The Wonder Years
pmcollectour
Posts: 1,211 ✭
I thought I'd start a thread that allows us to discuss various things pertaining to the decade we grew up collecting sports cards.
Being that collecting sportscards and memorabilia deals with a lot of nostalgia, I thought "The Wonder Years" would be an appropriate topic for this thread, named
after the very popular TV Show.
My decade was the 1970's. We grew up listening to the greatest rock bands ever assembled in one decade. The biggest debate in our neck of the woods was who
was the better guitarist, Jimmy Page or Eric Clapton. We had the pleasure of witnessing perhaps one of the greatest movies ever made (The 1st Star Wars) in 1977,
even though Billy Jack and Smokey and the Bandit were pretty cool too. And concerning rock bands, I always thought YES wrote the most beautiful songs of the day,
even though they weren't my favorite.
We spent our summers riding bikes around the neighborhood and playing wiffle ball. Nobody had cable television, and only a few of our friends had swimming pools, so
thank God air conditioning was available.
We watched WPIX for Yankee games, and WOR for Mets games. We did not get the Philadelphia stations, unless you configured the rabbit ears on your TV so the
snow on the TV would go away. Wrestling came on right after the boring horse racing at midnight. Some nights you watched, and some nights you fell asleep
after watching episodes of THE LOVE BOAT and FANTASY ISLAND.....z-plane...z-plane !!!
Everyone thought Fonzie was awesome, until he jumped the shark. MASH was cool, as was that I dream of Jeannie, and of course Mary Ann from Gilligans Island.
We would flip our baseball cards in the school yard. You picked evens or odds. If both cards came up picture side up, or stats side up, that was evens.
If one card came up picture, and the other card came up stats, that was odds. We flipped during recess time at school. We used our paper route money, or
what we got from mom or dad to go to the local Krausers or Cumberland Farms to get packs. And we also thought it was cool to put the cards in our spokes, along
with putting M80's in our toy models on the 4th of July. Everyone got firecrackers. It was as easy as getting packs of cards back then. It was legal.
The 70's was mostly about bikes, sports, girls, television and many other things. You can throw in Mel Allen and This Week in Baseball.
Kurt Bevaqua was the bubble gum champ. Mark Fidrych made our summers a lot more enjoyable one year, as did Reggie Jackson in an all star game.
We loved the ABA, with Dr J and all those great players who found their way to the NBA. The Olympics was very big back then. We all remember
Ray Leonard and the USA boxing team. Heavyweight fights with Ali, Foreman, and Frazier were great. Larry Holmes kind of ruined it for some of us.
I've heard that growing up in the 50's and 60's was even better then the 70's. I would be interested to hear from those of you who experienced it.
Being that collecting sportscards and memorabilia deals with a lot of nostalgia, I thought "The Wonder Years" would be an appropriate topic for this thread, named
after the very popular TV Show.
My decade was the 1970's. We grew up listening to the greatest rock bands ever assembled in one decade. The biggest debate in our neck of the woods was who
was the better guitarist, Jimmy Page or Eric Clapton. We had the pleasure of witnessing perhaps one of the greatest movies ever made (The 1st Star Wars) in 1977,
even though Billy Jack and Smokey and the Bandit were pretty cool too. And concerning rock bands, I always thought YES wrote the most beautiful songs of the day,
even though they weren't my favorite.
We spent our summers riding bikes around the neighborhood and playing wiffle ball. Nobody had cable television, and only a few of our friends had swimming pools, so
thank God air conditioning was available.
We watched WPIX for Yankee games, and WOR for Mets games. We did not get the Philadelphia stations, unless you configured the rabbit ears on your TV so the
snow on the TV would go away. Wrestling came on right after the boring horse racing at midnight. Some nights you watched, and some nights you fell asleep
after watching episodes of THE LOVE BOAT and FANTASY ISLAND.....z-plane...z-plane !!!
Everyone thought Fonzie was awesome, until he jumped the shark. MASH was cool, as was that I dream of Jeannie, and of course Mary Ann from Gilligans Island.
We would flip our baseball cards in the school yard. You picked evens or odds. If both cards came up picture side up, or stats side up, that was evens.
If one card came up picture, and the other card came up stats, that was odds. We flipped during recess time at school. We used our paper route money, or
what we got from mom or dad to go to the local Krausers or Cumberland Farms to get packs. And we also thought it was cool to put the cards in our spokes, along
with putting M80's in our toy models on the 4th of July. Everyone got firecrackers. It was as easy as getting packs of cards back then. It was legal.
The 70's was mostly about bikes, sports, girls, television and many other things. You can throw in Mel Allen and This Week in Baseball.
Kurt Bevaqua was the bubble gum champ. Mark Fidrych made our summers a lot more enjoyable one year, as did Reggie Jackson in an all star game.
We loved the ABA, with Dr J and all those great players who found their way to the NBA. The Olympics was very big back then. We all remember
Ray Leonard and the USA boxing team. Heavyweight fights with Ali, Foreman, and Frazier were great. Larry Holmes kind of ruined it for some of us.
