after all these years and even though my Mom passed away in 2009, I give her lots of credit for my collecting bug and the enjoyment I get from cards. Thanks Mom! You were the best!

[sycks22]

I remember going to the local store here in MN with my bro and dad every saturday and see what cards they just got it. My player was always the big hurt and when his '90 leaf was the hot card I got an idea. My bro wanted a sweet bike and I figured if I got a Giant impactor (my bike) and the '90 Leaf Thomas it would equal his diamondback tailwhip. We also pretended we were bmx bikers after watching the movie "Rad". I also remember going to SA and getting a '91 upper deck Jordan baseball card the day after my bro got one in a pack. I was jumping around the parking lot.