I am appalled

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Posted By: warshawlaw 

I had dinner last night with some family friends. Their 10 year old is into baseball cards, and my wife brought up my collecting. My issue is this: how does the "Hobby" do a better job of educating these kids on the history and lore of baseball? The boy started asking me about vintage cards I had, and his first question was "what's the most expensive card you have?" We then started talking about players and he was amazed to find out that Honus Wagner had more than one card. Also, despite having visited the Reagan Library and seen the PSA 8 Wagner there (I guess it was on display there, along with the one book that Ronnie ever read--nice pop-ups BTW--sorry, recall fever's got me all twisted up), the child had no idea that the cards were issued with tobacco. What he did know is that it sold for more than a million dollars.

At his age, I was well versed on the basics of collecting, including ACC designations, at a time when information was not there at all and there was no 'net to find it.

I think that as the "elite" collectors (perhaps self appointed), we should consider mentoring young collectors. Any ideas on how to encourage young collectors to focus on the beauty of the game and its history rather than on the almightly buck?

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Posted By: petecld

I had a somewhat similar experience with my ex-girlfriend's 8-year old son. The one thing we clicked on was a love of Baseball. His favorite MLB team was the Yankees. Why? He played on the Yankees in his Pee-Wee League. Hey, he's 8, that's all it takes.

Now his favorite player? Derek Jeter. Why? His response was that his DAD told him Jeter baseball cards were worth a lot of money. That's sad.

I showed him my card collection and he was amazed mostly at how old they were and yes, he asked if I had any Wagner cards. I showed him a few and he asked, "Are these worth a million dollars too?" I said, "I wished" but it just goes to show you the power of hype and publicity.

When I watched games with my grandfather he NEVER talked about the money, salaries, strikes, over priced food, over priced tickets, etc. He**, he used to tell me how CHEAP it was to go to a game. Those days are over. he also told me about the "golden age." That's what got me hooked on vintage at a young age. He even gave me a few old baseball cards: a few ratty t206s, a t205 and the kicker: an E90-1 Young. He also told me about the 1919 Sox but made Joe Jackson out to be a god so the whole gambling thing didn't seem too important. I WAS HOOKED on vintage baseball & cards but I digress.

The problem is the current generation of father's have experienced the down(business) side of the game because that's what the media hypes and that is what they are passing on. The love for the game that grows in a child's mind is based on the seed that is planted there. What you tell your kids about the game and card collecting is the impression they will hold for a lifetime.

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Posted By: John(z28jd)

I think its just people in general,they want to know whats the most expensive,oldest,etc.....I had my family over my house last thanksgiving and my cousins boyfriend started talking about baseball and cards(he actually played 5 years in the minors for the dodgers,topping out at Triple-A before he got hurt) Anyway,we went in to show them some cards and everyone wanted to see the oldest cards,old judges in my case, the most expensive cards and they were all disapointed i didnt have a babe ruth card but they liked the cy young and ty cobb cards.
It is a little wrong(annoying) tho that you could show someone an extremely rare card and have them basically blow it off but have them more impressed that i have 2 Mark McGwire rookies

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Posted By: quan

When I became aware of baseball in my younger days, I actually went to the library and read about its history. My grandfather didn't pass me any old cards he had (too bad...), my dad love soccer (being asian). I fell in love with this great game through reading about it. I learned about big Ed Delehanty tragic death over Niagara Falls...Honus Wagner's awkward appearance...Lajoie's spiking accident...Cobb's hatred for just about anything besides baseball, and etc etc. That's how I connected with these players and the "old" game. There was no talk of money, wife beatings, contract holdouts...just boys playing the game they love.

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Posted By: jay behrens

The Topps All-Time Leaders subsets are prolly more responible for me being interested in baseball before my time than anything else. Hopefully with the advent of Topps206 and other vintage related stuff that kids will start to try and learn more about the history of the game. If they aren't compelled to research the histlry of the game, why wouldl they research the history of baseball cards?

Jay

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Posted By: Jeff O

Every generation has a tendency to look back to "the way it was" with a sense of nostalga... things seemed simpler, which of course they were because we were kids and didn't have things like jobs, relationships, mortgages, etc.

