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If you could only go back in time
AndyL
Posts: 64 ✭✭
Boy would it be nice to go back and buy what you wanted in 1965
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$106 in 2026 dollars for a '55 Topps complete set.
I tell my son there's been a market for cards for over 100 years. Kids loved the tobacco cards. Dads smoked and the kids wanted the cards
I love this. Thanks for sharing.
1965 is my favorite set, but I think I would start by sucking up the 1955 sets at $10 to get some Bob & Sandy rookies. Throw in a 1954 or two for some Hanks. Then, I would get as many 1965 key cards for 3 cents each.
I have rolls of wheat cents ready to take with me back to 1965. Fire up the DeLorean!
Here we are 60 years forward and I still call my best assortment of any set the A-1.
I like the 1953 set for $20. Probably a pristine Mantle in there somewhere.
If we only knew and if we were only alive at that time.
I have often thought this.
if only i could go back to the year 2000 and buy ALL of the rookies of a certain 6th round draft pick!!
George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.
A 1953 Topps set for only $20, wow! Interesting that there is no 1952 set listed for sale. I guess they were all sold out by 1965.
Speaking of 1952, as late as 1960, Sy Berger was trying to sell some of the 1952 Topps high numbers at 10 for 1 cent. When they still didn't sell, he dumped the remaining stock into the Atlantic Ocean. To go back in time with a roll of pennies...
collecting O-Pee-Chee (OPC) baseball cards
also collecting US & Canadian junk silver
Sweet REAL historic proof of baseball cards being collectible at that time. Seems like a decent number of Ads offering older sets for sale (A few ads also to the left of the two legible Ads). I think in 1970 Larry Fritsch was the first person/dealer to make a career/living on sports cards. So I guess the 1950's seemed rather old even for Mr. Fritsch to obtain? The 1930's Goudy's Leaf, Playball, etc. which must have been highly desired as well not to mention the 1900's tobacco cards. Do any of you ever hear about the early 1990's Southern Cards Tobacco FIND (Marco Rol's store). As I have mentioned before on this board I was OCCASSIONLY working in the shop during that time when I was at the University of Virginia (Charlottesville). I don't think it was publized like the 1985 Rosen 52 Topps find. But from what I remember an elderly gentleman walked in with a Cigar box full of the T-206 cards in absolutely mint condition (maybe like 100-200 but I'm just guessing here). The story was the cards were stored away for years in a desk where after smoking a pack he put the cards in the cigar box in a desk to go undisturbed for 80+ years. I do remember someone mentioning that the cards had like fresh "chip slivers" as if they were printed yesterday. Also remember people mentioning there were all the big cards like TY cobb in all or most of the variation as well as the other HOF player variations. I think SGC and PSA grading was operating at the time If can remember right (fact check this please). I also don't know if all the cards were bought by just a few people or one collector. Anyway this to me has to be in the TOP 3 baseball finds of all-time. Maybe some of you can shed some light on who or where the cards ended up and if they got graded or not as I graduated in 1992. ENJOY!!!!
Things we would see in the past:
1952 Topps:
Mark Murphy BBCKid find
how about a 1973 baseball wax tray
I'd love to go back in time to the National in '92 where we met Mark Murphy. It was just a blip on the radar. We shared maybe 30 minutes or so just talking to him. The amount of knowledge and information he was able to share in that very brief period was quite valuable to myself and my partner. We listened to some good advice. We scoured the floor for stuff we hoped to carry home. It was a pivotal moment. Never forget it.
That 1952 topps table probably has a billion dollars worth of cards on it. They would have laughed you out of the building if you told them in 60 years it would be worth that.
I remember buying and handling so many rack and grocery packs of mid 70's baseball and some football. The idea that now they're worth thousands individually is crazy. Nearly no one consciously would not open any of them. Most are around today by mistakes and forgetting about them.
Not sure but tha> @71waxforever said:
Other collectibles are counter intuitive to be unopened:
1.) Old toys NIB. Every time I got a toy especially at Christmas I immediately opened them
2.) VHS and Video games which are gaining collectible popularity in UNOPENED SEALED form. Why purchase a VHS or video game to not watch or play it.
.
3.) Old Vintage automobiles with 0-100 miles (these are a miracle to find it seems
)
Rock/collect on!!!!
