Fun time....Show-n-Tell us of experiences pulling cards from wax-packs in your youth

[tedzan]

I will start this show with two simultaneous experiences in the Spring/Summer of 1949 when I purchased a 1-cent LEAF pack and a 5-cent BOWMAN pack.

The BOWMAN pack had 5 cards in it. I put Reynolds and Vander Meer together in my BB card album since they both pitched 2 no-hitters within one season.
At age 10, I didn't know much about Wagner, but I guess I had enough respect for him since I did not insert his card in my bike's spokes





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TED Z

T206 Reference
.

[Cmvorce]

Ted, I literally cherish every time you post stories or photos of cards you’ve pulled over the years. Still the only person I’ve ever encountered who has pulled a 52 Mantle.

I started a thread a bit ago about the cars that got you hooked. I pulled an 87 Topps McGwire in the first pack of cards my mom ever bought for me. That’s still my most meaningful.

[rjackson44]

I remember going to the local candy store .buying 1971 topps packs lots of them.then the supers,ahh the gum ..goiing to the schoolyard and flipping them. Man how many Clemente's did i have..The candy store is a condo now sad

[RCMcKenzie]

I know I pulled 10 or 11 Eddie Murray rookies. I traded them all to a classmate for a 1962 Mays around 1980. I pulled a Smith rookie or 2 in 1979 and still have them in a 2500 count box. I guess I need to go looking as an Ozzie Smith rookie sold for $222,000 plus tax the other day. I'll think on it some more and check back this weekend.

[vthobby]

Incredible Ted!

My 1st experience was asking my mom for $1.05 for something at "school" and then buying 7 (15c) 1976 Topps Baseball Packs. Got a Rooster Rick Burleson as my first card ever! Instant Sox fan! Sorry Mom for lying about the $1.05!

2abce6eb10d24da88a1336f3d19577ca_front.jpg

[TheBig6]

On the way to school in 1959 I swung by the neighborhood Utotem on my bike and bought a pack of 59 Topps and slid the unopened pack in my shirt pocket to open later. Bill Henry the relief pitcher for the Cubs at the time lived in my neighborhood and his son was on my little league team. I wanted a Bill Henry card but it had been elusive for me. Some time during the school day while I was sitting on the can I opened the pack and wallah there he was.

[Chicosbailbonds]

Originally Posted by rjackson44

I remember going to the local candy store .buying 1971 topps packs lots of them.then the supers,ahh the gum ..goiing to the schoolyard and flipping them. Man how many Clemente's did i have..The candy store is a condo now sad

We never had the Supers here, but I do recall high number rack packs. Some of the header cards were an actual card. It's amazing how many cards from that era were badly cut when watching youtube videos.

[Republicaninmass]

I ended up buying two of the 1947-66 exhibit cello packs from a sealed box in 1993. There was one with Mantle on top!

I ripped both packs and got Mantle, May's, and Musial. I was ecstatic as a 15 year old pulling a mantle rookie (photo)

[JollyElm]

The strangest pack opening I ever experienced was walking away from the drugstore in 1980 and finding every single card in it was Dave Winfield. Literally a pack full of Winfields, with nothing else but a stick of gum. Too bad they weren't Rickey Hendersons. Oh well. I'm sure I've picked up more over the years, but here's some pages from my old album that still houses them...

1980winfields.jpg

[LuckyLarry]

Here are my cards I cut from the back of a cereal box back in 1962 (I came back later and cut off the players photos). Also the only remaining Topps card from my original collection 1967 Vic Roznovsky.

[rats60]

At the four way intersection outside of our subdivision, there was a 7-Eleven on one corner and a Stop-N-Go on another. My brother and I would go down every week to see if they got the new series of Baseball cards in. If they did, we would each buy a box with the money we saved from our allowance. In 1967 we completed the first 6 series, but they never got the 7th series cards in. In 1968 we were both able to put together complete sets from buying packs.

[tedzan]

Hey Guys.....this is becoming a "fun" thread.....keep your stories rolling in.....THANKS


One more story on the 1949 LEAF's......

