Home Trading Cards & Memorabilia Forum

What is your favorite childhood memory involving baseball cards?

mouschimouschi Posts: 687 ✭✭✭✭

My childhood is drenched in baseball cards - most every memory has something to do with them. If I had to pick one that I remember well, it is when Mother's Cookies were in stores, circa 1989.

Nick & Bryan were HUGE Giants fans - particularly Will Clark and Kevin Mitchell. They called me over to show me something. They had pulled a 1989 Mother's Cookies Jose Canseco card that they knew I didn't have. I wanted it SOOO badly, but they kept holding it over my head.

We went to my house to see if I had any Will Clarks they wanted and they were so adamant that it was going to cost me through the nose to get the Canseco.

Then, dad showed up.

With Mother's Cookies.

With a Will Clark they didn't have.

They were oohing and ahhing. I remember how quickly the tables had turned, and how I was holding all the cookies ... err ... cards.

We ended up doing a deal. How is that for a good old fashioned trading memory? :)

image

What is your favorite childhood memory having to do with baseball cards?

Tanner Jones, Author of Confessions of a Baseball Card Addict - Now Available on Amazon!

Comments

  • ahopkinsahopkins Posts: 1,094 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Earliest cards I can remember owning and coveting were 1983 Topps. I can distinctly remember -- I would've been 7 years old -- placing the cards on my dresser mirror in that part between the mirror and the wood frame. The cards I placed there I still have to this day. Funny, I can still picture my room, my dresser, my mirror, and where those cards were on that mirror.
    They were: Pete Rose, Mike Schmidt, George Brett, and Dale Murphy.

    Andy

  • mcolney1mcolney1 Posts: 974 ✭✭✭

    1973 - forgoing lunch for the week and pocketing the money to add to my allowance to buy cards at 7-11 on Saturday morning with my friend Jimmy Yee who introduced me to collecting. I think a buck-50 bought me 10 packs, a slurpy, and a long string of zots and smarties! We'd spend the rest of the day playing hockey, Major Matt Masons, watching Star Trek, pro wrestling, and roller derby.

    Collecting Topps, Philadelphia and Kellogg's from 1964-1989
  • Dpeck100Dpeck100 Posts: 10,910 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Opening the 1985 Topps set from J.C. Penny in the brown factory set box for Christmas that year.

    Worst was having to give away my 1985 Fleer Pete Rose to my older brother so he could have a complete set. Got it back after all these years and sending it in soon to PSA. Thinking it is going to grade a 4 and I have to think whomever grades the stack will be confused why it is there.

  • dictoresnodictoresno Posts: 1,003 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Picked up what I figured was an absolutely mint example of a 1985 Topps Mattingly Rookie Card in like 1992. Held onto it all these years as my pride and joy. Got it graded last year was was shocked it got a 5. Couldn't believe it. Found a small dimpled crease in the cardstock under 60x magnification, only under certain lighting. Have no idea how PSA could've seen that lol.

    myslabs.to/smzcards

  • daltexdaltex Posts: 3,477 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @dictoresno said:
    Picked up what I figured was an absolutely mint example of a 1985 Topps Mattingly Rookie Card in like 1992. Held onto it all these years as my pride and joy. Got it graded last year was was shocked it got a 5. Couldn't believe it. Found a small dimpled crease in the cardstock under 60x magnification, only under certain lighting. Have no idea how PSA could've seen that lol.

    Is a 1985 Topps Mattingly rookie like a 1952 Topps Mantle rookie?

    Alex Relyea

  • ZTargZTarg Posts: 497 ✭✭✭

    @daltex said: Is a 1985 Topps Mattingly rookie like a 1952 Topps Mantle rookie?

    Alex Relyea

    If Mantle had a 1951 Topps card, then yes.

  • daltexdaltex Posts: 3,477 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @ZTarg said:

    @daltex said: Is a 1985 Topps Mattingly rookie like a 1952 Topps Mantle rookie?

