Don't worry Stingray, you're not oldest fart on these boards. I *stopped* opening packs and collecting in 1974 (opened packs of Topps baseball from 1968-74).
The first I remember was 1980 topps, however, I know I opened some 1979 baseball and 1979 hockey, because those cards were with the box of 80's I had when I left for college. Would love to put sets together of all 3 graded or ungraded.
<< <i>1976 Topps. I remember pulling the Johnny Bench card thinking it was the coolest card ever.
>>
Matt,
Believe it or not but I traded my copy of that Bench card to a friend in 1977 for my choice of 100 cards of his brother's. One of his older brother's had collected from 1965-1969. Among others, I got a 1966 Mantle and a 1965 Aaron out of that deal. What did we know - we were kids!?! Bench was at the top of his game and Mantle and Aaron had already retired by 1977. At the time, I wasn't sure if I was getting enough for that Bench!
Looking to trade for, or purchase, raw or graded vintage for my baseball sets: 1927 York Caramel, 1951 Bowman, 1957 Topps, 1967-1979. http://richsbaseball.webs.com
<< <i>I don't remember my first pack, but I do remember my first box. It was 1983 Topps Baseball. A buddy and I split the box which was $10 so of course 5 a piece. I remember to the day pulling out a Reggie Jackson, Jim Rice, Carlton Fisk ,Wade Boggs and many other great players. It was great being a kid in the 80's >>
I just got my group rip packs and ordered some others and one was the 1983 topps rack pack and it has a REGGIE on top
** Working on the following sets-2013 Spectra Football Hall of Fame 50th Anniversary Autograph set, 2015 Spectra Football Illustrious Legends Autograph set, 2014-15 Hall of Fame Heroes autograph set. **
1978 Topps Baseball My friend had given me 13 cards a few days earlier including 2 Bob Stinson's(my first double). I showed an interest so my dad surprised me and brought home 5 packs of cards. Guess that cost a $1. I don't know who was in the packs but I remember we sat there at the kitchen table and opened each one. That is a great memory from that time. Although my dad didn't collect he did bring me a few packs here and there and even started taking me to card shows in the early 80's when there weren't very many shows avaiable. I wish I had taken his advice and focused more on the 50-60 stuff but I wanted the new ones.
<< <i>Christ I hate dating myself, but I remember buying 1974 Topps BB at the local Kresge store for $0.10 a piece. Would get ten packs everytime for my dollar. >>
Heck you didn't date yourself Kirk - I mentioned remembering buying 57T BB! Now that's old!
BTW - I just turned 62 yesterday - now that's old!
So basically my kid won't be able to go to college, but at least I'll have a set where the three most expensive cards are of a player I despise ~ CDsNuts
<< <i>Christ I hate dating myself, but I remember buying 1974 Topps BB at the local Kresge store for $0.10 a piece. Would get ten packs everytime for my dollar. >>
Heck you didn't date yourself Kirk - I mentioned remembering buying 57T BB! Now that's old!
BTW - I just turned 62 yesterday - now that's old!
mike >>
Happy belated B-Day!! You still jamming on the guitar!!
First pack I remember was a 1978 Topps Baseball wax which had a George Brett and Willie Randolph in it -- thought they were cool because of the allstar shield and my friend and I used to put 4 bazillion pieces of gum to try and get that wad that Brett had ~~~ hooked ever since
<< <i>1976 Topps. I remember pulling the Johnny Bench card thinking it was the coolest card ever.
Matt,
Believe it or not but I traded my copy of that Bench card to a friend in 1977 for my choice of 100 cards of his brother's. One of his older brother's had collected from 1965-1969. Among others, I got a 1966 Mantle and a 1965 Aaron out of that deal. What did we know - we were kids!?! Bench was at the top of his game and Mantle and Aaron had already retired by 1977. At the time, I wasn't sure if I was getting enough for that Bench! >>
Rich, It would be safe to say, you got the better deal
First pack was a 1980 topps .... Got the Henderson, then I put it in the spokes of my bike. Mom has a picture of my baseball card spokes some where.
I can rememmber going and buying a box of cards for $8... Then sitting in my room, opening all the packs and putting that great wad of gum in your mouth.
