Hi Bob. Thanks for the smiley face. After what I'm about to say, you probably won't like me anymore, but I must confess you took that paragraph pretty much as I meant it. I was not trying to express that collectors "who don't collect as I do" have little intelligence or good taste. I mean, collecting mainstream vintage Topps are great cards, period. Done in good taste, absolutely. I mean that in all sincerity, no buts about it. In today's graded card world, the mainstream will suck up every cent a collector has to spend. I suppose it's just that some of us want more of a challenge that we also find visually appealing.
Let's use your gorgeous '59 Bazooka baseball set that you so thoughtfully displayed for us. These kind of cards require a fair amount of cognitive deduction to reason out all the qualities that represent these sets. Understanding and appreciating "the complete package" has led me and more than a few others to regard them among the postwar gems of the hobby, set apart from the norm.
When I said that most collectors focus on the mainstream, I was not at all likening that to wallowing in the mud. Mainstream cards are the foundation of our hobby, where myself, probably yourself, and most other collectors as kids have many cherished memories of collecting them. Where would we be without gum cards?
So what am I dealing with, then?
Repeat, it's NOT that most collectors lack the intelligence to understand and appreciate the various facets of these post-war gems. What I am saying is that most collectors are pretty much oblivious to those sorts of aspects. It's not something that occurs to them to ponder over. They simply just collect the items, admire the players' pictures, check the various price guides to see what their holdings are worth, and leave it at that. They don't seem to care (indifferent? apathetic?) about learning more about these cards, coins, etc. As such, these collectors are content to have scratched the surface. To them, if you've got the cards that's the main thing, and they're right. Perhaps I'm very mistaken; maybe most collectors would really get into knowing all the WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, WHY, and HOW. Just getting on the computer will not tell them everything they want to know. That has frustrated a lot of researchers, as they expect instant gratification from going to web sites they think should tell them all this information. They'll get some, of course; I certainly did in researching parts of my book.
OK. Let's go back to your beautiful 1959 Bazookas. The hobby has recognized the importance of the '59 Bazookas since the year they were issued, I dare say. My point--when Beckett first listed the Bazookas in his price guides; not sure if it was in the inaugural guide of '79, but definitely by '81, the value of a common in VG-EX was $35. Whereas, the value of a '59 Topps common in VG-EX ranged, depending upon the series, from 20, 24, and 85 cents.
Not to incur your wrath, which may already have erupted, but WHY the stark difference in the two?
Where I work, we are attempting to reach a certain quality status I believe is called ISO 9000. When a mistake is made at work, the supervisor has to fill out the dreaded "5 Whys?" sheet. The purpose of the five whys is to get to the bottom of the problem and figure out how to rectify the issue so it won't happen again.
Well, it is an interesting cognitive exercise to apply the 5 whys to a given sport trading card set. Believe you me, when you start getting to the third, fourth, and fifth why, it gets really fascinating. So fascinating that many of those answers are what I brought to my book's subjects on postwar regional / food issues.
Most collectors are content with the merits of the mainstream, and there is enough of a challenge inherent in many of them, particularly if they have a scarce seventh series, or in the case of the '63 and '69 Topps, a series in mid-year that seems to have been virtually short-printed.
But Bob, some of us found the allure and attraction of cards that were much more challenging, and beautiful as well. I was that way even as a little kid. I played with my Tonka toys, then had a few dime store Tootsie Toys. But at age 4, while shopping with my mother at Carson, Pirie, Scott & Co. I saw a display of the gorgeous Dinky Toys imported from Great Britain. Instantly I was hooked. The eye-appealing, not as easily attained, has always marked my life. I had my dime store toy soldiers---but then I got a MARX Battle of Gettysburg play set, along with two large groups of Marx Warriors of the World. They both put dime store soldiers to shame. And no, this wasn't last week; it was Christmas of '62. I remember it very well. In a year or two, I was privileged to get some of the higher quality Britains Toy soldiers and field guns.
I could go on and on. I'm sure you think I've gone much much too far.
In short, I collected the Topps and other mainstream cards of various sports as a kid and teen and loved them dearly, but the tricky, difficult to collect, and gorgeous stuff (several key hobby people labeled them "esoteric" in the 80s; after looking the word up and thinking about it, it seemed a most apropos label) was the bull's eye I was aiming for when I entered the adult hobby in 1972, ALONG with some badly wanted mainstream cards. I was glad, and very glad, most collectors wanted just the gum cards; LESS COMPETITION FOR ME!!!!
If you still hate me now and want to remove your smiling face, you go right ahead. ---Brian Powell
08-01-2014, 05:41 PM
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