    Alex Relyea

    If Mantle had a 1951 Topps card, then yes.

    I have a 1962 Topps Babe Ruth rookie.

  • judgebuckjudgebuck Posts: 989 ✭✭✭

    I remember opening boxes of 1960 Topps baseball, and the following year 1961 Topps baseball cards that my granddad had bought me. Occasionally, he would buy me a whole box of packs, which I think had 24 packs and cost a nickel a pack. I also have fond memories of buying and collecting 1959-62 football and baseball cards.

    Always looking for Mantle cards such as Stahl Meyer, 1954 Dan Dee, 1959 Bazooka, 1960 Post, 1952 Star Cal Decal, 1952 Tip Top Bread Labels, 1953-54 Briggs Meat, and other Topps, Bowman, and oddball Mantles.

  • bishopbishop Posts: 2,917 ✭✭✭

    @ZTarg said:

    @daltex said: Is a 1985 Topps Mattingly rookie like a 1952 Topps Mantle rookie?

    Alex Relyea

    If Mantle had a 1951 Topps card, then yes.

    The 1952 Mantle is his "Topps"rookie card, even if not his rookie card :-). What is the correct hobby definition of a rookie card anyway ? Who decided it ?

    Topps Baseball-1948, 1951 to 2017
    Bowman Baseball -1948-1955
    Fleer Baseball-1923, 1959-2007

    Al
  • FINESTKINDFINESTKIND Posts: 374 ✭✭✭

    As a 10 yr old. Building skyscrapers with baseball cards on my bedroom floor. When they fell down. I made another, than another.

  • Stone193Stone193 Posts: 24,351 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I was raised in the 50s and the core of my friendships didn't revolve at all around BB cards.

    It's something we picked up at the corner candy store - but nothing that stands out.

    Wish I had the memories some of you had.

    Mike
  • hyperchipper09hyperchipper09 Posts: 1,438 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I have some sentimental memories of collecting comics back in the day, but cards , well, not so much.

  • Great thread mouschi--this is what its all about right? Memories?

    I remember trick or treating in 67. 68 69 and always getting plenty of wax packs in my plastic pumpkin.
    I remember going to the grocery store with my mom every thursday and buying raisin bran. I couldnt wait to get home, rip that bag, and stick my hand all the way to the bottom to bring up that linen white packet that held my newest 1970 3d baseball card .
    I remember going to the corner grocery store to buy my mom cigarettes. I had a note that said please sell my son a pack of winston. My mom always gave me an extra dime so I could buy my favorite cards, the 1970 supers, three to a pack for a dime. Im #10 on the set regestry for the 1970 topps supers.

  • BLUEJAYWAYBLUEJAYWAY Posts: 7,938 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Back in 61/62 saving up the $1.20 to buy a full box of Topps baseball at the local corner grocery store. That was a goal of all of us kids and quite a feat. We were all quite poor then. We all scrounged the local schools/woods for discarded soda bottles so we could redeem them for the money to buy the boxes. We had one local enterprising early card dealer/resealer. He would wrap up his discarded common cards in white paper and resell the "packs" to us for a nickel per "pack".

    Successful transactions:Tookybandit. "Everyone is equal, some are more equal than others".
  • Huskies11Huskies11 Posts: 312 ✭✭✭

    In 1992 when I was about 7 my parents started me out by getting me a binder/pages and a bunch of random packs of cards. They could tell after a while I was super into it and my dad would occasionally grab a pack on his way home from work for me from a street vendor in NYC (in the 90s there were tons of people selling wax on the streets if you can believe it). I always loved how much my parents supported my hobby and I hope to one day be able to do the same for my kids, even if it won't be baseball cards. By the time I was 12 I was mowing lawns every day during the summer to get enough money to buy as much wax as humanly possible. Feels great to be an adult and to afford getting cards whenever I want, but they never felt as earned as they did after mowing a few dozen lawns for a box of 1998 finest.

