What are some of your best sportscard collecting memories?
cincyredlegs
Posts: 2,032 ✭✭✭
I am sure this has been discussed before but thought we could lighten up the mood a little bit. A few of mine are:
-Going to cards shows in the early/mid-eighties and looking for Mantle, Musial, Mays, Aaron, Rose, Bench and other Reds cards.
-The first time my dad, brother and I FINALLY got our first Johnny Bench rookie card for $11. I remember my dad negotiating the dealer down from $15. A very proud day.
-Going with my dad to buy some cards from guys he found in the local "Trading Post". One guy had a binder of 68 and 69 Topps that were beautiful cards. Got a 68 and 69 Mantle, two 69 Seavers. Buying another lot of early 50's cards.....53 Satchel Paige, 56 Mays and Aaron. Buying another lot of 60 Topps.....Mays Aaron, Robinson, Killebrew.
-My dad bought a guys collection. 69-72. Had Reggie rookie, Rose, Bench, Mays. Spent hours going through the cards, one by one.
-Going through the first cards my dad bought us in 1976. Was probably 1981 and the feeling I had when I found a Schmidt rookie, 73 Mays and Aaron, 72 Aaron was such a rush.
-Spending 3 months sorting through a vending case of 1984 topps and making sets.
-Buying a couple wax boxes of 83 topps or 84 donruss, going home and ripping with my dad and brother.
-Selling wax packs at school, saving all the money in a coffee can and going to the local card show and buying vintage cards.
-Trading with dealers i.e. traded a bunch of 85 and 86 cards (Gooden, Canseco, Mattingly, Boggs) for a 52 Bowman Mays.
-Putting cards in my "For trade or sell" binder to take to card shows. Spent hours going through Beckett to find the prices, putting the little white circle sticker on the top RH corner of the page and writitng the price down.
-In the early 80's, looking at all the Rose rookies and wishing some day I could own one.
-T206's for $1/card.
-You couldn't give away 70's basketball, football and hockey cards.
-86 Fleer baskeball wax boxes for $10/box.
Mark
-Going to cards shows in the early/mid-eighties and looking for Mantle, Musial, Mays, Aaron, Rose, Bench and other Reds cards.
-The first time my dad, brother and I FINALLY got our first Johnny Bench rookie card for $11. I remember my dad negotiating the dealer down from $15. A very proud day.
-Going with my dad to buy some cards from guys he found in the local "Trading Post". One guy had a binder of 68 and 69 Topps that were beautiful cards. Got a 68 and 69 Mantle, two 69 Seavers. Buying another lot of early 50's cards.....53 Satchel Paige, 56 Mays and Aaron. Buying another lot of 60 Topps.....Mays Aaron, Robinson, Killebrew.
-My dad bought a guys collection. 69-72. Had Reggie rookie, Rose, Bench, Mays. Spent hours going through the cards, one by one.
-Going through the first cards my dad bought us in 1976. Was probably 1981 and the feeling I had when I found a Schmidt rookie, 73 Mays and Aaron, 72 Aaron was such a rush.
-Spending 3 months sorting through a vending case of 1984 topps and making sets.
-Buying a couple wax boxes of 83 topps or 84 donruss, going home and ripping with my dad and brother.
-Selling wax packs at school, saving all the money in a coffee can and going to the local card show and buying vintage cards.
-Trading with dealers i.e. traded a bunch of 85 and 86 cards (Gooden, Canseco, Mattingly, Boggs) for a 52 Bowman Mays.
-Putting cards in my "For trade or sell" binder to take to card shows. Spent hours going through Beckett to find the prices, putting the little white circle sticker on the top RH corner of the page and writitng the price down.
-In the early 80's, looking at all the Rose rookies and wishing some day I could own one.
-T206's for $1/card.
-You couldn't give away 70's basketball, football and hockey cards.
-86 Fleer baskeball wax boxes for $10/box.