I've heard that growing up in the 50's and 60's was even better then the 70's. I would be interested to hear from those of you who experienced it.
0
Comments
I learned to drive on my dad's brand new '67 GTO convertible. My friends had big block Vettes, Shelby Mustangs, Dodge Hemi's or a Model A with a 327 Chevy.
How about Mantle, Maris, Mays, Gibson,Clemente and Koufax just to scratch the surface. I remember Cassius Clay beating Sonny Liston and those great GB Packer teams of Vince Lombardi. The Celtics owned the NBA. As for cards, Topps ruled.
Lastly, I remember feeling vulnerable as I lived through a presidential assasination in 1963 but elated when Neil Armstrong put his foot down on the lunar surface. I'm sure a lot of my fellow "hippies/flower children" can add to the 60's mystique as I've barely scratched the surface.
PEACE
The cards they were trading were clearly 1989 Topps cards.
Oops.
D's: 50P,49S,45D+S,43D,41S,40D,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: 241,435,610,654 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
They were supposed to be trading a Willie McCovey card for a Luis Tiant. They were clearly '89 Topps.
Another episode opens where they have legit '68 Topps cards. They are quizzing each other on stats and Paul is getting them correct.
The Wonder Years are reason #38 the 80s ruled.
DOO WOP BABY!!!!!!Convertibles and street cruising!!!!Could not wait to turn 16.
<< <i>58 Topps to 62,Dion & the Belmonts,Norman Roy and the Rob Roys,Ronnetes,Frankie Ford,Raindrops,Elvis,5 Discs,The Earls,Dell Vikings.Tokens,Fats Domino.Chuuby Checker,Booby Vee. Playing Spin the Bottle.
DOO WOP BABY!!!!!!Convertibles and street cruising!!!!Could not wait to turn 16. >>
How about Buddy Holly? And yes, I had a crush on Ronnie Spector (still think she's a PSA10)!!
my parents divorced. my Dad remarried fairly soon thereafter, so i got a new Mom and a new brother to go with my current collection of family members. we became the Brady Bunch.
so, i shut myself in my bedroom with the giant rock star posters, a pair of oversized headphones and Physical Graffiti and did very little else besides reading Tolkien.
Watching music videos late night on WTBS on a show called 'Night Traxs', pre MTV.
No one was cooler than Bo and Luke Duke, No one was more disappointing than Cory and Vance Duke.
Pac Man and Rubix's Cubes were all the rage.
Atari 2600 and Astroids, Space Invaders, and Pitfall. Getting Pitfall Harry past the three alligators was so difficult.
Saturday morning cartoons.
Getting to go see E.T., not getting to go see Porky's.
Van Halen, followed by the severely disappointing Van Haggard.
Rocky III and the greatest theme song EVER, Survivors' Eye of the Tiger.
Rocky and Apollo awkward beach hugging scene.
San Fran's pre-aids bath house scene, uh let's forget that I wrote that.
Car horns that played Dixie.
Bandit replica Trans Ams, Still my dream car!
Rickey Henderson running wild.
Donkey Kong.
The group Alabama, Feels so right, Mountain Music, Dixieland Delight, My Homes in Alabama.....
Day games at Wrigley.
Braves always on WTBS
Dale Murphy's back to back MVPs, PUT HIM IN THE HALL!!!!!
First Blood or Rambo I, best of the series!
Ronald Reagan.
The fear of nuclear war.
99 Red Balloons.
Who shot JR?
Animal House and Caddyshack.
I have the seasons - 89 Topps nowhere in sight. Its a 67 Willie McCovey for real (or a reprint).
This show was pretty accurate which is why I loved and still love it.
<< <i>They were supposed to be trading a Willie McCovey card for a Luis Tiant. They were clearly '89 Topps.
I have the seasons - 89 Topps nowhere in sight. Its a 67 Willie McCovey for real (or a reprint).
This show was pretty accurate which is why I loved and still love it. >>
The McCovery is real or a reprint, but the other cards are 1989 Topps Cards.
Check out the backs of Kevin's cards....those are not 1967. Trade starts at 4:22.
The video is terrible, but you can see they are either 1986 or 1989 backs from the crappy image. I remember seeing a better photo once that clarified they were 1989.
Raw: Tony Gonzalez (low #'d cards, and especially 1/1's) and Steve Young.
Raw: Tony Gonzalez (low #'d cards, and especially 1/1's) and Steve Young.
SCAregalia.com - Masonic Regalia & Supply
One's childhood is the most special time of your entire life and I don't think it is possible for anyone to fully realize that until one day
you wake up and it has past.
This is covered in the episode were Kevin's family goes on their last "Family Vacation" and he starts to realize that things are changing.