Our nearby neighbor (2 blocks away) from our street lived Phil Rizzuto, so there were many avid BB fans collecting these cards in the Spring of 1949 in Hillside,
NJ. We purchased these cards from the corner Candy store and also the nearby Pharmacy. So, there were plenty of wax-packs available. But, we had a problem.
The backs on these LEAF's read "collect 168 cards". So we kept spending our pennies and nickels, but not getting anymore than 49 different cards. LEAF played
a "nasty" trick on us kids by skip-numbering the cards.
Anyway, we compared notes (cards), and came to the realization there were only 49 subjects in this series.


Of the twenty HOFers in the entire 98-card set of 1949 LEAF BB, the Indians dominate with these five HOFers......


Spring series

"MVP in 1948" **
.



Summer series cards (short-prints)

....




** Note.... Trivia: What is special and unique regarding Lou Boudreau's MVP award (December 1948) ?



TED Z

T206 Reference
.

[unionman66]

The one that stands out to me was in the late summer of 1978. We lived in a small town in northern Michigan and shortly after I turned 12 that July I rode my Huffy down to the corner store and picked up a wax pack of Topps baseball cards. I sat on the bench outside and opened the pack and there it was...John Wockenfuss! The last Tigers card I needed that year. I hopped back on my bike and sped home. I ran in the house shouting "I got Wockenfuss! I got Wockenfuss!" Then I noticed a stranger sitting with my parents at the kitchen table. That day my parents sold our house and we moved 250 miles away. When I look back I always consider the end of my childhood being that year when we moved. To this day I have bittersweet memories whenever I look at that card of Johnny B.

[RedsFan1941]

great stories ted. they keep getting better and better.

[brianp-beme]

Originally Posted by unionman66

The one that stands out to me was in the late summer of 1978. We lived in a small town in northern Michigan and shortly after I turned 12 that July I rode my Huffy down to the corner store and picked up a wax pack of Topps baseball cards. I sat on the bench outside and opened the pack and there it was...John Wockenfuss! The last Tigers card I needed that year. I hopped back on my bike and sped home. I ran in the house shouting "I got Wockenfuss! I got Wockenfuss!" Then I noticed a stranger sitting with my parents at the kitchen table. That day my parents sold our house and we moved 250 miles away. When I look back I always consider the end of my childhood being that year when we moved. To this day I have bittersweet memories whenever I look at that card of Johnny B.

Touching story...it could almost be a scene from a great movie, it has such the range of emotions to it. Imagine the reaction of the stranger at the table when you came running in shouting "I got Wockenfuss!", and then your reaction upon realizing that a big change in your life was on the horizon. Joyous, awkward, hilarious, and poignant at the same time.

Thanks for sharing! I don't think anyone else could have a better John Wockenfuss baseball card story.

Brian

[cannonballsun]

Originally Posted by tedzan

Hey Guys.....this is becoming a "fun" thread.....keep your stories rolling in.....THANKS


One more story on the 1949 LEAF's......

Our nearby neighbor (2 blocks away) from our street lived Phil Rizzuto, so there were many avid BB fans collecting these cards in the Spring of 1949 in Hillside,
NJ. We purchased these cards from the corner Candy store and also the nearby Pharmacy. So, there were plenty of wax-packs available. But, we had a problem.
The backs on these LEAF's read "collect 168 cards". So we kept spending our pennies and nickels, but not getting anymore than 49 different cards. LEAF played
a "nasty" trick on us kids by skip-numbering the cards.
Anyway, we compared notes (cards), and came to the realization there were only 49 subjects in this series.


Of the twenty HOFers in the entire 98-card set of 1949 LEAF BB, the Indians dominate with these five HOFers......


Spring series

"MVP in 1948" **
.



Summer series cards (short-prints)

....




** Note.... Trivia: What is special and unique regarding Lou Boudreau's MVP award (December 1948) ?



TED Z

T206 Reference
.

Lou Boudreau was a player/manager, if I remember correctly.
I started buying packs when I was 5, in 1960. Some of the first cards I remember were the Topps You'll Die Laughing cards, which were a 1959 issue. I guess the local neighborhood store still had some in 1960. I also was buying the Spook Stories in 1961.
Of course I was also buying baseball and football.
1962 was the year when I really started buying very strongly.

[cannonballsun]

I don't have strong memories of any pack I opened. I do remember often trying to cram about 10 sticks of gum in my mouth at once.
In 1960, the biggest card in my neighborhood was the 1960 Fleer Football Billy Cannon Rookie card. He was a legend to us.That was the card we were all looking to get.