    Currently Collecting:

    • Baseball: Griffey Jr, Red Sox, 80s/90s/00s
    • Basketball: Jordan, Bird, 80s/90s
    • Football: Tom Brady, Randy Moss, Patriots
    • Hockey: Gretzky, Buffalo Sabres

    Flickr: https://flickr.com/gp/184724292@N07/686763

  • Tecmo BoilTecmo Boil Posts: 259 ✭✭✭

    My Dad bringing me and my friends to shows and card shops in the late 80s. All the time. No one else’s Dad ever brought us. I love you, Dad.

  • FrozencaribouFrozencaribou Posts: 1,084 ✭✭✭✭✭

    There are about five different memories that stand out, but here's one that will connect with any kid who sold cards in the mid-80's.

    In 1985 I was visiting my uncle and he sold cards out of an antique store that his father-in-law owned. I bought one pack of 1985 Topps for 35 cents at the local grocery store and pulled a Mattingly. I sold it that same afternoon for $1.50 I believe. My mind was blown. I had been collecting for five years, but as a 9 years old who loved cards I realized that I could make money just like an adult if I had the right cards. I went on to sell at shows until 1993, and loved every minute of it.

    -Nathanael

  • bishopbishop Posts: 2,917 ✭✭✭

    I grew up in St Louis. In 1959 I traded a Mantle for Gino Cimoli, George Crowe and Don Blasingame , because I wanted Cardinals and not Yankees. 1959 was the first Topps set I completed

    Topps Baseball-1948, 1951 to 2017
    Bowman Baseball -1948-1955
    Fleer Baseball-1923, 1959-2007

    Al
  • addicted2ebayaddicted2ebay Posts: 2,092 ✭✭✭✭
    edited May 16, 2018 8:34AM

    Got into cards around 88-89 as a kid...

    I then found my dads childhood collection in his moms garage. She never threw them out!

    Thousands of cards from the 60’s and 70’s!

    He said I could have all of them UNTILL he looked at my Beckett then changed his mind and took them all back.

  • lahmejoonlahmejoon Posts: 1,666 ✭✭✭

    One memory sticks out for me. It was tragic at the time, but funny now that I look back at it.

    My younger brother and I were at a card show. I want to say I was about 11 and he was 8. About halfway through the show, my brother hands me $10 and says that I can have it. I thought it was a bit strange, but took the $10 and bought packs of 1989 Upper Deck. Fortunately, there was no Griffey. You will find out why I say 'fortunately' later.

    Fast forward to getting home, while we're looking at what we got, our dad comes in and says, "Who took $20 out of my money clip?" Figuring out that my brother took $20 and gave me $10 of it, my dad asked for the cards from each of us that we bought with the money. So, my brother gives the Darryl Strawberry cards he bought and I give the 89 Upper Deck. My dad then turns to the fireplace (which was burning) and throws them in there.

    My brother was going nuts and I remember being upset because I had no idea that my brother took the money, but got punished anyway. It was a good lesson. From time to time, we bring it up and have a chuckle about it.

  • GilbeyGilbey Posts: 201 ✭✭✭

    My dad had a sneaker store at the mall in the late 70's and he would pay me a nickle for every pair of sneakers I would lace. Every 20 pair I had to chose weather to go to the arcade or Woolworths to buy cards. Usually bought 2 packs and played 2 games then back to work( I was 7).

  • VintagemanEdVintagemanEd Posts: 919 ✭✭✭

    My mom and dad owned a liquor store growing up. I was about 14 before I caught on in 1988 that the candy wholesaler had baseball cards. So it was the junk era but mom bought me box after box from probably 89-93 or so. I look back on that as just one example of what loving parents I was lucky enough to have.

  • ahopkinsahopkins Posts: 1,094 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Love reading these stories.

