Who had a positive impact on your collection ?

[johnmh71]

Oddly enough in my case it was my mother who supported my hobby early on. She is a Yankees fan going back to the 50's. She used to collect cards as a kid. I am actually going to a show with her this weekend.

[JollyElm]

What got me back into card collecting in the early 90's was a card shop owner my friend and I referred to as the John Gotti of baseball cards. He was mean as all heck, had ridiculous prices (Dean times 5) on everything displayed, and to top it off all of his display cases sat in the sun all day, every day. The one absolutely faded card I remember to this day was a 1961 high number Warren Spahn All Star that was priced at $100. This was probably in 1992 or thereabouts, and he was completely firm on his prices. He wouldn't even think of negotiating. It was so faded (like everything around it) that it looked like it had been bleached like some Hollywood bimbo's hair. Eventually (surprise surprise) he went out of business, which made us chuckle. But the shop was within walking distance, so it got me interested in all of the old stuff again.

[kkkkandp]

This might sound a little odd, but author David Nemec gave me a focus for my collection I never had before I read his books. The way he presented the game of baseball in the 19th century it was both hugely entertaining and very informational. Once I found out that I could actually get baseball cards of many of the players I read about in his books, I was hooked. Then all I needed to do was actually acquire the cards!

Jay Miller was far and away the one guy who, despite being at the top of the Old Judge heap, was never too busy to answer questions from a neophyte Old Judge collector such as me. He has also been my #1 provider of new material over the past 20 years. For that, I am very thankful.

[oldjudge]

Kevin-That is very nice of you—thanks. I can truly say that the flow of information has been both ways, for which I am grateful.

[darkhorse9]

Jim Elder of Odessa, Florida

I never met the man, but growing up in Nebraska in the mid 1970's there were ZERO options for even seeing vintage baseball cards, let alone owning one.

Somehow I got a catalog from Jim Elder and there they were. Listings for Old Bowman, Goudey, T206, Topps cards...Pacific Coast League Popcorn cards (whatever those were).

My finances were extremely small so I chose wisely and could only afford commons. I still have the 1952 Bowman Johnny Wyrostek and the 1941 Goudey Harry "Gunboat" Gumpert cards I ordered from him

[Baseballcrazy62]

Charles Dutko owned a card store in Warren, Mi (Common Cents and More). Got to know him and his family well over the years. The store closed a number of years ago and kinda lost touch with him. Heard he passed away a few years ago. He smoked like a chimney but had a lot of neat stuff in the store. Bought some pre war stuff that I still have. He was a great guy!!

[cubman1941]

For me it was my daughter. In 1975 I had been out of collecting since 1954 and had no real interest in getting back. I had spent 9 out of the previous 15 years out of the country. She bought me a Hostess Twinkies box both because she knew I loved Twinkies and also baseball. This one had the cards on the bottom one of which was a Cub, my favorite team. This got me interested in collecting baseball again and I have never stopped. I recently sent her the four Cubs 1915 PM1 Ornate-Framed Pins I had as she had always admired them.

[Powell]

Bill Latzko for sure!

[Baseballcrazy62]

There hasn’t been a post here in awhile so I thought I would revive it. Major influences from some of the “ hobby pioneers “. Earlier this year I won a lot of 138 different (1970-1983) Trader Speaks magazines from REA. I previously had read those magazines as a young collector along with SCD and after hauling them all over the country decided to throw them all away in the trash in the early 90’s. In the batch from REA there were a number of the issues that were addressed to Lionel Carter and John Stommen that must have come from their personal collection. For whatever reason I have been buying up older hobby publications and having a blast reading through them. Also, a big shout out to Dan Dischley for keeping the Trader Speaks running as long as he did and Leon for keeping this forum moving forward!! Who are your big influences in the hobby?

[Powell]

Bill Latzko: smart, honest and fair.

[Yoda]

I would have to tip my cap to Lew Lipset, When I re-entered the wonderful world of baseball cards and bought a few cards from him, we became friendly. He really drew me into pre-war, since i was a Topps and Bowman 50's guy, and provided me with much helpful advise how to set up and run a proper retail dealership, which became full Count for those who remember it. He also advised me who to watch out for.
I still use his books as a reference tool.
Lost contact with Lew. Hope he is doing well.

[Schwertfeger1007]

+1 for THEE Old Judge, Jay Miller

I got into collecting Old Judge and other 19th century cards about 2 years ago...

I was researching Net54 one day and came across a post of his and reached out blindly not sure if I'd even get a response. When he did, I was ecstatic to see some of the impossible to find treasures he made available to me. But honestly what stood out more was how responsive he was to what I'm sure felt like some very basic questions at the time.

Jay is a tough SOB when it comes to negotiating ("ok...go buy the other one"...he says about cards with zero public sales ever haha) but a really good dude that helped me build a collection I absolutely cherish.

Thankful for you buddy.

Looking forward to finally meeting in person one of these days!

Happy Turkey Day all!

[sreader3]

My wife. She doesn’t “get” the hobby, but she is supportive.

[Baseballcrazy62]

Thought I would try to breathe some life back into this thread after reading the “whatever happened to these dealers” thread. Really enjoy hearing and learning about these folks.

[Powell]

Bill Latzko
Great guy
Honest and knowledgeable

[commishbob]

There have been several Houston sportscard storeowners and dealers who have been generous and welcoming over the course on my collecting hobby dating back many decades.

Larry Dluhy, who I met in the early 70s when we both worked at the old Houston post. He turned to cards as a full-time occupation and he's still involved. Larry was always a pleasure to converse with.

The Nelkin family, Harold, Lillian, and their sons Teddy and Todd whose Southwest Houston store was almost a second home to me for many years.

Finally, one of this site's advertisers, Daryll Zingaro, the owner of Sportscards of Houston, puts on regular shows in west and north Houston. I've sold off a large part of my collection so I don't make it across Houston to Daryll's shows like I used to. And I miss my visits with him. He sold me almost all the starter lots of the 50s and 60s sets I chased and so much more. He was always looking out for my card needs and was a valuable 'ear' when I was contemplating a large purchase. Daryll and his family are just good folks.