Mark
Project:
T206 Set - 300/524
T206 Set - 300/524
0
Comments
My most vivid memory is my worse memory... selling my entire collection in 1978 to begin collecting coins. I had over 50,000 Topps baseball cards. A complete run from 1952-1977 with thousands of duplicates. My OCD was alive and well then as it is now. EVERY one of those 50,000 cards would have graded a PSA 8 or higher and were well-centered (yes, I measured the cards borders with a ruler, even then). I wish I could somehow delete that memory from my hard drive!
I even had all the inserts/supplementals... the coins, booklets, deckle edges, supers, greatest moments, etc.
I could spend days writing about my baseball card memories... one that stands out is finding approximately 100,000 unused Exhibit cards at a flea market in a small remote town in Indiana. They were asking $1,000 for the whole lot... in 1971. It would have been a bad investment, but the sheer volume was overwhelming to an 8-year-old!
1973 was MY year... I opened over 50 boxes of Topps wax in 1973. I put EVERY piece of that gum in my mouth... I can still taste it! Those were the days when you could put it "on my tab" at the neighborhood grocery store. I got into sooooo much trouble that year! To put things into perspective... I was paying $.04 each for 1952 commons, $.03 each for 1954-1956 commons, $.02 each for 1957-1958 commons and $.01 each for 1959-1968 commons; 1969-1972 commons were 2-5 for a $.01!
I also owned a case of 1986 Fleer Basketball (and a case of 1961 Nu Card Football) late-1986. I opened the 1961 Nu Card and sold the case of 1986 Fleer early-1987. I quadripled my money... I'm such an idiot!
never lost the love, though. now he coaches baseball pitchers.
-Trading away my Rose's, Morgan's and Bench's to my brother for his Dodgers commons
-Putting 20 cards or so in my back pocket every day before I went out, in case a friend wanted to trade
-Seeing the "old" cards my babysitter brought with him each time he watched us, especially those really cool black-bordered cards
-All my friends chasing the Fidrych RC in the summer of '77
-Not caring about condition, even though my cards were beat to sh*t
-Buying nearly 3000 '78 Topps cards before I got my first Johnny Bench card from that set, and being disappointed that after all that waiting, it was such a stupid looking card
When I was between the ages of approximately 8 and 12 (1966 thru 1970), when I woke up the morning of my birthday, there would be a wax box (cost was $1.20) sitting at the foot of my bed. Man, I was always so excited to get this present from my mom and dad. Before I got out of bed I opened up the box looking for THE MICK. (My birthday is in April and Mantle was usually in that series.) I probably also had a wad of gum stuck in my mouth as I ripped into those packs. Of course I would bring the best cards to school with me to show my friends. Those are such good memories. Thanks mom and dad!
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.
Trading a Mark Grace rated rookie for a 1987 Fleer Michael Jordan. Then the kid that traded the Jordan to me laughing at me and saying I got ripped off. Becket Basketball Price Guide came out about 3 months later and he wasn't laughing anymore.
Asking my parents for money to go to the local card shop. My dad gave me a buck and my mom gave me a buck. Going in to the shop and having choice to make. 1989 Fleer baseball with Ripken error for $2 a pack or buying two packs of 1989 Fleer corrected packs at $1 pack. I bought the error version pack and pulled a Ripken F Face error out of the pack.
al.
Jeff
I'm 32 today so my memories range from 1986-1994
Childhood memories:
- Remember collecting 1986 Topps. I just liked the way the cards looked.
- Showing my step brother my 1987 Topps (this was in 1988) and he points to my Mark Mcgwire and I never noticed I owned not one but 2 (doubles) till that very moment and I became so happy jumping up and down. lol
- My dad one Saturday morning in February of 1989 asking if I wanted to meet Jose Canseco (uhhh duh) and so we did. Jose was signing at some electronics store and my dad hears his name from this woman sitting next to Canseco at a table and looks up and shes saying Hi to my dad. My dad instantly recognizes her and asks her what shes doing here and she lifts up her finger and points to her ring. Esther Canseco is who that was. My dad was a manager for a department store in the mid 80's and she worked for him and he had to let her go. Now she was married to the biggest baseball superstar on the planet in 1989.