    Andy

  • markmacmarkmac Posts: 412 ✭✭✭

    Opening 1980 Topps Baseball cards. Pete Rose, Carew, Schmidt, and Steve Carlton were my guys. Ordering the 1982 Topps Set from Renata Galasso when I was 11. Buying 1983 Topps and Donruss between baseball games and hiding them under a bush until my game was over. Then going back to grab them to look at on the way home. Buying Star Wars cards as a 6 year old and putting my initials on them and sticking the stickers on my bed. Always wanting 1976 Happy Days cards my cousin had but he would never trade with me because he knew how much I wanted them. I now own the #1 Happy Days OPC set. I guess after all these years I never forgot.
    On a sour note, selling $8000 worth including my 1961 fleer basketball set and a minty mint 1975 Topps set to buy an engagement ring. 4 years after getting engaged she called it off. Cards have always been a joy through the good times and bad. I’m 47 now and I just love putting together sets, going to card shows, and buying on eBay. We are all lucky to have such a great hobby that we can enjoy to get us through the good times and bad.

  • lightningboylightningboy Posts: 1,483 ✭✭✭

    Lots of great memories, mostly due to my mom. My dad, who I loved very much, was the guy who gave you a half piece of gum only. Back in about 1977/8 my mom was working for an engineering company mostly with me. Apparently one of the guys was getting rid of his childhood cards, so my mom gave him a clipping of a "spider plant", for his larger than normal, shoe box of baseball cards from 1964 - 1967. This was my first dive into true vintage. I began collecting in 1970, so anything from the 60's might as well have been tobacco cards to me. The cards were mainly in ex/mint to near mint plus and included 1964 Mays (2), Snider, Spahn, 1965 Carlton rookie, Rose, Robinson, Berra, Drysdale, Clemente, 1966 Sutton and Jenkins rookies, Mathews, Ford, Koufax, and 1967 Yastrzemski (2), Clemente, Mays, Robinson along with about 1100+ nice semi stars and commons from those years.

    Unfortunately , the excitement and awe that I had, just seeing those cards in my possession, quickly gave way to dollar signs, as I immediately purchased the 1st big thick Beckett/Eckes price guide. I truly dont think that I have ever looked at cards the same way again.

  • prgsdwprgsdw Posts: 503 ✭✭✭✭

    My mom worked at a restaurant and my brother and I would stop there after school. Mostly we'd sit on a freezer in the back room and watch the 12 inch black and white TV on whatever stations we could get with the rabbit ears. However, when it got busy we'd help out with clearing tables, washing potatoes and cutting them into french fries, etc. The owner appreciated this and would surprise us from time to time with gifts. One night the ACME grocery across the street had 1980 Topps football grocery rack packs on clearance. He bought a full grocery bag of them and brought them back to the restaurant and dumped them on the table in front of us. It was far and away the most cards I ever saw in my life in one place. We had a great time ripping packs and were very helpful for a while around the restaurant. :)

  • SidePocketSidePocket Posts: 2,901 ✭✭✭

    In the early/mid 60's we played baseball in the street every day during summer. The Good Humor ice cream truck would come around in the early afternoon, playing that corny music you could hear from a block away. At some point in 1961 I found out he carried baseball cards. From that day on, every time I had a nickel in my pocket (or a quarter - now that was real money and would buy 5 packs!), I'd buy packs of cards. I couldn't wait for him to come around. Half the time he was out of cards and I'd be devastated. Still have the cards, the 61/62/63/64's are real beaters. I've got 62 Mantle's and Maris's with no back left cuz I glued them to cardboard sheets to make collages out of them. I have a 1961 Marichal rookie that is pristine - cuz I wouldn't touch the card after he clobbered John Roseboro of my beloved Dodgers with a bat after Rosey threw a ball back to the pitcher and got close to Marichal's ear. I have 6 1964 Pete Rose cards, had no idea who the guy was. Man, those were awesome summers.

