Newbie Says Thanks
vintagefun
Posts: 1,974 ✭✭✭
Hey Gang -
Long time reader, first time poster. First off a big thanks to all of you. I've had to consult the boards many times over the last couple years, and have avoided a few pitfalls thanks to you.
About me:
Born in 1971, the first packs I remember opening are 1978 baseball and football, but 1980 is the first year I was "collecting"
Around 1985 I made the mistake of "joining" my collection to that of my neighbor and best friend who was 2 years older. We actually did fine with it. We were renting tables at small conventions and money was doled appropriately, but when he went away to school, so did my "shared" collection. Fortunately, I had also been re-building a personal collection over that time.
Between 1988-1990 I was also working at a card shop, which is to say a local pizza shop owner decided to rent some free retail space and sell wax and local stars to the same kids that frequented the pizza joint. He was only interested in pushing wax and would mostly buy only things he could turn quick, so being in the Bay Area, CA it was mostly Giants/A's/49ers/Raiders. He had very little interest in anything vintage unless it was Mays or McCovey, etc. Thus he allowed me to buy things for myself, if he wasn't interested, and I would pay him cost +10%.
This was a great way to re-build and over that couple of years I was constantly selling off the doubles of my speculative over-available "junk" (87 Fleer/Donruss, 89 UD, 90 Leaf, etc) and turning it into what I always loved 50's-70's Topps HOFers.
When I went away to college, my younger brother's jack-hole of an ex-friend, broke into my parents' house and stole almost everything. He got my Magic/Bird Rookie, a 58 Mantle, 59 Mays that was super clean, 5 Montana Rookies, 5 Rice Rookies, 5 UD Griffey Rookies, 2 Henderson Rookies. Etc. He essentially got the jackpot cigar box. The few things he missed are what started as the foundation of what is my collection today; 56 Koufax, 58 Clemente, 65 Gibson, 66 Banks, 68 Aaron, 71 Ryan and all the 78-92 stock that was squirlled away.
Since graduating college, and getting a job, I have through the years gotten a wild hair every now and again and popped onto eBay to blow a little cash. I didn't have much of a strategy and as cards would come, I'd take a look, enjoy, and add to safe. Recently, I went through the safe and had somehow amassed a pretty decent collection.
I used this board to get ideas on themes, and decided to start with Baseball first. I'm almost exclusively Topps and I look to get a good representation of cards from each year, and try to confine the players to some combo of the All-Century Team, an All-Decade Team, Dodgers/Giants/Yankees, or notable figures. I know....it's pretty wide open...but it makes sense to me. From a condition standpoint, I'm cool with 4-7, and most of my vintage resides in the 5-6 range.
That's a little bit about me and in the coming days I'll post a list of cards in the collection, and hopefully in the not-too-distant future some scans.
I will be asking for your help with my first submission as I need to whittle my sub down to 15 cards.
Thanks for reading and I look forward to making friends as time goes on.
Long time reader, first time poster. First off a big thanks to all of you. I've had to consult the boards many times over the last couple years, and have avoided a few pitfalls thanks to you.
About me:
Born in 1971, the first packs I remember opening are 1978 baseball and football, but 1980 is the first year I was "collecting"
Around 1985 I made the mistake of "joining" my collection to that of my neighbor and best friend who was 2 years older. We actually did fine with it. We were renting tables at small conventions and money was doled appropriately, but when he went away to school, so did my "shared" collection. Fortunately, I had also been re-building a personal collection over that time.
Between 1988-1990 I was also working at a card shop, which is to say a local pizza shop owner decided to rent some free retail space and sell wax and local stars to the same kids that frequented the pizza joint. He was only interested in pushing wax and would mostly buy only things he could turn quick, so being in the Bay Area, CA it was mostly Giants/A's/49ers/Raiders. He had very little interest in anything vintage unless it was Mays or McCovey, etc. Thus he allowed me to buy things for myself, if he wasn't interested, and I would pay him cost +10%.
This was a great way to re-build and over that couple of years I was constantly selling off the doubles of my speculative over-available "junk" (87 Fleer/Donruss, 89 UD, 90 Leaf, etc) and turning it into what I always loved 50's-70's Topps HOFers.
When I went away to college, my younger brother's jack-hole of an ex-friend, broke into my parents' house and stole almost everything. He got my Magic/Bird Rookie, a 58 Mantle, 59 Mays that was super clean, 5 Montana Rookies, 5 Rice Rookies, 5 UD Griffey Rookies, 2 Henderson Rookies. Etc. He essentially got the jackpot cigar box. The few things he missed are what started as the foundation of what is my collection today; 56 Koufax, 58 Clemente, 65 Gibson, 66 Banks, 68 Aaron, 71 Ryan and all the 78-92 stock that was squirlled away.
Since graduating college, and getting a job, I have through the years gotten a wild hair every now and again and popped onto eBay to blow a little cash. I didn't have much of a strategy and as cards would come, I'd take a look, enjoy, and add to safe. Recently, I went through the safe and had somehow amassed a pretty decent collection.
I used this board to get ideas on themes, and decided to start with Baseball first. I'm almost exclusively Topps and I look to get a good representation of cards from each year, and try to confine the players to some combo of the All-Century Team, an All-Decade Team, Dodgers/Giants/Yankees, or notable figures. I know....it's pretty wide open...but it makes sense to me. From a condition standpoint, I'm cool with 4-7, and most of my vintage resides in the 5-6 range.
That's a little bit about me and in the coming days I'll post a list of cards in the collection, and hopefully in the not-too-distant future some scans.
I will be asking for your help with my first submission as I need to whittle my sub down to 15 cards.
Thanks for reading and I look forward to making friends as time goes on.
52-90 All Sports, Mostly Topps, Mostly HOF, and some assorted wax.
0
Comments
Marc
Lots of great resources on here and, more importantly, a great bunch of guys. Looking forward to seeing your collection once you have a chance to post it.
Good luck with the upcoming submission!!!
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep."
"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans."
Collecting:
Any unopened Baseball cello and rack packs and boxes from the 1970's and early 1980s.
Your saying Bay Area + pizza shop in close proximity of the card shop makes me have to ask... did this happen to be in Santa Clara on Homestead?
I'm sure there were many pizza/card shop combos across the Bay Area back then, but I figured I would ask all the same.
Snorto~
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 think it was actually Cupertino, but end of Homestead is correct.
Would I remember you?
Small world.
http://www.unisquare.com/store/brick/
Ralph