That being said, I think that the primary differences between the kids of today and when I was growing up in the '70's and early '80's is that the hobby has grown by leaps and bounds and has had a ton of media exposure. Kids have always been interested in which cards are worth the most... this was true when I set up at my first show in 1984, and it's still true today. The kids who are into the history of the game at a young age have likely always been the exception and not the rule.

I too have had similar experiences to those described in this thread, both with kids and adults who really only care about how much your collection is worth or what is your most valuable card. I think that it's just human nature. After all, if you didn't collect, you would have a hard time believing what people are willing to spend on cards too.

Jeff O
http://www.seattlehockey.net

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Posted By: julie

black kids, moderately interested in baseball, who don't know who Jackie Robinson is; there are adults, moderately interested in baseball who think Abner Doubleday invented the game; there are collectors of all ages who look blank when you ask them if they don't think the '53 Bowman set is beautiful; there are people of both sexes and all ages, not necessarily interested in baseball, who think Babe Ruth hit more homeruns than anybody. There're people I've given cards to who have immediately sold them to the nearest card shop.

And then there're people like you, who know so muc more about collecting than I do, and baseball history, and baseball, and people who treasure the cards I've given them.

What we need is one of those star ***king star, ***king star, ***king star Bridges to Babylon...

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Posted By: Tiger3boy

I am not so sure that all of the hobby is going in this direction. I am still put off by the whole issue of card grading. I don't personally care if a card is a PSA 8 or not. I remember telling a dealer once (at the Anahiem National) that I wanted a T3 that looked like it had been run over by a truck. I just wanted the card to add to my collection, not increase the value of my portfolio.

BTW, you should read some of the radio speeches of Reagan. The guy was alot brighter then the current "leader" in Sacramento. (Why is there a need for calling Republicans stupid? I am not rich, bigoted, or elitist, and I never once called Clinton stupid.)
I think I am starting to lean toward voting for Ueberroth. If he can do for the state what he did for baseball we might be out of our problems pretty quickly.

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Posted By: Glen V

OK, I'll admit to still buying packs of cards. The card companies are putting out a few issues containing older players, besides the older cards contained in the Topps 205/206 series. Upper Deck Vintage didn't go back too far - Ernie Banks was about the earliest player I got. The Topps Gallery HOF edition contained an Eddie Collins. Flair Greats is a nice looking set. It had players like DiMaggio, Ruth, and Rube Waddell. Hopefully these issues might inspire some of the younger collectors.

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Posted By: BcD

the slabbing World really hurt kids coming in because of the money teer it induced. For us,it usually validates authenticity and lack of tamporing..for the kids it just represents too much money and a lack of ability to handle the cardboard.

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Posted By: warshawlaw

That would be terribly unfair. The current crew are not stupid, least of all the President. Venal, greedy, unscrupulous, corrupt and interested only in power for its own sake, yes. But not stupid. Reagan, on the other hand, was (is) dumb as a sack of hammers.

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Posted By: Wilma Fingerdo

Anonympus post deleted.

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Posted By: Tiger3boy

Okay, that was entertaining.

I will let the stereotyping speak for itself.

Glad I am not in NY tonight.

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Posted By: jay behrens

Hey Wilma, why not use your real name? Or are you embarassed to have your lie associated with you?

Jay

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Posted By: Joe Rekwin

Lie, what lie? I didn't post my real name before, I apologize. Maybe I should have used Warclaw, or Shlawblah or how about coleslaw like the joke that started this post. I was under the impression that this forum was intended for the discussion of vintage cards, not politics. What's next? Religion? Race? Do you have some gripe with Catholics or Jews that is “relevant” to a vintage card forum? Oh, and as far as “slick Willy” is concerned, you were right, Bill was never convicted of rape-never convicted.

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Posted By: runscott

I get called often enough on the appropriateness of my posts, and I believe in as little censorship as possible, so I'm not one to "draw lines". Still, I won't post what I'm really thinking - point me to a forum on political (or personal) insults and I'll go there instead.