A memory and a story of renewed interest in this hobby of ours!

mccardguy1 · October 4, 2014 12:15AM

I may have mentioned this before (ok...maybe a few times) that one of my biggest collecting regrets happened when I was a third grader at Immanuel Lutheran School in the far Northwest suburbs of Chicago. The time would have been around 1974 and the setting would be old Mrs. Bickel's third grade cl*ss room which was a cl*ssic old school house room with drafty windows and chalk boards all around. It was in this cl*ss room that a collecting memory was burned into my young brain, never to be forgotten.

It was known to all of my cl*ssmates that I was a huge baseball fan and collected baseball cards. It was not unusual for a friend to bring in a card or two that they found around their house and give it to me because to add to my collection. It was on a fall day, right after the World Series had ended that a cl*ssmate walked into the room before the first bell rang and handed me a large brown shopping bag and said I could have what was inside. I eagerly opened the bag and my jaw dropped to my cold, wooden desk with a thud. Inside this bag were treasures I had never before laid eyes on. Hundreds of baseball cards thrown haphazardly into a bag with little regard for condition. Cards that were bigger in size than any I have ever seen were now in my hands with names I could only recognize from the many baseball history books I had learned to read a few short years earlier. There was Pafko, Berra, Lockman and some guy named Shoendinst (or at least that is how my young mind pronounced it). There was Aaron and Banks and some guy named Mantle. I could not believe my luck that someone had decided they no longer wanted these treasures and had p*ssed them on to me.

In all my excitement I failed to realize the final bell had rung, my cl*ssmates were all in their desks and Mrs. Bickel was standing at the front of the cl*ss, taking attendance. With my head still in the brown bag, discovering names I had never before seen I was tapped on the shoulder and brought back to reality. As I looked up to see who could possibly be ruining this incredible moment for me I realized it was the teacher who apparently did not like baseball cards nearly as much as I did because if she did she would have realized the importance of this moment. As I tried to explain my point of view, her old, boney hand reached out and grabbed by treasured bag and brought it to her desk where it hit the bottom of her drawer with a resounding flop. They were gone....all gone. Mickey, Yogi and Andy were now in my teachers desk. All I could think about was getting those cards back in my hands but it was never to happen. The years have diminished my memory and for the life of me I cannot remember why I never got the cards back. Perhaps it was because this was literally and old school religious school where you never questioned the teacher and I was too afraid to ask. I would have never mentioned it to my parents as they would have probably kicked my back side for not paying attention in cl*ss rather than blame the teacher for taking away my prized possessions. Either way those cards are long gone buy forever burned into my memory. I loved them for the nostalgia they represented with the color television theme and I loved them for the memory they gave me. I vowed that, one day, I would put that set together and relieve that third grade nightmare I have vivid memories of.

Flash forward to a few months ago. On the Net54 boards I saw someone advertising a small lot of '55 Bowman's at a decent price. I knew this was now the time to start putting the nightmare to rest and we worked out a deal. As it turned out the cards I purchased were cards that were recently found at a garage sale and their only owner opened the packs as a third grader and put them aside for decades before selling them this past summer. The cards were even sold in the original Phillies cigar box from that same time frame where these new treasures rested all these years. After hearing this I knew this set was meant for me.

I have now purchased another lot from another Net54 board member who is graciously holding even more for me for when I can scrape the funds together to buy them. I have even made a few more purchases from Ebay and have found a renewed interest in collecting that had once escaped me. No shiny refractors or numbered parallels for me. Just musty smelling cardboard with a colored television border and names I had long ago forgotten, staring back at me. Andy, Yogi and yes, even Mickey. Hello old friends. Where ya been?

Here is what I have accumulated so far and will update this thread when more arrive. Many of these cards are the very tough high number series which I am quite happy to have purchased at such a decent price.

Thank you for indulging me on this journey.

