A question for the REAL old-timers!

[tedzan]

As avid BB card collectors when we kids, most of us were interested in the players' pictures and the informative bios on the backs of the cards.
Variations in colors, printing errors, etc. didn't phase most of us. For example, the 1952 Topps set was issued in 6 series. The first three series
[#1-80....81-130....131-190] had front and back variations. Here is an example of the Black and Red backs of a first series card. In the Spring
of 1952, as a young kid in Hillside (NJ), I remember getting only Black backs of the first 80 cards in this set. A friend of mine in North Carolina
collecting 1952 Topps 1st series cards got Red backs. This back color change occurred during Topps press runs of their 2nd series cards (which
they printed with Red backs). Circa Summer of 1952, Topps re-printed their 1st Series cards (#1-80) due to the tremendous demand for their
product. This time with Red backs (as cards #81 - 407). You had to be collecting 1952 Topps cards back then to really appreciate how popular
they were that year.

Note the subtle color difference on the front of these two cards. This is true for all 1st series cards.
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TED Z

T206 Reference
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[AustinMike]

Like you, I'm 65. Unfortunately, I can't help with your question very much. I don't recall buying all that many packs of cards. My main collecting dealt with going to the commissary with my mom and picking out which Post cereals to buy. Although there are variations in some of the Post cards, I wasn't aware of them at the time and focused only on whether I had the player's card already or not. I'm sure I probably also had some '63 Jell-Os thrown in the mix but I don't recall if I realized they were different sizes. My wife claims I'm not very observant, I'm sure I was even less so back then.

[Leon]

My wife says I can't hear well. I hear everything well I just don't listen to her . It is called selective hearing. Great stories so far. And to the original question, when we pulled cards from packs as kids, in the late 60s and early 70s I don't ever recall hearing about errors. We just looked for the players we wanted.

Originally Posted by AustinMike

Like you, I'm 65. Unfortunately, I can't help with your question very much. I don't recall buying all that many packs of cards. My main collecting dealt with going to the commissary with my mom and picking out which Post cereals to buy. Although there are variations in some of the Post cards, I wasn't aware of them at the time and focused only on whether I had the player's card already or not. I'm sure I probably also had some '63 Jell-Os thrown in the mix but I don't recall if I realized they were different sizes. My wife claims I'm not very observant, I'm sure I was even less so back then.

[swarmee]

Not the 1969 Topps White Letter variations or the loop on the Graig Nettles RC, Leon?
I was 10 when the Fleer Billy Ripken card ruled, so kids my age were very tuned into errors growing up.

[Fuddjcal]

Originally Posted by swarmee

Not the 1969 Topps White Letter variations or the loop on the Graig Nettles RC, Leon?
I was 10 when the Fleer Billy Ripken card ruled, so kids my age were very tuned into errors growing up.

I traded my 10 Ripken FF cards when they came out for a Seattle Slew of vintage cards that are now worth $$$$. Error cards and variations are for morons, IMHO.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by Fuddjcal

I traded my 10 Ripken FF cards when they came out for a Seattle Slew of vintage cards that are now worth $$$$. Error cards and variations are for morons, IMHO.

Quit beating around the bush. Tell us how ya' really feel, Chuck? Here is an error card just for you. There is only 1 of each orange background although I have heard there could be a duplicate of a player I have never seen it verified. And I only had to pay approximately 8x what a regular one goes for.

[Hot Springs Bathers]

Another 65 year old. I bought my first cards at a neighborhood grocery store really just a house in 1961. I think I bought one pack of Topps baseball and was really turned off by a checklist card, I felt cheated. That Fall and Winter I bought 1961 NuCard Football and am surprised that I wasn't turned away from collecting by their erratic numbering! I loved the little pennants and covered my book covers with them.

In 1962 I was all in on Topps Baseball and even managed to talk the lady at the counter our of two empty wax boxes to store them in. I was very aware of the green tints and enjoyed finding the differences. What I had trouble understanding was the gaps in my cards. Apparently my store did not get every series so I had complete series just not every series.

1962 Topps Football was perfect, living in the south football was and is king. The Football Bucks were a big hit. In 1963 we had a Laundromat not far from our school that had Fleer Baseball, I completed the set minus Adcock and a checklist. I actually remember liking the cookies inside more than Topps gum. Around 1980 I ran into an old classmate that walked to school with me, we mentioned still having our cards. We got together to trade and I picked up the Adcock. Just last week a card shop owner asked me if I needed a checklist. I said yes and he said that one that was checked on one side walked into his shop. $20 later I brought it home and completed the set I started 56 years ago!