Awesome. Mark Murphy was an asset to the hobby. Certainly begs the question "Where is he now?" I thumbed thru his Unopened Pack, Wrapper & Display Box Guide hundreds of times in the late 90s.
collecting O-Pee-Chee (OPC) baseball cards
also collecting US & Canadian junk silver
I recall Mark's SCD ads very well from the early-mid 90s
My last dealing with Mark was around 22? 23? years ago, purchased a handful of different 1970's GAI 100 Series Wax
Example; this was 35+ shipping, which at the time may have been a bit high
It's the singer not the song - Peter Townshend (1972)
Not even a minute do I buy the whole buh buh buh I'm a man-child japery - Me (2025)
I was looking closely and remember with a little research that I mentioned Martucci back in 2004.
Stan Martucci was one of the early mail-order baseball card dealers, advertising complete vintage sets in The Sporting News by the mid-1960s.
He later became a familiar dealer at card shows and operated Manny’s Baseball Land near Yankee Stadium, remaining active in the hobby for decades.
Martucci was well enough known that collectors and hobby historians later relied on his recollections about scarce Topps issues from the 1960s and ’70s.
And that ad Andy posted is terrific provenance — October 9, 1965, 1953 Topps complete set $20, 1954 $15, 1955 $10, 1963 $12. Makes your eyes hurt today. 😎
I just need to go back to May and not have sold a 1966 Marvel # 34 PSA 9 Spider-Man RC.
"Be sure and use good quality rubber bands to hold your cards securely."
I was just about to post that same thought. look at all those cards with rubber bands on them.
And if you read the fine print, postage is included at those 50's set prices. "Special Handling"
I never bought anything from Martucci.
If anyone who was buying in the early 90s might have done any biz with Joe Badalucco or Broadway Rick aka Strike Zone? Let's just say...interesting.
I remember Broadway Rick. Quite the hustler and storyteller. We made some deals with him at large conventions in the early 90s. He always carried a briefcase full o' goodies
There's also a new outpouring of photos from Manny's Baseball Land which I've noticed on eBay. People paying pretty good for the big names.
Didn't he have his inventory destroyed in a flood or fire and left the business as a result?
It's the singer not the song - Peter Townshend (1972)
Not even a minute do I buy the whole buh buh buh I'm a man-child japery - Me (2025)
These are fun.
The 1952 Topps display is one of Keith Jr’s (along with myself) favorite dream photos. Such a cool display.
So as @1982FootballWax illustrates that $20 in 1965 is about equivalent to $220 of purchasing power today. So now the fun should be to choose what would you BUY TODAY with $220 such that in 10-30 years in the future would win the PROGNASTICATOR of the year award
.
I'll be the first to start and would purchase either a series 2,3,4 or 5 1977 Topps Star Wars complete set in mint condition!
Now you guys turn!
I would patent the blue led.
A T206 Honas Wagner at garage sale
If we are talking non cards...
My sole goal would be to go back to the early to mid 1990s and tell my Mom how much I truly appreciated and respected her
It's the singer not the song - Peter Townshend (1972)
Not even a minute do I buy the whole buh buh buh I'm a man-child japery - Me (2025)
what do these sell for now?
The '73 Topps Baseball 3-pack tray is exceedingly rare. It's a Name-Your-Price kind of thing if you could even locate one. Maybe in a Heritage or other high end auction. Many thousands to pay. $325 was a steal whenever that happened.
I can never collect unopened products. I have trouble enough not opening them before I get home from the store. if I have any unopened its because they are junk wax era and just not worth much.
There are those who will tell you that ripping packs is about as fun as it gets. I can't disagree. It IS a lot of fun and the anticipation to discovery creates a perfect scenario if you pull a great card.
There are also those who will tell you that keeping your vintage unopened in its original condition is the best way to get the most from it. I can't disagree with them, either.
I've enjoyed the perspective from both sides, so I guess that means I'm bi.
from what I've tasted of desire... I hold with those who RIP THEM!
Establish the first card grading service. And guarantee cards returned within one year of submission 😁
I was a friend of Stan and Renata Galasso’s husband Bill H. Stan passed more than 15 yrs ago. He moved to Nevada but didn’t get much time there. I remember the last items I bought from him were 30 Sealed (envelopes) of 1970 Kellogg Football sets. I used to go with another old dealer who has also passed Bill Munn to Stan’s shop in Staten Island in the early 80s.
Renata and Bill although no longer married are both well Renata in Brooklyn and Bill in upstate NY