Photo of 5 Guys with a Wagner in the 70's

[Griffins]

Originally Posted by baztacula

How many kids in the '70s even cared about tobacco cards? All I cared about was finding Tigers players in my Topps packs. If I had somehow stumbled upon a Wagner, I would have traded it straight up for a 1979 Aurelio Rodriguez without batting an eye.

In about '73, when we were in 7th grade, some friends and I placed ads in The Trader Speaks and a new magazine called Sports Collectors Digest, offering something like 50 '71 Topps for a T206, or 75 '70 Topps for a T205, etc.
We thought we might get one or two, but the first week we got blitzed with T205's and T206's. We had to go thru the neighborhood and put signs up at school offering to buy collections just to fill the demand. All worked out fine, and we each ended up with about 150 T206's each and about 50-60 T205's. But it was a bit stressful the first few weeks filling the orders.

[rc4157]

I love your story Anthony, that's entrepreneurship at its best! I can picture you and your friends scrambling to meet the demand, that's great.

RC