- My grandfather taking me to my local childhood card shop when I was 11 and buying me my first Beckett (Aug 1991 with Tony Gwnn and Fred Mcgriff on the cover) - then he went to the dog tracks and I just sat in 1 chair all afternoon reading that magazine up and down and I was hooked.
- Calling my friend who had a subscription and asking him the prices on my cards for that months.
- Also like someone mentioned, adding up the total dollar amount of cards and seeing who had the most. I remember adding about $200 worth of cards. Funny now - I have single cards now that are that price alone.
- Purchasing endless packs of 1991 topps from stores, ice cream man.
- Reading Becketts and taking them to school and paying attention more to those magazines that I should have been. Same with Nintendo Power magazines.
- Also seeing the Canseco 86 Donruss at a price of $125 and thinking Ill never own one of those. Now I own more than enough and have 3 signed personally by him to me.
- Opening packs of 1994 Upperdeck trying to get the Jordan Rookie. I always heard only 1 was inserted per box and so when I got one, I was so excited. Still have that same card today.
- Trading cards in general. It wasn't much about value, it was just about fun and getting rid of guys in order to obtain your favorite players cards.
- I remember when I first noticed that 1989 Fleer Ken Griffey Jr card was at a BV of $10 and so I went through my large stack of Fleer cards and was looking for this "Griffey jr" player. I didn't know what the card looked like or if he was white or black and I ended up finding 2 of them. My cards were always beat up though. lol
this was a card of that Yankee shortstop with the funny name, Roger Peckinpaugh, except he was now with the 1924 World Champs.... the Senators
The set is now know as 1925 Holland Ice Cream (but may be really a late 1924 issue extending into 1925). I had a hand in fixing the date years ago in catalogs, its been listed as 1926 before.. but would make no sense because the Senators were not the champs in 1925 (lost to Pittsburgh in WS), they were the champs in 1924.
The #16 Peckinpaugh I originally discovered is still the only known #16 from the set of 18 cards... the reason its scarce is it was the intentionally shortprinted "chase card" for this set (ie like the Maple Crispette Stengel, US Caramel Lindsrom, 1933 Goudey #106, etc.) ... if you completed the set of 18 cards and turned them in to the ice cream company you would get a large brick of ice cream! Ya but Im sure not many could do this as for over 75 years no one in our hobby ever saw the #16....
PS I paid under $200 it, and then sold it about 8-10 years ago for $3K in G/VG, and still to this day it is now listed in many catalogs as $2500 NRMT.... this is not the first time Ive mentioned this.... maybe it just has to sell again, as in reality its only sold one time ever within our hobby...
a true 1/1
Card Country
Graded stars 1950's-1980
2. Sitting in the living room floor with my mom sorting 88 score baseball cards trying to put together a set.
3. Making sure that all of my rookie cards were in the top loaders that had "rookie card" at the top of it.....lol
4. Buying a box of 91 Leaf Baseball at a card show for 75.00 when it first came out and selling it to a DEALER for 125.00 just a few weeks later......We all thought that it would be as popular as the 90 Leaf set at that point....lol
5. Attending my first National Convention in Arlington, TX in the early 90s and literally "bumping" into Willie Mays while walking down one of the aisles.....that was pretty cool
A few of my better purchases over the last few years.....
1. Buying 5 cases of 98 Kenner Starting Lineup Extended Football a few months before the Colts won the Super Bowl a few years ago. I bought these with the intention of opening and getting all of the Manning rookie cards graded. There were 2 Manning's per case and I sent 9 of the 10 to BGS and got 8 BGS 9.5s and 1 BGS 10. I paid 250 for the cases and sold the 8 BGS 9.5s for around 400 and the BGS 10 for 450.