[pingman59]

Originally Posted by swarmee

Not the 1969 Topps White Letter variations or the loop on the Graig Nettles RC, Leon?
I was 10 when the Fleer Billy Ripken card ruled, so kids my age were very tuned into errors growing up.

Errors and Variations were something that didn't even occur to me when I was buying packs in 1968-75. Then, a sample of Sports Collectors Digest arrived and WOW, what an education. Ralph Nozaki would write about E's and V's and it was very interesting reading.

[2dueces]

Can’t help with your answer but I’m 63 and purchased my first cards in 1966. I grew up in Buffalo, New York that didn’t have a MLB team so I was drawn to football. 1966 TV set boarders but my favorite were Monster Laff cards. Had almost 3 complete sets.

[Fuddjcal]

Originally Posted by Leon

My wife says I can't hear well. I hear everything well I just don't listen to her . It is called selective hearing. Great stories so far. And to the original question, when we pulled cards from packs as kids, in the late 60s and early 70s I don't ever recall hearing about errors. We just looked for the players we wanted.

and the reason my grand pa tuned out my nagging grandmother with the transistor radio w/ ear plug for 50 years. Would you rather be listening to Vinny & Chick or a nagging shrew.

[frankbmd]

Originally Posted by Leon

My wife says I can't hear well. I hear everything well I just don't listen to her . It is called selective hearing. Great stories so far. And to the original question, when we pulled cards from packs as kids, in the late 60s and early 70s I don't ever recall hearing about errors. We just looked for the players we wanted.

The wife button on my hearing aids is labeled OFF

[dabigyankeeman]

I dont remember anything about variations back then, and I collected.

What I remember most was the 1955 Bowman set, the oldest set I remember. I can still remember opening packs and thinking how neat it was that they looked like little color tv's, very advanced for those times!!!

But again, I dont remember being aware of any of the variations when I was growing up.

[frankbmd]

Originally Posted by dabigyankeeman

I dont remember anything about variations back then, and I collected.

What I remember most was the 1955 Bowman set, the oldest set I remember. I can still remember opening packs and thinking how neat it was that they looked like little color tv's, very advanced for those times!!!

But again, I dont remember being aware of any of the variations when I was growing up.

Very true. My father worked at Electronics Park near Syracuse in the early 50s where the early color TVs were designed and built. We had one in our home in the mid-fifties, but there was very limited programing available. The 1955 World Series was the first broadcast in color. I suspect that the color broadcast of the WS was in planning for months in advance of the series, and perhaps Bowman's card design was influenced by this knowledge.

Whether or not the card design influenced the sales of color television in 1955 is not known. Suffice it to say, that very few people saw those games in color. We not only had the only color tv on the block, but probably the only one in the town of Manlius, NY.

[hank_jp]

When I started collecting, I recall some of the 1950's Bowman's but when the 1952 Topps cards appeared they were the only baseball cards we were interested in. Error cards, misprints if we saw any, meant nothing to us, only the picture of the players on front. We had no concept that cards were printed on sheets, cut up and randomly put into packs, but we sure knew was what the gum tasted like and doubtless we can still recognize the smell and taste 60+ years later. No one cared about centering or sharp corners. We held these cards, studied their backs, carried them in our pockets to school, usually wrapped in a rubber band to keep them together, and waited until we got that next nickel to spend on another pack at the candy store.
The 1952's were big and beautiful and we loved them. We couldn't wait to add more players to the team we rooted for. Gus Zerniel with all those baseballs was an oddity to us and Jackie Robinson stood out in the set as he did on the field. The 1953's with full face images were also very striking. The 1954's with a big picture and and a small action shot and team logo was like getting a bonus. For me, these were the best years bar none. None of my friends, what were we, 8, 9, 10 year olds ever heard of T206's or Goudey or Playball ... and our mothers, for the most part never grasped the concept of private property.
Collecting cards were not limited to sports in those days. We had so many other colorful cards to enjoy. Look n See, Flags of All nations, Frank Buck's Bring em Back Alive, Rails & Sails, Wings, World on Wheels, Jets Rockets and Spacemen and Presidents. It seems between our cards, comics and Classic Illustrated we got quite an education and boy was it fun.
But red backs, black backs, gray backs or white backs - we could care less.
However if we were Dodger fans we wanted Duke Snider and Giant fans wanted Willie Mays and it didn't matter if we had to trade a Mickey Mantle to get them.
To quote Bob Hope, "Thanks for the memories."