How did you get started in the hobby

[Jayworld]

I bought my first baseball cards from the neighborhood 7-11 in 1975 when I was eight years old and have been hooked ever since. The fall of 1975 saw us trading 1975 Topps football cards in school. I collected cards solely from packs from 1975-78 and enjoyed building (or trying to build) sets that way, and yes, I filled in the checklist cards to help keep track of which cards I was lacking. 1979 was the first year that I ordered the complete Topps baseball set from a dealer rather than try to build from packs. I remember that set cost $9.99 postpaid. I relied on the Card Collector's Company to buy singles and fill-in the holes to complete my 1977 and 1978 baseball sets....

I finally completed the 1975 Topps set last year, and I am currently working on completing the 1975 Topps football set.