Dealers (or fellow collectors) who lit the fire

[glynparson]

There was an older gentleman by the name of Vince who used to set up at the Renninger's Antique market in Adamstown PA. He is the one through his kindness and stories that got me hooked on baseball card collecting. Later a former neighbor by the name of Francis "Beanie" Schlottman got me hooked on the idea of being a baseball card dealer, which despite a short turn in real estate and at SGC is my current profession.

[ChiefBenderForever]

I used to mow as many lawns as possible in the early to mid 1980's and spent it all on wax packs from Ben Franklin and mail orders from a few different people. I think the guys name was Paul Golden or something like that. He used to send out monthly hand written sheets photo copied with what he had, I remember one order I picked up a vg T205 for 1.00, a nice 1966 Lou Brock for 50 cents and a 1964 Duke Snider for 2.00 that was really nice. I also always ordered as many different Harmon Killebrew and Pete Rose as possible and picked up a real nice vg Killebrew RC for 2.00. He was a wonderful seller. The anticipation of waiting for the packages to come in the mail was something else.

[calvindog]

My downfall started with the Sporting News and Renata Galasso's ads in the back.

[Peter_Spaeth]

When I started back collecting in the early 90s I used to love Steve Timmons' SCD ads with all NM/MT and even MT gems.

[slidekellyslide]

My dad got me started on prewar cards when he gave me three Old Judge cards he found in a scrapbook. However there were no card shows or shops around my area that ever had old stuff and when I went to college my baseball collecting days were over....it wasn't until ebay came around in 1997 or 98 that I got back into cards by purchasing T206 cards. I also never saw an SCD until the late 1980s when I was already in college and no longer buying. I still have a bunch of my old Baseball Card Magazines and was looking through a few the other day...there are NO ads at all for prewar baseball cards. However I enjoyed the article on who the hot players to pick up in the 1987 Topps set - anyone remember Mike Aldrete???

[barrysloate]

The first mail order dealer who helped me get started was Kit Young. He always had a lot of material in his SCD ads and he was very hands on. He would take my order and spend a good deal of time answering my questions. I remember buying my first 52 Topps high number from him, and then asked the beginner's question of did he know of anyone who had ever completed a 52 Topps set
There were others I bought from before Kit but he was the first that made me feel like a real collector.

[sando69]

wow wolfie-
i can clearly remember driving over 60 miles, to victor franc's canoga park home in a continuous downpour (must have been the late 70's).
the booty was worth it, tho... about 200 vg to ex+ t205 & t206's, including tougher cards & hof'ers, for under $500!
i'll bet i even still own at least a few of those cards, too.
other names from my early collecting years include:
goodwin goldfaden- adco sports book exchange, los angeles
will & ginnie davis- the baseball card shop, fullerton, ca
tony galovich- fantasy illustrated, garden grove, ca
from tts: robert ball & jeff goldman, as well as kit young, come to mind...