Evening with the boys & cards

aldridgemj

Last night was a nice mailday for me, 4 of the BB HOF RC's came. Little did I know the best part of the evening was yet to come, no not what you think... My boys (6 and almost 3) have seen the envelopes come in for the past few weeks as I begin the long uphill climb that is the BB Post War HOF RC set. By now, they are keenly aware of what awaits inside and to my surprise and satisfaction, are more excited than I am. Last night was no different. After opening the envelopes, my oldest said he wanted to lay them out with the other ones I have received and open the "shop" for business. I explained to him that the cards I have are from 1949 to 1987 and he immediately decided that they must go in order chronologically. His first issue came with the 1954 Banks and Kaline cards. He said it was a tie and was uncertain what to do but then decided he would go by the card number in the set. I don't know about many of you guys but when I was a kid, I did this exact same thing in terms of laying my cards out display style in chronological order and pretending I had my own card shop. Next, he asked me about the different grades on the cards and what they meant. I explained to him the grading process and what is deemed to fall within each numerical grade and that I like the well-centered cards the best. Within 30 seconds of me telling him this he looks concerned and points out that there is an issue with the aforementioned 1954 cards because they are both missing the top border. He asks me how I could have missed that. These kids are fast. Finally, he and his younger brother both picked out their favorite cards. I told them they could pick any one and I would then buy one for their collection. My kids definitely take after their mother and her expensive taste. The oldest picked out the 1955 Koufax and the youngest picked out the 1954 Banks. I am happy with their selections so now I will be on the hunt to find nice non-creased, centered versions in mid-grade (4-6) of each.

Sorry for the long read but the wife didn't seem to enjoy the story as much I enjoyed telling her so I thought a few of you with small children (or children that were once small) may be able to relate and appreciate it.

vintagefun

EPIC Moments!!!

Kids have great taste. I literally just bought a nicely centered Banks RC in a 4, and can hardly wait for it to arrive.

Thanks for sharing.

lightningboy

I love that stuff with the kids. it strips down the hobby to its basic foundation --- fun.

I have several nice cards that I consider my keepers forever (Aaron rookie PSa 8, Mantle Bowman PSA 5, Jackie SGC 86, Jordan PSA 8, Cobb PSA 4 and Jim Brown PSA 7)

4 years ago I was looking through one of the many 1987 Donruss factory set boxes that I had lying around with my 12 year old daughter. She had studied centering and corners for several years with me and picked out a card as a possible PSA 10. I initially said no because it would only get an 8 or 9 and wasn't worth the grading fees. Then I thought, hey, she picked this on her own and really thought it was nice. Should I let the $7 cost get in the way of her judgement.

Now I have a nice PSA 10 1987 Donruss Bo Jackson card with a post it on the back that reads "never sell this card, Emily picked it for grading" Definitely one of my favorites.

Kid4hof03

That is great! My 14 year old son really started to love my collection and the history of baseball cards and specifically the Yankees when he was 9. I have the Topps card book that was put out in 1985 with pictures of every Topps card from 1951 to 85, I sat with him with that book and we went through it and he picked specific cards. At the same time he also started watching things like old DVD's of This Week in Baseball with me as well as ESPN 30 for 30 specials and the like and decided he wanted cards from many of the players he saw on those videos. Somehow he heard about the National and that it was in Baltimore, about a 2 hour drive from us and asked if we could go. I didn't need much of an excuse so we both made want lists and headed to Baltimore. That year he got a Rickey Henderson rookie, a few 1956 Yankees (like me, when going through the Topps book he decided that was the best set ever), a low grade 1961 Roger Maris and a few others things. We have now been to the National together every year since, it is our thing, we plan it all year, he saves money, makes a want list and talks about it non-stop from about the new year until the end of July when we finally get to go. His collecting taste has change, he still has many of the cards he started with and enjoys them but along the way he started playing basketball, started watching old videos and fell in love with Pete Maravich, how he wants to be a Pete Maravich supercollector. In the last year he has almost completed a graded Topps Maravich set (needs to upgrade his rookie) and added some amazing display and oddball items by saving his allowance and doing odd jobs for anyone that will let him. In Cleveland he got his dream item, a Maravich JSA cerified autographed 8x10 photo.

