The New Guy...

[DeanH3]

Welcome Todd,

You will find this is a great place to learn and interact with a lot of good people that will help whenever needed. I lurk more than I should but I feel that there are dozens of people that I would trust 100% eventhough I have not had any contact with them. You will learn who they are if you frequent the board enough.

Also don't worry about your lack of budget. I'm exhibit A for having eyes bigger than my wallet. I bought one card last year, a T206 Young Port PSA 4, but believe me, I wanted more. Hopefully 2010 will have more purchases in store for me. We all have different backgrounds and we all collect at our own pace.

Good luck on your journey and there literally is a wealth of knowledge here.

[Leon]

Welcome Todd,
I think one of the keys to enjoying the hobby is to just do the best you can with the means you have. Whether it's 1 $20 T206 a month, or even less, you can be proud of whatever you manage to put together. I sort of did what most people advise against, I put some of my savings (some= a lot) into cards.....which is not necessarily the smartest move but it has been fun. I have won many and lost almost as many . Once you learn what you are doing you might even take $100 and try to buy a few good buys to turn them into a little bit more...or maybe buy and sell enough to make a card for your collection. Be patient, make friends, read this and other boards and you will get to know more about the hobby. It's a lot of fun if you don't stress over it. Being on a limited budget means you will mostly be buying cards in collector grade condition...(maybe 1-3). Collect what you enjoy and don't be a stranger. There are a ton of people on this board that enjoy helping other collectors, myself included. To start off you did do the right thing in buying cards that were graded by one of the top three grading companies. That isn't foolproof but it is better than buying raw when you are brand new to collecting. Nice cards too, btw. take care and happy collecting!!

[Iwantmorecards77]

Thanks again, gang! I certainly will pick up, in time, some other examples from different sets other than T206. The sickness is rising! But I just have that soft spot for the T206's.

It started when I was younger. I knew about the greats of the game and read up on them. I even saved up some money as a kid and purchased the "Monster" reprint set from a magazine. I've dug the set up and still go through it, picking out cards I'd like to have one day (other than the obvious Hall of Famers). That Pattee horizontal card is one of the nicest I've ever seen.

I've always been into baseball's past and perhaps it is in the genes! There is a little bit of baseball in my family history, as my Grandfather was a photographer and spent a lot of time with the NY Giants in the 40's and early 50's. One of his photographs (at least the negatives) is still in the family and marks one of the most dramatic moments in NY baseball history.

Believe it or not, baseball is my "second" sport, as I live, breathe, play (and am employed in) the great game of hockey!

Again, I appreciate everyone's input and will certainly use this site as a great source of information.

To the member "Willow Grove," is that in reference to Willow Grove, PA? Going through some old family photos (not taken by my grandfather I mentioned previously), I came across a handful of photos of a series of baseball games played in 1907. Some of the photos were at Willow Grove. The players appear to be from a club team, "town" team or something similar. The uniforms look like Pittsburgh or Philadelphia, but they're not. I just found it interesting, and ironic, that the name "Willow Grove" appeared in this thread after I found these old photos.

Todd

[carrigansghost]

Please feel free to post those photos as that starts our collective detective juices flowing.

Rawn

[Iwantmorecards77]

Over the next few days, I will try to post those pictures. I've glanced at the FAQ section to find out how to post pictures.

The pictures are pasted in an album with other family photos (including a picture of Sweden's Prince Wilhelm's visit to Jamestown!) Again, I'm sure this is nothing more than a travel "adult rec. league" team. There is some writing underneath some of the photos and from that, some of the players appear to be: J. Cantley, H. J.Brown, P.L.P., Wadlow, Price, among others.

If anything, it is interesting to see the spectators lined up on the "sidelines." The umpire has quite the attire, and the ice cream truck on the side is a nice touch!

I will try to get them up as soon as I can.

Is it normal to think how many of my ancestors (or the players in the pictures) used tobacco and how many of them came across T206's (or others) and what they did with them? lol I could only imagine!

Todd

[Iwantmorecards77]

As requested, I am attempting to post some of those photos. I tried scanning some, but they didn't come out too great, as it was hard to get the album in the scanner. I didn't want to tear pages out of the album either. I apologize, as some of the photos appear blurry.

I've never done this before, so I hope the pictures work. There are a couple of non-baseball pictures in there (sorry!) There are 14 photos in all, but I didn't post all of them because the scans weren't coming out to good.

Enjoy!

Todd

[FUBAR]

Todd, i am in the same boat as you, not alot of funds right now.. currently unemployed. I want to get back into real collecting soon.

I recently found out alot of my collection was stolen by an ex with a drug problem. I didnt even know she did drugs, thats how good her cover was. I only had a few t206 and t205's, but it hurts none the less. Any card i had from before 1986, with a value more then 20$ disappeared. I didnt notice for over a year. They were tucked away in a box as far as i knew. The only thing she didnt steal was my Peyton Manning collection as she knew that i looked at those monthly! I no longer have a single Gretzky, Lemieux, Roy, Howe, Orr, Dryden etc.... oo the names i have called her,, mostly it starts with C and rhymes with hunt!

I found this website when i was checking to see about fake cards to see if my Clemens was real. It looks awfully fuzzy. Then i found the story about the guy in California whochanges the psa cards and inserts fake ones into the slabs. Apparently he was doing this back in 2006. looked around Craigslist and he is still doing it even today. Crazy someone has given this guy a big momma beat down or he hasnt been arrested for fraud.

After browsing the website, i was hooked. I felt like a kid again looking at all the treasures on here and dreaming! Sure wish that Joe Jackson story happened to me. However, as thrifty as i am, i would have asked for a better price then the 20$... lol

anyways, My name is Jim and i hail from Vancouver, grew up in Edmonton most of my life and watched my beloved Oilers and the Great One win 3 Stanley cups live in person!

Peace !