2. About 5-6 years ago I bought 6 sealed cases of 1989 score supplemental football sets for 40.00 a case. After sending in many of the Sterling Sharpe rcs, Dermonti Dawson rcs, and the Bo Jackson card to be graded I ended up making around 1200.00 bucks on the deal.
3. Purchased raw 99 bowmans best atomic refractor of Derek Jeter for 35.00 got it graded a PSA 10(a pop 1 at the time) and sold it for a little over 200 bucks.
Those are a few of my favorite memories and I enjoyed hearing some of yours as well.....
- My first was my dad telling me about baseball cards and him taking me to the local grocery to buy me some. They were 1989 Topps football Racks that were everywhere in the checkout stands. Just rows and rows! He helped me pick out all the ones with Giants on top, the LTs and Simms were my favorite
- Second is going to the first big cards show ever, Tri-Star in Phx back in 1994 and bringing my lucky charm... my DAD. He would pull all the packs and man did he have the touch. That day the Talk of the show was the limited Michael Jordan Minor League Baseball Card that was supposed to be in the Upper Deck Minors (Foo3112 I think you talk of the same thing) and while being told of it from a local dealer my Dad told me to buy a pack. He picked it out and boom there was the Gold Version that was limited to less which made the dealer have a heart attack. Ha wish it was actually worth something today.
Edit to change the Mantle from 53 to 52 (My dad almost cried when I showed him how much the 52 Mantles were worth. He said he had a bunch of em and always caught crap about "that is not a real autograph")
-I remember, I think in 1991, might have been 92, or 93, I was at a small show (30-35 tables). There was a table of non sport cards. One box said, "The Living Dollhouse". Me, being kind of naive at 13 or 14 thought they were really doll house cards.
My mom was into doll houses, I bought a few packs. It turned out they were stripper, X rated cards, lol. The doll house was a strip club name in Florida. Those were my first X rated cards bought. I think I still have them.
-I have a lot of good memories of friends collecting. Had a friend big into Will Clark in 1989, 90. I remember pulling a 90 Upper Deck Reggie Jackson from a pack, the insert. We couldn't tell if it was a real autograph or not....thought it might have been worth a few hundred dollars. Information back then wasn't easy to get to.
-Did anyone else go through a phase of buying different top loaders? It seems like I bought 3 or 4 kinds at one point. It's been a long time since I've actively put cards in different holders. Does anyone remember the old lucite screw down cases? Those were pretty cool.
I only had 1 or 2 of the 1" ones. Those were pretty rare for a 13 or 14 year old. Only cards worth $100 or $250 would go in them.
-Most infamous purchase. Maybe 91 OPC Premier baseball? Everyone thought they'd be as popular as 90 OPC Premier hockey. I dont think they ever took off like people thought, it seems like they died quickly after release.
-The magazine ads were fun. Does anyone remember Sportscard Trader? I had that, Beckett, Tuff Stuff. Remember the oversized Tuff Stuff? Do they even make those anyone?
Barry Bonds copied the move years later after he hit a home run.
In 1981, my Dad started buying me baseball cards. I was a huge Reggie Jackson fan. I loved Reggie, but keep in mind in 1981, I was 4 years old. Whenever my Dad had the Yankees on, I would tell him to tell me when Reggie was up and I would come watch. I still remember saying that, and one time my Dad responding "Scott, Reggie doesnt play with the Yankees anymore." Anyways, my Dad would always buy me a pack or two of baseball cards when he went grocery shopping. And I always kept them.
In 1984-85 or so, our family went to go visit my Uncle who had a house in the Poconos. He was, well at the time, VERY well off (he's since flat broke....amazing how life happens sometimes). Anyways, he said how he's been collecting baseball cards, and I thought "me too!". He showed us his collection, and wow, did it knock my socks off. He was a big Pete Rose collector (his last name was Rose). Pages and pages of 63 rookies, 71s, amazing. He told us that baseball cards were getting to be a big business.