My first set was a 1981 Topps Football set, I think I bought it in 1987 from my local card shop(which still exists). I remember having to ask the owner for the set, he went to the back of his store and pulled the storage box from under a table. Before he handed it to me, he went ahead an blew a thick cloud of dust from the top of it. I paid $17.50 plus tax for it. That was, by far,the best purchase I made. Another memory was watching a lady buy an old football card for $100. I thought she was crazy! That football card was a near mint 1965 Topps Joe Namath. Ahh the memories!
My first pack I bought in 1977. It was a baseball cello bought at Candy Rama in the Jenkins Arcade in downtown Pittsburgh. I cannot recall any specifics about the pack itself but I do still have the cards. Although the store and the Arcade are gone I'll have those cards forever. The 1977 set that I assembled almost entirely that year is a condition mess but It will always be a central part of my collection.
It was 1974 - I was 8 years old. For some reason that was the year everyone on my block started collecting. I still remember the first pack I bought - included two Phillies - Danny Ozark and Dave Cash. I still have those two cards in my 1974 set. Of course, they have my name written on the back so no one would steal them. I had a brother and older sister who bought cards and by the end of that summer I was the only one still into it, so I stole all of their cards and added them to my pile (I guess its not really stealing if they didn't really want them anymore).
For the next couple of years, I could not wait until Thursdays, when my mom would go grocery shopping and always bring home 1 or 2 cello trays for me. Oh, if I knew then what I know now.....
On vacation in Colorado, we had just gotten to our hotel, and our Dad went to a store to buy snacks. He came back with a few packs of 1970 topps baseball cards along with the snacks. I was 6 years old, I don't think I had seen a baseball card until then. My brothers and I were hooked, and loved to collect them after that. I remember we got Tom Seaver, and Hank Aaron's brother, can't remember his first name, maybe Tommy Aaron?
1989 Donruss and 1989 Topps was the first packs bought for me; I was nine at that time. Needless to say when I started my complete set collection (late 1999), they were among the first two factory sets I got, although I opened the 1987 Topps factory set first, so that was actually my first ever complete set.
First pack i bought was 1991 Upperdeck. I got, at that time and in my own 5th grade head, two valuable cards: 2nd year dave justice card and a traded Bo Jackson card. These cards got me hooked into the hobby and made Justice one of my favorite players to collect (i stopped collecting him once i got into pre modern cards). My 5th grade teacher fueled my interest in the hobby by giving me 1991 stadium club packs, which were pretty popular and costly at the time. Pulled a Nolan Ryan once and I remember both of us holding the card with a certain amount of pride.
those were the best days of my card collecting. Right now I can afford to acquire higher priced, rare cards. But, it doesnt beat the naive, innocent feeling of pulling open packs and getting excited to pull cards of players you watch on the field (and not be concerned about the value of the card).
As a very young kid I opened some 72's, but the pack I most remember was in 1973. I grew up in New Orleans as a fan of Archie Manning. I also liked the Cowboys back then (hate them since Jerry Jones though). My dad came home one night and brought me a 49 cent rack pack. Roger Staubach was on the front and on the back was Archie Manning. He had searched through all of the packs at the gas station to pick out this one for me. I will never forget it.
<< <i>As a very young kid I opened some 72's, but the pack I most remember was in 1973. I grew up in New Orleans as a fan of Archie Manning. I also liked the Cowboys back then (hate them since Jerry Jones though). My dad came home one night and brought me a 49 cent rack pack. Roger Staubach was on the front and on the back was Archie Manning. He had searched through all of the packs at the gas station to pick out this one for me. I will never forget it. >>
that is one cool dad
** Working on the following sets-2013 Spectra Football Hall of Fame 50th Anniversary Autograph set, 2015 Spectra Football Illustrious Legends Autograph set, 2014-15 Hall of Fame Heroes autograph set. **
1989 Donruss. Got a bunch of packs in Southeastern Texas and always (to this day) have loved the colors. NEVER EVER got a Griffey rookie card out of probably 100s of packs!
1973 Topps. 8 years old. No idea what I got back then. I had found some 72's in the street the year before that kids had put in there bike spokes. Of course they were a mess. One of those was a Killebrew. I remember keeping those at the time and the next year I started collecting for real.
The first cards I remember owning a bunch of was 1981 Topps. I can remember sorting them by their team hats and colors. I also remember my older brothers having a lot of 1981 Donruss and trying to assemble the set out by laying the cards out in order in the "rec" room.
Collecting PSA graded Steve Young, Marcus Allen, Bret Saberhagen and 1980s Topps Cards. Raw: Tony Gonzalez (low #'d cards, and especially 1/1's) and Steve Young.