[tedzan]

Originally Posted by cannonballsun

Lou Boudreau was a player/manager, if I remember correctly.

I started buying packs when I was 5, in 1960. Some of the first cards I remember were the Topps You'll Die Laughing cards, which were a 1959 issue. I guess the local neighborhood store still had some in 1960. I also was buying the Spook Stories in 1961.
Of course I was also buying baseball and football.
1962 was the year when I really started buying very strongly.

Wayne......you remembered correctly. You are the Trivia King.

If I remember correctly....Boudreau is the only player/manager ever to be awarded the MVP.


Furthermore, the MVP awards were announced in the first (or 2nd) week of December 1948.
Which tells us that these LEAF BB cards were NEVER, ever issued in 1948. PSA is misleading
the hobby by labeling them a "1948" issue.

Thanks for your response.


TED Z

T206 Reference
.

[tedzan]

OK guys

Here is the Quintessential wax-pack scenario......

A cool day in the Fall of 1952, a day I still remember quite well. My neighbor, Johnny, tells me that our neighborhood pharmacy has the TOPPS Hi# cards available.
By then, I had 270 cards (of the 310 issued). I was not interested in completing the set. I just wanted to have all the Yankees in it, especially Mickey Mantle.
I had a Quarter in my pocket, so we went to the pharmacy and I get 5 packs. The first 4 packs I opened had mostly Hi # commons and semi-stars.
I carefully opening the 5th pack, I slowly shuffled thru the cards, and lo and behold, the card in the middle was Mickey.

All five of these cards are the original cards out of that 5th wax-pack. This wrapper is not the original one.





. . . .
TED Z

T206 Reference
.

[Fred]

About 16 years ago, my son had a handful of 1984T cards on the desk in his room. I asked where he got the cards and he said he found a box in our garage and opened a few packs. Apparently he found a box of 1984T wax baseball cards I had put away and opened a few packs. He said the gum was stale.

[obcbobd]

As a child I would buy packs of cards with my allowance at "The Little Store". I would walk with my friend Joey Mari on Wednesdays with my dime allowance and buy two packs of cards. I always wanted to get an empty box, but was to shy to ask the store manager if I could have one. I remember one day in 1970 when packs were 10 for 10 cents, I opened a pack and there were only six cards. I was not too shy to go back in the store and demand the missing four cards. He gave me a new pack but took the six I had from the original pack.

Go back a few years to 1967, I was five and lived across the very busy street and 100 yards away from the store. I have a distinct memory of walking down to the store with my dad and sister. We each got a pack of cards. Mine were 1967 Red Sox stickers, I think my sister may have got monkey cards. I can remember her dropping her gum onto the sidewalk and crying, my dad picked it up and took it home to wash off and give it to her. I remember this as yesterday and know the "exact" spot this happened. So my first pack consisted of three 67 Topps stickers. Only one survived childhood as I put it on my Mikey Mouse Club toy box. Many years later I completed that set. Attached picture #1 is that card from my first pack, picture #2 is me with a 1970 Reggie Smith and my sisters.

[OldSchoolBaseball]

So in my youth in Central California, one of my earliest memories are of food issue cards like Hostess, Kellogg's, etc.

BUT the first card we chased was the 1981 Granny Goose Dave Revering, who was traded to the Yankees shortly after the release of the set. Card pulled and or destroyed so it became a tough short print.

I pulled one really nice example. BUT after someone offered me a stout $40 for the card, I sold it as that was incredible money at the time for a greasy card. Never had another another until many years later. I collect that card mostly to remember the fun of the chase and capture.

I only need a PSA 2 and a PSA 3 to have a complete run of the card. No 10's exist.

[tedzan]

In the Fall of 1947, we experienced one of the most exciting World Series ever played. My sister and I carefully opened up Homogenized Bond Bread
packages for BB cards of Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams, Stan Musial, Yogi Berra, or the new rookie sensation..... Jackie Robinson.

True rookie cards......







1947 wrapper......






TED Z

T206 Reference
.

