Reminiscing about the "Good-Ole-Days" in this Hobby

Seven · #1 07-09-2023, 11:03 AM

I was unfortunately not alive, to experience the "good-ole-days" of the hobby. However., I love talking to some of the older collectors out there, to see what things were like back in the day. The stories and information that many of them have, are second to none.

I do think there are aspects of the old Hobby that still exist. The sense of community that we find on here, at Net54 is one of them. There were definitely certain stores, that captured the hold Hobby feel. One of them was Baseball Nostalgia, up in Cooperstown, which closed down a couple of years ago.

jingram058 · #2 07-09-2023, 12:49 PM

My first experience with this hobby was, by far, the best for me...buying 5 cent packs of baseball cards practically non-stop for a few years. Paying a fortune for them decades later is not fun, for me anyhow. I can understand shelling out for something like an old car, but for disposable cardboard? Not my thing. Trading? I'm all for that, I guess. But I can't afford to buy cards anymore, and have no desire to, either. I'm happy with what I have, and I will leave it at that.

RCMcKenzie · #3 07-09-2023, 05:14 PM

As a kid I subscribed to Baseball Digest. Here's my copy from Sep. 1980. It's sitting right here in my office. I like how they addressed me as "Mr. R McKenzie" when I was 11 1/2.

Re-reading this magazine today, I was struck by how normal, friendly, and informative the articles were compared to today. i.e. Plaschke, etc.

Not from this issue which has 70-80 cards for sale. but from other issues I bought 33 Goudey from dealer ads.

I added a 1980 Topps JR Richard oversized card. I like how it says on the back, "Topps For the Fun of It."

Rhotchkiss · #4 07-09-2023, 05:55 PM

I remember Baseball Card Digest.

But my biggest publication memory is the Beckett Magazine and price guide, from the early-mid 1980s. I remember they would come in the mail and I would pour through the adds, articles, and then look at the guide to see how prices had changed (since last month). They were a must at card shows, and YES, people, including kids, cared very much about the values of cards in the early 1980s and looked at them as valuable assets to buy and sell for profit; this kid knew prices inside and out. I remember the price guides would list prices in columns by condition; back the, we determined condition, not PSA and SGC.

In 1984, it was me, a shoe box of cards in plastic holders and boxes, and the most recent Beckett Price Guide. Not much different from today with the kids and their black cases (which I start using in 2016) and their apps and online price guides/tools.

Peter_Spaeth · #5 07-09-2023, 06:06 PM

I followed the trajectory Frank mentions, but my return was pretty mundane. One day on a whim or a compulsion I bought some packs in a CVS, I think they were 1992 Score. The next time I bought some more packs and a price guide which for some reason they carried. From there it was a Beckett magazine with its list of local shows. I went to one, met Peter Lalos, and immediately became interested in vintage and that was that. Three decades later, still at it.

RCMcKenzie · #6 07-09-2023, 06:36 PM

Speaking of Beckett, I had this sitting here, so I scanned a few pages. What I remember about Beckett, just a few years before their monthly price guide magazine, was their annual guide. I would find a vg/e Connie Hawkins in a dollar box, go home, look it up, and see 28 cents. Fun times.

Also, look at Kareem.. $2 in MINT and $1.40 in VG/E

Peter_Spaeth · #7 07-09-2023, 06:42 PM

Odd that Brian Sipe would be the featured card on the cover?

