The Card That Got You Hooked

[jbsports33]

1980 Topps Rickey Henderson, pulled at a flea market from a sealed pack

The guy that sold it to me opened a card shop and I work for him on the weekends - I got paid in packs!

Pre-war was a T201 Double Fold Tris Speaker purchased in Boston, soon after I purchased the Barry Halper Auction books - read and completed it during the plane ride on my Honeymoon

Jimmy

[gonzo]

The first cards I saw were on the boxes of Hostess snacks in the late 70s. Then packs of Topps.

In about 1980, I got one of the Dover reprint books, and I loved the T205s and T202s and Goudeys. I didn’t start collecting vintage for some time after that, but it was those reprints that hooked me on the old stuff.

[smellthegum]

1974 Topps Hank Aaron #1 All-Time Home Run King. Pulled it from a pack in ‘74 about a month after he had set the record. Later, about 1981, I got hooked on vintage when I bought a 1952 Topps Tommy Glaviano at a flea market; the first non-current card I’d ever bought (or even seen for sale).

[pokerplyr80]

Originally Posted by jbsports33

1980 Topps Rickey Henderson, pulled at a flea market from a sealed pack

The guy that sold it to me opened a card shop and I work for him on the weekends - I got paid in packs!

Pre-war was a T201 Double Fold Tris Speaker purchased in Boston, soon after I purchased the Barry Halper Auction books - read and completed it during the plane ride on my Honeymoon

Jimmy

I would have signed up for that job in a heartbeat.

[JeremyW]

My grandpa bought season tickets for the TB Buccs in 77-78. After that I started collecting Tampa Bay football cards. I caught the baseball bug in '83/'84 when Strawberry & Gooden kicked in.

[JollyElm]

1972 Topps Willie Mays, with my dad regaling my brothers and I with stories of his exploits on the New York Giants back in the day. Still, without a doubt, my all time favorite card.

[brianp-beme]

I can't say that a particular card got me into collecting, it was probably more my oldest brother who passed along his collection from the 60's to myself and my other brother that spurred me to collect the current (1970's issues, starting with 1975 Topps). And my mom helped foster this passion by always needing something from the grocery store that was 1/2 mile away, and I was given a quarter to walk there to get it. When she found out that I was spending that money on buying cards, I feel she stepped up her needs for me to make a grocery run .

There is definitely a vintage card that spurred me to immediately (actually within a year) stop collecting contemporary cards and switch to strictly prewar. It is the shown T206 of Mathewson that I picked up, along with 4 other 1910 era HOF'ers, at a card show in the early 80's. The other cards were cool too, but this Matty card in particular just caught my attention and I haven't been able to shake the hobby since.

Brian

[Cmvorce]

That dark cap Matty is my favorite T206. And the first one I ever got.

[Piman58]

In the summer of 1968 I was old enough to push a lawnmower and began mowing some elderly neighbors lawns for $3. The local mom-n-pop gas station was just 1/10 of a mile down the street and I took my 2 gallon can down to get the gas needed and and used what remained up to the next dollar to buy cards. Gas was about 35 cents a gallon.
.
I still have the 68 Mantle, Killebrew, Kaline and other stars, but the Ryan rookie was in a pile that stayed on the living room floor too long and Mom tossed them into the burn barrel in the back yard.

I added more lawns, and cards, through the next 8 years until I went off to college.