How did you get started in the hobby

[pingman59]

I remember buying 1968 Topps BB 1st series Rak Packs at the nearby Woolworth's store when I was 9 years old. I probably passed on Willie Mays and Bob Gibson on the top because I looked for any Chicago Cubs on top. Fond memories flood over me whenever I look at a 1st series 68 Topps card!

[Jayworld]

I bought my first baseball cards from the neighborhood 7-11 in 1975 when I was eight years old and have been hooked ever since. The fall of 1975 saw us trading 1975 Topps football cards in school. I collected cards solely from packs from 1975-78 and enjoyed building (or trying to build) sets that way, and yes, I filled in the checklist cards to help keep track of which cards I was lacking. 1979 was the first year that I ordered the complete Topps baseball set from a dealer rather than try to build from packs. I remember that set cost $9.99 postpaid. I relied on the Card Collector's Company to buy singles and fill-in the holes to complete my 1977 and 1978 baseball sets....

I finally completed the 1975 Topps set last year, and I am currently working on completing the 1975 Topps football set.

[Rickyy]

I grew up in Japan, my dad was in the US Navy, so my first exposure to bb cards came in the form of late 60's Topps cards that he bought me at the base commissary. I was into Japanese baseball then, but didn't collect or know about Japanese BB cards until I came state side. Then once I came to the US (N. Calif) in the early 70's.... I got hooked on bb cards as my school mates also had them. First collected some in 1971 just for fun ( I remember buying packs, cello pack in those blue boxes and also remember buying BB and FB rack packs that year). Seriously got hooked in 1973 as I was following the Swinging A's in the SF bay area and completed my first set.

Ricky Y

[bmattioli]

I have been collecting for years but the earliest thoughts i must say are buying Hostess cakes for day camp with the free card.. I had a paper route and any left over money was either saved, I was thrifty even back then or used to purchase 15 cents packs or comics at an old bookstore on my route. Those were the days.

[DHogan]

I needed a hobby. I started out buying all crap from the early 90's. I started building sets in the mid 90's. And started collecting vintage soon after. Vintage cards are way more fun. I wish I had started sooner.

[BearBailey]

In 1983 my dad bought a box from a pharmacy he went too,each week he asked if me and my brother were good and if so he gave us a pack. By end of 1983 went to a baseball card show, Brooks Robinson was the autograph guest and couldn't have been better to me. That's how I got hooked, by 1987 I was mowing neighbors lawns and spending all of money on cards.

[tab]

I remember driving up to a gas station drive thru as a kid with my mother. She got her cigarettes and me a pack of cards. I would chew the gum and check out my cards. I then tossed them in the floor of her station wagon before getting dropped off at school(kindergarten). I had tons of 87 topps 88 donruss etc and on into the early 90's. i purchased a couple of wax boxes of 1987 topps baseball for me and my son to open together when he gets a little older. Just to kind of relive my childhood.

[horzverti]

Originally Posted by BearBailey

1987 I was mowing neighbors lawns and spending all of money on cards.

Me too. I mowed lawns from about 1983 to 1988. Three of every four dollars earned went toward my wax pack addiction, but I turned out ok.

[ullmandds]

I first starting buying packs in 1976...began buying complete sets in 1977. My dad knew a guy(mel solomon) in the hobby at our temple and I used to sequester his help to obtain cards I wanted. I once sorted 30 sets for mel in exchange for 1 free one to keep.

My dad would ask his coworkers if they had any bb cards at home from kids who had long left. In this manner I was able to acquire most significant cards from the late 50's-present.

I started attending shows in 80-81 or so...bought my first t205/t206 in 81...a matty white cap.

I sold my childhood collection minus a few cards in 86' to buy a beat up 76 chevy camaro.

Got back into it while in college buying 90-91 UD packs...then got into solely vintage.

[TobaccoKing4]

My dad got me into collecting as a kid but I got into prewar as a kid by playing a baseball simulation game on a website called whatifsports. You'd be able to make a team from players from all different years from 1885-current year. After playing it for a year or so I wanted to get a card of one of the old time players that I was using and ended up getting a T206 Delehanty of ebay. That started the madness.

[Rich Klein]

Originally Posted by ullmandds

I first starting buying packs in 1976...began buying complete sets in 1977. My dad knew a guy(mel solomon) in the hobby at our temple and I used to sequester his help to obtain cards I wanted. I once sorted 30 sets for mel in exchange for 1 free one to keep.

