New Member Intoduction
 

Sometime in the early 1990s, after visiting with my mom, she stopped me as I started to leave. "Wait a minute," she said, "I'll be right back." I heard her go up the stairs to the attic, and, after a few minutes, she returned with a cardboard box and said, "Here, these are yours - they've been taking up space in my attic long enough." They were, of course, the sport cards from my youth!

My collecting days spanned the early 1960s - and there were probably two thousand cards in the box. I had totally forgotten about them - in fact, I thought they were just...gone. And, so, yes, I was one of the lucky ones whose mom didn't throw her son's cards out! What a thrill to go through them. Thanks mom!

At the time, I was the father of five children - all under the age of eleven. Needless to say, that was a very busy time for me. Too busy to indulge in a personal hobby. I knew from the media, of course, that cards had become a major collectible, but I just didn't have the time to get into it all. I did buy a price guide from the magazine rack from time to time over the years - and marveled at some of the prices. I also observed through the media how the card industry waxed and waned over the years - but I never jumped into the action.

Many years have passed, and much has happened in my life. The kids are successful adults now - with children of their own. My wife passed in 2010 - which was very hard. But the Lord brought a wonderful woman into my life - and we married several years ago. I'm now retired - and life is very good. And now is a good time to do something with my cards!

My childhood collection includes baseball and football cards - 1960 through 1963. I'm not exactly sure what I'm going to do with the cards at this point. I'm thinking about completing the 1963 baseball set (my favorite), and selling and trading most of my other cards to accomplish this. A Google search brought me to Net54baseball.com, and I've been lurking and learning for several months. I've also bought a price guide. This forum is informative and entertaining - some of your posts are hilarious! I love dry humor.

Anyway, I've decided it's time to get my feet wet on the forum. I'm also going to try to include some photos of my cards in this introductory post - we'll see if I'm successful:). I look forward to joining the fun and continuing my education here at Net54!

Marcos

Sharp cards. There was a great thread a couple years ago from a lady wanting to sell her father's collection that had a lot of good advice. Search for Caprice in this forum and see if you can find it. Definitely grade that sharp 1963 Mantle.

Man, I can't get over how beautiful those cards look. Did you not keep them in your pockets like I did? :D

So since Leon moved the introduction post to the correct forum, here is the link I was talking about:
http://www.net54baseball.com/showthr...hlight=caprice
Gives a great overview of how collecting has changed over the past years and how to maximize your sales. If you have any questions about COMC, let me know. I love it there.

Welcome to the board - the Mantle looks really nice!

Jimmy

Thanks Mom
 

Hi, and welcome aboard. I can so relate, as I was another lucky one whose mom kept all my cards for me. My collecting was mostly from 1967-1972, but I am thrilled that I had complete sets that I could still cherish. While my mom is now long gone, my grown daughters love the fact that there is a five year span where the cards in my binders were actually from my youth.

Those sets are still the favorite ones I have, and I imagine because they were from that time in my life when I really was a kid.

Best of luck in completing your 1963 set, and any others you care to care to complete.

welcome...and nice story! my mom knew better than to touch my precious baseball card collection of my youth...instead I sold/gave them away to buy a beat up 77 camaro in high school.

Nice crisp mementos you've got there! Enjoy your retirement and the hobby!

Welcome, Marcos. I absolutely LOVE reading stories like yours. Kid buys wax packs like a banchee in heat. Kid goes off to college and forgets about those childhood relics, especially after meeting his future wife. Kid gets a great job and has a happy family. Decades later, while visiting mom, she busts out kid’s original collection in near mint to mint condition.

God, I love this country!! And this hobby!!

Welcome Marcos! I was also one of the lucky ones. When I bought my first house in 1985, my mother brought all of my old cards (and trophies and the rest of my childhood junk). They were all from 1966-1970 and were in great shape.
You got some great 1963 cards but I got all the 1966 high numbers.
Thanks Mom!

Welcome to the board Marcos. You definitely took greater care of your cards than most people! There are a lot of great folks here that can help you with finishing your 63 set. Good luck!

Welcome Marcos! Have fun!

Swarmee -
I found the thread you recommended in your follow-up post. Thanks - it was very interesting and informative. I appreciate your suggestion to get my ‘63 Mantle graded. But, if I decide to complete my ‘63 set, I’ll probably keep everything raw. So, if I plan on keeping the set after completion, does it make sense to have that one card graded? Thanks.

Welcome, nice cards. It looks as if you may be a couple of years younger, looking at your cards. When I was a kid (oops, still a kid) I collected 1961 and 1962's.

Let's put it this way. If you had a time machine, there are two things you would absolutely need to do way back when. Buy Apple stock and grab ahold of as Mantle cards as you can.

Welcome Marcos! My mom never through out my cards as she felt the pain years earlier as her mom threw out all her 30's and 40's comic books...so I am whole!

Hello & Welcome Marcos- Your mother sure kept your cards in great condition!

I would definitely get both the Mantle and the Koufax graded.

I sold off most of my sets a few years ago...keeping only the 1954,1955 & 1956 sets...and I have since completed my 1953 set...and almost all the higher valued cards are graded.

Having higher value cards graded is the best way (if there is one) to assure they will retain their value or even gain some.

This is just my opinion, though...others more knowledgeable may not concur.

Have a great time out here...and never hesitate asking questions.

Lots of great...and smart folks here.

-Raymond

I guess the equation changes when there are some very high value cards in the mix, but I really like putting sets in binders. Easy and fun to flip through them, and not much storage space reqd.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-J327A using Tapatalk

Welcome Marcos! 1960 was the busiest year for me buying packs, and I still remember as an 8-year-old pulling a Willie McCovey rookie out of one of them. Your cards look to be in superb condition- how did you keep them so nice? As mentioned, they should be graded. I think you are sitting on a small fortune (but don't sit on them).

You could put them in Cardsavers and still be able to flip through them, but keep them in their present condition. Cardsavers are a brand name of the semi-rigid holders that are very thin, but keep the card stable and protected. Most grading companies request that your cards be submitted in them.

Thanks everyone for the welcoming comments - and recommendations regarding my childhood card collection. As I’ve read over and over again in many Net54 threads — the cards of our youth generate such great memories. And ya just can’t put a dollar value on them!

Oops, just to clarify, we might be able to put dollar values on the cards - but not the memories:).
Marcos

Welcome
 

you will love it here

A belated" welcome" to the fray!!

It's not a '63 but The OBC guys gave me this one as they knew I liked this pose!

http://luckeycards.com/pbowman1953reese.jpg
.

Thanks for the “welcome” Leon. That 1953 Bowman is unfamiliar to me. It looks like a circus act in the desert!