I went home, and started organizing my cards. Together with my Dad, we were buying more packs. I still remember waking up one morning and my Dad said "There's a baseball card show in Utica (20 minutes away), do you want to go?" I couldnt have been more excited. I still have the Yankees team set my Dad bought me that day, in the original case. From then on out, my Dad and I were always on the lookout for baseball cards. My Dad use to always say "We need to buy vintage, stay away from the modern stuff." Boy, do I wish I had always taken his advice. On the outside, it probably looked like my Dad and I were in it together. However, now in hindsight I realize that I was the one that was really into it, and he was into it because he knew I loved it and it was something we could do together. We would hit garage sales and auctions looking for cards. I still remember going to an auction and winning a huge lot of 68s and 71s. When we went through it, it had a Nolan Ryan rookie. We were ecstatic.
In 1987, my Uncle who I mentioned above called us and asked if we wanted to go to the BB HOF Inductions that summer in Cooperstown. We arrived on Friday night, and while having dinner, Billy Williams was in the same restaurant having dinner next to us. Got my first BB HOFer's autograph that night. The next day we went to go see the Oneonta Yankees play, and in our box seats next to us that night sat George Steinbrenner (Catfish was getting inducted the next day, and the Yankees were playing in the HOF game that Monday). Getting both of their autographs that night really got me into collecting autos.
My uncle didnt go back to Induction Weekend in 1988, but my father and I started a new tradition in 1988 of attending. That year I saved up all year around to go to the baseball card show in Cooperstown that weekend to buy a Mickey Mantle. For $36 I purchased my first Mickey Mantle card; 1968 topps at the age of 10. I thought that one day I would own them all. Sadly, I am still at 1.
The next year is when players started doing appearances in Cooperstown. I saved up my money that year and bought a Cooperstown Bat Co bat, and my Dad and I started getting autographs on the bat. That's when I stopped collecting cards so much, and instead focused on autographs. Here are a few pictures of the bat:
My Dad and I went to every HOF induction from 1987 through 1998. It was a great summer tradition. In 1999, Woodstock came to Rome, NY the same weekend and as many 21 year olds would do, I chose Woodstock. The tradition stopped. Girls, booze, and other things occupied my summers in my early and mid 20s. In 2007, I started to get back into collecting. My Dad and I worked on this piece for a long time on Induction Weekends, and we always seemed to miss Brooks Robinson. We decided to start up Induction Weekend again. Finished this up in 2007, about 15 years after starting it:
And we went again in 2008. In the spring of 2009, my Dad was diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer. I had asked him if he would be up for going to Induction Weekend (and in the back of my mind knowing it would most likely be the last time), but he just wasnt up for it. I said, "Well, lets go next year when you are back on your feet." He passed away that December.
I've gone back to Cooperstown one other time: Last summer my buddies and I stopped on our way to Fenway for a baseball trip. Every year I say I am going to go back to Induction Weekend, but I just can't bring myself to do it.
Great thread....thanks for letting me share.
1955 Bowman Raw complete with 90% Ex-NR or better
Now seeking 1949 Eureka Sportstamps...NM condition
Working on '78 Autographed set now 99.9% complete -
Working on '89 Topps autoed set now complete
<< <i>In 1972, my Dad taking me to the liquor store to buy my first baseball card packs. In 1974, i had to take a big test and afterwards my Mom gave me a complete set of baseball cards. wish I had kept the cards in the box. >>
Liquor and cards - now that's my kind of store
Mark
T206 Set - 300/524
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.
- Hanging out at the Edgewater Hotel (sadly now gone with a Walmart in its place) getting autographs of the visiting team, then heading over the Oakland Coliseum for a doubleheader (and staying after for more autographs).
- Getting a full box of 1968 Topps Cards for $1.20 (or was it $1.00?) Can't remember if there were 20 or 24 packs to a box.
- The gum.
- Reading the articles and ads in The Sport Hobbyist, Trader Speaks, Sports Scoop, and the Autograph Review. If you remember any of these you are at least as old as me!
- Meeting Rudy May (Angels/Yanks pitcher in the 1970s) and Sandy Alomar at his mom's house in Oakland when the Angels were in town. Rudy gave me a fully signed 1972 Angels ball which I still have.