1 Hoyt Wilhelm

2 Al Dark

3 Joe Coleman

4 Eddie Waitkus

5 Jim Robertson

6 Pete Suder

7 Gene Baker

8 Warren Hacker

9 Gil McDougald

10 Phil Rizzuto

11 Bill Bruton

12 Andy Pafko

13 Clyde Vollmer

14 Gus Keriazakos

15 Frank Sullivan

16 Jimmy Piersall

17 Del Ennis

18 Stan Lopata

19 Bobby Avila

20 Al Smith

21 Don Hoak

22 Roy Campanella

23 Al Kaline

24 Al Aber

25 Minnie Minoso

26 Virgil Trucks

27 Preston Ward

28 Dick Cole

29 Red Schoendienst

30 Bill Sarni

31 Johnny Temple Rookie Card

32 Wally Post

33 Nellie Fox

34 Clint Courtney

35 Bill Tuttle

36 Wayne Belardi

37 Pee Wee Reese

38 Early Wynn

39 Bob Darnell

40 Vic Wertz

41 Mel Clark

42 Bob Greenwood

43 Bob Buhl

44 Danny O'Connell

45 Tom Umphlett

46 Mickey Vernon

47 Sammy White

48 (a)Milt Bolling Frank Bolling on Back

48 (b)Milt Bolling Milt Bolling on Back

49 Jim Greengr*ss

]

50 Hobie Landrith

51 El Tappe Elvin Tappe on Card

52 Hal Rice

53 Alex Kellner

54 Don Bollweg

55 Cal Abrams

56 Billy Cox

57 Bob Friend

58 Frank Thomas

59 Whitey Ford

60 Enos Slaughter

61 Paul LaPalme

62 Royce Lint

63 Irv Noren

64 Curt Simmons

65 Don Zimmer Rookie Card

66 George Shuba

67 Don Larsen

68 Elston Howard Rookie Card

69 Billy Hunter

70 Lou Burdette

71 Dave Jolly

72 Chet Nichols

73 Eddie Yost

74 Jerry Snyder

75 Brooks Lawrence Rookie Card

76 Tom Poholsky

77 Jim McDonald

8 Gil Coan

79 Willy Miranda Willie Miranda on Card

80 Lou Limmer

81 Bobby Morgan

82 Lee Walls

83 Max Surkont

84 George Freese

85 C*ss Michaels

86 Ted Gray

87 Randy Jackson

88 Steve Bilko

89 Lou Boudreau Manager Card

90 Art Ditmar

91 Dick Marlowe

]

