Reminiscing about the "Good-Ole-Days" in this Hobby

[tedzan]

I returned back to this hobby in the late 1970's. The TRADER SPEAKS was one my 1st introductions to the tremendous
growth this hobby had become since my youth.





Several years later, I was fortunate to pick-up the GOODWIN CHAMPIONS (N162) set of 50 cards. It's my favorite set of Sportscards. It's Lithography at its best.
Followed by the GOODWIN CHAMPIONS Album (A36).


.



Hey guys,

Let's reminisce about your fortunate experiences in this hobby that make it all worthwhile.


TED Z

T206 Reference
.

[FrankWakefield]

When I think about collecting cards as a kid, then the break most of us go through sometime around high school, college, early 20's... and then returning later, as many of us did... For me it was discovering The Old Judge newsletters. I got a subscription, and then got mailings about Mr. Lipset's auctions. That opened a new world of collecting way beyond what I envisioned.

And that lead to making acquaintances with folks who collected the older stuff, people knowledgeable about the old stuff, collectors like you, Ted.

Thanks to all of you guys who share your knowledge and who help a collector with something their after.

[Seven]

I was unfortunately not alive, to experience the "good-ole-days" of the hobby. However., I love talking to some of the older collectors out there, to see what things were like back in the day. The stories and information that many of them have, are second to none.

I do think there are aspects of the old Hobby that still exist. The sense of community that we find on here, at Net54 is one of them. There were definitely certain stores, that captured the hold Hobby feel. One of them was Baseball Nostalgia, up in Cooperstown, which closed down a couple of years ago.

[jingram058]

My first experience with this hobby was, by far, the best for me...buying 5 cent packs of baseball cards practically non-stop for a few years. Paying a fortune for them decades later is not fun, for me anyhow. I can understand shelling out for something like an old car, but for disposable cardboard? Not my thing. Trading? I'm all for that, I guess. But I can't afford to buy cards anymore, and have no desire to, either. I'm happy with what I have, and I will leave it at that.

[RCMcKenzie]

As a kid I subscribed to Baseball Digest. Here's my copy from Sep. 1980. It's sitting right here in my office. I like how they addressed me as "Mr. R McKenzie" when I was 11 1/2.

Re-reading this magazine today, I was struck by how normal, friendly, and informative the articles were compared to today. i.e. Plaschke, etc.

Not from this issue which has 70-80 cards for sale. but from other issues I bought 33 Goudey from dealer ads.

I added a 1980 Topps JR Richard oversized card. I like how it says on the back, "Topps For the Fun of It."

[Rhotchkiss]

I remember Baseball Card Digest.

But my biggest publication memory is the Beckett Magazine and price guide, from the early-mid 1980s. I remember they would come in the mail and I would pour through the adds, articles, and then look at the guide to see how prices had changed (since last month). They were a must at card shows, and YES, people, including kids, cared very much about the values of cards in the early 1980s and looked at them as valuable assets to buy and sell for profit; this kid knew prices inside and out. I remember the price guides would list prices in columns by condition; back the, we determined condition, not PSA and SGC.

In 1984, it was me, a shoe box of cards in plastic holders and boxes, and the most recent Beckett Price Guide. Not much different from today with the kids and their black cases (which I start using in 2016) and their apps and online price guides/tools.

[Peter_Spaeth]

I followed the trajectory Frank mentions, but my return was pretty mundane. One day on a whim or a compulsion I bought some packs in a CVS, I think they were 1992 Score. The next time I bought some more packs and a price guide which for some reason they carried. From there it was a Beckett magazine with its list of local shows. I went to one, met Peter Lalos, and immediately became interested in vintage and that was that. Three decades later, still at it.

[RCMcKenzie]

Speaking of Beckett, I had this sitting here, so I scanned a few pages. What I remember about Beckett, just a few years before their monthly price guide magazine, was their annual guide. I would find a vg/e Connie Hawkins in a dollar box, go home, look it up, and see 28 cents. Fun times.

Also, look at Kareem.. $2 in MINT and $1.40 in VG/E

[Peter_Spaeth]

Odd that Brian Sipe would be the featured card on the cover?

[RCMcKenzie]

Sipe won the AP MVP in 1980. This guide was copyright 1981. I was an Oilers fan and they played the Browns 2 times a year. He was good. I may comp him in the football section HOF threads.

[bigfanNY]

I am very lucky in that my Dad cought the card collecting bug with me. I was very into cards starting with a few packs in 1968.1969 saw me buying packs almost every week with my 25 cent allowance. I learned that year that cards were issued in series. And in 69 you got the checklist for the next series in packs. I remember how excited I was seeing Mickey Mantles name on a checklist. I made sure to head over to the Westbury deli the week his series was set to come out. Denied!!@ they were sold out. The manager knew me by then and promised to put 4 packs away for me when the next box arrived. Naturally when I went back I had 4 packs of high series 69....and had missed Mantle.
I told my tale of Woe at dinner and my Dad shared my pain. But more importantly my Mom shared my story with her friends at the Library she worked in part time. One very nice lady mentioned that her boys had collected cards and that the box of them had been designated for the trash. She bought them in and my Mom bought them home. About 2500 cards from 63 to 67. Mantles from 64 65 66 67 in small batches. My dad insisted we put them in order and we found we had a full set of 64's close on 65 66 and 67. Two of the older boys friends heard this and dropped off their collections same vintage. And older kid directly across the street bought over a bank bag filled with 64 Topps coins and a few Old Londons. My dad went in his closet and pulled out a couple of cigar boxes. In there was his collection 1 1934 Goudey ( Mickey Chochrane) some 39 and 40 playballs including a Dimaggio, and a complete set of 1941 Playballs. I was in Awe.
My collection kept growing and when I had a big enough pile I would bring them down to the family room and put them in order with my Dad. 1970, 71 72. By this time most of the kids in my neighborhood had given or sold me their collections biggest one was Ricky S up the street. Cost me $8 for all his cards. By that time I cut lawns and delived the Afternoon newspaper in 74 I took on the weekly Atom Tabloid as well.
But it all changed in Jan 1973. My Dad read in NY Times that an antique show was coming to MSG and ot mentioned that some Baseball card Dealers would be there. He asked if I wanted to go. Well of course I did.