    "Molon Labe"

  • GreenSneakersGreenSneakers Posts: 908 ✭✭✭✭
    • Summer 1978: My mom gave my sister money to buy us something at the convenience store. Instead of candy, my eyes were drawn to the coolest brightly picture of a catcher in full squat. I got my first ever pack of cards, and I still remember the first card of that pack being Doug Rau. I was six years old.
    • Summer 1984: My parents dragged my to an open air antiques market. It was so boring, but happened upon one vendor who was selling some baseball cards. Among them was a '54 Aaron for $35. I pleaded with my dad to loan me the money; I was 12 and knew it was worth far more than that. I subbed that card 32 years later ... its a PSA2
    • Every time I opened a pack ... I tried to make the best possible "lineup" from the pack. Flipping through the cards, I still need a third baseman ... whos gonna be my leadoff hitter ... I got two catchers, can one of them play 1B ... I still open packs this way
  • stevekstevek Posts: 27,572 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Too many great memories to tell them all. I mean as a kid in the neighborhood, basically all that we did all summer was play baseball and flip & collect baseball cards.

    I do remember one time, one of the kids in the neighborhood, came to my house and brought over a fresh new box of Topps baseball cards for the new season that his dad just bought him, I think it was around March. It was so cool opening all the waxpacks and seeing all the new cards for the season.

    As mentioned, we flipped cards all the time, and I didn't have any yet for the new season, so I asked the kid to lend me 5 cards, so we could flip them. The game we usually played in the neighborhood was tossing the cards against the wall and the kid throwing the card closest to the wall wins both cards.

    I was exceptionally good at this, in fact, the best I've even seen. Once in a while for old times sake, when opening up a blaster, I'll still take one or two of the duplicates and toss them against the wall and see how I do. To this day, i can still throw the card usually within an inch of the wall and sometimes get a leaner.

    Well, i guess you see it coming...the kid lent me the 5 cards, I quickly won 5 cards off him and paid him back, and in around an hour or two, i won every card off him from the box. I'll admit, i felt a little bad about it at the time, but not bad enough to give him any of the cards back. LOL

  • ahopkinsahopkins Posts: 1,094 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @GreenSneakers said:

    • Every time I opened a pack ... I tried to make the best possible "lineup" from the pack. Flipping through the cards, I still need a third baseman ... whos gonna be my leadoff hitter ... I got two catchers, can one of them play 1B ... I still open packs this way

    That's a great idea.

    Andy

  • Indy78Indy78 Posts: 802 ✭✭✭
    edited May 24, 2018 10:28AM

    This is a memory, but not really a "favorite" memory. Summer of 1979. Every Sunday, my family used to go to this outdoor flea market right off of Route 41 just south of Lowell, Indiana. I hated it, because I found it too be very boring. One Sunday, I strolled into one of the barns, and inside, there was a card dealer that had a small little store with glass doors and everything. The owner was probably around 70 years old, big, and wore a scowl on his face. My first card store! I had never even conceived of such a thing.

    It must have been late Summer, because I remember looking for the last 3 cards I needed for my 1979 topps baseball set: Ed Kranepool, Steve Renko, and I now forget the third. The store was filled with those wooden library card catalogue file cabinets with the long wooden drawers that housed index cards showing where to find all of the books in the library (the good old dewey decimal system). Each one of those pullout drawers in his shop were probably like 24 inches long and filled with about 1,000 baseball cards. I pulled one of those drawers out and proceeded to look for those last 3 cards. I had no idea what the card numbers were, just the player names, so it took me awhile. After about 15 minutes, I found the Kranepool and Renko. While continuing to search, stupid me, I dropped one of those drawers and 1,000 cards spilled to the floor. I suppose my arms must have become weak holding those drawers and looking through them. Anyway, I was petrified. I immediately looked at him and can still remember his words to me: "Beautiful. Just beautiful. So, I suppose you're now going to run out the door and leave me with this big mess to clean up." Me: "I'm so sorry. No, I want to stay and help clean it all up." Him: "Get out! And don't bother to come back!" I put the Kranepool and Ranko on the glass counter, and made a hasting retreat out the door.

    Totally my fault, and I certainly understand his reaction. I'll tell you what, I'm really careful whenever I handle a dealer's cards today after that experience, lol.

