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Posted By: Robert Edward Auctions

I started dealing in vintage cards in a big way in 1969, so maybe I should have used 36 years! I actually started collecting in 1965 but for some reason was always interested in older cards. Everyone thought it was really strange but my family humored me. By 1968 I was able to acquire quite a collection of old cards, a lot of it for free by asking parents of friends (cards had very little value at this time), a lot of it by making purchases, trading and selling. I actually went door to door back in 1969-1970, literally casing the neighborhood for old cards. (This was a different world at this time, no one would ever allow a kid to do this today). By 1969 I had near complete sets of Play Balls, hundreds of Bowmans, a sampling of tobacco cards, and really a little bit of everything in-between. I am 45 years old. In 1969, I was nine years old. By 1972 I was one of the most active dealers in the country in vintage cards. My first auctions were in the early 1970s (they were a lot smaller back then, sometimes just a quarter-page in the old Trader Speaks and the early years of SCD, sometimes a page or two), as were my first fixed price sales. In the early 1970s all bids were only by mail. I was dealing with adults from all over the country by the time I was 12 years old. I have ridiculous pictures of me in SCD and various newspapers which appeared with articles about vintage card collecting and dealing in the early 1970s which fortunately I don’t know how to post. Back then I didn’t know about anything but baseball cards, which in retrospect may have been my greatest strength, because no one told me I could not buy, sell, and trade baseball cards with adults. I took a loan out from the bank to expand the business in 1973 (my Dad co-signed), which I repaid over the next two years. I purchased the Kurzrok collection from Dr. Lawrence Kurzrok’s family a year following his passing (I did a lot of dealing with Dr. Kurzrok for many years. He was impressed by my enthusiasm, dedication, and interest in the business, and he instructed his wife to contact me and sell me the collection when he passed away). Dr. Kurzrok passed away in 1975 and I was 16 years old in 1976 when I purchased his collection. This was perhaps the largest collection, or at least one of the largest collections, of vintage cards to ever trade hands, and was probably the largest vintage baseball card deal in the history of collecting at the time in terms of dollars. The total cost was over $20,000 (that was really a lot more in 1976 than it sounds today, there just weren’t any deals that big in those days). The collection included among other cards over 2000 Old Judges (including many of the ones I sold you many years ago, Jay), dozens of E card sets, hundreds of Cracker Jacks, hundreds of Ramlys, hundreds of Allen & Ginters, hundreds of T202s, etc. In the early days I was a dealer who also worked extensively with consignments. Over the years this has evolved to all consignments. In 1990 I changed the name of the business to Robert Edward Auctions to better reflect the nature of the business. This was a change in name only as I was still a sole proprietor. For how long I’ve been around, many people assume I am older than I am. I have not just been around for 35 years, I have been very active on a daily basis this entire span. I count myself very lucky to, by pure chance and circumstance, bridge the gap between the days of Charles Bray (the first real card auctioneer and dealer, who I used to bother to no end as a kid) and the modern era. I hope this helps clarify where the 35 years comes from in REA literature and articles. I think I’ve got another 35 years in me and I’m hoping someday to be referring to 70 years in the business!

Sincerely,

Robert Lifson

President
Robert Edward Auctions
www.RobertEdwardAuctions.com