Whatever happened to your card dealer of the past?

[K-Nole]

As a child, i ordered from "San Diego Sports Collectibles"

Anybody know anything about where they are now?

[ALR-bishop]

A salute to Tom and Eddie in Austin, or wherever they are now

[stlcardsfan]

Walter Abe of Foster City, CA. As a 9 year old I ordered a 1975 complete set from him (with Mom's help). Still have it. Bought a bunch of stuff after that as well.

[brian1961]

I first ordered cards through the mail with Wholesale Cards Co. of New York/New Jersey, run by Bruce Yeko. I think he eventually stopped in the 80s maybe; I read where a barn fire took all of his remaining inventory, which was probably a massive loss considering he dealt in sports and non-sports cards.

I also dealt with The Trading Card Co. of Farmington Hills, Michigan. They had excellent customer service. I well recall the time in the late 60s I ordered a group of about forty 1962 Topps baseball. Among the cards I selected was #200, Mickey Mantle. Somehow, I'd lost my original during a family move. I had even forgotten what the card looked like. They did indeed send me Mickey, for only eight cents. That's what they were charging for 62s then. Hate to say it; that shot of Mick is awful and forgettable, but it was nice to get the Mantle anyway. Funny how some things you just don't forget.

In the 80s I believe The Trading Card Co. sold out to a Chicago-area sports collecting store conglomerate, with Don Steinbach being one of the principal owners. ---Brian Powell

[Griffins]

I started buying from Card Collectors Company from about '72 thru '76, it was a better alternative to getting yelled at my the old guy at the only card store in town, Adco.
I've still got a couple of catalogs around. I used to order T206's for .50 each, and if you bought a dozen their choice they'd often put in 2nd tier HOFers like Bender, Bresnahan, Clarke, etc. One time they sent a Uzit back, which I promptly flipped for $10.

Some of the local dealers back then that I've often wondered about were Jim Nowell, Gavin Riley and Steve Brunner. Merv Williams was another one that was really nice to kids, I've heard he's doing well living in the desert.
Fred Copp, Gar Miller, Ed Budnick, CS Perry, Ray Hess, John Spalding, Bob Rathgeber were some of the ones I recall dealing with back then. Gar was still selling as of a few years ago, Clay Hill is still in the hobby with SCP, and Irv Lerner is selling rings instead of cards but still there. I figure most of the others probably sold out, but would be interested in hearing about news, especially the first few on my list.

[ALR-bishop]

[stlcardsfan]

I know you have posted this before, Al. Unbelievable.

[Laxcat]

Originally Posted by ALR-bishop

A salute to Tom and Eddie in Austin, or wherever they are now

Al

Tom is my father. My collection is put together from his. Did you ever make your way to the SA store?

[ALR-bishop]

I lived in Austin from 85 to 90 and bought a bunch of stuff from that store. On what was then north side of town, right ? Austin Sports Collectibles ?

[Laxcat]

Originally Posted by ALR-bishop

I lived in Austin from 85 to 90 and bought a bunch of stuff from that store. On what was then north side of town, right ? Austin Sports Collectibles ?

Sports Collectibles of Austin. Correct. Was North, now barely central. I was the annoying kid running around on Saturdays.

[savedfrommyspokes]

Originally Posted by K-Nole

As a child, i ordered from "San Diego Sports Collectibles"

Anybody know anything about where they are now?

I also ordered from them in the 80s and I have often wondered what happened with SDSC too, I loved their ads
that appeared in hobby publications throughout the 80s. A couple decades later, through about
2005, I bought some great pre-70 lots on a regular basis from them. I only
stopped because I was saving for a new house and my first son was on
his way. For several years, about once a month, I would receive an email with a
list of a 1000+ cards and a price...a quick "thank you" and a payment followed.
SDSC was a huge factor in helping me complete my late 50s-60s sets.

About 8-9 years ago, after I had stopped buying these great lots, I
spoke with Jeff Kling, a long time ebay seller who passed away about a year ago, about SDSC. He mentioned that the original owner of SDSC was liquidating his inventory and leaving the business. As I had stopped buying these "liquidation lots", Jeff seemingly replaced me as SDSC's go to liquidation "buyer". I am not sure how long Jeff continued purchasing from SDSC.

I am hard pressed to remember the name of SDSC's original owner (Dave
perhaps?), as when I looked up the transaction details from my old
paypal payments to SDSC, there was not a name there, just SDSC.


More recently, there was another company with the same name, but they seem to sell more memorabilia than cards. The company name may have been sold by the original owner to this more recent company.