- My mom (she was a nurse) bringing home autographs of various sports people from their hospital visits.
- Last but not least the mentors, friends, and characters I've met along the way.
- Bob Kearney asking to see the Dave Valle FU card and answering me that, while he might appear to be Bob's competition, his real competition was himself and going out and doing his best every day
- Getting Carl Hubbel, Billy Williams and Willie Mays to sign a ball
- Sitting next to Ryne Sandberg's mom and watching her hand Yosh Kawano a note telling Ryne to meet her outside the clubhouse after the top of the 7th. First ever natural buzz when he signed the 85 Donruss Action All Star
- Asking Harold Reynolds what the PTL stood for on his signature. The answer was "Praise the Lord"
- Tim Leary saying, "Wow, where'd you dig this one up from?" When I handed him the 1982 Topps Mets Future Stars to sign
- Donnie Hill and Dave Kingman ribbing the kid by the dugout who kept whining, "Kiiiinnngggmaaan" - I did not whine or say anything and both signed my cards
There was no security in 1986. Players walked out of the clubhouse and were on their own to get to their cars. It was brilliant. Maybe the best vacation of my life.
I really enjoyed this thread....
- My mom driving us to card shops/shows on Saturdays and acting like she loved it. What a great mother!
- Selling my collection of 80's cards in 1992 for a great price so I could buy an ATV.
- Coming back to the hobby in my 30's.
JBox
-My parents and I all collected. Every Sunday night would consist of us opening packs. We would split a 1987 wax box 3 ways (12 each) and then we had older "premium packs" from the early 80's, that we would play poker for. High card wins 1st choice
-Sending cards into players asking for autographs and being so excited to come home from school and see who replied. Some signed them and sent them back (Eric Davis, Joe Carter, Mark McGwire, Paul Molitor, Tony Gwynn). Some sent them back with nothing but an invitation to their fan club or something (George Brett, Wade Boggs, Roger Clemens, Don Mattingly), some just kept the cards or ignored the mail (Darryl Strawberry, Rickey Henderson, Vince Coleman)
-I also worked at one of the best card shops in Southern California in the early 90's. We had some really cool unopened stuff. I remember 86 Fleer Basketball going for $50/pk and being shocked. And it seemed like overnight it went up to $200/pk. It was a blast watching lawyers, CPA's, etc come in and drop a couple grand on packs and just pop them right there at the store. There was one old guy that was retired and had a lot of money and he always bought whatever 1984 Donruss we had. Back then, they were like $20/pk. We also had countless racks of 1984 Donruss Baseball, 1978 Topps Baseball, etc
-Meeting Paul Molitor, one of my heros, at a local card shop. He was so gracious
-Spending $75 on a 1988 Fleer Baseball Wax Box trying to get a Gregg Jefferies (Oh wait, you said good memories) LOL
TheClockworkAngelCollection
- Going to the local card show at the bowling alley, where I purchased a 1972 Joe Morgan for $0.15 (I remember this clearly for an unknown reason) and later a few bottles of 1978 All Star Game 7-Up. I still have one bottle.
- Getting my first box of Topps baseball cards in 1978 from Price Club (and repeating this is 1979 and 1980). I can remember staring at the box and packs all the way home.
- Going to 7-11 and buying Slurpees more for the magic-motion baseball coin insert in the bottom of the cup than the Slurpee.
- Looking at all the Hostess box bottoms at the grocery store for the best three-card panels. Seemed I could never find good ones!
- Tossing cards across the living room with friends. If you landed on another card, you got to take back your card and the one you landed on. 1971 Topps Supers were reserved for trying to snag special cards.
- Looking at the cereal boxes in the store and hoping my parents would let me get one that had the Kellogg's baseball inserts. I was mesmerized by those "3-D" cards.
- Scratching the backs of some 1964 Topps cards I got to reveal the hidden answers to the trivia questions.
