Great Article

mudflap02

Here's a fun read that I'm sure everyone can relate to:

Said Link

It's true. I don't want every Ryan card in existence. I want to track them all down, sort them, get them graded, log them into my computer with price paid, grade, and date, and file them. Then I'm sure I will find something else.

Gotta love the obsessive compulsive nature of the hobby.

MorrellMan

mud - thanks for the link. The baseball subject revolved around 1960 Topps, the first year I collected in earnest. I had been able to round up some 58s and 59s in the year of issue, but on a purely covert basis (don't ask, I'm still in therapy)....The story nailed that summer for me, along with the self-same magical discovery of cello packs. Of course, there were a couple of mistakes in his facts that need be pointed out here, because we're the obsessives:
1. 6 cards to a nickle pack, not 5; and I think it was 12 cards to a cello, not 10.
2. A quote from the article: "It was when he scored the Yastremski that I said to myself, like some bad actor feigning a hypnotic state, "Must...get...complete...collection..." - nobody gave a rats behind about the Yaz rookie in 1960, at least not on the West Coast - it was an ugly card, we had no idea who this guy was and you couldn't pronounce the name - strike three you're out!
3. Obviously, not 50 packs to a box, but he might have done what I did, which was to buy out the rest of the partial box PLUS the unopened box on the shelf underneath.
4. I remember Pico Drugs in West LA; I don't remember the Beverly Hills store, but I found cellos first in a toy store in North Hollywood. That's not a mistake, just my own memory.
5. And as long as I'm on memories, my elusive "Roseboro" was the McCovey card; and since he had been anhilating Dodgers since 1959, all of us knew who he was and not one of us had one. Nobody. Decades later, my brother, who really had no interest in collecting but did quietly buy cards in 1960 so that we would have yet another thing to fight and bicker over, pulled out a nice walnut box with his set neatly crammed in. He had every card, including McCovey, the bastid! Where's my shrink?
6. Clearly, certain grim facts stick with us all - I recall having a ton of Groats, too!

ctsoxfan

mudflap, thanks for that link. Nice article!

paleocards

Mudflap -- great head's-up on that article, a terrific read!

Morrell -- I grew up in West LA in the 70's and vaguely remember Pico Drugs. Was it at the corner of Pico and Overland? Did you ever buy vintage baseball cards at Adco? I think it was the first baseball card shop in LA, I bought beat-up '56 Topps there when I was in high school. I think it was east on Santa Monica down near La Brea or Western. Boy, that brought back some great memories...

Andy

MorrellMan

Sheesh, Andy - now you're dragging deep - I think you might be right about the location of Pico Drug; Adco doesn't ring a bell but Santa Monica and Western sure does - I lived in an old house just east of Western and north of SM in '74/'75 (can't remember which year for sure; I'm damn lucky I can remember anything from that period)....the house was an old turn of the century that supposedly some civic leader lived in back in the teens or '20s. My daughter was a year or two old. We used to walk her down Western in her stroller and all the hookers would make a fuss over her. Good times.

Griffins

Paleo- I remember adco. Goodie Goldfadden, probably the meanest, most ornery guy in the world. Hated everyone, hated teenage boys the most. You had to make an appointment, and then if the person before you was spending money you'd sit outside (he only allowed 2-3 people in 1 group at a time). My dad and I sat outside in the rain for 45 minutes once. Never even said sorry.
I thought Pico Drugs was on Robertson, where Walgrens is now, but could be wrong.