92 George Zuverink

93 Andy Seminick

94 Hank Thompson

95 Sal Maglie

96 Ray Narleski Rookie Card

97 Johnny Podres

98 Jim Gilliam

99 Jerry Coleman

100 Tom Morgan

101 (a) Don Johnson Ernie Johnson on Front

101 (b) Don Johnson Don Johnson on Front

102 Bobby Thomson

103 Eddie Mathews

104 Bob Porterfield

105 Johnny Schmitz

106 Del Rice

107 Solly Hemus

108 Lou Kretlow

109 Vern Stephens

110 Bob Miller

111 Steve Ridzik

112 Granny Hamner

113 Bob Hall

114 Vic Janowicz

115 Roger Bowman

116 Sandy Consuegra

117 Johnny Groth

119 Joe Astroth

120 Moe Burtschy Ed Burtschy on Card

121 Jake Crawford Rufus Crawford on Card

122 Al Corwin

123 Marv Grissom

124 Johnny Antonelli

125 Paul Giel

126 Billy Goodman

127 Hank Majeski

128 Mike Garcia

129 Hal Naragon

130 Richie Ashburn

131 Willard Marshall

132 (a) Harvey Kuenn Spelled Kueen on Back

132 (b) Harvey Kuenn Spelled Kuenn on Back

133 Chick King Charles King on Card

134 Bob Feller

135 Lloyd Merriman

136 Rocky Bridges

137 Bob Talbot

138 Davey Williams

139 Shantz Brothers

140 Bobby Shantz

141 Wes Westrum

142 Rudy Regalado

143 Don Newcombe

144 Art Houtteman

145 Bob Nieman

146 Don Liddle

147 Sam Mele

148 Bob Chakales

149 Cloyd Boyer

150 Billy Klaus

151 Jim Brideweser

152 Johnny Klippstein

[

153 Eddie Robinson

154 Frank Lary Rookie Card

155 Gerry Staley

156 Jim Hughes

157 (a)Ernie Johnson Don Johnson on Front

157 (b) Ernie Johnson Ernie Johnson on Front

158 Gil Hodges

159 Harry Byrd

160 Bill Skowron

161 Matt Batts

162 Charlie Maxwell

163 Sid Gordon

164 Toby Atwell

165 Mickey McDermott Maurice McDermott on Card

166 Jim Busby

167 Bob Grim Rookie Card

168 Yogi Berra

169 Carl Furillo

170 Carl Erskine

171 Robin Roberts

172 Willie Jones

173 Chico Carrasquel

174 Sherm Lollar

175 Billy Shantz Wilmer Shantz on Card

176 Joe DeMaestri

177 Willard Nixon

178 Tom Brewer

179 Hank Aaron

P>

180 Johnny Logan

181 Eddie Miksis

182 Bob Rush

183 Ray Katt

184 Willie Mays

185 Vic Raschi

186 Alex Grammas

187 Fred Hatfield

188 Ned Garver

189 Jackie Collum Jack Collum on Card

190 Fred Baczewski

191 Bob Lemon

192 George Strickland

193 Howie Judson

194 Joe Nuxhall

195 (a) Erv Palica No Traded Line

195 (b) Erv Palica Traded Line

196 Russ Meyer

197 Ralph Kiner

198 Dave Pope

199 Vern Law

200 Dick Littlefield

201 Allie Reynolds

202 Mickey Mantle

203 Steve Gromek

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204 (a) Frank Bolling Milt Bolling on Back