My dad would ask his coworkers if they had any bb cards at home from kids who had long left. In this manner I was able to acquire most significant cards from the late 50's-present.

I started attending shows in 80-81 or so...bought my first t205/t206 in 81...a matty white cap.

I sold my childhood collection minus a few cards in 86' to buy a beat up 76 chevy camaro.

Got back into it while in college buying 90-91 UD packs...then got into solely vintage.

Pete:

I stay in touch with Mel and he was walking around the National on Sunday -- do you want me to send you his email address

Rich

[jmb]

Originally Posted by ullmandds

I sold my childhood collection minus a few cards in 86' to buy a beat up 76 chevy camaro.

Crazy ! I also got a 76 Camaro in 86 when I graduated HS.

I started buying packs in 75, but the 76 set is my favorite one from childhood.

[cubman1941]

I don't know really how I got started, maybe because I liked baseball. I started with 1952 Topps, then some 1953. I put them in a box in my closet. I quit for some reason, probably because I started high school. The box sat in my closet. I went into the U.S. Army in 1962 and came home in 1964. The box sat in my closet. I got a job and left home. Came back in around 1969 only to find my mother had cleaned out my closet because my brother wanted it. She throw my box of cards out but kept my brothers books from his only semester of college. When asked about it she said the cards were taking up space and my brother might go back to school. In 1976 I was living in Maryland and my daughter got me a box of Twinkies because of the baseball cards on the back and this started me again and continue to this day.

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

bought my brother a pack of 1981 Topps as a present for getting his tonsils out. Through all the years, between the two of us, we had managed to keep one or two cards from that first pack. Alas in the last couple moves neither of us can seem to find them. If you ever get a 1981 Topps George Brett with seriously rounded corners and AP written on the back in black crayon you'll know you have one of ours!

[Eggoman]

For me, as a 7-year-old, it was 1969 Topps Baseball Fourth Series. I had the Don Drysdale checklist card and my goal was to get every card on that checklist. Any card not on that checklist was trade bait!

Looking back, I probably traded away PLENTY of stars as the 4th Series is mostly junk!

We traded before, after, and sometimes DURING school - always trying to avoid being caught by the eagle-eyed Nuns, who would confiscate your cards if you got caught with them!

The dear Sisters of St. Joseph's likely have some of the finest Baseball card collections in existence stashed away somewhere as we got caught MORE THAN once!

I'm 54 now and NEVER quit, but have not been as active in the hobby as I used to be...

[mikemb]

I grew up in Dunellen, New Jersey. As an 8 year old, Mom bought me my first pack at the local deli, 1965 first series. Continued buying cards there for another 6 years. Not sure how I got 1959 to 1964 cards in my original collection, probably Dad or my older brother got them. Sad that the deli closed last year. Always went in there once or twice a year to bring back great memories. Mike

[vintagechris]

My Mom worked at the mall when I was growing up and I would go to the mall during Summer break and Christmas break to hang out. Spent most of my money on arcade games. One day, I was rushing to the back of the G.C. Murphy store where there was an arcade and on my way to the back noticed packs of 1980 FB cards. Stopped and looked at them, bought a few packs and took them out to one of the benches in the mall and opened them.

I was instantly hooked. Spent all my video game money that day on packs of cards. For the next 4 or 5 years, Mom would bring home 2 packs of cards each day.

[ALR-bishop]

5 cent pack at corner Drug/Grocery store at end of our block in St Louis

[Yoda]

I am really dating myself, but what the hell. My passion for the hobby started in my hometown, Schenectady, NY where I and my pals, ages from about 8-11,all of us playing Little League ball, would pool our weekly, meager allowances and dash to the local drug store and feast upon packs of '51 Bowmans. Outside would be the ritual of opening packs, screams of joy or derision as the players were revealed and then the business of serious trading began. Most of us were Yankee fans and just loved everything about Mickey Mantle. So you can imagine the excitement when we learned that Schenectady was to be blessed with the final series of the '51 Bowmans. Every available penny was gathered and when the cards arrived our gang, armed and ready with our life savings, wiped out every pack in the store. When all the packs were open we had about 50 Johnny Sains but not one of the Mick. We were devastated. While college, the military, family and all that stuff curtailed any active involvement in the hobby for a long time, I am now retired and actively engaged in the prewar scene, but the '51 bowman set will always remain my favorite. John

[vintagerookies51]

7 years ago, my dad brought me to the annual Minnesota Twins fest. I wanted to go simply because of my favorite current Twins players that would be there signing autographs- Carlos Gomez, Joe Mauer, Justin morneau etc... Passing by various booths one caught my eye where this guy had cards of all the absolute legends I had read about- Mantle, Mays, Yogi, Aaron- these guys were like gods to me. I fell in love with these cards and ended up convincing my dad to split the cost on a 1965 Topps Hank Aaron. I mostly collected cheap 1950s and 1960s cards then, but slowly started dabbling in pre-war.