    There are plenty of happy memories, but that one I just told was unforgettable for me.

    Incidentally, I finally completed that very set about 2 - 3years ago, lol.

  • dictoresnodictoresno Posts: 1,003 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @daltex said:

    @dictoresno said:
    Picked up what I figured was an absolutely mint example of a 1985 Topps Mattingly Rookie Card in like 1992. Held onto it all these years as my pride and joy. Got it graded last year was was shocked it got a 5. Couldn't believe it. Found a small dimpled crease in the cardstock under 60x magnification, only under certain lighting. Have no idea how PSA could've seen that lol.

    Is a 1985 Topps Mattingly rookie like a 1952 Topps Mantle rookie?

    Alex Relyea

    I mistyped it. I meant, as most probably assumed, 1984 Topps.

    myslabs.to/smzcards

  • StingrayStingray Posts: 8,843 ✭✭✭

    When I finally opened the pack of 1977 Topps that contained the Mark Fidrych rookie card!!

  • DodgerfanjohnDodgerfanjohn Posts: 489 ✭✭✭

    My grandfather used to pick me up from school once a week and take me to the local THrifty for an ice cream. When I was 8 in 1980, he started buying me packs of baseball cards as well. If they didn't have cards at the Thrifty, we would go to the grocery store or Woolworths next door. THere was also a baseball card shop there and I'd drool over the Pete Rose rookie. They also had several years of rack packs hanging from the wall. If only I knew back then what I know now. Anyway they had 1979 racks at the whopping price of around $2.00 which seemed crazy expensive(1980 racks were $0.79 I think).

    So we had gone one day to the Sav On nearby and wow...they had 8 1979 racks...and on clearance! I think $0.49 a rack. So we bought all 8. I managed to keep them sealed for a year or two until Ozzie Smith became a big deal and I shredded them. Did pull an Ozzie, which I still have(and its about 95/5 OC), but really wish I kept those sealed.

  • hyperchipper09hyperchipper09 Posts: 1,438 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I scanned the memory bank and came up with a couple that I guess will qualify. 1, 1980. Our regular K-Mart had 1980 Topps baseball rack packs. Bought quite a few May - July that year. Never lucky enough to get a Rickey RC, I still managed to get cards that I did cherish at the time, Steve Garvey, Mike Schmidt, Dale Murphy. Fun, clean innocent collecting. 2, 1983. First visit to a card shop, Swamp Fox Collectibles in Northwoods Mall, North Charleston SC. Gerald Firetag, great guy, ran the place. Garvey's from 1971 and up were in his revolving display case. Bought the 74 - 78 Garveys that he had. Fun times.

  • electrodeelectrode Posts: 212 ✭✭✭

    A neighbourhood friend showed us a 1958 Al Kaline card i was 7 years old at the time and living near Detroit made this a very big deal.

  • Tere1071Tere1071 Posts: 163 ✭✭

    When I was about 11 years old in 1973 I put an ad in the Hot Sheet, a precursor to Craigslist. An adult collector responded and brought over a stack of 1957s. What I had to trade was nothing in comparison to what he brought, but he basically gave me 20 cards, Robin Roberts and Ted Kluszewski were the two standouts, for just a few of the 1970-73 I had. I always appreciated his kindness.
    One more, I went to my first show that summer at Walton Jr. High in Garden Grove with about .25 in my pocket and a stack of 1972 Topps Footbal card doubles. That day I was able to pick up a 54 Topps autographed Wilhelm, a 52 Topps Willard Marshall, a 51 Bowman Ned Garver and a 63 Fleer Orlando Cepeda. Here's what I missed though, a 66 Topps autographed Clemente for 3.00! I didn't have the money and couldn't ask my mother who was kind enough to drive me there in the first place.

  • PiggsPiggs Posts: 1,934 ✭✭✭✭

    Favorite memory involving baseball cards as a kid? All of them.