204 (b) Frank Bolling Frank Bolling on Back

205 Rip Repulski

206 Ralph Beard

207 Spec Shea Frank Shea on Card

208 Ed Fitz Gerald Ed Fitzgerald on Card

209 Smoky Burgess

210 Earl Torgeson

211 Sonny Dixon

212 Jack Dittmer

213 George Kell

214 Billy Pierce

215 Bob Kuzava

216 Preacher Roe

217 Del Crandall

218 Joe Ad*ock

219 Whitey Lockman

220 Jim Hearn

221 Hal Brown Hector Brown on Card

222 Russ Kemmerer

223 Hal Jeffcoat

224 Dee Fondy

225 Paul Richards Manager Card

226 Bill McKinley Umpire Card

227 Frank Baumholtz

228 Bubba Phillips John Phillips on Card

229 Jim Brosnan Rookie Card

230 Al Brazle

231 Jim Konstanty

232 Birdie Tebbetts Manager Card

233 Bill Serena

234 Dick Bartell

235 Joe Paparella Umpire Card

236 Murry Dickson

237 Johnny Wyrostek

238 Eddie Stanky Manager Card

239 Eddie Rommel Umpire Card (Edwin on Card)

240 Billy Loes

241 Johnny Pesky

242 Ernie Banks

243 Gus Bell

244 Duane Pillette

245 Bill Miller

246 Hank Bauer

247 Dutch Leonard

248 Harry Dorish

249 Billy Gardner

250 Larry Napp Umpire Card

251 Stan Jok

252 Roy Smalley

253 Jim Wilson

254 Ben Flowers Bennett Flowers on Card

255 Pete Runnels

256 Owen Friend

257 Tom Alston

258 John Stevens Umpire Card

259 Don Mossi Rookie Card

260 Edwin Hurley Umpire Card

261 Walt Moryn

262 Jim Lemon

263 Eddie Joost

264 Bill Henry

265 Al Barlick Umpire Card

266 Mike Fornieles

267 Jim Honochick Umpire Card

268 Roy Hawes Roy Lee Hawes on Card

269 Joey Amalfitano Rookie Card

270 Chico Fernandez

271 Bob Hooper

272 John Flaherty Umpire Card

273 Bubba Church

274 Jim Delsing

275 William Grieve Umpire Card

276 Ike Delock

277 Ed Runge Umpire Card

278 Charlie Neal Rookie Card

279 Hank Soar Umpire Card

280 Clyde McCullough

281 Charles Berry Umpire Card

282 Phil Cavarretta Manager Card

283 Nestor Chylak Umpire Card

284 Bill Jackowski Umpire Card

285 Walt Dropo

286 Frank Secory Umpire Card

287 Ron Mrozinski

288 Dick Smith

289 Arthur Gore Umpire Card

290 Hersh Freeman Hershell Freeman on Card

291 Frank Dascoli Umpire Card

292 Marv Blaylock

293 Thomas Gorman Umpire Card

294 Wally Moses

295 Lee Ballanfant Umpire Card

296 Bill Virdon Rookie Card

297 Dusty Boggess Umpire Card

298 Charlie Grimm

299 Lon Warneke Umpire Card

300 Tommy Byrne

301 William Engeln Umpire Card

302 Frank Malzone Rookie Card

303 Jocko Conlan Umpire Card

304 Harry Chiti

305 Frank Umont Umpire Card

306 Bob Cerv

307 Babe Pinelli Umpire Card

308 Al Lopez Manager Card

309 Hal Dixon Umpire Card

310 Ken Lehman

311 Lawrence Goetz Umpire Card

312 Bill Wight

313 Augie Donatelli Umpire Card

314 Dale Mitchell

315 Cal Hubbard Umpire Card

316 Marion Fricano

317 William Summers Umpire Card

318 Sid Hudson

319 Al Schroll

320 George Susce Rookie Card

WhiteTornado · October 4, 2014 12:42AM

Man, what a story and what a memory to be burned into a young child's mind. I'm only a couple of years younger than you (age 46) and while didn't go to a Lutheran school, I do remember kids' things getting confiscated. I seem to recall if a kid brought a toy or similar "not allowed in school" item, the teacher would take it and the kid would not get it back until the end of the school year. One boy lost his GI Joe that way.

Glad to see that modern "GPS" (aka, internet forums, online sales, etc) helped you find memory lane again

. Best wishes on the hunt!

Stone193 · October 4, 2014 6:27AM

Variations on a theme.

This one is classic. "My teacher threw out my cards."

Thanx for sharing Andy.

Glad to see you've retrieved some of that memory back. Super cards.

Best of luck in future quests.

dennis07 · October 4, 2014 11:18AM

Maybe Mrs Bickels is still with us in her late 90's or so. Look her up and ask her what the heck she did with your cards. Kidding, of course.

Dboneesq · October 4, 2014 12:39PM

And Andrew, I am keeping your little brown bag filled with baseball cards in my black bag until you apologize for not listening in class!

mccardguy1 · October 19, 2014 11:15AM

<< <i>And Andrew, I am keeping your little brown bag filled with baseball cards in my black bag until you apologize for not listening in class!

>>

Mrs Bickel was every bit as creepy as this one only much older with white hair!! LOL

mccardguy1 · October 19, 2014 11:16AM

I added about 25 more cards and have some hall of famers incoming soon. I am also thinking I will be in the market for a Mantle pretty soon. That one is going to kill me.

mccardguy1 · November 15, 2014 1:16PM

I added a handful of cards. The goal was to have 100 cards by the end of the year and I think I am going to make it. Now to add some Hall of Famers to the pile!!

mccardguy1 · November 27, 2014 12:42AM

Added some additional cards to this set this past week. A Real nice Gil Hodges along with a nice Elston Howard rookie to go with a few other hall of famers.

