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essay on card collecting in today's New York Times
blue227
Posts: 185 ✭✭
New York Times, September 30, 2006
About New York: History for One Is Clutter for Another
By Dan Barry
A retired postal clerk in Queens has a Mickey Mantle baseball card he would like to sell. He never was much of a baseball fan to begin with, and now feels the urge to free himself of clutter.
His name is Simon Laszlo. He is 68, with sideburns that evoke another time and a short body he keeps compact by working as a custodian for a local Lutheran church. He speaks English well, but his native Hungary flavors every word he utters.
He owns a 1962 Topps card No. 200, the one that depicts Mantle framed in wood paneling and looking into the distance, as if wondering where all his home run balls had landed. This was not the early, aw-shucks Mantle, but the seasoned Mantle, the veteran of 9 World Series in 11 years.
Mr. Laszlo has not immersed himself in statistics like these; he just knows he has a Mickey Mantle. He keeps it in a plastic case in a desk, along with a few other baseball cards he bought years ago that bear the faces of men who are mostly unknown to him.
A 1954 Henry Aaron. A 1955 Harmon Killebrew. A 1956 Roberto Clemente. Gooden, Strawberry, and a young shortstop for Baltimore whom he calls Carl, not Cal, Ripken.
He waves his hand at the cards, splayed on his kitchen table like Mass cards featuring secular saints. gEhh,h he says to the whole bunch except, perhaps, to Mantle.
Fifty years ago, Mickey Mantle all but carried the Yankees to another World Series championship, leading the American League in home runs, batting average and runs batted in. His feat seemed preordained, given that alliterative, thoroughly American name of his.
Fifty years ago, Simon Laszlo, a refugee from strife-torn Hungary all but carrying what he owned on his back, landed in New York. His stats: 19 (age); 12 for 12 (days of seasickness during transit); and 1 (number of English words he spoke). gO.K.h was the word.
Working in a factory in Long Island City, washing dishes at Archbishop Molloy High School, washing windows anywhere, he gradually created his own Hungarian-English dictionary, scribbling down phrases to memorize. He remembers hearing the name Mantle early on.
He got a steady job as a postal clerk and married a young woman named Catherine who lived above a German restaurant off Cooper Avenue. They moved into a two-family house in Glendale, raised two children, and slowly got into the habit of collecting things.
She loved anything Elvis: photographs, figurines, framed gold-plated records that she hung on the wall.
Did he like Elvis?
gNot particularly,h he says. He preferred coins and for some reason, baseball cards, after stopping at a collectibles shop on Woodhaven Boulevard and listening to a pitch about vintage cards as investments.
Mr. Laszlo of Hungary and Queens, meet Mr. Aaron of the Braves, Mr. Killebrew of the Twins, Mr. Clemente of the Pirates and Mr. Mantle of the Yankees. Perhaps you have heard of him. Interested?
gHefs the best and all that, and I said O.K.,h he says.
Mr. Laszlo returned to the collectibles store often, listening to advice and buying trading cards with the expectation that they would increase in value. He focuses on rookie cards, especially those of Mets players like Dwight Gooden and Darryl Strawberry, but he gradually learned that they were not Mantles.
gThey used to be big names,h he says. gNothing now.h
Mr. Laszlo would learn that baseball cards are really just pieces of cardboard, and that value is measured not only by the name, but by how cleanly the card was produced and how well it survived the decades.
There is also the variable of emotion, in which the cards become glossy tickets to a past when heroism was measured by earned-run averages and home runs. Mickey Mantle may have had Homeric problems off the field, but on these cards he smiles, as if to say, gWefre gonna win, kid; itfll be O.K.h.
The cards sat in a drawer, and the years went by. Mantle died in 1995. The collectibles store on Woodhaven Boulevard closed. Mr. Laszlo retired after 31 years and 3 months with the post office. Catherine Laszlo struggled with breast cancer for several years and died two years ago at the age of 56.
Mr. Laszlo now finds that he has lost whatever passion he had for baseball cards, for these cardboard pieces of Americana. So he recently advertised the availability of his Mickey Mantle card online, at Craigslist. Not in mint condition, but still very sharp. Asking $350.
Yes, the Mick is for sale. But Elvis isnft.
About New York: History for One Is Clutter for Another
By Dan Barry
A retired postal clerk in Queens has a Mickey Mantle baseball card he would like to sell. He never was much of a baseball fan to begin with, and now feels the urge to free himself of clutter.
His name is Simon Laszlo. He is 68, with sideburns that evoke another time and a short body he keeps compact by working as a custodian for a local Lutheran church. He speaks English well, but his native Hungary flavors every word he utters.
He owns a 1962 Topps card No. 200, the one that depicts Mantle framed in wood paneling and looking into the distance, as if wondering where all his home run balls had landed. This was not the early, aw-shucks Mantle, but the seasoned Mantle, the veteran of 9 World Series in 11 years.
Mr. Laszlo has not immersed himself in statistics like these; he just knows he has a Mickey Mantle. He keeps it in a plastic case in a desk, along with a few other baseball cards he bought years ago that bear the faces of men who are mostly unknown to him.
A 1954 Henry Aaron. A 1955 Harmon Killebrew. A 1956 Roberto Clemente. Gooden, Strawberry, and a young shortstop for Baltimore whom he calls Carl, not Cal, Ripken.
