Length of original card collecting run

[skil55voy]

I started buying packs in 1962 and bought them through 1975. Bought complete sets after that.

[nwfsteve]

1965 to 1971, took a couple years off then started buying complete sets from TSN ads.

[seanofjapan]

I also started collecting as a kid in 1987, but I was living on Ramstein air base in Germany so couldn’t buy packs of cards until I returned to North America in 1989.

Instead, I got into it by getting cards in trades for other things at the playground during recess from kids who had just arrived from stateside and brought their collections with them. In fact, for the first two years of my collecting life I wasn’t even aware that cards were sold in packs, they were just these things that the new kids had magically come into possession of somehow. It was hard to build a collection in that environment, two years of haggling on the playground netted me a random assortment of about 50 cards.

When I came back in 89 I got my first look at a card shop it just blew my mind. You mean you can just buy packs with 15 cards in them at a time? Or even whole sets? Crazy.

I then went through a really hard core collecting phase between 1989 and 1993 during which time my dad and I even started a little shop of our own. Then in 1993 he got transferred and we had to move again and I basically quit collecting at the age of 16 and wouldn’t pick it up again until many years later as an adult.

[angolajones]

1977-1989 Thought I was going to be a flipper and viewed those cards from 1985-1989 as currency. Started at age 4 with my mother and ended as a sophomore in high school. Now, I just buy what I like. Turns out I am a hoarder not a flipper.

[wake2002]

Fairly similar timeline as the OP for me. Picked up a few packs as a 6 year old in 1986, a little heavier in 1987, and then peak years were 1988-1992. Then trailed off in 1993, and pretty much lost interest in 1994 (decided it wasn't cool anymore once I got to high school). Mostly Topps, although, I remember buying a lot of Donruss in 1989 (desperately wanted a Ken Griffey rookie but never pulled one from a pack), and then some Upper Deck in 1990.

The heaviest year in that range for me though was definitely 1990,and definitely Topps. I think I ripped through 20-25 boxes that year, mostly from my Dad who would bring them home from work as a surprise for me. One of my favorite memories from my childhood, I miss him dearly.

After 1994, I stayed away from the hobby for a long time, and on a whim in 2016, got intrigued by T206's and got back into the hobby, solely collecting those. In 2020, my Dad passed away right before COVID broke, and I ended up buying a bunch of 1990 Topps Wax Boxes off of Ebay and opened them with my kids for a few months. Outside of that, haven't really bought any packs since 1994, mostly been focusing on collecting the T206 series.

[darwinbulldog]

Six years. My sister gave me a 1986 Big League Chew Babe Ruth she found between the pages of a library book. My dad took me to a Holiday Inn card show the next month (April '86), and I spent all the money I had (about $4) on a modern Ty Cobb card, a Will Clark, and a pack of '86 Donruss. From there it was my principle hobby until the last time I went to a show at that same Holiday Inn and spent all the money I had (about $30) on the new "Stadium Club Dome" set in 1991. I was pretty much out after that, but I bought one pack of 1992 Fleer Ultra when that came out.

I tried half-heartedly setting up an eBay account in '98 or '99 and unfortunately didn't follow through with that until 2002. Once I was on there I was back into the hobby within a few minutes and into pre-war within a few weeks.

[skelly423]

Roughly 1991 through to 2002. I only stopped when I went to college and couldn't afford to buy more cards. I picked it up sporadically around 2010, and resumed in earnest in 2015.

[FrankWakefield]

I think 1964, I'm certain I bought bunches of packs in 1965, not quite as many in 1966, lots of 1967 packs, enough to get a set together, 69, 70, and on to about 1978, with just 2 or 3 packs a few of those latter years. I think that's right.

Life gets in the way, and it is different stuff depending on our age at the time. Girls, cars, a part time job, college, more packs, six packs, more girls...

I still get a pack or two, but I'm sure there are some gaps over the years. Mark, what a Mom, getting you a set in 1972!