  • Three memories:

    1983: Card show, begging mom to buy me a 1956 Clemente for $10. No dice, but have 2 now
    1984: Receiving a 1961 Topps Mickey Mantle, from Kit Young, in the mail. $14 plus P&H. VG condition, as I recall
    1988: Opening a group of ten 1984 Donruss unopened packs. On pack 10, with 3 cards to go, pulling Mattingly

  • countdouglascountdouglas Posts: 2,271 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Living in a small town, with school teachers for parents, and many school teachers being in my parents' circle of friends, garage sales were big things in the summertime growing up to make extra money. They would have a garage sale every weekend, and just rotate whose house they would have it at, taking whatever was left over from last weeks' sale to the next one, hoping that a new neighborhood may draw new eyeballs on their used children's clothes or oddball items they were trying to get rid of.

    It was there, at 8 years old, that I first began wheeling and dealing in baseball cards. I would set up a card table at the front of the driveway, and price my extra Royals cards for 5 cents each, and my commons (which literally meant every single guy that was a non-Royal) were 2 for a nickel. I would set up every weekend at whichever house the sale was at, and usually do well enough to go buy more packs, which would restock me for the next weekend. Parents were always dragging their kids to the garage sales to try on clothes, so I had a steady stream of customers. As you can imagine, though, all of the parents dragging kids around for several hours, the kids start to get a bit hungry, a little cranky. So, I started using my profits to buy the ingredients for Rice Krispy treats, which I would make (with mom's help) the night before, cut into squares, wrap with plastic, and sell along with my cards. A kid whines long enough, and a parent will eventually relent and buy them a snack! I further expanded into investing in 1 pound bags of plain and peanut M&M's, breaking them down into smaller portions in Ziploc bags, and sold those, too. I had quite the racket going. I eventually raised my prices that summer to 10 cents for a Royals player, and "commons" were 3 for 10 cents. Who knows how many Ryan or Schmidt or Henderson or Valenzuela cards I sold? But I was able to continually reinvest in more cards.

    Later on, starting in the mid 80s, once my and my friends' collections had grown quite large, we would set up 8 foot tables at various rotating locations, and have garage sales where the only thing being sold was cards. We would spend money to advertise in the local paper in the garage sale section, but be sure to state it was for cards only, and then list a few highlights of what we had..."For Sale! Baseball Cards! Royals! George Brett! 1985 Topps, Donruss, and Fleer!" Kind of like a mini card show. By this time, we were aware of Sam's Wholesale Club, so would have somebody buy us cases of candy and snack chips, etc, to sell as well.

    Later on in the 80s, my best friend Jim and I decided to form a "business", called ourselves J & D Sports Cards, and ran it out of a room in his parents' house. We would collect business cards from all of the shows we attended, form a mailing list, and then once a month, have his mom type up a sales catalog of all the stuff we had in stock and what our prices were. Then, we'd take it up to the local print shop and have maybe 100 copies made of this 4-6 page catalog. We'd then basically cold call these dealers and others on our list by mailing them our catalog every month. Looking back, his parents sure tolerated a lot from us, as all kinds of strange people would be coming and going from their house all day, every day in the summertime, coming to buy, sell, or trade cards, and I would spend more time eating and sleeping there than at my own home just a few blocks away. In our "shop", we always had the Cubs game on in the afternoon, and the Braves in the evening, unless we were lucky enough to have a televised Royals game that day, all while thumbing through stacks of cards, ripping packs, making sets, etc. We made ridiculous money for kids our age. It wasn't necessarily all profit all the time, but it was constant cash flow with very little overhead. We couldn't even yet drive. Jim's mom would take us everywhere in her Ford Thunderbird (we nicknamed that car The Ol' Thunder-chicken), going on road trips because we'd heard this drugstore 2 towns over, or this remote gas station on the way to the lake, maybe had gotten in a few boxes of the elusive Fleer or Donruss boxes...

    I could go on and on, as many have stated on here that memories of cards are incorporated into many of their childhood memories. Thanks for letting me share...

Sign In or Register to comment.