The first pack that really got things going was 1985 Fleer Baseball. I opened about a half a box from the local country store while staying with my Grandmother one summer. Spent my whole allowance the first day there on the cards. I did get a Dwight Gooden, Roger Clemens, and Kirby Puckett from this venture. This was followed by a random stop at a local convenience store after watching N.C. State play the Maryland Terps in Raleigh, NC. I picked up all the '86-'87 Fleer basketball they had, about 10 to 15 packs, and opened them while riding in the back seat of my friends parents car. Did not get the Jordan but did get about every other key card from the set.
I remember opening my first pack of baseball cards in 1956 from Mr. Bentley's Candy Store, which was next to St. Mary's parochial school to which I attended grades 1-8.
My school lunch back then was 25 cents and I remember my brother talking me into skipping lunch and then using the quarter to buy some baseball cards.
Right after school, I bought 5 packs of 1956 Topps Baseball and though I can't remember the exact first card that I saw when I opened my first pack, I do know that there was an Ernie Banks, a Roberto Clemente, and a Mickey Mantle in the mix of cards.
I remember rushing home to show my father the Mantle card as I thought he would be really happy since he was a die-hard Mantle fan. After he lectured me for an hour (or so it seemed at the time) about the importance of eating lunch, he took my Mantle card and thanked me for it.... even though I didn't intend it to end like that!
That evening, I attached a couple of the 56s to my bike spokes using my mom's clothes pins and then road over to my friend's house.
I still have that '56 Mantle .... I had it graded by PSA last year! They granted it a 7
The earliest I remember opening was the 65 Topps Baseball. The earliest set I rember trying to but together was the 68's. The set that was first seriously put together was the 74's. My younger brother has most of these still.
It was fun to collect and trade. I remember having 13 1969 Topps Ray Oylers and had nowhere to put him , as everyone had just as many , but on my bike spokes . Being from Baltimore , it was always the O's that you wanted as they were our team and VERY good then.
I was collecting coins for along time , but realized there were too many thieves in the buisness , including the grading companies.
Cards are much more fun.------ Sonny
" In a time of universal deceit , telling the truth is a revolutionary act " --- George Orwell
Comments
<< <i>1976 Topps. I remember pulling the Johnny Bench card thinking it was the coolest card ever.
Matt,
Believe it or not but I traded my copy of that Bench card to a friend in 1977 for my choice of 100 cards of his brother's. One of his older brother's had collected from 1965-1969. Among others, I got a 1966 Mantle and a 1965 Aaron out of that deal. What did we know - we were kids!?! Bench was at the top of his game and Mantle and Aaron had already retired by 1977. At the time, I wasn't sure if I was getting enough for that Bench!
http://richsbaseball.webs.com
<< <i>I don't remember my first pack, but I do remember my first box. It was 1983 Topps Baseball. A buddy and I split the box which was $10 so of course 5 a piece. I remember to the day pulling out a Reggie Jackson, Jim Rice, Carlton Fisk ,Wade Boggs and many other great players. It was great being a kid in the 80's >>
I just got my group rip packs and ordered some others and one was the 1983 topps rack pack and it has a REGGIE on top
My friend had given me 13 cards a few days earlier including 2 Bob Stinson's(my first double). I showed an interest so my dad surprised me and brought home 5 packs of cards. Guess that cost a $1. I don't know who was in the packs but I remember we sat there at the kitchen table and opened each one. That is a great memory from that time. Although my dad didn't collect he did bring me a few packs here and there and even started taking me to card shows in the early 80's when there weren't very many shows avaiable. I wish I had taken his advice and focused more on the 50-60 stuff but I wanted the new ones.
<< <i>Christ I hate dating myself, but I remember buying 1974 Topps BB at the local Kresge store for $0.10 a piece. Would get ten packs everytime for my dollar. >>
Heck you didn't date yourself Kirk - I mentioned remembering buying 57T BB! Now that's old!
BTW - I just turned 62 yesterday - now that's old!
mike
+1 for a stone sighting as well.
<< <i>
<< <i>Christ I hate dating myself, but I remember buying 1974 Topps BB at the local Kresge store for $0.10 a piece. Would get ten packs everytime for my dollar. >>
Heck you didn't date yourself Kirk - I mentioned remembering buying 57T BB! Now that's old!
