Length of original card collecting run

[cornhusker]

Saving up my weekly allowance funded the purchases of 1978 wax boxes at the farmers market in Manheim, PA. Paid $4 a box I think. Put together sets and horded every Reds and Phillies players I could get hold of thru 1985.
Returned to the hobby about 12 years ago with my kids and we are 95% complete with a Topps BB run from 1959-1987.
My daughter traded her stake in the BB cards for some vintage Beatles memorabilia and my son has turned his attention to comics (silver & bronze age as well as pre code horror comics.) It has been very interesting to observe the similarities and differences between the 2 communities.
Not sure if we will finish the BB set run or sell off the commons for some high end favorite HOF's and Pete Rose cards

[Chuck9788]

For me it was 1983-1987 with 1985 being my busiest pack purchasing year. I remember taking MANY bike rides to the local pharmacy to buy packs hoping for a Dwight Gooden rookie.

[bmattioli]

I've been buying packs since 1972 and always looked forward to the day I found them to start the new season. A good memory for me..

[dacubfan]

1952 through 1962. Hot and heavy 1957-62, Packs again 1978-82.

[familytoad]

Interesting topic!

I know when I started. 1971 Football cards. I would have just turned 9 years old.
Then I hit it as hard as my meager allowance would go!
That run lasted (by the volume of cards from my original collection) until 1978.

I had virtually no 1978 Football but a lot of 1978 baseball so I think I determined that cutoff pretty well.

In 1988 I started again, along with the rest of the planet.
I stopped buying packs in 1992 or so.

I got into prewar in 1991 which is still my main gig even though I have almost every Topps set complete too. It was great going backwards to fill those sets (I have baseball and football, Bowman and Topps , mostly finished but some I don’t collect at all… you know, the ugly ones:-))

I have chewed a lot of bad gum, people!

[hoot-owl]

An eleven year span--my $.10 allowance bought at least a couple of packs in 1965. Ended with a complete 1975 set purchase from Renata Galasso.

[MikeGarcia]

... Guys ...read the rules : fifty posts without a scan of a prewar ??? Barbaric!

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I did not get this in 1934 ; an elderly neighbor's father did , though. Sadly they're all gone now but , left an estate of depression era items for people like us. People did throw much away during the Great Depression.

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[steve B]

Trying to remember...

1969
1971
1973- 97? 99?
I don't really know after that, I probably skipped a few years until 2009 but I think I've bought at least a pack or two of something each year since then.

[Tere1071]

I purchased baseball card packs from 1969-1975 and football/basketball packs from 1970-1974. Some interesting occurrences during that span: my corner liquor store sold the 1970 and 1971 Baseball Super packs a year later than their distribution. In 1974 or so for a period of time, we were able to purchase packs of 1970 Topps Baseball 7th series cards from that same liquor store, Paul's Liquor in South Gate, CA. Except for a 1970 Super of Clemente, the others are long gone.

Phil aka Tere1071

Complete sets of 1953 Bowman Color, 1971, 1972, 1974, and 1975 Topps Baseball that are endlessly being upgraded.

1970 and 1973 Topps Baseball sets that are incomplete and on hiatus.