To be continued..

[brian1961]

Jonathan Sterling----Thanks for sharing your boyhood collecting story. I was fascinated. Can hardly wait to hear of your exploits at your first card convention! --- Brian Powell

[Rich Klein]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Odd that Brian Sipe would be the featured card on the cover?

There is more than the AFC MVP award to Brian Sipe. I would not be surprised if the official publisher of the early books (Sports Americana) was a man from Cleveland named Bill Dodge and he was a big Cleveland sports fan. I actually sat a couple of times in his old Indians (Now Guardians) season tickets on show trips to Cleveland.

So, it could just be that Mr. Dodge played home team favorite and snuck a Sipe card on the cover.

Regards
Rich

[2dueces]

You mean $1 T206 commons when everyone was hot for Pete Rose and Johnny Bench? Opening 5 and 10 cent packs looking for your favorite team. Then again in the 80’s $10-20 T206 HOFer’s (Cobb was always more) while everyone was clamoring for 86 Donruss Jose Canceco? When most didn’t realize back scarcity ( I didn’t) and just collected T206’s. How about scores and scores of unsold 1986 Fleer Basketball at $15 a box and Namath rookies for under $100.
1990 ish bumper stickers I’ll trade you my house for 1952 Topps set. (Valued at $40k) then.
Many phases of olden days in my collecting years starting in 1966 when at 10 years old I opened my first pack of wax. Monster Laffs.

[Seven]

Originally Posted by 2dueces

You mean $1 T206 commons when everyone was hot for Pete Rose and Johnny Bench? Opening 5 and 10 cent packs looking for your favorite team. Then again in the 80’s $10-20 T206 HOFer’s (Cobb was always more) while everyone was clamoring for 86 Donruss Jose Canceco? When most didn’t realize back scarcity ( I didn’t) and just collected T206’s. How about scores and scores of unsold 1986 Fleer Basketball at $15 a box and Namath rookies for under $100.
1990 ish bumper stickers I’ll trade you my house for 1952 Topps set. (Valued at $40k) then.
Many phases of olden days in my collecting years starting in 1966 when at 10 years old I opened my first pack of wax. Monster Laffs.

What a time to be alive! Is there a word for being nostalgic for a time you didn't get to experience? Because if there is, that totally fits the bill, for what I'm feeling.

[Fred]

the good ole days...

I remember in 1975 a friend of mine was in Sacramento and when he came home he had these miniature 1975 Topps cards. Apparently Sacramento was one of the test markets for that issue. I thought the cards were interesting but I liked the regular sized cards, but I had to have some because they were novel in the area I lived.

Subscribing to a couple of the hobby periodicals was a must if you wanted to see what was going on in the hobby. I had subscriptions to SCD and The Trader Speaks and read the Baseball Digest like it was required school reading material.

People look back and think a buck for T206 cards, but when you're a kid, allowances really weren't going to cover trying to get a lot of T206s, even at a buck a piece. Still, when you look at a T206 at a buck, it wasn't too crazy. I can remember an issue of The Trader Speaks that showed the Wags as a possible $1,000 or $10,000 card.

Trading, buying, selling was done through the mail as was a lot of hobby correspondence.

All good times!

[byrone]

I started my Sports Collectors Digest subscription in early 1980

Receiving the SCD in the mail every two weeks was a thrill I still remember

Pretty sure I memorized each issue before the next one arrived

[StraightRaceCards]

Originally Posted by Seven

What a time to be alive! Is there a word for being nostalgic for a time you didn't get to experience? Because if there is, that totally fits the bill, for what I'm feeling.

Im with you. I hear about these vintage card prices, especially T206 and kick myself for not finding out about vintage as a kid.

Bright side is that at least we are in card collecting now, what a joy it is! (At least for me!)

[MK]

I started buying packs in the early 60s when my Mother would let me have some change at the grocery store. Once I got an allowance, it all went to cards. When I learned about Card Collectors Co and others, it was game on. Years later I have been able to complete all my childhood sets and then some.

[skil55voy]

I started collecting in 1962. I managed to complete the set. I also managed to complete the 1965 Topps baseball and 3 of the Philadelphia football sets. I grew up in Michigan and I knew John Stomen. Besides publishing Sports Collector Digest he used to set up at shows with his son. Great guy. Used to let me sit in his booth and talk cards. I went in the Army in 1978 and ended up in Maryland. I knew Denny Eckes. He had a print shop near Fort Meade. I made him a Baltimore Orioles word search of every player that had played for them up until 1980. He hung it in his shop. He gave me a copy of the original Sport Americana price guide he produced with Dr. Beckett. Denny also set up at shows around the Baltimore area. Terrific guy. The great thing about the hobby is all of the dealers I have met. Even though they are spread out across the country you would still see them at some of the big shows regionally. Kevin Savage, JD Heckathorn and Dr. William Mcavoy. (SP?) I also knew Lloyd Thoerpe and Chuck Brooks who set up the "First" National show in Michigan. Today the people I deal with are great and it's the best thing about the hobby.

[GasHouseGang]

Originally Posted by MK

I started buying packs in the early 60s when my Mother would let me have some change at the grocery store. Once I got an allowance, it all went to cards. When I learned about Card Collectors Co and others, it was game on. Years later I have been able to complete all my childhood sets and then some.

It's always amazing to see the set prices in those old price sheets. The 1952 Topps set for $90, if I'm reading that correctly. When I saw these kind of offers I was always too interested in the current Topps issue or the latest Kellogg's set to spend my money on that "old" stuff.

[jcmtiger]

The 1st issue was 1985. I still look thru these have the complete set. Lots of info at the time.

[rats60]

Originally Posted by MK

I started buying packs in the early 60s when my Mother would let me have some change at the grocery store. Once I got an allowance, it all went to cards. When I learned about Card Collectors Co and others, it was game on. Years later I have been able to complete all my childhood sets and then some.

Those look familiar. I have a similar story. I got a hold of catalogs from Woody Gelman and Bruce Yeko in the lare 60s and when I got my first job a few years later, I ordered from them in trying to complete my childhood collection back to 1958.