And as an aside, a very early baseball memory: seeing Hank Aaron hit one "out of the park" when I wasn't even four years old, and asking my parents to drive around the parking lot after the game to look for the home run ball. They did. How nice was that?
• 1972, loved the design -- MY ALL-TIME FAVORITE set -- still have my childhood 72s. Would keep card in alphabetical order. Remember asking my grandmother which came first, REDS or RED SOX.
• 1973, loved the icons in the corner and would arrange cards in baseball diamond. Had almost 1,500, but like most people, stopped buying at end of season and have little or none of the last series -- no Schmidts :-(
• 1974 -- Being a big Mets fan, loved the Mets playoff cards and LOVED seeing Rusty Staub on a Mets card (he had no 1972 or 1973 card). Was intrigued when the kid across the street showed me a TRADED card he got in a pack.
• 1975 -- the design. What more can I say, except I loved '72s more.
Edited: And growing up in Brooklyn in the 70s, every kid 'FLIPPED' cards -- by colors (to win other kids' cards).
I may have shared this before, but I remember buying my first packs in 76 and hoping for nothing more than a hank aaron or any team card. (i was 8). I think hank aaron was the only player i knew about. i was jealous of my buddy who had a record breaker aaron from 76.
I remember getting my first two packs in 77 and getting both a braves and a brewers team card. I wasn't sure which team he was on, but was distraught when i realized he was not listed as a card on either team.
i remember buying a neighbor's full box of 72s for $5 in 79...then drooling when i realized it had a rod carew and steve garvey that both listed in becket #1 as $4 and $2 cards! (of course mine were creased, as well as 90% of those 800 other cards i bought for $5). Still have 'em all!
Loved going to card shows at the malls in the 80s with my dad...who wasn't into it but always tagged along and crossed cards off lists for me as i bought them.
Topps Heritage - Trade Page
Here is probably my favorite memory....I used to take Mays, Clemente, Aaron, Mantle, Snider, Kaline and Musial cards to my dad and tell him to pick the 3 starters in the outfield.............and the 3 starters were Mays, Mantle and Clemente. He would say it was a tough choice as all were great.
I would do the same with running backs in the NFL...I would hand him Brown, Sayers, Simpson and Payton. He would pick Jim Brown very quickly.
Loved my dad and miss him very much.
Mickey71
<< <i>I remember going to King's Baseball Cards in Berkeley, CA back in 1977. His shop was the size of a broom closet, and he had drawers full of cards from the late 50's to early 70's, all collated. I remember he had Jim Palmer rookies in the common drawer, so they were 15 cents each, and the second year Pete Rose cost more than the rookie, because the rookie was so ugly. Those were the days! >>
If you still live near berkeley, you might want to check this out:
King's Baseball Cards
- Anytime I got some money for doing chores or helping out around the house, or $5 from a relative for my birthday/Christmas, calculating how many packs I could buy.
- Asking my mother for a Velveeta box because they were great at storing and toting cards to school. (side note: when I dragged my cards out of the attic a few months ago, found I still had one of those old boxes. Is there a market for 35 year old velveeta boxes?)
These next two are d'oh! memories:
- Taking years to figure out that the 1974 Gary Matthews card did have his position on it. The card is a landscape picture of Matthews sliding into 3rd base. Along the bottom of the card it reads "Gary Matthews OF San Francisco Giants". For YEARS I thought it was "Gary Matthews OF the San Francisco Giants" not OutFielder.
- Biggest regret - selling off most of my collection in 8th grade. There was a class trip to Washington DC and there was a flea market fund raiser. I decided to get some cash I would keep only one of every player (this was 1980 and I had cards from 1974-1979). So I remember the afternoon I 'auditioned' the cards I would keep and the ones I would sell. I try not to think about the cards I parted with.
Making memories - getting back into the hobby with my best friend from childhood (haven't seen each other in 31 years) and more importantly, my 13 yo nephew.
I had forgotten how much fun this hobby is.
