What got you hooked on collecting/investing in cards

NowPanic · April 9, 2009 6:48AM

Hello all.
I was just sitting here thinking about card collecting when I was younger back in the 80's. 1987 Topps BB were the first packs I started buying, or I should say my mom. Can't remember how that all got started.
I remember begging to go to the local card shop, now gone. Probably been closed for 10 years or more. I purchased a 1988 Score Traded Mark Grace XRC for $4. Man o man!! That card shorty after was on fire. I remember checking Beckett every month. It went from $4 one month to $10 or $15 the next.
For about 4 or 5 straight months it kept climbing. I think it hit $40 or more at one point that summer. Ever since, I have been hooked!
Blah..........

OAKESY25 · April 9, 2009 6:51AM

Treetop · April 9, 2009 7:03AM

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Back in the day when the Rams were in LA and Anaheim Stadium was a multi purposes stadium, a bunch of people were in the left center field seats at Anaheim giving Kittle a rash of shlt during pregame and when he came out to the outfield in the 1st inning, he turned to the crowd and fipped eveyone the bird. couldn't believe it. He stood there with his hand raised above his head, just given us all the bird!!!

LOL!

lsutigers1973 · April 9, 2009 7:04AM

Originally, Dale Murphy. More specifically, it was the 1979 Topps Murphy that was apperantly ultra-elusive in 1979.

Ebay lured back into the hobby when I bought a minty fresh 82 Topps Ripken for $16.

Brian48 · April 9, 2009 7:07AM

I got into it because I fell in love with baseball. Specifically, the 1978 Red Sox run. That was the year that I was introduced to the passion (and sorrow) of being a Red Sox fan. Collecting BB cards was just an extension of that.

TNP777 · April 9, 2009 7:15AM

Apparently mine came about because of a yet-undiscovered OCD problem. It was 1978, I was 12, the Dodgers were in a pennant race, and I couldn't stop buying the '78 cards with the cursive script, red white & blue all-star logos and a cool game on the back. All downhill from there.

Zeeck · April 9, 2009 11:57AM

I got tired of getting busted for crack

WinPitcher · April 9, 2009 12:10PM

When I discovered baseball back in the early 60's, 1963 to be more specific.

My first packs were bought in 1965, the first cards I ever saw were 1963 topps, I remember the older kids
flipping them.

In 1966 I was excited when I saw they were at the candy store. I was displeased with the design at first.

The first cards I ever bought were Mars Attacks from a 1 cent vending machine. No gum, no wrappers just a card.

I must have bought 20 of them. I remember getting the one where the boy has his dog killed and liking it. I must have

been a psycho even back then. 7 years old and I'm loving gory scenes on cards.

Steve

BigRedMachine · April 9, 2009 12:14PM

I gave up collecting in high school, started backed up because my boy wanted cards instead of candy in the line at Target. Started buying and busting packs with him in 2001. It's still more fun to share the hobby than go it alone.

Lothar52 · April 9, 2009 12:44PM

in 1987 i bought one pack of 87 donruss and has quite a few topps already...i got my first beckett at the local baseball card shop - yes now gone. There was a guy named will clark and palmeiro both rc's that i thought i had pulled from that single pack....sure enough i had and felt RICH....the clark was up arrow at 8 dollars and i felt RICH!!! still have strong memories of that moment...I was hooked at that point

if your a kid and you rip packs and get none of your favorite players OR no big pull....its prolly tough to keep with it or get addicted to it....just ONCE though....and its like a drug for the rest of your LIFE!!!

Loth

TheCARDKid · April 9, 2009 3:58PM

The magical 80's got me into cards.

Seemed like a lot of factors came into play at once.

-I lived in an area with a lot of shops (so california). If I lived in a little town, it would have been different.

-The big 4 leagues were thriving. They were solid, it wasnt as fractured as todays....ufc, x games, golf, etc. People forget that it was just the big 4 sports, and the others were secondary. So, it made following sports easier.

-Great stars, and role models. People you can identify with. Can that be said today?

-A sense of commonality, everyone did the same stuff. Cards now are way down the list.

-More time to enjoy sports, higher attention span. I dont think I'd start collecting now, too many other distractions.

A whole bunch of great factors. Got started with 85 topps baseball. Was obsessed with cards until the early 90's. Then rediscovered, recollected them in 99/00.

skilow · April 9, 2009 4:42PM

my dad!

nightcrawler · April 9, 2009 5:14PM

<< <i>What got you hooked on collecting/ >>

Must be a disorder.

<< <i>/investing in cards >>

Must be a disorder.

gogosox55 · April 9, 2009 10:53PM

Originally, being 11 in 1955 and spending my 5c allowance on a pack of 1955 Bowmans. Nellie Fox was the second card from top, being a White Sox fan I was hooked. Had a shoebox full of 55s, 56s etc by the time I went to service in 1965 and of course when I got back to the States in 67 they were history. I started up again in the 87 when my son turned 6. Been at it ever since (team collector since 93).

jeffcbay · April 9, 2009 11:07PM

I got hooked on baseball while spending time with my Dad at baseball games in Baltimore, when I visited him in the summertime. At first, I was a fan of Rollie Fingers because of his mustache. Then, since we would always go to Orioles games, I became a fan of Al Bumbry and 'T-Bone' Shelby. Then naturally I became a fan of Cal Ripken. I started collecting Orioles baseball cards, because this helped me feel closer to my Dad since we lived two states away since I was 2 years old.

nearmint · April 9, 2009 11:47PM

As a kid, I was looking for Pete Banaszak's 1969 Topps card. As an adult, a friend introduced me to 1989 ProSet cards, and I gravitated back to the sets I collected as a kid. I finished my 1969 Topps set 22 years after I started it, the last card being Herb Adderley.

BigDaddyBowman · April 10, 2009 12:24AM

For me, the hunt for the 1979 Roger Staubach card lit the fire...the NFL's 75th anniversary (1995) , and their show/book 75 seasons and their promotion of the history of the game really fanned the flames and got me into collecting the 40's and 50's players....especially Sammy Baugh.

Stone193 · April 10, 2009 12:34AM

Around a year ago, I wrote a little thing on what 'motivates' collectors - what they go thru and so forth.

Me? I can't help myself - I'm a pack rat - so collecting is natural - plus I was looking for a hobby back in 1985 and casual collecting became a lifelong obsession.

Further - it was reinforced in concrete when my son got interested in cards.

mike

PowderedH2O · April 10, 2009 1:06AM

It was 1973 and my best friend Chris was big into collecting cards. I was 8, so I decided to give them a try too. The first pack of cards I got was in football, and the top card was a 1973 Les Josephson. The card was a sideways in-action card and I thought it was great. A couple of days later a kid down the street saw it and decided he wanted it too. So, he traded me an OJ Simpson, because (sad to say, but this was 1973) OJ was black, and he didn't want any cards of those guys. So I parted with my Les Josephson, OJ had the greatest season any player has ever had in NFL history and I was hooked on cards. To this day I STILL love that 1973 OJ card.

CDsNuts · April 10, 2009 1:27AM

Dead hookers take up too much space.

thunderdan · April 10, 2009 2:31AM

One word: gum. I found (and still find) it delicious!

These days I appreciate the buzz and dizziness I feel when eating gum from 70s wax packs.

What got you hooked on collecting/investing in cards

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