Childhood baseball card memories.

[GeoPoto]

I guess on this board this is more or less a confession because I never really collected cards as a kid (I was 10 in 1963). I do however remember amassing a 100+ "bankroll" of cards. We used them mostly for gambling. I don't remember paying much attention to who the players were. I'm sure we were sensitive to the big names, but they were few and far between, as I recall. My only vivid memory involved a game of "touchies" in which I and an opponent miraculously extended the pile until it was the area of a kitchen table top (100+ cards in my memory). Eventually, the other guy somehow missed the pile and I walked away with most of his cards.

[dabigyankeeman]

The oldest cards I remember opening a pack from is 1955 Bowmans, and I remember how great I thought it was that the cards looked like little color tv's which at that time virtually nobody had!!!

[cardsagain74]

I had a double dose of childhood memories from cards. First, the packs of baseball and football cards that I bought as a little kid from about '81 to '85. I still remember going to the corner store whenever we'd visit my grandparents in the neighbor town, and buying cards while playing Moon Patrol (both were a good use of funds). My favorites were the '81 Topps baseball cards, because of the caps on the front. I still like those.

Then there was the renaissance (if a 15 year old can have that, though it felt like it) of getting involved again when the boom/junk wax era hit five years later. I was elated to find that my "old" cards from my "younger" years had become fairly valuable. Learning that you have about $1000 worth of something is not something that usually happened to a teen then, and the fact that it came from something I really enjoyed made it all the better.

The best part of that was finding the Montana rookie that (like many of the cards) was stored away in an empty Velveeta cheese box.

[thatkidfromjerrymaguire]

Originally Posted by cardsagain74

The best part of that was finding the Montana rookie that (like many of the cards) was stored away in an empty Velveeta cheese box.

Haha...not sure if Velveeta secretly used this as a "value add" marketing ploy, but those boxes were PERFECT to store baseball cards in. I think I still have my 1986 Topps commons stored in a Velveeta box somewhere.

[whitehse]

Originally Posted by thatkidfromjerrymaguire

Haha...not sure if Velveeta secretly used this as a "value add" marketing ploy, but those boxes were PERFECT to store baseball cards in. I think I still have my 1986 Topps commons stored in a Velveeta box somewhere.

Back before the card boom happened (1980 or so) I was a senior in high school buying up collections. I had one person tell me he had nearly complete sets from 1961 to 65 in beautiful condition and he was ready to sell. We have all heard from someone that their cards were "beautiful condition" but when I got there I Saw they indeed were just as described. These were his childhood sets that he took great pride in and had them all perfectly lined up in several Velveeta cheese boxes. These boxes kept his card in incredible condition.

[Nunzio11]

Summertime as 12 year olds in the mid 80s, a group of us would have regular poker games at one of our houses. We’d play dealer choice where the dealer would pick the game and the size of the pot. The pot wasn’t money, it was baseball cards. Dealer would call out a dollar amount and each guy would have to dig into his binder and ante up his agreed upon cards. Mattingly, Ripken, Gwynn, Boggs, Brett, murray etc would be passed from person to person all summer long depending on how you did that particular night. It was great until you lost a big hand and got cleaned out right before mom came to pick you up.

[iwantitiwinit]

1967, I was 6 years old, my Dad would buy me one pack of Topps baseball cards every week after Sunday mass from Sal's stationary store in Stamford, CT. I loved (and still love) the big head shots, vibrant colors and the green backs of the 67's. Only way he could get me to mass without me throwing a tantrum was to promise me a pack. My dad is the best.