Dealers (or fellow collectors) who lit the fire

[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...