In the early 80s when I was working on finishing a Topps run back to 1951, one of my regular dealers showed me these little tobacco cards he just bought, I bought a Matty and Speaker for 20.00 each and I was hooked. Commons 5.00, Hofers 10-20, Cobbs 100-200. A year and a half later I had them all except for the big 3.

[zimp]

I got back into the hobby in 1967....so many great finds back then,,,,
T3 FIND
THE YEAR WAS 1971 AND SOME FRIENDS AND I WERE GOING TO THE ANNUAL GETTYSBURG STREET FLEA MARKET ON A SATURDAY…..WE LEFT AROUND 2:00 IN THE MORNING SO WE WOULD GET THERE ABOUT DAYBREAK….IT HAD BEEN RAINING OUR WHOLE TRIP AND WE WERE WORRIED THAT THE FLEA MARKET WOULD NOT GO ON……WHEN WE ARRIVED WE WERE TOLD THAT THE FORECAST WAS RAIN ALL DAY SO THE FLEA MARKET WAS CANCELED UNTIL THE NEXT DAY….NOW WE HAVE TO KILL A WHOLE DAY IN GETTYSBURG…..WE STARTED HITTING ANTIQUE SHOPS IN THE AREA BUT FOUND NOTHING…..THEN WE STARTED BRANCHING OUT TO THE COUNTRYSIDE…..ABOUT 1:00 IN THE AFTERNOON AFTER RIDING AROUND FOR WHAT SEEMED TO BE 50 TO 75 MILES WE SEE A SIGN THAT SAID ANTIQUES BUT ALL IT WAS, WAS A FARMHOUSE AND A GREENHOUSE…..MY FRIEND GOT OUT OF THE CAR AND WENT UP TO THE GREENHOUSE AND CAME BACK AND SAID THERE WERE OLD BASEBALL PICTURES LINING THE WALLS OF THE GREENHOUSE….I JUMPED OUT OF THE CAR AND SEE WHAT WAS THERE…..IT WAS NOTHING BUT T3’S LINING THE WALLS…..I COULDN’T BELIEVE MY EYES….AT THAT TIME I OWNED ONE T3….JUST MY LUCK THE PLACE WAS CLOSED….WE WENT TO THE FARM HOUSE AND KNOCKED FOR ABOUT TEN MINUTES…..FINALLY AN OLDER GENTLEMAN ANSWERS THE DOOR AND LET US IN TO THE GREENHOUSE……THE GENTLEMAN SAID HE WANTED $5.00 EACH FOR THE PICTURES….NOW I ONLY HAD $300.00 SO I STARTED PICKING CARDS FROM THE WALL….THE FIRST ONE I PICKED WAS TY COBB FROM THERE JUST NAMES I KNEW….I GOT UP TO 25 OF THEM AND THOUGHT I’D BETTER SAVE SOME MONEY FOR THE FLEA MARKET TOMORROW….SO WE LEFT AT LEAST ANOTHER 25 OF THEM ON THE WALLS…..HEADED BACK TO GETTYSBURG FOR A MOTEL AND REST….THE NEXT DAY AT THE FLEA MARKET WHICH LINED THE STREETS OF GETTYSBURG…..SEARCHED HALF OF THE DAY AND ONLY FOUND ONE OLD JUDGE CABINET CARD OF HARRY STOVEY FOR A DOLLAR…..NOW WE ARE GOING TO HEAD BACK TO THE GREENHOUSE TO BUY THE REST OF THE T3’S……WE RODE AROUND FOR HOURS AND NEVER FOUND THE PLACE AGAIN…..WELL AT LEAST I GOT 25 OF THEM…..WISHED THEY HAD GPS’S BACK THEN..

[darwinbulldog]

Originally Posted by RCMcKenzie

As a kid I subscribed to Baseball Digest. Here's my copy from Sep. 1980. It's sitting right here in my office. I like how they addressed me as "Mr. R McKenzie" when I was 11 1/2.

Re-reading this magazine today, I was struck by how normal, friendly, and informative the articles were compared to today. i.e. Plaschke, etc.

Not from this issue which has 70-80 cards for sale. but from other issues I bought 33 Goudey from dealer ads.

I added a 1980 Topps JR Richard oversized card. I like how it says on the back, "Topps For the Fun of It."

Interesting that there's no mention of Willie Wilson in a September 1980 article about there never having been a 700 at-bat season. Wilson surpassed the mark the very next month.

[RCMcKenzie]

Originally Posted by darwinbulldog

Interesting that there's no mention of Willie Wilson in a September 1980 article about there never having been a 700 at-bat season. Wilson surpassed the mark the very next month.

That's an interesting stat. I vaguely remember that happening. Magazines used to go to subscribers earlier than the date on the cover. They mention in the last sentence, which I don't think I included, that Omar Moreno, Mickey Rivers, and Willie Wilson are the most likely to accomplish 700 AB.

[Huck]

Originally Posted by GasHouseGang

When I saw these kind of offers I was always too interested in the current Topps issue or the latest Kellogg's set to spend my money on that "old" stuff.

It is funny, how we get caught up in the new material and the old stuff was just that, the old stuff. With the amount of 91 Fleer cards owned, I could shingle a small house.

[Mark]

Originally Posted by MK

I started buying packs in the early 60s when my Mother would let me have some change at the grocery store. Once I got an allowance, it all went to cards. When I learned about Card Collectors Co and others, it was game on. Years later I have been able to complete all my childhood sets and then some.

Ted and Mike
Thanks for reminding us of the Trader Speaks and of the CCC. And If I may reminisce: I remember getting my first cards before I could read from the backs of Post cereal boxes. Still have them, and you can tell the ones that I cut myself with my safety scissors. I later picked up a few Topps cardsm but it wasn't until I was 9 or 10 that I really went after Topps cards. A few years later, a guy at a local flea market always had a shoebox full of 50's cards. That's where I got the bulk of my 56 set. Thanks to the Sporting News, I started buying from the Card Collectors' Co and from Jack Smalling, the autograph dealer who also sold t206's via a mimeographed list. He charged $1 for a common and $3.50 for a Cobb or a Mathewson. My interest in collecting baseball stuff drifted away for a couple of decades. Now it's back!