Have a great Thanksgiving everyone!

MULLINS5 · November 27, 2014 12:49AM

Great job! I love this series and the set you're putting together. The '66 Topps Hockey is one of my favorite sets (has the TV design). Classic

Happy Thanksgiving!

Stone193 · November 27, 2014 1:54AM

<< <i>Added some additional cards to this set this past week. A Real nice Gil Hodges along with a nice Elston Howard rookie to go with a few other hall of famers.

Have a great Thanksgiving everyone! >>

Thanx and congratulations on adding some nice HOF'ers to your set.

Can we see some scans?

mccardguy1 · November 27, 2014 2:33AM

<< <i>

<< <i>Added some additional cards to this set this past week. A Real nice Gil Hodges along with a nice Elston Howard rookie to go with a few other hall of famers.

Have a great Thanksgiving everyone! >>

Thanx and congratulations on adding some nice HOF'ers to your set.

Can we see some scans? >>

I have been adding to my original post when I get more cards. Can you see the original posted scans?

mccardguy1 · December 23, 2014 12:32PM

Well, my last update was at Thanksgiving so I figured I would update this post here at Christmas. I have added about 25 cards to the set since my last post with many being commons. The stars will start coming soon!! I have hit my goal of being over 100 cards for the set by New Years with about ten more incoming before the next holiday.

Thanks for looking and taking interest in my quest.

mccardguy1 · February 21, 2015 12:01AM

Its been a couple of months since I updated this thread. I added about 50 more cards, mostly lesser names but some hall of famers. I have an Eddie Matthews incoming and a few more stars on the way but will keep plugging away at this set. My plan is to be at 200 cards for the set by the end of the year. Thankfully, this set is not widely collected so doing this on a budget is not much of an issue. If anyone has a Mantle they want to contribute to this effort, shoot me an email with a price.

mccardguy1 · April 19, 2015 10:06AM

I thought I would throw an update out there on my set progress. I am just a few cards short of halfway and still plan on having 200 cards by the end of the year ( I am only 46 away right now). I still need to add the Mantle, Banks and Aaron but am pretty happy with the progress. This has been a fun project and has helped to get rid of the bad dreams of the cards that I once had in my grasp but lost them many years ago.

Thanks for reading and looking.

Dboneesq · April 19, 2015 10:17AM

CONGRATS on the progress with your set. Hope you get to the halfway point even earlier than you hope. Enjoy the journey.

robert67 · April 19, 2015 11:59AM

.

dtkk49a · April 19, 2015 9:50PM

Great cards. Enjoy ! I love the classic vintage sets and I like modern refractors too !!

totallyradd · April 20, 2015 6:43AM

This is a fantastic set. I've considered a graded set myself someday as I have every major HOFer in a pretty good grade already (Mantle 6, Aaron 6.5, Mays 6.5, etc).

Good luck on the hunt!

mccardguy1 · June 6, 2015 11:19AM

An update on a big card I picked up for this set is in the first post!

Thanks for looking.

DanBessette · June 6, 2015 12:13PM

Congrats on landing the Hammer!

I'm gonna PM you about something related.

mccardguy1 · June 20, 2015 1:56PM

The second major update in the last two weeks. Please see the first post for the update

Again, thank you so much for looking.

mccardguy1 · October 16, 2015 10:09AM

It has been awhile since I updated this thread. I have picked up a number of cards to fill in some holes but still need the Banks at this point.

Thanks for looking

mccardguy1 · October 28, 2015 1:28PM

Mr Banks is now in hand!

oklahomadanny · November 24, 2015 8:03PM

Originally posted by: mccardguy1

I have added the fourth of the big four to my set. I have finally found a Banks to go along with my Mantle, Mays and Aaron and now I can start concentrating on the lesser valued stars and of course, the commons.

