Whatever happened to these long-time dealers?

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

Don't feel so bad, Alan. We've all been there in one form or another, especially as young, poor collectors.

The best/worst story of this sort I ever heard was from a friend who may even be lurking and see this. He's told it to me before, and I believe he's already posted it here many years ago, so it's information that's already been shared. But it's a doozy.

When he was a kid, he used to buy T cards from Wirt Gammon, as so many longtime collectors did in that era. Wirt wrote him, offering a Wagner, saying something to the effect of, "This is something really rare that you should get if you can.". Price tag? $50. My friend couldn't really swing it. $50 was a lot of money to a young guy that long ago.

[Rich Klein]

I had mentioned I found Bruce on FB, checking his friends list (it's easy there are only 17) there was a Scott Oran as well who appears to be slightly more active than Bruce.

So. based on what I saw on Bruce's list, both Orans are still with us

Rich

[Hankphenom]

Originally Posted by BillyCoxDodgers3B

Don't feel so bad, Alan. We've all been there in one form or another, especially as young, poor collectors. The best/worst story of this sort I ever heard was from a friend who may even be lurking and see this. He's told it to me before, and I believe he's already posted it here many years ago, so it's information that's already been shared. But it's a doozy. When he was a kid, he used to buy T cards from Wirt Gammon, as so many longtime collectors did in that era. Wirt wrote him, offering a Wagner, saying something to the effect of, "This is something really rare that you should get if you can.". Price tag? $50. My friend couldn't really swing it. $50 was a lot of money to a young guy that long ago.

Mic drop! About what year would this have been?

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

Originally Posted by Hankphenom

Mic drop! About what year would this have been?

I actually recall the exact year: 1969. For anyone wondering, there's no way of knowing which copy this was, as the offer was made via mail.

Wirt is fondly remembered by customers as sending as many T206s as would fit inside in an old metal, flip top Band-Aid container for customer perusal. All done on the honor system! The buyer then took whatever cards they wanted, put their money and the other cards back in the little box and shipped back to Wirt. What a time! In the case of this particular Wagner, I don't believe that even the trusting Wirt sent it ahead of potential payment! I think it speaks volumes for Wirt that he offered it to a young man as opposed to any older buyers who would be more prone to come up with the $50.

Of interest is that I remember reading that Larry Fritsch bought his first Wagner in the early 1970's for $1200. Quite the price hike in less than 5 years!

[Al C.risafulli]

One of my favorite people that I have met on Net54 was Frank Ward. He was incredibly knowledgeable, and very willing to share his knowledge. He had a great website that always had awesome items in it. He was always very kind to me. Does anyone know what happened to him? I've always been curious.

-Al