It was fun, but I had no idea what I was collecting, which cards existed, what was scarce, etc.

[Exhibitman]

We can never know about the days to come
But we think about them anyway

And stay right here 'cause these are the good old days
These are the good old days

I'm working on multiple columns about the good old days, from what it was like chasing around as a kid looking for cards, to the characters and mentors I met along the way. The latter is something I'd like to hear more about from our members. We so often focus on "I" when it comes to cards, it would be interesting to hear about some of the old-time collectors who helped fuel our collections.

[tedzan]

"ONLY THE BEGINNING, ONLY JUST THE START"......Chicago, 1969

Some really great stories, guys. Let us continue reminiscing about your beginning experiences in this hobby that make it all worthwhile.

March 1981, was really the START for me, driving down to Willow Grove, Pennsylvania to the Philly Show at the GEORGE WASHINGTON MOTOR LODGE.

I could fill up pages with my stories relating to my experiences during the early days at the Philly Shows....but, let's hear your stories.







TED Z

T206 Reference
.

[brianp-beme]

Originally Posted by zimp

I got back into the hobby in 1967....so many great finds back then,,,,
T3 FIND
THE YEAR WAS 1971 AND SOME FRIENDS AND I WERE GOING TO THE ANNUAL GETTYSBURG STREET FLEA MARKET ON A SATURDAY…..WE LEFT AROUND 2:00 IN THE MORNING SO WE WOULD GET THERE ABOUT DAYBREAK….IT HAD BEEN RAINING OUR WHOLE TRIP AND WE WERE WORRIED THAT THE FLEA MARKET WOULD NOT GO ON……WHEN WE ARRIVED WE WERE TOLD THAT THE FORECAST WAS RAIN ALL DAY SO THE FLEA MARKET WAS CANCELED UNTIL THE NEXT DAY….NOW WE HAVE TO KILL A WHOLE DAY IN GETTYSBURG…..WE STARTED HITTING ANTIQUE SHOPS IN THE AREA BUT FOUND NOTHING…..THEN WE STARTED BRANCHING OUT TO THE COUNTRYSIDE…..ABOUT 1:00 IN THE AFTERNOON AFTER RIDING AROUND FOR WHAT SEEMED TO BE 50 TO 75 MILES WE SEE A SIGN THAT SAID ANTIQUES BUT ALL IT WAS, WAS A FARMHOUSE AND A GREENHOUSE…..MY FRIEND GOT OUT OF THE CAR AND WENT UP TO THE GREENHOUSE AND CAME BACK AND SAID THERE WERE OLD BASEBALL PICTURES LINING THE WALLS OF THE GREENHOUSE….I JUMPED OUT OF THE CAR AND SEE WHAT WAS THERE…..IT WAS NOTHING BUT T3’S LINING THE WALLS…..I COULDN’T BELIEVE MY EYES….AT THAT TIME I OWNED ONE T3….JUST MY LUCK THE PLACE WAS CLOSED….WE WENT TO THE FARM HOUSE AND KNOCKED FOR ABOUT TEN MINUTES…..FINALLY AN OLDER GENTLEMAN ANSWERS THE DOOR AND LET US IN TO THE GREENHOUSE……THE GENTLEMAN SAID HE WANTED $5.00 EACH FOR THE PICTURES….NOW I ONLY HAD $300.00 SO I STARTED PICKING CARDS FROM THE WALL….THE FIRST ONE I PICKED WAS TY COBB FROM THERE JUST NAMES I KNEW….I GOT UP TO 25 OF THEM AND THOUGHT I’D BETTER SAVE SOME MONEY FOR THE FLEA MARKET TOMORROW….SO WE LEFT AT LEAST ANOTHER 25 OF THEM ON THE WALLS…..HEADED BACK TO GETTYSBURG FOR A MOTEL AND REST….THE NEXT DAY AT THE FLEA MARKET WHICH LINED THE STREETS OF GETTYSBURG…..SEARCHED HALF OF THE DAY AND ONLY FOUND ONE OLD JUDGE CABINET CARD OF HARRY STOVEY FOR A DOLLAR…..NOW WE ARE GOING TO HEAD BACK TO THE GREENHOUSE TO BUY THE REST OF THE T3’S……WE RODE AROUND FOR HOURS AND NEVER FOUND THE PLACE AGAIN…..WELL AT LEAST I GOT 25 OF THEM…..WISHED THEY HAD GPS’S BACK THEN..

That was a great story and find. It is almost as if it was yanked out of a vintage collector's dream. And like a dream it can't be all fulfilling (of course you can't locate the place when you go back to buy the rest).

Thanks for sharing! And at least you probably rescued most of the real good ones.

Brian

[Seven]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

It would be interesting to hear about some of the old-time collectors who helped fuel our collections.

I'm not sure how well known he is, outside of the Tri-State area, but I had some pretty in depth conversations with George Mollyn, at Cooperstown when I was a kid. Bought some of my favorite cards off of him, we talked for at least an hour about The 1933 and 1934 Goudey sets, along with Mickey Mantle. But I always think fondly of the conversations I had with him.

If he doesn't mind me referring to him as an old-time collector, (though he is certainly young at heart) I can't even count the amount of impactful conversations I've had with Ted, either in person or through email. Truly a gentleman in every sense of the word, and one that I love to talk baseball and the hobby about. I've learned so much about Tobacco cards from him, and the stories about the hobby, he has, are second to none.

[tedzan]

Originally Posted by Seven

I'm not sure how well known he is, outside of the Tri-State area, but I had some pretty in depth conversations with George Mollyn, at Cooperstown when I was a kid. Bought some of my favorite cards off of him, we talked for at least an hour about The 1933 and 1934 Goudey sets, along with Mickey Mantle. But I always think fondly of the conversations I had with him.

If he doesn't mind me referring to him as an old-time collector, (though he is certainly young at heart) I can't even count the amount of impactful conversations I've had with Ted, either in person or through email. Truly a gentleman in every sense of the word, and one that I love to talk baseball and the hobby about. I've learned so much about Tobacco cards from him, and the stories about the hobby, he has, are second to none.