[GeorgeBailey2]

Originally Posted by vintagerookies51

7 years ago, my dad brought me to the annual Minnesota Twins fest. I wanted to go simply because of my favorite current Twins players that would be there signing autographs- Carlos Gomez, Joe Mauer, Justin morneau etc... Passing by various booths one caught my eye where this guy had cards of all the absolute legends I had read about- Mantle, Mays, Yogi, Aaron- these guys were like gods to me. I fell in love with these cards and ended up convincing my dad to split the cost on a 1965 Topps Hank Aaron. I mostly collected cheap 1950s and 1960s cards then, but slowly started dabbling in pre-war.

What are you doing here?
It feels like the scene in "Captain America: Civil War" where Peter Parker describes the "really old movie" and Stark and Rhodes have some dialogue where they effectively roll their eyes.
Sorry to give you a hard time, I just thought it was funny.

While my first pack was most likely a 71 BB pack purchased by my grandmother, I think I really started that fall with the 71 FB. I grew up in K of P (the mall), but my father was from Baltimore. I remember going to one of his co-worker's house to watch a Colts-Jets game as they must have lived in Bucks county and were able to get the NY stations. Someone from that family must have worked for Topps as there was an uncut sheet of 71 football on the wall. I also remember being in Baltimore for Thanksgiving that year and going to the 5 and 10 (McCrory's, I think) and getting a boxed cello pack that had Johnny U showing. However, BB and HK were my favorites and that is what I currently collect. Although, I do have the 71 Football and Johnny Unitas in my searches.

[Sean]

Originally Posted by mikemb

I grew up in Dunellen, New Jersey. As an 8 year old, Mom bought me my first pack at the local deli, 1965 first series. Continued buying cards there for another 6 years. Not sure how I got 1959 to 1964 cards in my original collection, probably Dad or my older brother got them. Sad that the deli closed last year. Always went in there once or twice a year to bring back great memories. Mike

I was eight in 1965. That's also the year that I started collecting. I stopped in 1969, and didn't get back into it until 2002.

That '65 Topps set was always my favorite post-war set.

[Huck]

I was 10, living in Hawaii, buying packs of '72 Topps. I never completed the set, due to finding out much later that (1) either my interest waned or (2) the later series never made it to the pacific. Fast forward, to the college years, meandering around in a convenience store after an evening of being over served at a local bar. As I waited for the cashier to ring me up, I noticed the packs of 1981 Topps on the counter. I said to myself "I never completed that 1972 set. I am going to complete the 1981 set." Many pack purchases later and after finding a tiny, dark and dank local card store (remember those??) in a strip mall and purchasing missing cards there, I finally completed the '81 set. I spent well over $100 putting that set together and have hundreds of doubles and triples. I was happy, content. Then I saw an ad in the local paper, about a card show at the local VFW. As I walked into the show one of the first things that I saw was a sign on a dealers table, which read - "1981 Topps complete set collated - $19.99", that soured me a bit on trying to complete a set via pack purchases. At that first show, I saw my first tobacco cards, which I thought were really cool looking and purchased one (Hanifan, NJ). That was the start of the insanity. In the early '90s I started collecting IP autographs of the HOF's who were guests at the show. I was spending far more money on cards than autographs but over the years, that reversed and more money was spent on autographs as opposed to cards. I still collect cards, but prefer vintage over the new stuff.

[daves_resale_shop]

It was 1986, I was 8 years old. I was a member of Coach Marsh's AAA Brewers club... My first game didn't go as planned (hitless at the plate), so to cheer me up my dad took me to Norumbega Stamp and Coin in Newton Mass to grab a few packs of cards... For some reason I found myself flipping through the pages of their display binders, and was taken aback by these trendy, colorful, disco-like cards (1972 topps). My dad picked out 3 cards, two of his favorites: Carl Yastrzemski, and John Kennedy (I think he liked the name), and a very cool mustached 1974 topps Luis tiant...

Took those cards with me everywhere that year, remember it like it was yesterday