All that is to say, enjoy collecting with your boys. I always wanted to go to the National every year but could never justify it in my budget, now that my son goes with me I savor every moment of it, I know at some point he might not be as passionate about the hobby as I am or even give up on it completely but the time we spend together now is worth every dollar spent. After Cleveland this year my wife and I were talking about the trip and she said, "I wonder how many more years you guys will make the trip?" I told her that I was going to plan to go for the rest of my life and just hope that he feels the same way.

MantleFan23

Matt,

Great story.....I enjoyed reading it. Glad you get to share our great hobby with your kids!

Jeremy

jmmiller777

And this is the meaning of life...
Great job and thanks for sharing...

aldridgemj

Thank you guys for reading and I am glad many of you appreciated/enjoyed the read.

vintagefun-The Banks that my son questioned my taste in centering on was also a 4. That card is definitely hard to find centered.

lightningboy-awesome story about your daughter. my son wants all of his modern star wars cards in "cases like daddy". I may sub a couple of his favorites for him when I sign up for my platinum membership.

kid4hof03-That is great about you and your son connecting and visiting the national every year. we haven't gone yet but fortunately his birthday is right around there every year. once he is out of the birthday party phase, I will try to negotiate a road trip for his birthday.

DanBessette

Awesome stuff! Both of my sons (now 8 and 11) are passionate collectors. David Ortiz is their favorite player and they're both building impressive collections of him. They both like to pick up the occasional Yaz too, like their dad, and I've supplemented those with low grade dupes of mine. They both have quite a bit of vintage, which is crazy, because when I was their age I thought a card that was 5 years old was OLD. My oldest has developed a taste for 1954 Bowman and has at least a dozen low grade cards of star, non HOF players. We're both working on the 2014 Topps set and I've been able to help him with a lot of dupes. This past Christmas, they each picked out and bought me a card for my 1959 Fleer Ted Williams set and they're my favorite cards in the set for that reason. About a week ago, on Labor Day, the 3 of us boys made a 5 hour round trip to a card show to meet Gino Cappelletti (and Oil Can Boyd). We all had the time of our lives and are still talking about it. So the 3 of us are going to a Yaz signing in November, which promises to be an even more special day!

Mires

<< <i>That is great! My 14 year old son really started to love my collection and the history of baseball cards and specifically the Yankees when he was 9. I have the Topps card book that was put out in 1985 with pictures of every Topps card from 1951 to 85, I sat with him with that book and we went through it and he picked specific cards. At the same time he also started watching things like old DVD's of This Week in Baseball with me as well as ESPN 30 for 30 specials and the like and decided he wanted cards from many of the players he saw on those videos. Somehow he heard about the National and that it was in Baltimore, about a 2 hour drive from us and asked if we could go. I didn't need much of an excuse so we both made want lists and headed to Baltimore. That year he got a Rickey Henderson rookie, a few 1956 Yankees (like me, when going through the Topps book he decided that was the best set ever), a low grade 1961 Roger Maris and a few others things. We have now been to the National together every year since, it is our thing, we plan it all year, he saves money, makes a want list and talks about it non-stop from about the new year until the end of July when we finally get to go. His collecting taste has change, he still has many of the cards he started with and enjoys them but along the way he started playing basketball, started watching old videos and fell in love with Pete Maravich, how he wants to be a Pete Maravich supercollector. In the last year he has almost completed a graded Topps Maravich set (needs to upgrade his rookie) and added some amazing display and oddball items by saving his allowance and doing odd jobs for anyone that will let him. In Cleveland he got his dream item, a Maravich JSA cerified autographed 8x10 photo.

All that is to say, enjoy collecting with your boys. I always wanted to go to the National every year but could never justify it in my budget, now that my son goes with me I savor every moment of it, I know at some point he might not be as passionate about the hobby as I am or even give up on it completely but the time we spend together now is worth every dollar spent. After Cleveland this year my wife and I were talking about the trip and she said, "I wonder how many more years you guys will make the trip?" I told her that I was going to plan to go for the rest of my life and just hope that he feels the same way. >>



I have to say your son has great taste!