bigfanNY · #8 07-09-2023, 07:06 PM

I am very lucky in that my Dad cought the card collecting bug with me. I was very into cards starting with a few packs in 1968.1969 saw me buying packs almost every week with my 25 cent allowance. I learned that year that cards were issued in series. And in 69 you got the checklist for the next series in packs. I remember how excited I was seeing Mickey Mantles name on a checklist. I made sure to head over to the Westbury deli the week his series was set to come out. Denied!!@ they were sold out. The manager knew me by then and promised to put 4 packs away for me when the next box arrived. Naturally when I went back I had 4 packs of high series 69....and had missed Mantle.
I told my tale of Woe at dinner and my Dad shared my pain. But more importantly my Mom shared my story with her friends at the Library she worked in part time. One very nice lady mentioned that her boys had collected cards and that the box of them had been designated for the trash. She bought them in and my Mom bought them home. About 2500 cards from 63 to 67. Mantles from 64 65 66 67 in small batches. My dad insisted we put them in order and we found we had a full set of 64's close on 65 66 and 67. Two of the older boys friends heard this and dropped off their collections same vintage. And older kid directly across the street bought over a bank bag filled with 64 Topps coins and a few Old Londons. My dad went in his closet and pulled out a couple of cigar boxes. In there was his collection 1 1934 Goudey ( Mickey Chochrane) some 39 and 40 playballs including a Dimaggio, and a complete set of 1941 Playballs. I was in Awe.
My collection kept growing and when I had a big enough pile I would bring them down to the family room and put them in order with my Dad. 1970, 71 72. By this time most of the kids in my neighborhood had given or sold me their collections biggest one was Ricky S up the street. Cost me $8 for all his cards. By that time I cut lawns and delived the Afternoon newspaper in 74 I took on the weekly Atom Tabloid as well.
But it all changed in Jan 1973. My Dad read in NY Times that an antique show was coming to MSG and ot mentioned that some Baseball card Dealers would be there. He asked if I wanted to go. Well of course I did.

To be continued..

brian1961 · #9 07-09-2023, 07:58 PM

Jonathan Sterling----Thanks for sharing your boyhood collecting story. I was fascinated. Can hardly wait to hear of your exploits at your first card convention!

--- Brian Powell

darwinbulldog · #10 07-11-2023, 01:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RCMcKenzie

As a kid I subscribed to Baseball Digest. Here's my copy from Sep. 1980. It's sitting right here in my office. I like how they addressed me as "Mr. R McKenzie" when I was 11 1/2.

Re-reading this magazine today, I was struck by how normal, friendly, and informative the articles were compared to today. i.e. Plaschke, etc.

Not from this issue which has 70-80 cards for sale. but from other issues I bought 33 Goudey from dealer ads.

I added a 1980 Topps JR Richard oversized card. I like how it says on the back, "Topps For the Fun of It."

Interesting that there's no mention of Willie Wilson in a September 1980 article about there never having been a 700 at-bat season. Wilson surpassed the mark the very next month.

RCMcKenzie · #11 07-11-2023, 01:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by darwinbulldog

Interesting that there's no mention of Willie Wilson in a September 1980 article about there never having been a 700 at-bat season. Wilson surpassed the mark the very next month.

That's an interesting stat. I vaguely remember that happening. Magazines used to go to subscribers earlier than the date on the cover. They mention in the last sentence, which I don't think I included, that Omar Moreno, Mickey Rivers, and Willie Wilson are the most likely to accomplish 700 AB.

Johnny T · #12 07-14-2023, 07:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RCMcKenzie

As a kid I subscribed to Baseball Digest. Here's my copy from Sep. 1980. It's sitting right here in my office. I like how they addressed me as "Mr. R McKenzie" when I was 11 1/2.

Re-reading this magazine today, I was struck by how normal, friendly, and informative the articles were compared to today. i.e. Plaschke, etc.

Not from this issue which has 70-80 cards for sale. but from other issues I bought 33 Goudey from dealer ads.

I added a 1980 Topps JR Richard oversized card. I like how it says on the back, "Topps For the Fun of It."

Loved Baseball Digest as a kid!!! Couldn't wait for the next issue to come and I read it cover to cover!!

BillyCoxDodgers3B · #13 07-14-2023, 08:24 AM

Give me Baseball Cards magazine over anything else, any day of the week. Irreverent, silly and hilarious. SCD was just a phone book full of ads and wasn't available in Canada unless you subscribed, which I never bothered with. BCM was available at my local convenience store.

It seemed that 2-3 times a year, they'd have an absolute doozy of an article in addition to the usual features. I still remember one that was written by a guy who called Ty Cobb on the phone when he was a kid. Cobb invited him to come to his house for a visit. Cobb served him milk and Oreos (!) and they ended up playing catch in the front yard. This had nothing to do with baseball cards, yet the publishers always recognized a great story and gave leeway. It felt like such a loose operation. I loved it.

steve B · #14 07-14-2023, 09:32 AM

My path was a bit different, one pack in 69, one in 71, late 73 I moved to a new town and everyone collected cards. And flipped, and traded... So cards it was.
Got into cards and sports at a great time.

