I'm Balticfox and here's my story!

[Balticfox]

When it comes to trading cards I’m a completist, a set builder of the sharpest, whitest, brightest cards I can find. I’m tough on corners and toning but I’m easy on centering. I’ll accept cards that are well off center so long as they are not miscut.

I collect them raw and unslabbed for three reasons. The first is that I’ve always collected cards raw ever since I was a little kid. Secondly, they’re too bulky to store or even handle when slabbed. Thirdly, my grading priorities are not the same as those of the grading companies. I’m very tough on toning which they seem to ignore, but I’m easy on centering while they penalize off-center cards heavily.

My collection of non-sports cards ranges from the late 1940’s to the mid 1970’s - but the sets I most treasure are typically from the 1957-1965 period which coincides with those cards I remember accumulating as a kid.

The first cards to which I was exposed were the 1957 Hit Stars:



My older sister had brought a few home. She was looking for Yul Brynner, a search doomed to frustration since there was no Yul Brynner card in the set.

I started first grade in September 1958 and remember admiring Topps Flags of the World, TV Westerns and Zorro cards in the schoolyard.

The first cards I ever owned though were four 1958-59 Topps Hockey cards which I gathered off the street one January or February day in 1959. The first three were Detroit Red Wings, but the last was a Chicago Blackhawk. When I saw that big Indian head on the red uniform, I knew that was my favourite team - even though I might have had trouble reading the team name at the time!



I then admired the 1959 Baseball cards in the schoolyard:



But the first cards I ever bought and collected were the 1959 CFL cards:



These first few cards to which I was exposed left a lifelong imprint upon me. I ended up collecting the CFL, Hockey and Baseball cards almost every year thereafter until I graduated from grade eight in 1965.

I was also well aware of the various non-sport sets such as You’ll Die Laughing, Funny Valentines, Wacky Plaks, Sports Cars, etc. that O-Pee-Chee was marketing in my corner of London, Ontario at the time but the first non-sport cards I collected in a big way were the 1962 Leaf Spook Stories:



The 1962 Topps Civil War News cards came next:



The summer of 1963 was when I went big time, however. One of my buddies Anthony proposed that we pool our efforts and collections and just collect any card we could get our hands on. This was initially to his benefit because the 1963 baseball cards I had lying around dwarfed his meager stock. Nonetheless, over the ensuing two years Anthony and I amassed close to 4500 different cards. Needless to say, sheer numbers as opposed to condition was our defining priority.

Strangely enough though, we succeeded in gathering up most of the sports cards issued in our neck of the woods back to the 1960-61 Hockey cards. But any cards older than these were very tough to find and we only had a very few examples from even sets as large as the 1960 Baseball. In fact, coming across any pre-1961 cards in the schoolyard was such an uncommon occurrence that it seemed to be an almost magical event. And even today I feel the same sense of wonder, the same sense of magic, perusing the pre-1961 cards that I have even if they number in the hundreds and fill a binder!

Among the cards we managed to acquire was a wild but very curious one called “Hairy Fiend” which we got in a generic pack while trick or treating on Halloween. We’d never encountered any of this set before and without the wrapper didn’t even know it was from a set called Mars Attacks. Nonetheless, it became our favourite card.

When I went off to boarding school in Kennebunkport, Maine for grade nine, I just turned my half interest in the cards we’d accumulated over to Anthony who was a grade behind me. Bad mistake. Within six months or so he too lost interest in the cards which were approaching 6500 in number at the time and gave them to Billy, the snot-nosed kid across the street. Anthony’s thinking was that Billy would carry the torch so to speak and continue to build on the collection. To Anthony’s horror and dismay though, Billy went and scrambled the cards in front of his eyes! That’s right, he tossed the contents of the whole box up into the air just to watch every other little kid on the street scramble to get as many as he could! Anthony still grouses about that to this very day some 58 years later now.

I also collected the premium coins that were issued in jelly desserts and potato chips up until I graduated from grade school. The plastic Shirriff/Salada Hockey coins, the plastic Shirriff Baseball coins, the Jell-O/Hostess Aircraft Wheels, the Krun-Chee Fightin’ Warships and the 1963 Humpty Dumpty/Krun-Chee CFL coins were the ones that drew my most avid interest - and dimes.