He realizes that they are all growing older and beginning to go their seperate ways. He flashes back to when they were all little kids having
Bitrhdays and Christmas together as a Family. I still remember him running down the beach and jumping on his dads back thinking
this might be the last time he would spend with his whole family together and that his childhood would soon move into adulthood as it had done with
his sister and was doing with his brother. I had tears in my eyes as I realized that this evolution had happend to me and will eventually happen
with my children as well.
Bubble Gum Cards have always been a special part of my youth from the late 60's through the 70's and it sometimes saddens me to see that the hobby has
evolved to the point that kids will never again be able to experience the pure joy of card collecting the way it use to be.
The days were the Gum was just as important as the cards! Staubach, Namath, Sayers etc.. were household names and heroes to the youth.
Todays cards might as well just be blank pieces of paper with a price tag on it. Some of of them actually ARE! Pieces of jerseys etc... collected soley by adults
for their precieved monatery value and nothing more.
The nostalgia is now gone and Like Kevin realizing his Family was evolving and their childhood was coming to and end. So has the days when the cards and gum
held a special meaning for Americas Kids. I feel very fortunate to have been one of the youth to have been able to experience the true meaning of the hobby.
We can now only look back and smile at those innocent card collecting days as we realize that Card collecting's childhood has ended never to return.
John
<< <i>Sneaking out of the bedroom in the early hours of daylight on Sunday morning and turning on the television hoping the whining-hum of the old Zenith wouldn't wake the parents while waiting for the farming show to end and Davey and Goliath to come on... I was too young and too naive to realize the tenor of the show. I just loved the clay-mation since I was a huge Gumby fan. >>
Man Scott ... that brought back memories. I used to watch D&G early on Sunday mornings as well. Wasn't too much else on at that time!
Do you remember watching WONDERAMA on Sunday mornings after D&G? I used to watch it ALL THE TIME, but mainly for the commercials. WHY? There was a commercial on WONDERAMA about 5 or so times each show. It was for a company called KNICKERBOCKER ... it showed a 4 year old girl and 5 year old boy riding on a horse and bear with wheels ... the commercial was to sell the horse and bear ... The reason I know the boy was 5 was because I was that boy! The entire commercial was filmed in my house and yard. For those that are curious ... I got SCREWED with money ... hardly made anything. BUT, it was so cool to watch myself on TV each week!
Doug
Liquidating my collection for the 3rd and final time. Time for others to enjoy what I have enjoyed over the last several decades. Money could be put to better use.
<< <i>Bubble Gum Cards have always been a special part of my youth from the late 60's through the 70's and it sometimes saddens me to see that the hobby has
evolved to the point that kids will never again be able to experience the pure joy of card collecting the way it use to be.
The days were the Gum was just as important as the cards! Staubach, Namath, Sayers etc.. were household names and heroes to the youth.
Todays cards might as well just be blank pieces of paper with a price tag on it. Some of of them actually ARE! Pices of jerseys etc... collected soley by adults
for their precieved monatery value.
The nostagia is now gone and Like Kevin realizing his Family was evolving and their childhood was coming to and end. So has the days when the cards and gum
held a special meaning for Americas Kids. I feel very fortunate to have been one of the youth to have been able to experience the true meaning of the hobby.
We can now only look back and smile at those innocent card collecting days as we realize that Card collecting's childhood has ended never to return.
John >>
While not available to our kids, the nostalgia's still there for us. I find it everytime I look back at the cards I had as a kid. The actual cards with rounded corners and chipped edges because I couldn't decide if they should go in team order or numerical order or awesomeness-of-the-player order. Each time I buy a mint copy of a card I once had, I'm trying to recapture that nostalgia. The mint copy is a sorry substitute for the long ago traded vg-ex version I had. Buying unopened packs from those years is close, but the gum's too hard.
The Wonder Years is on Netflix now. It has stood the test of time and is much like it was when I first watched it. Of course, now, with added perspective, it takes on new meaning. Plus, I have to pause it every now and again when the baby's crying.
-Jimmy
Playing T-Ball and actually keeping score.
Leaded gasoline.
Believing that George Micheals was straight, Freddy Mercury too.
Pre-Jerry Jones Cowboys.
Styrafoam Big Mac containers.
Pull top soda cans.
My mom's favorite shampoo, Gee your hair smells terrific.
Taste great, Less filling debate.
Battlestar Gallactica.
Poltergiest
Jason Vorhees
'You can't do that on TV' and the green slime.
Silver Spoons.
<< <i>
<< <i>58 Topps to 62,Dion & the Belmonts,Norman Fox and the Rob Roys,Ronnetes,Frankie Ford,Raindrops,Elvis,5 Discs,The Earls,Dell Vikings.Tokens,Fats Domino.Chuuby Checker,Booby Vee. Playing Spin the Bottle.
DOO WOP BABY!!!!!!Convertibles and street cruising!!!!Could not wait to turn 16. >>
How about Buddy Holly? And yes, I had a crush on Ronnie Spector (still think she's a PSA10)!! >>
Ronnie Spector OHHH YAAAH!!!!!! GEM MINT!!!!!