He waves his hand at the cards, splayed on his kitchen table like Mass cards featuring secular saints. gEhh,h he says to the whole bunch except, perhaps, to Mantle.
Fifty years ago, Mickey Mantle all but carried the Yankees to another World Series championship, leading the American League in home runs, batting average and runs batted in. His feat seemed preordained, given that alliterative, thoroughly American name of his.
Fifty years ago, Simon Laszlo, a refugee from strife-torn Hungary all but carrying what he owned on his back, landed in New York. His stats: 19 (age); 12 for 12 (days of seasickness during transit); and 1 (number of English words he spoke). gO.K.h was the word.
Working in a factory in Long Island City, washing dishes at Archbishop Molloy High School, washing windows anywhere, he gradually created his own Hungarian-English dictionary, scribbling down phrases to memorize. He remembers hearing the name Mantle early on.
He got a steady job as a postal clerk and married a young woman named Catherine who lived above a German restaurant off Cooper Avenue. They moved into a two-family house in Glendale, raised two children, and slowly got into the habit of collecting things.
She loved anything Elvis: photographs, figurines, framed gold-plated records that she hung on the wall.
Did he like Elvis?
gNot particularly,h he says. He preferred coins and for some reason, baseball cards, after stopping at a collectibles shop on Woodhaven Boulevard and listening to a pitch about vintage cards as investments.
Mr. Laszlo of Hungary and Queens, meet Mr. Aaron of the Braves, Mr. Killebrew of the Twins, Mr. Clemente of the Pirates and Mr. Mantle of the Yankees. Perhaps you have heard of him. Interested?
gHefs the best and all that, and I said O.K.,h he says.
Mr. Laszlo returned to the collectibles store often, listening to advice and buying trading cards with the expectation that they would increase in value. He focuses on rookie cards, especially those of Mets players like Dwight Gooden and Darryl Strawberry, but he gradually learned that they were not Mantles.
gThey used to be big names,h he says. gNothing now.h
Mr. Laszlo would learn that baseball cards are really just pieces of cardboard, and that value is measured not only by the name, but by how cleanly the card was produced and how well it survived the decades.
There is also the variable of emotion, in which the cards become glossy tickets to a past when heroism was measured by earned-run averages and home runs. Mickey Mantle may have had Homeric problems off the field, but on these cards he smiles, as if to say, gWefre gonna win, kid; itfll be O.K.h.
The cards sat in a drawer, and the years went by. Mantle died in 1995. The collectibles store on Woodhaven Boulevard closed. Mr. Laszlo retired after 31 years and 3 months with the post office. Catherine Laszlo struggled with breast cancer for several years and died two years ago at the age of 56.
Mr. Laszlo now finds that he has lost whatever passion he had for baseball cards, for these cardboard pieces of Americana. So he recently advertised the availability of his Mickey Mantle card online, at Craigslist. Not in mint condition, but still very sharp. Asking $350.
Yes, the Mick is for sale. But Elvis isnft.
0
Comments
Like owning a hand full of cards means you had a passion for baseball cards. Don't get me wrong our anything but who is
Simon Laszlo and why would they even waste there time writing this. Tell the New York Times to come over my house I will give
them a story to write about.
The beauty of this story is that it's NOT about a knowledgebale card collector or even someone who really had any particular affinity for those vintage cards. That's what makes the story great. We can always read about "serious" collectors and their collections in SMR, etc., but a story like this, a real human interest story, is what makes the hobby truly great in a universal way. My only complaint is that the story isn't longer. Great post, blue!
Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
Actually not a bad looking card. Of course after being in a New York Times article, this card should sell quick.
Link
I don't know if we are reading the same story but there is nothing to this story no good info here.
Some old guy retires has some some old cards and saw some baseball games back in the day. I don't
know what info I can walk away with after reading this story? Let me know what you thought was so
intresting about this story.
"This posting has been removed by craigslist community."
The scan wasn't that good but from what I saw the card would have most likely graded a PSA 4, possibly a 5. Again, not a bad card and certainly a PSA 4 or 5 1962 Mantle isn't a bad card by any means. Obviously this guy probably took this card to a number of card dealers and wasn't offered anything close to the $350 asking price, which is overpriced for what it would sell for on ebay.
Good read.
Thanks for sharing.
Steve
edited to add: i wonder if craigslist removed it cuz it was getting too many hits?
sd
<< <i>listening to a pitch about vintage cards as investments >>
Want an interesting "angle" about the story?
The collectibles shop and the owner who was trying to cultivate a customer.
For those collecting almost 20 yrs ago - there's no way to describe the "boom" years.
I got back into it around 1985 - by 1990 it was crazy! Card companies let the presses run wild - people were buying up cases of cards with plans of funding their children's college education.
It would be virtually impossible to estimate how many "Johnny come lately's" entered - thinking they would get rich - then left the hobby as fast as they entered?
Another angle - some entered with the boom - with the idea of someway capitalizing - perhaps becoming "sellers" of sorts - and loved cards and collectibles so much that they never left.
And finally - just imagine if Ebay existed during the boom!!!!!!
thanx for the read
mike
Hall of Famers from all 4 sports
2003 SPx Football
2006 Topps Allen and Ginter
Joe Nuxhall cards, graded or raw
Bengals!