But you know the memory of these cards never left me. I’d often think back to my collecting days and wish I still had my CFL and other cards even when I was in my late teens but I thought that there was no way I could ever reassemble what I’d had as a kid. I thought they were all lost forever and could only live on in my dreams. Then came an article in the Canadian Magazine supplement to the Saturday London Free Press in 1969 or so. It featured Angelo Savelli of Hamilton, who was described as the world’s biggest card collector with every card ever produced (much exaggerated of course). Angelo had evidently started buying sports cards in 1948 and never stopped. The article filled me with an incredible longing for the cards I’d once had, cards that I thought were now lost in the mists of time. Nostalgia/curiousity prompted me to buy a few packs of the 1971 CFL, 1971-72 NHL and 1972 CFL cards over the next couple of years or so. (I actually felt a bit sheepish and embarrassed buying little kids’ cards at the time!)

Flash forward a few years to 1979. I had finished university and had been working in Toronto for a couple of years. I discovered that the big city had four comic shops. Two of them carried old gum cards as well! The first sets I bought at the comic shops were Man from U.N.C.L.E., Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and the first two Funny Valentine sets. (I was a super confident young man by then and I didn't give a tinker's damn what anybody else thought of me.) Shortly thereafter I discovered that the main comic shop in Hamilton also carried cards. When the proprietor pulled out NM (or so I thought at the time) sets of the 1959, 1960, 1963 and 1964 CFL cards, I could not reach for my wallet quickly enough! Prizes beyond belief! As was the Civil War News set he had and the You’ll Die Laughing set I picked up a few weeks later at a comic show.

When I bought the first edition of Christopher Benjamin’s Non-Sport Price Guide in the mid-1980’s, I realized that the “Hairy Fiend” card we’d had twenty years before belonged to the notorious Mars Attacks set.

I’ve steadily added to my card collections since that time. I now have a fabulous collection of non-sports, CFL and Hockey cards and I’ve even made decent inroads into Baseball cards from the 1954-1965 period as well. I’ve also amassed one of the best collections anywhere of those premium coins to which I referred earlier e.g. Shirriff Hockey and Baseball, Humpty Dumpty CFL, Fightin’ Warships, Space Orbit, Rocky & Bullwinkle, etc.

I file my cards these days in binders by subject category. Here are a few of these binders:























I used to feel an incredible sense of longing whenever I saw the type of old variety store at which I used to buy my cards and comics as a kid. No more though. My collection now of most cards is so far beyond what I dreamed of having as a kid that I’ve shed that sense of loss.

I also eventually met Angelo Savelli in the mid-1980’s at a small card show in Toronto where he had set up to sell cards and he became a friend of mine. It was at the big semi-annual Toronto Sportcard and Memorabilia Expo in 2005 or so where I saved one of his binders full of expensive hockey cards from the 1920’s and 1930’s from a thief. I noticed that a tall young fellow at the other end of Angie’s table had scooped up what appeared to be one of Angie’s binders and walked off briskly down the aisle. Angie himself was on the other side of the table and was in no position to give chase so I set off after the fellow myself. I caught him before he got to the door of the hall and said “Excuse me, but is that your binder?” Much to my surprise, the fellow just said no and shoved the binder into my hands. While I stood there gawking for a second or two, he swiftly made his exit through the door. Oh well. I’m not in the business of apprehending thieves anyway, but I’d managed the most important detail which was getting Angie’s binder back for him.

Since Angie sold almost all his cards other than the Hockey and CFL around the turn of the century and I’ve accumulated so many cards myself in the last 45 years, I no longer envy Angie for his cards. How the circle turns! (Sadly Angie himself passed away in February this year.)

But you know I still don’t have a NM “Hairy Fiend” card.

[bnorth]

Great cards, welcome to the site it is awesome with a lot of great info/people.

[Casey2296]

Great story and fun collection, thanks for posting and welcome to the asylum.

[jingram058]

Best introduction I have seen since I have been on this forum, and that is saying something. Welcome, sir!

[whitehse]

I am not one for non-sport cards but that Hit Stars set really hit me hard. I have attempted to put that set together a few times and gave up to focus on baseball. I keep thinking about that set and someday I am going to make a run at it.

