[UKCardGuy]

For me, collecting began in 1976 when I was 8. My grandmother came to visit with a friend of hers who worked in a newsagent in Manhatten. He brought my brother and me a Topps vending box. (I still have that box and the cards that came in it,)

At the time, I loved playing baseball and watching games on TV, but hadn't really had any cards. When I got the vending box I asked my Dad to explain the stats on the back of the cards. He explained the rules of thumb... >. 300 batting average was good... Less than. 3.00 ERA was good.

That was it. I was hooked. Every Saturday, I took the $2 my Dad paid me to cut the grass and rode my bike to buy new packs of cards. Then one day, a baseball card shop opened up in my local mall. My mind was well and truly blown. There were rows and rows of cards in plastic trays and binders with sleeves. The cards going back to the 50s. I asked to look at the early cards but the price per card was $1 or 75 cents for the commons... I wouldn't get many cards for my $2. The 1960 Topps were only 20 cents each. That was the right balance for me. They looked cool and I knew some of the players from my Dad and uncles. I could get 10 commons each week. That worked for me.

I'd bring home my cards and go through them with my Dad. He'd remember stories about those players. My dad wasn't usually the easiest person to spend time with - so going through my weekly card pickups with him was great.

Ayear or two later I begged my dad to take me to a big baseball card convention near Texas Rangers Stadium. My mind was blown a second time. All I wanted every birthday or Christmas was baseball cards or money for baseball cards. This went on until I bought a case of Topps wax packs in 1984. After that, my money went into getting a car and my new girlfriend. My collection was left in my parents house. 20 years later, I was married, with kids and living in England. Ona visit to my parents house, my mother wanted me to take my cards or she was going to throw them out. I sold most of my best cards at the LCS (1960 Mantle, Koufax, Yaz, etc). That money was helpful to my young family. The rest of the cards came home with me to England and stayed in my attic.

20 years further, my kids are grown and I revisited those cards in my attic. I dusted them off and assessed what I had. My original 1978 vending box was there as well as cards ranging from 1956 to 1984. I decided to slowly rebuild my 1960 set. My collecting resurgence has grown from there.

I'm spending my late adulthood recreating what I had as a kid..and with it a connection to history and my late father.

I collect a little bit of everything now, but my main focus is to complete my 1960s topps set and others from the 1950s to the 1970s. I also love the Kelloggs sets that remind me of the days when I sent off for them in the mail.

I have a soft spot for autographs, world series tickets and pinbacks. But really, I'm inclined to pick up anything that triggers a bit of nastalgia for me.

I don't have the budget for some of the premier sets like the T206 or the cracker Jack sets.
For me the 1930 W554 set has been a great intro to the pre-war sets. We'll see where it goes from here.