James

I really enjoy our Baseball conversations....and, I do appreciate your kind words.....Thanks.

I've set up at the Cooperstown Show from 1985 to 2015. George Mollyn's set-up at this HOF weekend Show in the VFW Bldg
was adjacent to mine for quite a number of years. George and I did a lot of deals (BB cards and Memorabilia).....a great guy.


TED Z

T206 Reference
.

[Collectorsince62]

I bought my first pack of cards in 1962 at age 7. I remember seeing that beautiful green wrapper in a box next to the cash register at the local five and dime. A day or two later my Mom let me ride my bike to that store (a very big deal at the time), I plunked down my nickel and started a journey that continues today. Some early thoughts on the good old days, which for me were between 1962 and 1980 . . .
Buying packs and opening them with my friends. Great memories. We preferred the Ben Franklin store - you could get six packs for a quarter. Sitting on front porches trading cards - Cardinal cards were gold. Seeing my best friend's Golden Press set his grandmother gave him for his birthday - begging my Mom to drive me across town to the store selling them (she did). Pulling a wagon full of empty soda bottles to the "supermarket" for the two cent deposit, then quickly turning that into packs of cards. Seeing cards for the first time from the older kids in the neighborhood - price guides and the internet were decades away, there was no way to know what older cards even existed much less what they looked like. Sending away to the Card Collectors Company, Gar Miller (bless his heart), Bruce Yeko and Larry Fritsch to get World Series cards, the Baseball Thrills series, All Star and MVP cards, high numbers, the Fleer Ted Williams set and the occasional vintage cards my Dad remembered seeing when he was a kid. Sitting on the grocery store floor while my Mom shopped looking through every box of Jello and Post Cereal hoping to find Cardinals. I once sent a quarter to Topps asking for a Maury Wills or Colts team card - surely they made them. I'll never forget the thrill of opening a pack and seeing the 1965 World Series cards for the first time after the Cardinals beat the Yankees. We all waited anxiously for someone in the neighborhood to announce the new series of cards was here.
Money from umpiring was spent picking up collections from the older kids once they became more interested in cars and girls. I would religiously write to the Cardinals for a free set of player postcards every year. When I got my license I started advertising in local papers. Everything was fun, with zero interest in value or investment. Then things changed. Beckett published the first price guide. Fleer and Donruss broke the monopoly. Rookie cards commanded a premium (Joe Charboneau, really?). Intentional error cards. But I was still hooked. Bought a subscription to SCD -anyone remember when you had to send auction bids through the mail and just sit and wait to find out if you won? Attended the early conventions here in St. Louis - instant auctions as cards just walked in continuously. Buck Barker would walk in and sit at a table with a box containing cards no one had ever seen before. Bill Henderson - "king of the commons" was a savior to all of us set collectors - and he would trade. The hobby was flying, but a lot of the innocence was gone. It was still fun, but not in the same way it was fun as a ten-year-old. As Tom Stanton writes in The Road to Cooperstown "Baseball's appeal isn't complicated or confusing, it's about the beauty of the game, it's about being part of something larger than yourself, about tradition - receiving it and passing it, and it's about holding on to a bit of your childhood." I think of my baseball cards that way and I'm grateful I have good old days I'll always remember fondly.

[brianp-beme]

Wow, extra special writeup Collectorsince62, and I especially like this snippet from your memories of the time:

Originally Posted by Collectorsince62

I once sent a quarter to Topps asking for a Maury Wills or Colts team card - surely they made them.

That just captures the innocence of collecting then.

Brian

[ty_cobb]

Bought a lot of T206s out the Trader Speaks newsletter for like $200 bucks no scans you just get a money order for these sight unseen cards and hope for the best when you reply to the ad. 170 cards arrive with 3 Ty Cobbs , many Polar Bears and Sovereigns, Cobb Batting was a Polar Bear. cards came from Michigan area. The good old days! would be fun to see if the Trader Speaks issue with the ad still exists. 1980 or 81 I would guess

[Johnny T]

Originally Posted by RCMcKenzie

As a kid I subscribed to Baseball Digest. Here's my copy from Sep. 1980. It's sitting right here in my office. I like how they addressed me as "Mr. R McKenzie" when I was 11 1/2.

Re-reading this magazine today, I was struck by how normal, friendly, and informative the articles were compared to today. i.e. Plaschke, etc.

Not from this issue which has 70-80 cards for sale. but from other issues I bought 33 Goudey from dealer ads.

I added a 1980 Topps JR Richard oversized card. I like how it says on the back, "Topps For the Fun of It."

Loved Baseball Digest as a kid!!! Couldn't wait for the next issue to come and I read it cover to cover!!

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

Give me Baseball Cards magazine over anything else, any day of the week. Irreverent, silly and hilarious. SCD was just a phone book full of ads and wasn't available in Canada unless you subscribed, which I never bothered with. BCM was available at my local convenience store.

It seemed that 2-3 times a year, they'd have an absolute doozy of an article in addition to the usual features. I still remember one that was written by a guy who called Ty Cobb on the phone when he was a kid. Cobb invited him to come to his house for a visit. Cobb served him milk and Oreos (!) and they ended up playing catch in the front yard. This had nothing to do with baseball cards, yet the publishers always recognized a great story and gave leeway. It felt like such a loose operation. I loved it.

[steve B]

My path was a bit different, one pack in 69, one in 71, late 73 I moved to a new town and everyone collected cards. And flipped, and traded... So cards it was.
Got into cards and sports at a great time.

Anyne remember the year, maybe 74-5? Hockey cards had bananna flavored gum for a short time.

Somehow my town in western Mass got a few 75 minis.

Moved to another new town more city like, asked a kid in class if he knew anyone with older baseball cards, and was surprised when he said there was an entire store that was mostly older cards.

That became sort of a hangout, and just in time for the big number of cards that came out in 77- 78. So many sets to collect!

First show I went to in early 78 Their table was the first inside the door.
Stopped and started looking and the guys told me to go look at other tables, they didn't have anything I didn't see at their store!
Imagine a dealer shooing someone away because it was better for that collector and the hobby in general.