I like the Banks but I hate the Beckett holder. They put the card in a baggie inside the holder which really just washed out the card and it looks like it is a bit cloudy. I have seen them do this before with other cards but I just cannot stand the look. I do intend to get all of these graded cards for my set graded by one company as I like continuity but for now, I am happy with the fact I have the big three pulled down as of right now.

I had thoughts of hoping the Banks would bump to a PSA six but I think that lower right corner will keep it out of that holder. Any thoughts on the potential grade?

Thanks for looking and thank you for indulging me on my quest for this set.

Thanks for looking and for those who are curious, below is the original story I wrote.

Unfortunate the new software has butchered the OP's post.

I hit the "Quote" and used the "Preview" to view this wonderful post, after the fact, and it makes for a much better and flowing presentation (like it was originally meant to BE). It would be nice if a BOARD MODERATOR would come in and fix mccardguy1 's post!

I faintly remember these TV cards.

Was born in 1949 in Milwaukee and the Braves cards jump out for me. I easily remember Hank Aaron, Eddie Mathews, Billy Bruton, Lou Burdette, Johnny Logan, Del Crandall, and Joe Adc!ock (along with Spahnie and others). I definitely remember the 1958's, probably my 1st set I collected. Bought 5c packs at the nearby 'cigar store'. Fading memory doesn't allow me to remember the different 'series' as they were released. Moved to Oklahoma in~1962-63 and my favorite set is the 1962 'plaque' type wood grain set. My mom waitressed at a large steak house a couple miles from the ballpark (graveyard shift) and got us a few autographs from the players. Because of the times I as!ume, she doesn't remember Aaron coming in so no auto.

She mentioned the nickname "snow shoes" (I think) that players referred to him as. This probably was a derogatory term, don't know. At 9-12 years old I wouldn't know, ignorance is bliss at that age. I only remember him, Mathews and Crandall crushing the opposing teams pitching.

Thanks for letting me travel down memory lane.

PS: Drifted over here from the currency forum, it's been really, really slow over there. I think every young boy collected baseball cards sometime in their early days.

mccardguy1 · November 25, 2015 5:48AM

Thanks for fixing my post as I had not realized the software messed up the flow of it. When I originally made the post it looked exactly like yours. I am going to try and go back and edit the original and see what happens.

I am glad you enjoyed your walk down memory lane. As luck would have it I live in the Lake Geneva, Wisconsin area and bought some of these cards from some Milwaukee people so you never know....maybe a few of these might be yours!

Again, thank you so much for fixing the post.

Andrew

mccardguy1 · December 23, 2015 10:24AM

Please see my original post to see all of the set I have accumulated.

1980scollector · December 23, 2015 10:35AM

Such a great thread!

TJMAC · December 23, 2015 12:48PM

I love the story and seeing the 1955 Bowman's. The 55's were definitely an original idea for the time. I also like how the story of how the lot of cards you bought sort of relates to your childhood story. I agree that it was meant to be.

mccardguy1 · December 23, 2015 1:47PM

Thanks guys for the kind words.

I had originally posted this about a year ago and have continued to update the original post as I acquired new cards. The original post got all messed up when the board conversion happened so tonight I found some time to fix the coding so that all the cards show up in a nice and tidy way. Please look at my original post to see them how I had hoped you would all see them.

After the first of the year it will be time to get back on this set and work towards completing it in 2016.

mccardguy1 · January 24, 2016 5:48AM

I wanted to just post an update as I am now at 190 cards and am well over the half way point in just over a year. My hopes are that 2016 will see me get all of the lower numbers with only high numbers left for the last step of this quest. I do plan on adding some of the lesser Hall of Famer's soon as I have already acquired the big four in this set (Mantle, Mays, Banks and Aaron). After all, income tax refund season is here and I deserve a treat or two right?

I have also added a link to a Photobucket album as this was much easier to keep updated than trying to add links to this thread every time I get a new card.

Thank you so much for looking!!

A memory and a story of renewed interest in this hobby of ours!

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