sports-cards-forever

[Case12]

I live in Illinois. I love this hobby. I still live in Illinois....damn.

[Santo10Fan]

Originally Posted by Case12

I live in Illinois. I love this hobby. I still live in Illinois....damn.

I've never been more proud to be an Illinoisan than I have these past few weeks.

[JunkyJoe]

I have a sorta' relevant story that is somewhat inline with this OP's sentiment. I collected as a kid in the 80's and 90's and like many, I bailed during the junk wax bust. I hadn't even thought about collecting for over a decade, but one day I was at a local shopping mall and a card dealer had some tables set up near the kiosks. Nothing fancy at all. No signage, just some collapsible plastic tables. I believe this was around 2005/2006.

Anyway, the guy had some pretty nice looking ungraded pre-junk cards, mid 70's to early 80's, mostly baseball. At the time, I still didn't know much about grading, and I certainly had no idea what could be found on ebay by then. I came across a few that looked real nice, and ended up buying a Topps Wade Boggs rookie, a Topps Don Mattingly rookie, and a 2nd year Topps Rickey Henderson card. He had each card priced at $15 to $25, and I had no idea what the current values were at the time. All I could remember was that some of those cards had been $50 / $80 / $100+ cards during my childhood collecting years. I think I "bargained" with the guy a little, and got him down to around $50 for all three cards. To my untrained eye, they appeared Mint or very close to Mint.

Fast forward about 4 or 5 years after that, when I had started getting into buying a few cards on Ebay and had educated myself a bit more on grading. I went back to my old box of cards and re-inspected those "great finds" from that one day at the mall. Turned out, they were actually closer to NM condition due to centering and minor corner wear. A couple of the borders on the Mattingly card looked a bit too thin as well. So to my dismay, I had actually paid top dollar for some NM cards, and one that was very likely trimmed. Then my photographic memory recalled the smug double-chin grin on that dealer's face when I was buying those cards, wondering why he was so happy when I was the one scoring such a bargain. HA!

Such are the lessons of trial and error in a hobby full of lowlife clowns. Live and learn.

[Phil68]

Originally Posted by JunkyJoe

I have a sorta' relevant story that is somewhat inline with this OP's sentiment. I collected as a kid in the 80's and 90's and like many, I bailed during the junk wax bust. I hadn't even thought about collecting for over a decade, but one day I was at a local shopping mall and a card dealer had some tables set up near the kiosks. Nothing fancy at all. No signage, just some collapsible plastic tables. I believe this was around 2005/2006.

Anyway, the guy had some pretty nice looking ungraded pre-junk cards, mid 70's to early 80's, mostly baseball. At the time, I still didn't know much about grading, and I certainly had no idea what could be found on ebay by then. I came across a few that looked real nice, and ended up buying a Topps Wade Boggs rookie, a Topps Don Mattingly rookie, and a 2nd year Topps Rickey Henderson card. He had each card priced at $15 to $25, and I had no idea what the current values were at the time. All I could remember was that some of those cards had been $50 / $80 / $100+ cards during my childhood collecting years. I think I "bargained" with the guy a little, and got him down to around $50 for all three cards. To my untrained eye, they appeared Mint or very close to Mint.

Fast forward about 4 or 5 years after that, when I had started getting into buying a few cards on Ebay and had educated myself a bit more on grading. I went back to my old box of cards and re-inspected those "great finds" from that one day at the mall. Turned out, they were actually closer to NM condition due to centering and minor corner wear. A couple of the borders on the Mattingly card looked a bit too thin as well. So to my dismay, I had actually paid top dollar for some NM cards, and one that was very likely trimmed. Then my photographic memory recalled the smug double-chin grin on that dealer's face when I was buying those cards, wondering why he was so happy when I was the one scoring such a bargain. HA!

Such are the lessons of trial and error in a hobby full of lowlife clowns. Live and learn.

Very well written and right on point. He's a guy that, to this day, likely has never seen a woman's breast--without a credit card.

[Throttlesteer]

Originally Posted by Phil68

Very well written and right on point. He's a guy that, to this day, likely has never seen a woman's breast--without a credit card.

Now that's funny. There are turds in all walks of life. It just takes something that allows some to take advantage of others to expose their turdom. With any hobby, there will always be those that take themselves too serious too. Vintage sports cards are no different than anything else.

[Republicaninmass]

I've met some of the worst people in this hobby, but also some of the Best. Probably can be said of any small circles of people.

I have found that many times, the nicer or tougher your collection, the more "haters" that seem to pop out of the woodwork.

[Phil68]

Originally Posted by Republicaninmass

I've met some of the worst people in this hobby, but also some of the Best. Probably can be said of any small circles of people.

I have found that many times, the nicer or tougher your collection, the more "haters" that seem to pop out of the woodwork.

I like this. I think I agree. Great approach and perspective.

[Phil68]

Originally Posted by Throttlesteer

Now that's funny. There are turds in all walks of life. It just takes something that allows some to take advantage of others to expose their turdom. With any hobby, there will always be those that take themselves too serious too. Vintage sports cards are no different than anything else.

LOL!!!
TURDOM!!!!

Leon, THAT'S why I want to be here!!!

[Tyruscobb]

Sounds like you need a hobby...oh, wait...

[ALBB]

interesting rant..but I just cant seem to get into it

lack of substance ( or too much substance..the other kind... LOL )
…..
.but amused. Never the less

[Phil68]

I'll say this...
My fragile male ego posts photos of cards I've found, bought and even MADE. Nobody says a word.
Like a 500-card homemade set that has taken 4 years and cost 6k to make...a few guys are cool and throw the token "very nice" out there occasionally (which literally makes my day) but 99.9% ignore it or say something incorrigible like "Broders....blah blah"...
But if I say a seller is a turd...all hell breaks loose, Lol.
Again, it's just the recipe. Collectors want to show their collections....artists want to show their creations. Exceptions in this regard are soooo rare.
In the end, we all like a little dirt kicked up so we can grab our pitchforks and have at it.
To re-cap...
great card/photo = nothing
Turd = excitement, opinions, discussion

[JunkyJoe]

Originally Posted by Phil68

Very well written and right on point. He's a guy that, to this day, likely has never seen a woman's breast--without a credit card.

I think you may have hit a nerve there