How to start a child on card collecting

[Orioles1954]

What got me interested in baseball cards. My family moved to Maryland in 1984 when I was 8 years old. My dad was seeking for something to do just with me. He took me to an Orioles vs. Angels game on a Friday night at Memorial Stadium. I was instantly hooked on the sport of baseball, its history and cards. I think there is a serious lack in this hobby of people who collect cards (for some reason), but who honestly don't give a crap about the sport of baseball. I work in the industry and am surrounded by thousands of vintage cards on a daily basis. All of us have played the game throughout our lives and it has enhanced our card collecting. Play catch with your son, get active with him and the rest will (or will not) follow.

[Jewish-collector]

On another thread (and on other non-vintage BB message boards), collectors say it's a way to get away from work & the kids. Well, how the hell are the kids supposed to get involved in the hobby when many collectors say this type of statement ?

[glenv]

Put together a baseball card puzzle with the kids. Pull out some similar cards so they can see the real thing. Here's one my family just did:

puzzle.jpg

[jeffmohler]

I have some experience in this! My son Joseph (age 12) has developed a real love for the game and for cards. Both of his grandfathers enjoy baseball too, so perhaps he couldn't help avoiding the baseball genes.

My wife and I got him involved in Little League several years ago so that he could enjoy playing on a team. About a year ago my daughter asked me if she could have his room after he was drafted. I was sort of surprised that she knew about the military draft and explained that the armed forces were now volunteer. Well, I quickly learned that Joseph expects to be drafted by a major league team, not Uncle Sam and that she wanted Joseph's room after he leaves for Single A ball!

Joseph loves cards that have stats on the back. In fact, he is the anti-rookie card collector. He wants cards from the end of the player's careers so that he can look at their complete MLB stats. The oldest card that I could interest him in was a 1966 Topps Koufax.

Almost all his cards are loose. I have been careful not to buy anything too nice since he likes to handle his cards. I also try to avoid mentioning how much cards are worth, prospects for increase in value, etc. There is time enough for that later, in my opinion.

Jeff

[rhettyeakley]

Pretty much if one has the collecting gene they are going to be collecting something. Unfortunately, I have it and I chose to collect vintage sports cards. My father was a big collector of early Lionel and American Flyer trains and at one point had a world class train collection. Ultimately, I think he always hoped that Rhys and I would someday come around to collect them with him but trains just never interested us in the least.

I went to the York, PA national train convention with him several times when I was younger but it was just never my hobby (also it was fairly expensive). When we started collecting baseball cards in around 1986-87 my father was okay with it and actually bought me my first prewar cards (a 33 Goudey Pepper Martin & T206 Titus) and even began collecting cards himself a bit--unfortunately it was the late eighties and early nineties so we didn't do so well on the cards we bought.

Long story short, it is impossible to make your kids collect what you do. Instill in them why you enjoy the hobby and they will choose one for themselves if they have that desire, and if you are really lucky they will like the same thing as you do.

-Rhett

[tothrk]

At his young age, he might be more interested in some vintage non sports cards. As someone else stated, they are also informative. When he becomes older and interested in playing sports, he might gravitate towards some vintage sports cards.