BTW - I just turned 62 yesterday - now that's old!
mike >>
Happy belated B-Day!! You still jamming on the guitar!!
hooked ever since
<< <i>1976 Topps. I remember pulling the Johnny Bench card thinking it was the coolest card ever.
Matt,
Believe it or not but I traded my copy of that Bench card to a friend in 1977 for my choice of 100 cards of his brother's. One of his older brother's had collected from 1965-1969. Among others, I got a 1966 Mantle and a 1965 Aaron out of that deal. What did we know - we were kids!?! Bench was at the top of his game and Mantle and Aaron had already retired by 1977. At the time, I wasn't sure if I was getting enough for that Bench! >>
Rich, It would be safe to say, you got the better deal
1994 Pro Line Live
TheDallasCowboyBackfieldProject
I can rememmber going and buying a box of cards for $8... Then sitting in my room, opening all the packs and putting that great wad of gum in your mouth.
Go Phillies
For the next couple of years, I could not wait until Thursdays, when my mom would go grocery shopping and always bring home 1 or 2 cello trays for me. Oh, if I knew then what I know now.....
D's: 54S,53P,50P,49S,45D+S,44S,43D,41S,40D+S,39D+S,38D+S,37D+S,36S,35D+S,all 16-34's
Q's: 52S,47S,46S,40S,39S,38S,37D+S,36D+S,35D,34D,32D+S
74T: 37,38,47,151,193,241,435,570,610,654,655 97 Finest silver: 115,135,139,145,310
73T:31,55,61,62,63,64,65,66,67,68,80,152,165,189,213,235,237,257,341,344,377,379,390,422,433,453,480,497,545,554,563,580,606,613,630
95 Ultra GM Sets: Golden Prospects,HR Kings,On-Base Leaders,Power Plus,RBI Kings,Rising Stars
First stuff I collected regularly, 1991 Topps Baseball.
I still love that set. Not the 90 Donruss though.
those were the best days of my card collecting. Right now I can afford to acquire higher priced, rare cards. But, it doesnt beat the naive, innocent feeling of pulling open packs and getting excited to pull cards of players you watch on the field (and not be concerned about the value of the card).
I became ayankee fan in part because the first pack i opened had a steve hamilton on the front.
also got a fritz peterson as well....
that as well as my brothers being mets fans made me a yankee fan
<< <i>As a very young kid I opened some 72's, but the pack I most remember was in 1973. I grew up in New Orleans as a fan of Archie Manning. I also liked the Cowboys back then (hate them since Jerry Jones though). My dad came home one night and brought me a 49 cent rack pack. Roger Staubach was on the front and on the back was Archie Manning. He had searched through all of the packs at the gas station to pick out this one for me. I will never forget it. >>
that is one cool dad
Steve
Genesis 1:1
I had found some 72's in the street the year before that kids had put in there bike spokes. Of course they were a mess. One of those was a Killebrew. I remember keeping those at the time and the next year I started collecting for real.
Raw: Tony Gonzalez (low #'d cards, and especially 1/1's) and Steve Young.
My Registry Sets
My school lunch back then was 25 cents and I remember my brother talking me into skipping lunch and then using the quarter to buy some baseball cards.
Right after school, I bought 5 packs of 1956 Topps Baseball and though I can't remember the exact first card that I saw when I opened my first pack, I do know that there was an Ernie Banks, a Roberto Clemente, and a Mickey Mantle in the mix of cards.
I remember rushing home to show my father the Mantle card as I thought he would be really happy since he was a die-hard Mantle fan. After he lectured me for an hour (or so it seemed at the time) about the importance of eating lunch, he took my Mantle card and thanked me for it.... even though I didn't intend it to end like that!
That evening, I attached a couple of the 56s to my bike spokes using my mom's clothes pins and then road over to my friend's house.
I still have that '56 Mantle .... I had it graded by PSA last year! They granted it a 7
PoppaJ
the first set i ever bought was 81 fleer. i wish i knew what happened to it.
looking for PELLE LINDBERGH's psa and 1960 fleer baseball psa 8 and up
sets in progress
R.I.P. Barstow 24 April 1999 - May 15 2009
It was fun to collect and trade. I remember having 13 1969 Topps Ray Oylers and had nowhere to put him , as everyone had just as many , but on my bike spokes . Being from Baltimore , it was always the O's that you wanted as they were our team and VERY good then.
I was collecting coins for along time , but realized there were too many thieves in the buisness , including the grading companies.
Cards are much more fun.------ Sonny
/s/ JackWESQ