I have other hobbies, and periods of relative inactivity usually after prices went up, or I couldn't find much at local shops.
But I never really stopped.
(haven't really stopped any of my hobbies, but have been inactive for decades in a few.)

[Yoda]

Originally Posted by BillyCoxDodgers3B

Give me Baseball Cards magazine over anything else, any day of the week. Irreverent, silly and hilarious. SCD was just a phone book full of ads and wasn't available in Canada unless you subscribed, which I never bothered with. BCM was available at my local convenience store.

It seemed that 2-3 times a year, they'd have an absolute doozy of an article in addition to the usual features. I still remember one that was written by a guy who called Ty Cobb on the phone when he was a kid. Cobb invited him to come to his house for a visit. Cobb served him milk and Oreos (!) and they ended up playing catch in the front yard. This had nothing to do with baseball cards, yet the publishers always recognized a great story and gave leeway. It felt like such a loose operation. I loved it.

Who says that Cobb was a mean old SOB.

[jcmtiger]

How about 3 T206 Cobb’s bat on, bat off & green for $265.00 in an SCD auction. 1980’s.

[Tere1071]

I previously recounted my journey through collecting beginning as a second grader in 1969 when I purchased my first packs and a neighbor gave me a stack of 40 or so 1966 Topps Baseball. All I could remember having from my entry into collecting was the 1966 Maris and 1969 Arrigo, everything else became destroyed. My 1970 and 1971 baseball cards didn't fare much better, but I also began collecting the football and basketball versions.

1972 saw an improvement in how I took care of my cards and I received my first older ones. First, an acquaintance gave me a near-set of 1960 Topps Football and two Topps Baseball: a 1960 Harry Anderson and a 1961 John Buzhardt. Wanting more, I placed an ad in a publication called The "Hot Sheet," the early 70s equivalent to Craigslist and Offer Up. I got a response from a collector who was around two years older than me. He had cards from 1960-1965, plus the Larry Frisch catalog, which was the prices he charged. That was the first time that I had used the money to purchase collectible cards. but I really still didn't know what I was doing. I continued to post in The Hot Sheet, and I was able to get series 1 and 2 of 1968 Topps Baseball, (yes, there were Ryans, but they were gone by 1974), plus a collector traded me about 15 1957 Topps Baseball. Here and there I acquired smatterings of 50s Topps Baseball and Football, most weren't in good shape, but they were "old."

1973 would redirect my innocence and introduce me to my future, but I didn't know it at the time. I don't remember how, but I heard about a baseball card show in Garden Grove, CA during that summer. My mother drove me to Walton Middle School; the tables were free, I had less than $1.00 in my pocket, and no one wanted my 200+ extras of 1972 Football, (no high numbers, I didn't know they existed until a few years later.) That show I picked up a 63 Fleer of Cepeda, a 51 Bowman Ned Garver, and a 1952 Topps Willard Marshall. There was no rhyme or reason, I just liked the way the cards looked. Someone had a 1966 Topps autographed Clemente for $3.00, but I didn't have the money. That scenario continues into the present.

For the following two years (1973-1975) I collected mainly from the packs and traded here and there for Topps and Bowmans from 1953-1967. There was nothing particularly "nice," but they continued to be "old" and the condition really didn't matter. The baseball card show had become a distant memory, but once again fate would intervene.

In May of 1975, my mother purchased our first home in a nearby city. After settling, I placed another ad in The Hot Sheet" and got a response. This contact was to change my life as a collector; his name was Wes Schleiger and he would serve as my formal introduction to the hobby. That show in 1973 at Walton Middle School was held by a club that held monthly meetings at that site. After a few months, Wes offered me a job helping at the monthly shows and at conventions. These were still the "good old days" as I was able to be around baseball cards, and on occasion, I had the money to purchase something for the collection. Some of my contemporaries who entered into the hobby about the same time found outstanding items at cheap prices. For me, my experience was more like working at a bank, I could touch the merchandise but I couldn't claim it as mine. Still, it sure beats working fast food.

The final phase of this "age of innocence," was when I was hired to work at what was to become one of the early baseball card shops in Southern California- Sports Nostalgia Shop in La Habra, CA (later it was renamed Sports Fan Attic), owned by Mark Christensen. Beckett had just come into the hobby and 1981 would see Fleer and Donruss begin producing their cards, which began a new era for collecting. The last moment of pure innocence was when I would sort the card into lots, I would always read the backs; that would soon stop as the multitude of cards to sort would grow exponentially. Still, although I couldn't buy most of what came through the shows and the shops where I worked full and part-time through 1995, I was blessed to have this experience.

Phil aka Tere1071

Complete 1953 Bowman Color, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, and 1975 Topps Baseball sets under revision as the budget and wife allows

Under construction:
1970 Topps Baseball - missing over 100 cards, mostly after #450 and the three insert sets

1971 Topps Coins- 120/153

1974 Topps Baseball Washington variations

[orioles70]

Phil,
I enjoyed reading your story of your hobby beginnings...thanks for sharing.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

[Mark]

Back when I was a little younger, I attended my first card show in 1971. It was the 2nd Annual Midwest Sports Collectors Convention. We wore pins with our names, etc. There weren't all that many tables by contemporary standards. They didn't circle the room. But everyone was very friendly, and card trading was common. I don't remember what I bought or got in a trade, I think I picked up some Giants and Pirates Play Ball cards. I remember that I was very glad that I went. I remember meeting Frank Nagy and talking to him about his Wagner t206. He told me that someone had just offered him a station wagon for it, but he turned it down.

