Fun time....Show-n-Tell us of experiences pulling cards from wax-packs in your youth

[tedzan]

Hey Guys.....this is becoming a "fun" thread.....keep your stories rolling in.....THANKS


One more story on the 1949 LEAF's......

Our nearby neighbor (2 blocks away) from our street lived Phil Rizzuto, so there were many avid BB fans collecting these cards in the Spring of 1949 in Hillside,
NJ. We purchased these cards from the corner Candy store and also the nearby Pharmacy. So, there were plenty of wax-packs available. But, we had a problem.
The backs on these LEAF's read "collect 168 cards". So we kept spending our pennies and nickels, but not getting anymore than 49 different cards. LEAF played
a "nasty" trick on us kids by skip-numbering the cards.
Anyway, we compared notes (cards), and came to the realization there were only 49 subjects in this series.


Of the twenty HOFers in the entire 98-card set of 1949 LEAF BB, the Indians dominate with these five HOFers......


Spring series

"MVP in 1948" **
.



Summer series cards (short-prints)

....




** Note.... Trivia: What is special and unique regarding Lou Boudreau's MVP award (December 1948) ?



TED Z

T206 Reference
.

[unionman66]

The one that stands out to me was in the late summer of 1978. We lived in a small town in northern Michigan and shortly after I turned 12 that July I rode my Huffy down to the corner store and picked up a wax pack of Topps baseball cards. I sat on the bench outside and opened the pack and there it was...John Wockenfuss! The last Tigers card I needed that year. I hopped back on my bike and sped home. I ran in the house shouting "I got Wockenfuss! I got Wockenfuss!" Then I noticed a stranger sitting with my parents at the kitchen table. That day my parents sold our house and we moved 250 miles away. When I look back I always consider the end of my childhood being that year when we moved. To this day I have bittersweet memories whenever I look at that card of Johnny B.

[RedsFan1941]

great stories ted. they keep getting better and better.

[brianp-beme]

Originally Posted by unionman66

The one that stands out to me was in the late summer of 1978. We lived in a small town in northern Michigan and shortly after I turned 12 that July I rode my Huffy down to the corner store and picked up a wax pack of Topps baseball cards. I sat on the bench outside and opened the pack and there it was...John Wockenfuss! The last Tigers card I needed that year. I hopped back on my bike and sped home. I ran in the house shouting "I got Wockenfuss! I got Wockenfuss!" Then I noticed a stranger sitting with my parents at the kitchen table. That day my parents sold our house and we moved 250 miles away. When I look back I always consider the end of my childhood being that year when we moved. To this day I have bittersweet memories whenever I look at that card of Johnny B.

Touching story...it could almost be a scene from a great movie, it has such the range of emotions to it. Imagine the reaction of the stranger at the table when you came running in shouting "I got Wockenfuss!", and then your reaction upon realizing that a big change in your life was on the horizon. Joyous, awkward, hilarious, and poignant at the same time.

Thanks for sharing! I don't think anyone else could have a better John Wockenfuss baseball card story.

Brian

[rats60]

My first memories of baseball cards were opening packs of 1965 Topps. I remember getting these iron on transfers with the cards. My mom took a t-shirt and covered it front and back with them.

[cannonballsun]

Originally Posted by tedzan

Hey Guys.....this is becoming a "fun" thread.....keep your stories rolling in.....THANKS


One more story on the 1949 LEAF's......

Our nearby neighbor (2 blocks away) from our street lived Phil Rizzuto, so there were many avid BB fans collecting these cards in the Spring of 1949 in Hillside,
NJ. We purchased these cards from the corner Candy store and also the nearby Pharmacy. So, there were plenty of wax-packs available. But, we had a problem.
The backs on these LEAF's read "collect 168 cards". So we kept spending our pennies and nickels, but not getting anymore than 49 different cards. LEAF played
a "nasty" trick on us kids by skip-numbering the cards.
Anyway, we compared notes (cards), and came to the realization there were only 49 subjects in this series.


Of the twenty HOFers in the entire 98-card set of 1949 LEAF BB, the Indians dominate with these five HOFers......


Spring series

"MVP in 1948" **
.



Summer series cards (short-prints)

....




** Note.... Trivia: What is special and unique regarding Lou Boudreau's MVP award (December 1948) ?



TED Z

T206 Reference
.

Lou Boudreau was a player/manager, if I remember correctly.
I started buying packs when I was 5, in 1960. Some of the first cards I remember were the Topps You'll Die Laughing cards, which were a 1959 issue. I guess the local neighborhood store still had some in 1960. I also was buying the Spook Stories in 1961.
Of course I was also buying baseball and football.
1962 was the year when I really started buying very strongly.