Topps/OPC Hockey 1966-Present base sets
I'm 34, so my first collecting memories were my dad buying 85 - 90 boxes and me just ripping!. My dad always joked with me growing up that no wax could ever stay unopened in our house with me around! Little did we know, that these were so overproduced, and that INDEED later on life, I wouldnt be paying for my college education with all my 1987, 88, and 89 topps sets. :-)
My dad grew up in the 60's and collected a lot of 1971's. I remember at one time he had four or five sets of 1971 topps. He would later sell these in the 80's for current topps wax product. What was he thinking LOL. One partial set of 1971 was traded in 1985 for a 1962 topps mickey mantle card. I still remember that day at the card show very vividly, and we still have it today. While it only grades a PSA 5, its the card that we've held on to the longest and is the most special to me.
I was out of collecting from the early 90's (college, drinking, girls) to about five years ago. I've gotten back into collecting, and have really enjoyed getting back into vintage cards (current focus: 1956 topps set in PSA7). My dad collects Mickey Mantle cards in grades 7 to 8, and I've started to dabble in unopened product from the early 80's/late 70's. At least at this point in my life, I can keep it unopened.
One of my favorite memories from college was coming home from the bars at like 130 and throwing on Shop at Home and listening to Don West telling me that I was making the biggest mistake of my life, if I didnt get in on his blue chip special which was full of griffey, jr's, mantles, mays, and clementes. I'd tape these for my dad, and I'd come home for christmas and we'd throw them in the VCR and start laughing hysterically. I remember one time, he accidentally knocked over like 8,000 cards on the ground and got down on all fours, and screamed, "YOURE GOING TO GET SO MANY CARDS, YOU COULD SWIM IN THEM!!!!" What a guy!!
Jeremy
I started collecting in 1974 at age 6. Bought my first cards, that I recall, at a store in, or near, the French Quarter on a trip to New Orleans.
I remember buying 1975 mini rack packs, for several years after 1975 at the Sav-on Drug Stores on National in West Los Angeles.
1981 was my BIG year. I bought a case of Topps and dozens of unopened boxes of all the sets. 1981 Donruss was great as you might get 5 George Bretts in one pack. Great sorting at first!
1982 my dad drove me around to the Union 76 gas stations to get the 8.5 x 11 Dodger prints. Some stations you only got 1 and some would give you the whole box. My dad was sick at the time and drove me around to a few stations on a Sunday morning and he died that night. A dedicated father to the end!
Late 90's and into the 2000's getting reacquainted with cards and getting cards graded.
Finally selling my cards the last year.
All great memories.
Great memories/stories so far from everyone. Keep them coming. I'm reading them all.
When I first went in I could not believe it: Upper Deck packs were only $1 and the guy had 3 Griffey's for the Beckett price of $3!!!
I bought all the griffey's and the 2 boxes of UD he had.
It was a great trip to North Dakota!
-Jason
- in the late 80's my best friend Tim & I were trading cards at his house. We were both in the 5th grade. For whatever reason I have a fairly strong memory, and had manged to memorize almost the entire Beckett Price Guide (not kidding). Tim did not know this, so when he asked that we trade without the price guide I was licking my chops. Needless to say after a good half hour or so of trading, I was up by a HUGE amount (probably eight dollars or so lol). It was such a big deal that my mom made me trade back the cards...we're still friends to this day and every once in a while that day comes up
- Also, when i graduated High School, my mom took me to the local flea market with the idea of buying me my first "real" Mickey Mantle card. This was in the days before ebay. We found a nice '60 All Star card, which we paid $175 for. That was a good chunk of change for a single mom raising two teenage boys! It would probably grade a 5 or 6, and because of the sentiment behind it, it is one of my favorite cards in my collection. Thanks Mom!
- When I got married to my beautiful wife 6 years ago, she managed to snag me a beautifully centered '69 Mantle PSA 6 (It's certainly get the half point bump, maybe even a full point if I sent it in for review). Needless to say she's a keeper - the wife & the card.