[kailes2872]

Originally Posted by zimp

I got back into the hobby in 1967....so many great finds back then,,,,
T3 FIND
THE YEAR WAS 1971 AND SOME FRIENDS AND I WERE GOING TO THE ANNUAL GETTYSBURG STREET FLEA MARKET ON A SATURDAY…..WE LEFT AROUND 2:00 IN THE MORNING SO WE WOULD GET THERE ABOUT DAYBREAK….IT HAD BEEN RAINING OUR WHOLE TRIP AND WE WERE WORRIED THAT THE FLEA MARKET WOULD NOT GO ON……WHEN WE ARRIVED WE WERE TOLD THAT THE FORECAST WAS RAIN ALL DAY SO THE FLEA MARKET WAS CANCELED UNTIL THE NEXT DAY….NOW WE HAVE TO KILL A WHOLE DAY IN GETTYSBURG…..WE STARTED HITTING ANTIQUE SHOPS IN THE AREA BUT FOUND NOTHING…..THEN WE STARTED BRANCHING OUT TO THE COUNTRYSIDE…..ABOUT 1:00 IN THE AFTERNOON AFTER RIDING AROUND FOR WHAT SEEMED TO BE 50 TO 75 MILES WE SEE A SIGN THAT SAID ANTIQUES BUT ALL IT WAS, WAS A FARMHOUSE AND A GREENHOUSE…..MY FRIEND GOT OUT OF THE CAR AND WENT UP TO THE GREENHOUSE AND CAME BACK AND SAID THERE WERE OLD BASEBALL PICTURES LINING THE WALLS OF THE GREENHOUSE….I JUMPED OUT OF THE CAR AND SEE WHAT WAS THERE…..IT WAS NOTHING BUT T3’S LINING THE WALLS…..I COULDN’T BELIEVE MY EYES….AT THAT TIME I OWNED ONE T3….JUST MY LUCK THE PLACE WAS CLOSED….WE WENT TO THE FARM HOUSE AND KNOCKED FOR ABOUT TEN MINUTES…..FINALLY AN OLDER GENTLEMAN ANSWERS THE DOOR AND LET US IN TO THE GREENHOUSE……THE GENTLEMAN SAID HE WANTED $5.00 EACH FOR THE PICTURES….NOW I ONLY HAD $300.00 SO I STARTED PICKING CARDS FROM THE WALL….THE FIRST ONE I PICKED WAS TY COBB FROM THERE JUST NAMES I KNEW….I GOT UP TO 25 OF THEM AND THOUGHT I’D BETTER SAVE SOME MONEY FOR THE FLEA MARKET TOMORROW….SO WE LEFT AT LEAST ANOTHER 25 OF THEM ON THE WALLS…..HEADED BACK TO GETTYSBURG FOR A MOTEL AND REST….THE NEXT DAY AT THE FLEA MARKET WHICH LINED THE STREETS OF GETTYSBURG…..SEARCHED HALF OF THE DAY AND ONLY FOUND ONE OLD JUDGE CABINET CARD OF HARRY STOVEY FOR A DOLLAR…..NOW WE ARE GOING TO HEAD BACK TO THE GREENHOUSE TO BUY THE REST OF THE T3’S……WE RODE AROUND FOR HOURS AND NEVER FOUND THE PLACE AGAIN…..WELL AT LEAST I GOT 25 OF THEM…..WISHED THEY HAD GPS’S BACK THEN..

Bill,
I remember you telling me this story at the National in Cleveland. Wayne was there as well - wonderful times!

Regarding memory lane, I have told the story before, so forgive me for any redundancy... But, my first memory of baseball was game 6 of the '77 world series with Reggie and his 3 home runs. I suddenly saw him everywhere, Reggie bars, wheaties boxes. I don't remember how it happened but I ended up with a couple of '78 packs and got the Reggie with the AS badge and homering off of one knee. It will probably always be my favorite card. I got a couple of packs in '79, but as an 8 year old in 1980, that was where I caught the bug and started buying packs. I had amassed a hundred or so and took them to school to show them off to the 2nd grade class. Our student helper, Melanie Lain came back to look at my cards and told me that she used to collect as well and asked if I wanted to trade. I was immediately suspicious but agreed. A couple of days later, she brought me a shoebox full of cards from '70 to '75 in all sports. I got the Squires Erving, a bunch of Wilt's and Kareem's. I had Aaron and Mays. She gave me Clemente and told me his story. He became an immediate favorite. Every card was awesome - all super stars and Hall of Famers.

After showing them off to friends and giving them some (I particularly remember giving my '71 Mays away), I saw that a card show was coming to town. Everyone who I showed my cards to would tell me how valuable cards were and how I should sell them. As an 8 year old all I did was buy baseball cards, so I am not sure what I was so excited about as I would just buy baseball cards and the ones in my shoebox were my favorites.

I asked mom if she would take us to the show. Melanie went as well. I think that she was a junior or senior in high school, but mom was going to drive. I went in and showed my shoebox to the first tale I saw that had a buying sign on the wall. He picked the best of the best and offered me $8. I really wanted a 1980 complete set and it was $14, so I accepted. I then took my shoebox to the next table. He looked at the remaining 100 or so and offered me $5. I needed 6 for the 1980 complete set that I would buy from him. He told me $5 or nothing at all. So, I took it. I then went and borrowed the $1 for mom to go back to that guy's table and buy the 1980 complete set. I wish that I could tell you that I kept that set sealed and the Henderson graded out as a 10, but alas, I would set players up at positions and play mini-baseball cards in my room. Given that it was 1980, George Brett was my favorite player, so he played every game. He was quite tattered by the end of the season (despite his .390 average). I loved Rod Carew so he was always my first basemen. And, unfortunately because he was on the way to 100 steals that season, Ricky got a lot of work in the outfield. I continued to buy sets starting about 86 (I also had all three makers of 82), but I lost the love and only thought about the transaction. I was bitter for giving up my cards. I'm sure it was a decent deal at the time, but I think they saw me coming. I sold everything I had in college in order to buy a big screen TV.

In 2012, I took my two boys to Cooperstown. There was the Ken Kendrick display of his incredible collection. They also had a room dedicated to every year and make. I would point to the cards and tell the boys the ones that I used to have and my memory kept taking me back to those cards in the shoebox. When I got back home I was on ebay looking up cards and prices. I told my wife about about all of the ones that I used to have. She said "If you want them so badly, just buy them." She meant the cards in the shoebox. I took it as permission to buy all the cards! That was when the race began and I started buying and building sets. It has been glorious and I love looking at them. We are looking at some major outdoor renovation stuff and I have, for the first time, contemplated what the world might be without them, but those last 10 years were so special building the collection, as it allowed me a make good for letting those cards get away in 1980. The craziest thing about that was that Melanie did not try to steer me away from the deal or discourage me to sell. She figured that she gave them to me and it was my choice. Very sweet of her, but I wish she would have knocked some sense into me back then!