Anyne remember the year, maybe 74-5? Hockey cards had bananna flavored gum for a short time.

Somehow my town in western Mass got a few 75 minis.

Moved to another new town more city like, asked a kid in class if he knew anyone with older baseball cards, and was surprised when he said there was an entire store that was mostly older cards.

That became sort of a hangout, and just in time for the big number of cards that came out in 77- 78. So many sets to collect!

First show I went to in early 78 Their table was the first inside the door.
Stopped and started looking and the guys told me to go look at other tables, they didn't have anything I didn't see at their store!
Imagine a dealer shooing someone away because it was better for that collector and the hobby in general.

I have other hobbies, and periods of relative inactivity usually after prices went up, or I couldn't find much at local shops.
But I never really stopped.
(haven't really stopped any of my hobbies, but have been inactive for decades in a few.)

Yoda · #15 07-14-2023, 02:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BillyCoxDodgers3B

Give me Baseball Cards magazine over anything else, any day of the week. Irreverent, silly and hilarious. SCD was just a phone book full of ads and wasn't available in Canada unless you subscribed, which I never bothered with. BCM was available at my local convenience store.

It seemed that 2-3 times a year, they'd have an absolute doozy of an article in addition to the usual features. I still remember one that was written by a guy who called Ty Cobb on the phone when he was a kid. Cobb invited him to come to his house for a visit. Cobb served him milk and Oreos (!) and they ended up playing catch in the front yard. This had nothing to do with baseball cards, yet the publishers always recognized a great story and gave leeway. It felt like such a loose operation. I loved it.

Who says that Cobb was a mean old SOB.

jcmtiger · #16 07-14-2023, 03:39 PM

How about 3 T206 Cobb�s bat on, bat off & green for $265.00 in an SCD auction. 1980�s.

bammerbb · #17 07-15-2023, 08:59 PM

The post about Baseball Direct brought back some memories for me. I too subscribed, maybe for 2 or 3 years until i got into high school. My dad would even pick one to read if there was a Cardinals article in it.

And then another memory popped up in my mind. There was one store in the little town I live in that had some boxes of Topps baseball to sell. I would clutch my 25 cent allowance in my hand and run in when mom would take to the store. Once she got used to me, if she saw us coming she would take the box off the shelf for me. I believe there was a 1% sales tax in Iowa at the time. So every so often she would let me have 5 packs for my quarter.

This brings up another memory, fast forward 30 years to 1993. At the time, I started a small small baseball card shop, a buddy of mine let me have space for one 6 foot table. At the time my friend was doing the die-cast Ertl race cars. So I figured out my best decision by ordering a couple boxes of a couple brands of racing cards. So when he would come in, he bought some die-cast and then the next time buy some cards from me. One day (a Saturday) he came down to see us, just so happened I told him about doing a small card show in a city about 20 miles from us. So he asked me if he could come along and I said sure, (this gentleman was a really nice and my buddy and I enjoyed his company. Well the next day we got to the show and set up. As the day progressed, we had some down times and we would chat, and he asked how I got started in cards. So I told him about the grocery store and Topps cards.

The next day was Monday, and I worked at my part time job, and it just so happened that I had a delivery to take to her in the senior housing. So I told her I hoped I didn't make her ears burn too bad and told her about the card show and told her about the conversation I had. She looked at me quisickly and then started to laugh real hard. When she stopped,her reply was she hadn't thought about the cards for a long time and asked about how long it was, so I told her about 30 years.

I have other memories which also came back, and it made me smile. Sorry for the long post.

Brian Blankenburg

trambo · #18 07-15-2023, 09:09 PM

I think the good old days of the hobby are different to everyone. For some, today will be those days. While I was happy collecting when I was a kid, in college, in my early 30s and now, each era has been enjoyable and arguably the good old days of my collecting life.

IndyDave · #19 07-15-2023, 09:47 PM

Fun reading the posts in this thread. I had a reminder of the good old days this week while I was going through a few boxes of old programs that I have in under bed storage boxes.

