Is there any truth to this??

[Archive]

Posted By: Frank Wakefield

Years ago someone tried to tell me that the TCMA cards, those cards from the 70's that were in small sets about the greatest Yankees, the Gas House Gang, or various themes, that TCMA were the initials of 2 baseball card collectors who decided to produce these cards. That these guys would go to shows every weekend, somewhere, and they spent all of their time focused on cards. The wife of one of the two finally had enough. Upon returning from an out of town weekend card show, late one Sunday night, he found his best baseball cards all on the bed. Each card had been neatly cut into two pieces by the wife. They divorced.

Is there any truth to that??? Who were TCMA???

Frank.

[Archive]

Posted By: Robert Lifson

I have not heard anyone mention this, probably because it goes back so many years, but TCMA was originally named for the initials of "Tom Collier" and "Mike Aronstein," two of the great pioneer dealer/collectors of the early days of the hobby. When Tom Collier decided to not continue with the venture, Mike Aronstein kept the "TCMA" trade name and changed the formal name to "The Card and Memorabilia Associates" to keep the same initials. Tom Collier was one of the most important dealers in rare vintage cards in the 1960s and 1970s. In his day, at some time or another, he had everything - just about every rare 19th century card imaginable, practically every early 20th century rarity, pins, display pieces etc. There was no one who had his eye and knowledge for material back in his prime. I learned a lot from Tom Collier, and consider him one of the true "Hall of Famers" of collecting. Some of my fondest memories as a kid are the many times when I used to take a bus to go visit Tom in Maryland (long before I could drive), dragging a huge suitcase full of cards for trading (he lived in the middle of nowhere, in retrospect it's hard to believe my parents let me go). Tom Collier could also tell a story with the best of them. The legend about his wife destroying his card collection has several variations. Mike Aronstein has been very involved in the baseball collectibles field in many ways for decades. In addition to operating TCMA, he also helped run the early "District Center 65" conventions in New York, and was one of the most advanced collectors in the hobby in the 1970s.

Sincerely,

Robert Lifson
www.RobertEdwardAuctions.com

[Archive]

Posted By: leon

I had asked the same question that Frank did, over an eggs and bacon breakfast, to a couple "old timers" at the National a few years ago. I just couldn't remember the details. Your input on our board is greatly appreciated....best regards (btw, we should talk soon)....

[Archive]

Posted By: Richard Masson

So is the wife cutting up the cards story true?

[Archive]

Posted By: Robert Lifson

I never believed it. The version I heard came right from Tom. Tom told me that his wife took his T206 Wagner and flushed it down the toilet. I didn’t believe that either. Tom was a great story teller. Because he had so many incredible cards – really, it was hard to imagine that it was possible for one person, in the days before big auctions and the internet, to come up with so much rare material – he could get away with telling just about any story related to collecting. I think he was just having fun.

[Archive]

Posted By: Jay

Richard--So that's why you're having the cards slabbed. Now they can't be cut up or flushed.

[Archive]

Posted By: Frank Wakefield

Ok... you guys have now convinced me of a legitimate reason to leave a slabbed card in the slab. While encased in plastic, it might not flush down a new low water flow toilet, and the card may well stay dry.

That still isn't a sufficient reason to pay to have the card slabbed, for me, but I may well leave a card or two in plastic, temporarily, if the wife and I get crossways.

Back to the original question, I think the guy that told me about the scissors to the cards may well have gotten the story first hand, from Tom Collier. Are TC and MA still alive? It's always a shame when the truth gets in the way of a good story. Sounds like TC could tell them!

Frank.

[Archive]

Posted By: Gilbert Maines

Thank you, TCMA for producing a card of Diomedes Olivo - the oldest rookie ever!