Larry Fritsch start

Tibor

I remember receiving price lists from Fritsch back in the 70's.
How did Larry get his start? Sorry for the double post.

flcardtrader

Sounds to me like he was in the right place at the right time multiple times in his life.

The Fritsch website mentions Larry Fritsch began his involvement in the hobby in 1948 and then founded Fritsch cards in 1970.

The stories about the 72 football high numbers are legendary and I have heard that Topps would typically turn to him to unload unsold product in subsequent years as well.

Unlike Renata Galasso, I don't think Fritsch ever made their own cards - just the reprints that they have sold over the years.

craig44

I heard Fritsch would get train car loads of unsold product from topps years ago.

begsu1013

sdsalezman

"Unlike Renata Galasso, I don't think Fritsch ever made their own cards - just the reprints that they have sold over the years"

Fritsch made some sets over the years. I personally own the 'One Year Winners' set that came out in multiple series from 1977-1983. It contains cards of players with unique accomplishments. For example, you can get a card of John Paciorek who went 4-4 in his MLB career and was the brother of Tom Paciorek.

One Year Winners

flcardtrader

Thanks for the correction.

Fritsch claims to be the first nationwide dealer....was Renata Galasso the 2nd or were there others during the early/mid-70's?

JoeBanzai

<< <i>I heard Fritsch would get train car loads of unsold product from topps years ago. >>



20 or so years ago I had quite the conversation with Larry. He must have been viewed by many as crazy back then. He told me of two instances where he went to where Franklin Milk cartons and the Matchbooks with the Minnesota Twins players were featured on were distributed or made and bought stuff "out the back door" for next to nothing. If I remember correctly he got a "bunch" of unused milk cartons and a case of matchbooks. This would have been in the early 1960's. He said he was in Minneapolis at the time staying at a hotel and hunted the stuff down.

He also told me that he was one of the few people buying large quantities from Topps They contacted him (early 1970's?) saying they had a bunch of left over cards and he could have them if he paid for the shipping. He received a boxcar full of unopened material.

He may have been a strange guy, but he was certainly a visionary.

maddux69

Turn back the clock on an old thread about what was in his personal collection. Really puts things in perspective when you hear someone has a complete autographed 53 Bowman set and a 52 Topps autographed set only missing 5 cards.

Larry Fritsch Collection

craig44

There were other old time dealers. Can't recall names, but others advertised in print in the sixties if I recall correctly

AUPT

On my blog on Aug. 9 I discussed the card dealers that advertised in 1965; guys like Martucci, Gelman, Oreck, etc.


1965 card dealers

Cooptown

I went to the Fritsch museum in Cooperstown. I have told this story on here a few times, but I attended HOF Induction weekend every year with my Dad from 1987-1998, took a break because of college, girls, etc., then again in 2007 and 2008. My Dad passed in 2009, and it took me many years to be able to go back. I started the tradition back up in 2014 and went again this year in 2015. Anyways, I remember going to the museum in 1989 or so. It was absolutely breathtaking for a kid who was obsessed with baseball cards. The Wagner, the Plank, the Doyle, the Magie, the 52 Mickey, endless amounts of CrackerJack and Goudeys. Just an amazing experience, and one I wish I had remembered better or at least taken some photos.
From what I can gather online, Fritsch opened the museum sometime after the HOF Induction in 1988, and I believe I first saw it HOF Induction 1989.

Link

The following year I was all excited to go back through the museum again, only to find that it was now closed. Imagine a 13 year old’s devastation. My father and I had this tradition where every year we would go back to the building, just to see if anything was in there. Secretly, I was hoping it would open back up. For years it was vacant, then at one point I believe a paint store was in there, and then I think at one point it was a realtor’s office. When my Dad and I went back in 2007 and 2008 again, it was empty.
Here’s another article that briefly mentions the museum, however I don’t ever recall him attempting to reopen it:

Link

And finally, here’s another link from Net54, that I participated in, that talked about the museum:

Link

The Museum did issue an 8 card set that featured some of their best cards, along with the story of they were acquired (the trademark on the cards are 1988). I believe I received my set for free as they had just opened the museum that HOF Induction Weekend. A few years ago I got rid of all of my 80s and 90s junk cards, but had to keep this set. They still have it listed here:


Link

I will try to upload pics of them at some point.
When I was in Cooperstown this summer, I decided to photo document all of the places that my Dad and I used to go. I decided to track down the Fritsch museum. Ironically enough I had a hard time finding it. The trees had really grown in, so it covered a lot of the building. It was vacant, and as you can see from the reflection in the windows, they were using it as a parking lot that weekend. You can actually see me in the reflection as well.

Thanks for the trip down memory lane. If you ever want to chat about Cooperstown, I am your guy (hence, the username).

Cooptown

The link I posted from an old article doesnt seem to be work, but copy and paste this into your browser. It's a good read:

https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1368&dat=19890106&id=nwMkAAAAIBAJ&sjid=nRIEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2145,1043222&hl=en

bishop

Good posts Bob and Coop

gemint

One of Jose Canseco's more well-known minor league cards was issued by Fritsch. Another old time dealer I remember is Dennis Eckes of Den's Collector's Den. He co-authored the early price guides with Dr. Beckett.