Ideas/Suggestions/Contributions to my new book

[campyfan39]

Hey Guys,
I am a Pastor and Christian author who has decided to write about my other passion: baseball cards. I have been researching/interviewing for more than a year now and even got a brief audience with Dr. Beckett. I am hoping to include some stories from other collectors and you guys may have some ideas and angles that I have not thought of that would be worth pursuing.

The book is called "Buying Back Dad's Cards" and the central idea is that Dad's cards getting tossed was actually a good thing, and the journey to "buy 'em back" created a lifetime of memories for us. Dad passed on ten years ago at the tender age of 54 and his is a tribute to his memory as well as a gift for my 3 boys to help them understand why I love these cards so much.

The book will focus on Topps cards from 50-80's and tell many of the stories of how we aquired them. It will also tell a bit about the hobby and about the people we met along the way.

I am wondering if anyone here has any unique, interesting or funny stories or memories about cards from that era. All stories are welcome and appreciated and will be considered for inclusion. One section in the book will be about Dad's favorite cards and ones that we have memroies attached to so I would love to hear any background info or experience with those particular cards as well. Below I will list the cards I know will be featured, though please don't limit yourselves to these.

THANKS IN ADVANCE!

52 Slaughter 53 Mantle, Mize, Campy, Paige
54 Kaline, Aaron, Wilhelm, O'Briens
55 Robinson 56 Williams, Mantle, Clemente, Feller, Aaron
57 Berra, Richardson 58 Mantle, Koufax
59 Mantle, Gibson, Skowron, Duren, Musial
65 Mantle 69 Bench, nNekro
75 Brett 84 Mattingly, Gooden 86 Donruss Canseco

[39special]

Good luck with the book Chris! I have a story for you.I will PM you in the next couple of days.

[campyfan39]

Thanks Steve!
my email is plymouthpastor@hotmail.com

Everyone feel free to email as well thanks!

[bsuttonosu]

Very interesting book idea. One of the reasons I still collect is because of the memories it evokes for me. My Dad took my brother and me to card stores and shows all over the place and even got into collecting some himself of his childhood heroes and current favorite players. We went to a show together a few weeks ago and I had to talk him out of buying a '71 Ryan I know was trimmed. He liked the condition for the price!

I remember exactly the story behind lots of my cards. One I'll never forget is my 1958 Topps Orlando Cepeda RC. A friend of my Dad's knew we collected and asked if we'd sell an old box of cards he had as a kid. They were '57s and '58s, maybe a shoe box full. Most of the stars were mangled from being played with but the rest were in decent shape. He thought we might get him $100 or so. I was only a young teenager but my Dad took us on a road trip to a big show and I worked the room for $1000. The friend had offered up front to pay me for selling them. When I gave him the money he was shocked and I asked instead of paying me if I could keep one card...the Cepeda. The only star he had in good condition.

I still remember that show. My cousin went with us and won a door prize for an '82 set with a Ripken RC. We got Rollie Fingers autograph at that show. I nearly worked a trade of some of those '57s and '58s for a Ryan RC that I thought would be easier to resell but it fell through at the last minute. I so wanted to own that Ryan for just a second before I would have flipped it! And I still have that Cepeda today.

[cdn_collector]

This sounds like it could be a rather interesting read.

Good luck!

Regards,

Richard.

[campyfan39]

Thanks for the emails. I may combine the stories into a chapter about net54 so keep 'em coming!

[campyfan39]

friendly bump

[cwazzy]

I love the idea! And great to see that you're including the '53 Topps Campy. That was my first vintage card (it was a gift from my dad for Christmas in '90 or '91). I had seen it at a card show a couple months before and couldn't stop staring at it. I love the big, jovial smile on his face. That card is the reason that I started to collect vintage and got into baseball history, especially the Campanella story. It was also the start of my Campy collection and is the one card that I have that will NEVER be sold no matter what.

Good luck with the book!

Chris

[Chris Counts]

I hope you will consider including cards not produced by Topps in the post-WWII era. The Bowman cards from 1950 to 1953 are among the most attractive and popular of all sets with vintage collectors — their artwork in many ways is unparalleled. And the 1950s were the Golden Era of regionals, particularly for cards packaged with hot dogs (Kahn's, Stahl-Meyer, Glendale Meats, etc.). Leaving out all of these wonderful sets would be like telling your story in black and white ...

[campyfan39]

I appreciate your input. However, I am not writing a history of collecting or cards. Instead I am writing about a personal journey of collecting with my father and we never collected anything but Topps so there are no plans o include anything else. Blessings

Originally Posted by Chris Counts

I hope you will consider including cards not produced by Topps in the post-WWII era. The Bowman cards from 1950 to 1953 are among the most attractive and popular of all sets with vintage collectors — their artwork in many ways is unparalleled. And the 1950s were the Golden Era of regionals, particularly for cards packaged with hot dogs (Kahn's, Stahl-Meyer, Glendale Meats, etc.). Leaving out all of these wonderful sets would be like telling your story in black and white ...

[Volod]

Originally Posted by campyfan39

I appreciate your input. However, I am not writing a history of collecting or cards. Instead I am writing about a personal journey of collecting with my father and we never collected anything but Topps so there are no plans o include anything else. Blessings

but, if the book is to feature anecdotes about collecting from other contributors, don't see why their recollections would need to be limited to a certain company's product.
Topps owns all Bowman rights, so why exclude those?

[campyfan39]

I agree and certainly input from others about experiences with non topps cards are welcome for inclusion. I was under the impression that his comments were based off of the list of cards I included in OP, which were all topps, perhaps I misunderstood.

Originally Posted by Volod

but, if the book is to feature anecdotes about collecting from other contributors, don't see why their recollections would need to be limited to a certain company's product.
Topps owns all Bowman rights, so why exclude those?