[cannonballsun]

I don't have strong memories of any pack I opened. I do remember often trying to cram about 10 sticks of gum in my mouth at once.
In 1960, the biggest card in my neighborhood was the 1960 Fleer Football Billy Cannon Rookie card. He was a legend to us.That was the card we were all looking to get.

[RCMcKenzie]

Added some photos. Some gems here.

[tedzan]

Originally Posted by cannonballsun

Lou Boudreau was a player/manager, if I remember correctly.

I started buying packs when I was 5, in 1960. Some of the first cards I remember were the Topps You'll Die Laughing cards, which were a 1959 issue. I guess the local neighborhood store still had some in 1960. I also was buying the Spook Stories in 1961.
Of course I was also buying baseball and football.
1962 was the year when I really started buying very strongly.

Wayne......you remembered correctly. You are the Trivia King.

If I remember correctly....Boudreau is the only player/manager ever to be awarded the MVP.


Furthermore, the MVP awards were announced in the first (or 2nd) week of December 1948.
Which tells us that these LEAF BB cards were NEVER, ever issued in 1948. PSA is misleading
the hobby by labeling them a "1948" issue.

Thanks for your response.


TED Z

T206 Reference
.

[Ricky]

Not just PSA. Many collecting guides over the years have labeled the as 1948-49 as well.

[rats60]

Originally Posted by tedzan

Wayne......you remembered correctly. You are the Trivia King.

If I remember correctly....Boudreau is the only player/manager ever to be awarded the MVP.


Furthermore, the MVP awards were announced in the first (or 2nd) week of December 1948.
Which tells us that these LEAF BB cards were NEVER, ever issued in 1948. PSA is misleading
the hobby by labeling them a "1948" issue.

Thanks for your response.


TED Z

T206 Reference
.

Mickey Cochrane was the Tigers Player Manager in 1934 when he won MVP.

[Yoda]

It was the of late summer 1952 and our neighborhood gang, heavy into cards of course, knew the last series of those incredible new Topps cards were being distributed in our area and might even even now be sitting in our main outlet, the local drug store. Gathering our meagre resources, with some even pleading for an advance on their allowances, we rushed the store and, lo and behold, there were the shiny packs all lined up, as if waiting for kids like us. I had brought 25 cents, exactly half my weekly allowance, and quickly bought 5 packs. We all then gathered under a giant oak tree, opened our packs and started trading. Three of my packs had nothing notable, but the 4th had a Pee Wee and the last a beautiful, thank you Lord, Jackie. Since I was a Dodger's fan, I was thrilled and ran all the way home to show my Dad.
Funny, sometimes I can't remember my telephone number, but I recall that day with total clarity

[cannonballsun]

Originally Posted by rats60

Mickey Cochrane was the Tigers Player Manager in 1934 when he won MVP.

I didn't notice in Ted's post, the back of the Lou Boudreau card had the answer to Ted's trivia question. It said Lou Boudreau was the only Player manager to be MVP. So Leaf had it wrong, too.
So there were two MVP player/managers. Very interesting.

[cannonballsun]

I mentioned earlier in this thread that I had no memories of who was in the first pack I bought. I convinced myself to stop collecting in 1970. I was too old to keep doing it, or so I thought.
Then in 1973 I was in a drugstore and I saw they were selling rack packs. I had never seen a rack pack before, so I bought a few packs. I got two 1973 Topps Pete Roses and one Roberto Clemente.
Those were the last packs I bought until I returned to the hobby in 1988.

[chriskim]

I opened an unopened Piedmont pack and pulled a t206 around 20 yrs ago... i know i know... no one would believe me and I didn't expect to pull t206 from it neither. There were no cellphone or easy access of video recorder back then so I didn't tape it. Anyways... i have been quietly buying that specific piedmont packs and hope to open them all one night when I got really drunk.

[Pat R]

Originally Posted by tedzan

Wayne......you remembered correctly. You are the Trivia King.

If I remember correctly....Boudreau is the only player/manager ever to be awarded the MVP.


Furthermore, the MVP awards were announced in the first (or 2nd) week of December 1948.
Which tells us that these LEAF BB cards were NEVER, ever issued in 1948. PSA is misleading
the hobby by labeling them a "1948" issue.

Thanks for your response.


TED Z

T206 Reference
.

Boudreau's MVP announcement was the last week of November.