Welcome tot he boards.

[Gorditadogg]

Great post, Balticfox. Welcome to the board!

Sent from my SM-S906U using Tapatalk

[JollyElm]

I slightly edited the Murray Head song, One Night in Bangkok, to fit your early life:

"In a SHOW CARD SET with everything but Yul Brenner..."


Welcome aboard!

[oldjudge]

Welcome, Balticfox! What a great story.

[LEHR]

That was a great post.
I don't currently collect sets of cards in binders, but your post made me want to start.

[ALBB]

yes, very cool story !

[4815162342]

Originally Posted by LEHR

That was a great post.
I don't currently collect sets of cards in binders, but your post made me want to start.

+1

Reminds me of collecting Ryne Sandberg in binder sheets as a kid. There was nothing more fun than getting dropped off at the mall on a Saturday with a few bucks in my pocket to spend at the card shop. I’d flip through boxes looking for Rynos I didn’t have, and rearrange my binder to fit them when I got home.

[Brent G.]

Originally Posted by 4815162342

+1

Reminds me of collecting Ryne Sandberg in binder sheets as a kid. There was nothing more fun than getting dropped off at the mall on a Saturday with a few bucks in my pocket to spend at the card shop. I’d flip through boxes looking for Rynos I didn’t have, and rearrange my binder to fit them when I got home.

I fondly recall constantly shuffling the contents of my rookie card binder based on new additions and the month's Beckett prices.

[Balticfox]

Originally Posted by LEHR

I don't currently collect sets of cards in binders, but your post made me want to start.

How then do you store/keep your cards? In card boxes?

[Fred]

Welcome aboard. Long post, a fun read. Great rational for not getting into the grading craze. Great way to collect (sports/non-sports). It keeps things fresh and realistic.

[LEHR]

Originally Posted by Balticfox

How then do you store/keep your cards? In card boxes?

I'm not really a set collector and what I do have is housed in Card Saver 1's or is slabbed. Just my personal preference. I haven't owned a binder with cards in it for 20+ years; although your post brought back that nostalgic appeal.

[bmattioli]

Welcome true collector.. What a journey and story. You will like it here..

[Leon]

Great (belated) intro and welcome to the forum!
.

[samosa4u]

Nice intro and nice cards !!

[Balticfox]

Originally Posted by bmattioli

Welcome true collector.. What a journey and story.

To be very specific, I'm a pure card collector. I'm not a sport memorabilia collector meaning I don't go after autographs, game worn jerseys, signed or milestone baseballs, etc. But as an unapologetic pure ard collector, I derive at least as much delight from scoring Checklist cards and wrappers as I do from scoring almost any star card.

These are the Baseball card sets at which I'm been pecking away:

1954 Topps
1955 Topps
1957 Topps
1958 Topps
1959 Topps
1960 Topps
1961 Topps
1962 Topps
1962 Post Cereal
1962 Canadian Post Cereal
1963 Topps
1965 Topps

Admittedly I've barely gotten a start on the 1954, 1955, 1965 Topps and 1962 U.S. Post Cereal but as for the other sets I bought large lots of EX/MT cards from Kit Young around the turn of the century. Here are some shots that I have handy:

1957 Topps



1958 Topps





1959 Topps





1960 Topps





1962 Topps





1962 Canadian Post



I ate box after box of Sugar Crisp in the spring and summer of 1962 not realizing that a set couldn't be completed from eating only one kind of cereal!

1963 Topps







In addition this ad which ran on the last page of the DC comic mags which hit newsstands in April 1962 (typically with June cover dates) left me salivating and even more eager to buy bags of Shirriff Potato Chips:



(Not mine.)

I acquired a Canadian Shirriff 200 coin set in the late 1980's:



But I'd still be interested in adding one of those American Salada-Junket 180 coin or 200 coin presentation sets to my collection:



The holder isn't important to me but I want uniformly coloured plastic backs for each team. Such uniformity is very difficult to get collecting the Salada-Junket coins piecemeal since there were evidently several production runs.