[Fred]

Originally Posted by tedzan

In the Fall of 1947, we experienced one of the most exciting World Series ever played. My sister and I carefully opened up Homogenized Bond Bread
packages for BB cards of Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams, Stan Musial, Yogi Berra, or the new rookie sensation..... Jackie Robinson.

True rookie cards......







1947 wrapper......






TED Z

T206 Reference
.

Ted, I was going to try and be funny and ask what the first T206 was you pulled from a pack, but then I thought about it and figured you were probably smart enough not to smoke when you were a child. Ha - I'm pretty sure I'm on your heals so it's hard for me to laugh at my own age. Love the posts!

[campyfan39]

Super cool and how rare that a kid would keep the cards all this time and that his orients didn’t trash them like they did my Dad’s

Originally Posted by tedzan

OK guys

Here is the Quintessential wax-pack scenario......

A cool day in the Fall of 1952, a day I still remember quite well. My neighbor, Johnny, tells me that our neighborhood pharmacy has the TOPPS Hi# cards available.
By then, I had 270 cards (of the 310 issued). I was not interested in completing the set. I just wanted to have all the Yankees in it, especially Mickey Mantle.
I had a Quarter in my pocket, so we went to the pharmacy and I get 5 packs. The first 4 packs I opened had mostly Hi # commons and semi-stars.
I carefully opening the 5th pack, I slowly shuffled thru the cards, and lo and behold, the card in the middle was Mickey.

All five of these cards are the original cards out of that 5th wax-pack. This wrapper is not the original one.





. . . .
TED Z

T206 Reference
.

[tedzan]

Originally Posted by campyfan39

Super cool and how rare that a kid would keep the cards all this time and that his orients didn’t trash them like they did my Dad’s

Hi Chris

The real credit goes to my Aunt.

In 1959, my dear Aunt Anna lived alone. We had a big house, so I convinced my Mom to have Aunty move in with us. My Aunt was a proverbial "pack-rat".
In 1960, I enlisted into the US Air Force. While I was there (4-years), my Mom decided to clear out my room. I was very fortunate, though, my Aunt saved
all my BB cards, Lionel trains, and Stamp collection. Furthermore, she was smart enough to store all of these "goodies" in our home's attic.



TED Z

T206 Reference
.

[Seven]

Originally Posted by tedzan

Hi Chris

The real credit goes to my Aunt.

In 1959, my dear Aunt Anna lived alone. We had a big house, so I convinced my Mom to have Aunty move in with us. My Aunt was a proverbial "pack-rat".
In 1960, I enlisted into the US Air Force. While I was there (4-years), my Mom decided to clear out my room. I was very fortunate, though, my Aunt saved
all my BB cards, Lionel trains, and Stamp collection. Furthermore, she was smart enough to store all of these "goodies" in our home's attic.



TED Z

T206 Reference
.

Ted,

I've said it before, I'll say it again, these stories you tell are a real treat. Hearing about the Hobby back then and seeing these cards is incredible. Everyone on the whole has been sharing fantastic stories.

I was given a bunch of 90 topps packs when I was a kid. My first foray into cards really. I pulled the Rookie of my Favorite player, Bernie Williams. I still have the card, I'll update with a scan of it when I get home. Not even close to the most valuable card in my collection, but a priceless memory for me!

- James

[tedzan]

Originally Posted by Seven

Ted,

I've said it before, I'll say it again, these stories you tell are a real treat. Hearing about the Hobby back then and seeing these cards is incredible. Everyone on the whole has been sharing fantastic stories.

I was given a bunch of 90 topps packs when I was a kid. My first foray into cards really. I pulled the Rookie of my Favorite player, Bernie Williams. I still have the card, I'll update with a scan of it when I get home. Not even close to the most valuable card in my collection, but a priceless memory for me!

- James

Hi James

I appreciate your kind words. And yes, Bernie Williams was a great Centerfielder with the Yankees (16 consecutive years).

The first World Series I saw (as young kid) was the 1947 Yankees vs Dodgers. In my opinion, this 7-game Series was one of the most exciting ever.
The Left Fielder for the Yanks was Johnny Lindell. He was amazing both in the field and at bat (Batted = .500, Hits = 9, RBI = 7 in 6 games).

I cherish his rookie card (1947 BOND BREAD). It was one of the very first Baseball cards in my collection.



TED Z

T206 Reference
.