when did you acquire the bulk of your collection?

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Posted By: scott altland

everyday i see people posting incredible cards on here and on their websites.obviously valued at thousands of $$, i was wondering if you acquired the more valuable cards back in the day when things were less expensive or did you change focus and "recycle" your collection into its present form.i realize this is a very broad question.
thanks,
scott

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Posted By: Danny Grimes

Im young, but my good days were between 1995-2001...i was born in in the early 80's and my father is disabled but played semi-pro and minor league ball. he couldnt really he couldnt really play with me or show me real baseball but got me into baseball cards as the next best thing at a very young age, and not to mention the vintage part of it. i was just astounded by the old stuff.. His Mantle's and old stuff from the 1950's and early 60' just took me away. He bought me my first t206 in 1992 i was 10 and that started the revoultion for me..That led me to 1996 vacationing in Largo FL there was a hobby shop that gave me the choice i was 13 years old and on vacation with about $500 saved from birthdays/allowance/oddjobs Shop owner gave me an incredible offer on a fair to good red portrait t206 cobb for $70 bucks or a like vg-ex to nrmt one for $200.. But we were still going to disney and universal!!! So i ended getting the Fair to good one which i still have in my collection. and ill never forget the prices as compared to today. im no old-timer but i can relate to what you guys went threw... and what prices are today!!


Danny. G

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Posted By: Ken McMillan

topps started in 1969 trough 1975 with a huge break til 1988 or so. Vintage cards 1990 to current.

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Posted By: Anonymous

*Please delete, didn't mean to highjack.

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Posted By: JK

all my prewar cards have been acquired in the last 3 years.

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Posted By: Paul S

The majority of my pre-war, and many post-war 40's-to-early/mid 50's, I bought over several years -- in Los Angeles -- from Goodwin Goldfaden of ADCO. That was in the later 1960's and very early 70's. Around the same era I also filled in a goodly amount of pre, but mostly post, from Gar Miller and those like him, through their ads. trade mags. I bought countless waxpacks (over the counter) -- throughout the 60's.

I also found a store or two in LA, sorta nostalgia style, that had post-war cards for sale. I'll never forget one of them, Nichelodeon, on Ventura Blvd. in Sherman Oaks. It had to be her son's collection, all these 50's Bowman and 50-60's Topps, some regionals, etc., in rows of racks that took up almost the whole length of a wall; stars, then-current and future HOFers, commons, (sigh) a nickel or a dime or a quarter each. I'll bet her son's crying now.

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Posted By: Anonymous

I have been collecting since 1972 and pre-WWII almost exclusively since 1989. I consider myself in the middle of a wonderful collecting journey.

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Posted By: BcD

the market tanked for a while after that and in the early 80's as well.
bought a green Cobb portrait T-206 for $55.00 at Marc Macrae's first show from a friend of his!


BcD

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Posted By: Phil Garry

I have put together my entire BB HOF RC collection over the past four years.

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Posted By: rob

...My dad kept many of the Goudeys and PLayballs he collected as a young man;passed them on to my brother and me in the early 70s. I was always a big baseball fan (and played through college),and always bought Topps sets through BB Digest as a youngster in the 60s/early 70s(I believe from larry fritsch's store)with allowance and lawn-cutting/newspaper/housepainting money. Basically kept a lot of cards and sets but took a hiatus from collecting/buying from mid-70s (college) until mid 80s,when my dad informed me that one of his former students was now the proprietor of a card shop in my hometown.....which promptly started me back up again. Upgraded my 50s and 60s sets (through this guy's store and others in NY,east coast nationals and SCD ads,etc).
After spending close to 60-70 grand overall (over the years)upgrading and collecting,marriage put a stop to that when I realized this was house and retirement money,so I swallowed my pride and sold most of my collection...many Tobacco cards,an actual Piedmont unopened pack,Goudeys,various 50s through 70s Topps and OPC sets & singles (I'm foolishly proud to say I never owned but ONE graded card),as well as many unopened 50s/60s/70s packs,racks and boxes...baseball and non-sport...
Sold mostly over several years...mid-to-late 90s through 2002,mostly...almost all was cherrypicked. Still have thousands of 50s through 70s singles and some sets left,but nothing compared to what i used to have.
I miss the "hunt" but it got crazy when I had situations like 15 52 T Stuffy Stirnwiese (sp?) doubles and 23 Topps Drysdale AS cards hanging around from obsessive upgrading.Still,it was great fun from the mid-80s through mid to late-90s,constantly upgrading and finding new stuff. I wish I had known of this site before 2005!
Also had a grand-uncle (Nap Rucker),a long-ago pitcher,and we had his Brooklyn uniform shirt downstairs in mothballs (given to my mom in Georgia from a trip we made to see him in late 60s).When my folks died early -mid 90s,my brother supposedly managed to sell this uniform shirt for drug money,along with my dad's WW2 army coat and german Luger pistol. All I know is they're all gone except for his cap,which my sister still has.Which I still had all these items,but I dont miss the cards too much.
Sorry for rambling.
Rob Brooklyn, NY

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Posted By: Paul S

Wow Rob, good saga! Somehow I'm sure it's "healthy" about not missing the cards, since that was your own decision, but I imagine you must feel somewhat burned by the loss of your father's possessions and that Rucker shirt.

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Posted By: robedits

You bet. Still gets me to this day,but not for the monetary value of my G_uncle's shirt and the Luger my dad managed to get off a dead Nazi (!)...for the coolness effect of simply being able to view the items in question.
My bro has been forgiven by me for his transgressions (he was a troublemaker of the worst kind back then),and he's changed his life around.But we didnt talk for quite some time when my sis and I found out he basically pawned off most of our parent's posessions after they died without our knowledge.
Anyway,if I ever see a Rucker Brooklyn uni shirt on Ebay (I never have),I'll know where it probably came from! It's been out of my family's posession for almost a dozen years now.
***
ON a positive note,this forum,Old Cardboard magazine and the like give me the "itch" to oneday begin collecting again> This site is THE first site I "turn to" in the morning,before work,and the last I check at night.
Another great link is "108"...especially the in-link sites on that like "The Southpaw" (lots of great old baseball films and stories) and "Cardboard Gods"...
Rob

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Posted By: Jimmy

I got lucky one day and was able to purchase about half the T206 cards back in 2002 and a few years before that got lucky with some high graded 1933 Goudey cards, still have a few - but I sold many to keep my hobby and my side business going. The hobby has helped me with family responsibilities even though I cannot keep everything; it’s still nice to know I had some real nice items at one time. I continue this trend today to learn and see items that can be difficult to acquire with an average collectors budget. Having the opportunity to buy, sell and trade is the best way to really enjoy this hobby.

Take care

Jimmy

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Posted By: peter chao

My vintage collection started with a purhase of a near mint vintage '54 Bowman Ted Williams about 3 years ago. After that purchase, I started moving towards prewar cards. Now I have almost half a shoebox full of prewar.

Peter C.