I've posted a handful of times that my introduction to the hobby came through Bill MacTaggart of Grove City, Pennsylvania who I met through one of the hobby newsletters that I somehow got out of Baseball Digest or Street & Smith's.

Bill saw an ad I placed in one of those newsletters and invited me to the "convention" he was having at his house - my parents took my brother and I to his house - about an hour from where we lived. Amazing to see guys set up on Bill's front porch and living room with stacks and stacks of cards I had never seen before.

After a few years Bill moved the show to a hall in Grove City and my brother and I took tables to sell off our extras.

The show was held in June each year (no such things as monthly shows in the good old days). Going through the boxes this week I found a brown envelope that was full of things from the Boys State camp that my high school sent me to after my junior year (1976) In the envelope was a letter that my brother wrote to me.

I had forgotten that I didn't go to the show in 1976 because it overlapped with the camp I was at. My brother's letter told me all about the cards he got for me.

A set of 70 Isaly's cards (discs) for $5. He bought himself a set as well

3 1951 Bowman in good shape including Doby and Boudreau

67 1956 Topps baseball for 10 cents each including Mathews, Ashburn, Minoso, Klu, Herb Score, Minoso, Robin Roberts and McDougald. He also said he traded for Feller and Williams for me.

25 1955 Topps baseball at 15 cents each. No list of players

1962 Post cards of Colavito and Kirkland - bought to "even out a purchase" to the whole dollar.

His purchases were Pirates yearbooks and programs and a complete set of 1964 Topps Giants for $1. Yes $1.

We built lots of good friendships at those shows. Bill MacTaggart passed away earlier this year and we kept up correspondence through the years.

I lost touch with most of the rest after I moved to Indiana in 1997. Dale Lingard of Peterborough Ontario. His parents, Joyce and Ray Lingard of Mansfield, Ohio. Glenn Vasbinder of Pittsburgh (there was a Grove City newspaper picture of Glenn and my brother looking at a 7-Up bottle my brother had for sale).

Geri and Jim Borgen of Howland Ohio who also put on a show in Niles Ohio at the McKinley Memorial. Jim had autograph guests at his shows - no surprise to anyone that the first guest I can remember was Bob Feller.

George Sebo of Youngstown Ohio and his mom. George's friend Nick - who I can't remember his last name - who was the greatest fan of Don Mossi's huge ears.

We so looked forward to these shows year after year and seeing our friends. My parents came along for several years after I got my license because they enjoyed talking with our friends.

ramram · #20 07-16-2023, 12:45 AM

For me, I go back to my childhood nearly 50 years ago when I was making my first hard attempt to complete my 1975 Topps baseball set. I had gotten frustrated at buying pack after pack trying to get those last friggin 16 cards that I swore Topps must not have even produced in the successful attempt to keep me buying their cards. About the time I was gonna give up, my buddy next door (who was working on his 70�s set) came down to my house carrying a sheet of paper. On this sheet of paper was a magical address where for a modest price, THEY WOULD MAIL YOU THE FRIGGIN CARDS YOU WERE MISSING! What a magical moment. Damn that was the longest three weeks waiting for those cards to finally show up in the mail. About drove my mom nuts sitting by the front window and checking the mailbox multiple times each day. I still have that '75 set to this day. Worth far more to me than any other '75 set in the world!

Rob M

IMG_5641.jpg

ClementeFanOh · #21 07-15-2023, 09:23 PM

Great topic...I have fond memories of "helping" my father deliver firewood
as an 8 year-old in 1976. As payment, he'd buy me a rack pack of 1976 Topps
football from the local Lawson's. I vividly recall pulling Jack Lambert and
Lawrence McCutcheon

2nd interesting memory is that my card collecting
"mentor" was a woman, not a man. Her name was Carole McCoy, and she was
in her 60s as my interest in cards was surging in 1981. My father
worked with Carole and knew she collected, so he took me to her home one
day to see her cards. All Cincinnati players! Old Judge and forward in time. I
remember being amazed by her focus and the different "look" to the tobaccos.
That was magic! Trent King

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