[Stampsfan]

Nice story, and I can so relate. I also have similar stories of grabbing nickel packs in the 1960's (and early 70's). I still have that passion for CFL and hockey, and O-Pee-Chee non sport sets. It adds to the challenge going after Planet of the Apes and 1966 Batman cards, but trying to ensure there is "Printed in Canada" on the back.

BTW Great Russ Jackson rookie. Beautiful card.

Bob

[Balticfox]

Originally Posted by Stampsfan

Nice story, and I can so relate. I also have similar stories of grabbing nickel packs in the 1960's (and early 70's). I still have that passion for CFL and hockey, and O-Pee-Chee non sport sets. It adds to the challenge going after Planet of the Apes and 1966 Batman cards, but trying to ensure there is "Printed in Canada" on the back.

I have a trading buddy in Ottawa who's closing in on his goal of acquiring every Canadian non-sport wrapper (O-Pee-Chee, Parkhurst, Fleer Canada, etc.) issued since WW2! I believe he currently needs less than a half dozen.

Originally Posted by Stampsfan

BTW Great Russ Jackson rookie. Beautiful card.

I still have a very clear memory of walking along the north side of Askin Street in London and pulling a Russ Jackson card from a 1960 Topps CFL pack I'd just bought at a green grocer's on the east side of Wharncliffe Road!

Do you collect the 1954 Blue Ribbon CFL cards? The 1963 CFL coins?

[Stampsfan]

I'm missing one coin on my 1963 set. An SP obviously.

Not started the Blue Ribbon yet, but it (and the 1956 Shreddies) is one that I intend to start at some point. Focusing on completing some of my pre-war hockey sets more at the moment.

[Balticfox]

Meanwhile I've acquired an ever greater appreciation and interest in knuckleball pitchers and base stealers over the last ten years or so. Since my baseball card collection is limited to the 1954, 1955, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963 and 1965 years, I may well need to expand it to include a sheet or two of some of the great knuckleball pitchers and base stealers who played mainly outside those years - Phil Niekro, Joe Niekro, Charlie Hough, Tom Candiotti, Tim Wakefield, R.A. Dickie, Lou Brock, Joe Morgan, Willie Wilson, Bert Campaneris, Tim Raines, Ricky Henderson, Otis Nixon, Vince Coleman, Kenny Lofton, Marquis Grissom, José Reyes, etc.

Legendary knuckleballer Hoyt Wilhelm and base stealers Maury Wills and Luis Aparicio have of course many cards from that 1954-65 period that's been my focus.

[Balticfox]

Card collecting and bubble gum have to me always been closely intertwined. And while I was a regular buyer of both Bazooka and Dubble Bubble penny briquettes as a kid, gumball vending machines also drew my pennies. I've now had this Bozo machine in my collection for nearly twenty years:





Just over a year ago I added this new old stock variant of the Bozo machine to my collection:





It can be seen from this sticker on the bottom that O-Pee-Chee lent these Bozo machines free of charge to retailers so long as they were refilled with none other than Bozo gumballs:



Ken's Variety on Wharncliffe Road near Elmwood Avenue in London had a Bozo machine on the counter for many years throughout at least the 1960's. Ken's was a treasure trove of kids' stuff including cards, comics, model kits, Pez dispensers, bobble-head dolls of CFL players, Silverwood's ice cream cones (two scoops for a dime!), Krun-Chee Potato Chips (a less common brand than Hostess or Shirriff in London at the time), Black Cat Bubble Gum and of course the obligatory Beaver gumball vending machines. I have two of the Beaver machines in my present day collection which I fill with the requisite gold and silver charms as well as gumballs:



It was Beaver that dominated the gumball machine market in Canada just as Acorn dominated the one in the States.



I remember that the lucky recipient of a special silver ball from the Beaver machine outside Ken's Variety won a pair of wild cool Skeleton Hands like these:



Sadly I never succeeded in scoring the Skeleton Hands. There's been a void in my life ever since.

And I still dream of adding a classic card vending machine to my collection some day:



Collecting to me is all about the memories and keeping those memories alive. I cherish the memories as a part of my very being which is why I don't want to let them go.

[jingram058]

"Collecting to me is all about the memories and keeping those memories alive. I cherish the memories as a part of my very being which is why I don't want to let them go."

^^^ This! ^^^