[bammerbb]

The post about Baseball Direct brought back some memories for me. I too subscribed, maybe for 2 or 3 years until i got into high school. My dad would even pick one to read if there was a Cardinals article in it.

And then another memory popped up in my mind. There was one store in the little town I live in that had some boxes of Topps baseball to sell. I would clutch my 25 cent allowance in my hand and run in when mom would take to the store. Once she got used to me, if she saw us coming she would take the box off the shelf for me. I believe there was a 1% sales tax in Iowa at the time. So every so often she would let me have 5 packs for my quarter.

This brings up another memory, fast forward 30 years to 1993. At the time, I started a small small baseball card shop, a buddy of mine let me have space for one 6 foot table. At the time my friend was doing the die-cast Ertl race cars. So I figured out my best decision by ordering a couple boxes of a couple brands of racing cards. So when he would come in, he bought some die-cast and then the next time buy some cards from me. One day (a Saturday) he came down to see us, just so happened I told him about doing a small card show in a city about 20 miles from us. So he asked me if he could come along and I said sure, (this gentleman was a really nice and my buddy and I enjoyed his company. Well the next day we got to the show and set up. As the day progressed, we had some down times and we would chat, and he asked how I got started in cards. So I told him about the grocery store and Topps cards.

The next day was Monday, and I worked at my part time job, and it just so happened that I had a delivery to take to her in the senior housing. So I told her I hoped I didn't make her ears burn too bad and told her about the card show and told her about the conversation I had. She looked at me quisickly and then started to laugh real hard. When she stopped,her reply was she hadn't thought about the cards for a long time and asked about how long it was, so I told her about 30 years.

I have other memories which also came back, and it made me smile. Sorry for the long post.

Brian Blankenburg

[trambo]

I think the good old days of the hobby are different to everyone. For some, today will be those days. While I was happy collecting when I was a kid, in college, in my early 30s and now, each era has been enjoyable and arguably the good old days of my collecting life.

[ClementeFanOh]

Great topic...I have fond memories of "helping" my father deliver firewood
as an 8 year-old in 1976. As payment, he'd buy me a rack pack of 1976 Topps
football from the local Lawson's. I vividly recall pulling Jack Lambert and
Lawrence McCutcheon 2nd interesting memory is that my card collecting
"mentor" was a woman, not a man. Her name was Carole McCoy, and she was
in her 60s as my interest in cards was surging in 1981. My father
worked with Carole and knew she collected, so he took me to her home one
day to see her cards. All Cincinnati players! Old Judge and forward in time. I
remember being amazed by her focus and the different "look" to the tobaccos.
That was magic! Trent King

[IndyDave]

Fun reading the posts in this thread. I had a reminder of the good old days this week while I was going through a few boxes of old programs that I have in under bed storage boxes.

I've posted a handful of times that my introduction to the hobby came through Bill MacTaggart of Grove City, Pennsylvania who I met through one of the hobby newsletters that I somehow got out of Baseball Digest or Street & Smith's.

Bill saw an ad I placed in one of those newsletters and invited me to the "convention" he was having at his house - my parents took my brother and I to his house - about an hour from where we lived. Amazing to see guys set up on Bill's front porch and living room with stacks and stacks of cards I had never seen before.

After a few years Bill moved the show to a hall in Grove City and my brother and I took tables to sell off our extras.

The show was held in June each year (no such things as monthly shows in the good old days). Going through the boxes this week I found a brown envelope that was full of things from the Boys State camp that my high school sent me to after my junior year (1976) In the envelope was a letter that my brother wrote to me.

I had forgotten that I didn't go to the show in 1976 because it overlapped with the camp I was at. My brother's letter told me all about the cards he got for me.

A set of 70 Isaly's cards (discs) for $5. He bought himself a set as well

3 1951 Bowman in good shape including Doby and Boudreau

67 1956 Topps baseball for 10 cents each including Mathews, Ashburn, Minoso, Klu, Herb Score, Minoso, Robin Roberts and McDougald. He also said he traded for Feller and Williams for me.

25 1955 Topps baseball at 15 cents each. No list of players

1962 Post cards of Colavito and Kirkland - bought to "even out a purchase" to the whole dollar.

His purchases were Pirates yearbooks and programs and a complete set of 1964 Topps Giants for $1. Yes $1.

We built lots of good friendships at those shows. Bill MacTaggart passed away earlier this year and we kept up correspondence through the years.

I lost touch with most of the rest after I moved to Indiana in 1997. Dale Lingard of Peterborough Ontario. His parents, Joyce and Ray Lingard of Mansfield, Ohio. Glenn Vasbinder of Pittsburgh (there was a Grove City newspaper picture of Glenn and my brother looking at a 7-Up bottle my brother had for sale).

Geri and Jim Borgen of Howland Ohio who also put on a show in Niles Ohio at the McKinley Memorial. Jim had autograph guests at his shows - no surprise to anyone that the first guest I can remember was Bob Feller.

George Sebo of Youngstown Ohio and his mom. George's friend Nick - who I can't remember his last name - who was the greatest fan of Don Mossi's huge ears.

We so looked forward to these shows year after year and seeing our friends. My parents came along for several years after I got my license because they enjoyed talking with our friends.

[ramram]

For me, I go back to my childhood nearly 50 years ago when I was making my first hard attempt to complete my 1975 Topps baseball set. I had gotten frustrated at buying pack after pack trying to get those last friggin 16 cards that I swore Topps must not have even produced in the successful attempt to keep me buying their cards. About the time I was gonna give up, my buddy next door (who was working on his 70’s set) came down to my house carrying a sheet of paper. On this sheet of paper was a magical address where for a modest price, THEY WOULD MAIL YOU THE FRIGGIN CARDS YOU WERE MISSING! What a magical moment. Damn that was the longest three weeks waiting for those cards to finally show up in the mail. About drove my mom nuts sitting by the front window and checking the mailbox multiple times each day. I still have that '75 set to this day. Worth far more to me than any other '75 set in the world!

Rob M

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