[mouschi3]

Today, I turn 28 years old as a baseball card collector. I wrote about this last year when I found my journal from 1990, but thought it would be appropriate to post the pic today:



See? I've always been wild about cardboard

When did you start collecting? Do you remember what it was you got?

[zeprock]

My apologies to those of you who have heard this story before.

I started in 1970 when a Willie McCovey card fell out of my Corn Flakes box into my cereal bowl. Little did I realize it then but that was a life-changing moment for me. I liked the 3-D background and was showing it off to my cousin and he said he had some cards. When he got around to showing them to me, he had five cards that he gave to me and my younger brother. He gave us each two cards and ripped a 1969 Tom Dukes card in half and gave us each a half. Those were my first Topps cards.

I remember buying packs and packs of Topps cards for five cents each that year and I eventually put together the complete Topps set. The last card to complete the set was a Tony Conigliaro that I got in a swap from someone in my Cubs Scout pack.

While my friends and schoolmates were tossing them and attaching them to their bicycle spokes, I was much more diligent. I treasured my cards and kept them neatly stacked in a dresser drawer, all in alphabetical order, held in place with big red rubberbands. Needless to say, the Hank Aaron cards on the top and the Carl Yastrzemski cards on the bottom suffered the most damage from the rubberband marks but I didn't know any better at the time. If a player was traded, I crossed out the name of the team and wrote in his new team's name. When I found Mickey Mantle had retired, I ran his card through my typewriter and typed "Retired" across the front of it. Who knew back then that those little cardboard pictures would someday have value? That was early summer of 1970 and I have been an avid collector ever since.

My brother lost interest early on and I obtained his few cards to go with all I had accumulated and I have never looked back. I'm now in my 47th year of non-stop collecting. I have had my card collection longer than most everything else I own. I have since upgraded most of those damaged cards and take much better care of them today. My collection now numbers more than 350,000 different cards. My wife has been instructed to put this McCovey card in my shirt pocket when they eventually put me in the ground. Oh yeah. I'm taking it with me.

[waynetalger]

I don't know exactly when I started collecting but I know it was 1989 after I heard Nolan Ryan started playing for the Rangers and I played little league on the Rangers team. I player pitcher, infield except catcher and out field. I played catcher 1 time and never practiced or played that position before but on the first pitch I got hit by the batter when I reached out to catch the ball on the back of the hand. I asked the coach to put me back in the out field and I batted with 1 hand for my hand swelled up like a balloon.
Around that same time I found a Yaz Rc 1960 gave it to a friend and he made 150.00 on that card back in 1989. that got me started. Now I am in it for the fun and not the money

[jplarson]

I got in around 1989 as well, going with mostly baseball until 1994 when the player's strike hit. I picked up baseball again in 1998 during the home run race then subsided again in 2001. I still look for a couple sets in baseball to complete every once in a while.

Basketball I started with the 1990-91 sets and collected until about 1999 when the Bulls dynasty was dismantled.

Football I started collecting in 1990, stopping in 1997 and picking it up again in 1999 through 2003. Stopped again in 2003 until 2007 and been collecting ever since albeit with more restraint and purpose than my 1990s era sprees. Biggest regrets ares not collecting heavily for the '89, '98, and 2005 rookie classes during those seasons.

[alfredoleal2001]

I began around 1986 when my dad bought me packs at a local convenience store next to our home in LA. It got more serious in 1988 when he put together the topps set for that year, hand collated. I was hooked ever since. Ive had some breaks but because I dont have access to buying many things down here in venezuela.

[redskins316]

I started in 1989. Me and my grandmother would go to the local liquor store and they had packs. 1989 Topps was the first cards I ever got. I was hooked from there. We would go to flea markets, card shows and every Saturday we would go to the LCS together. I miss those days.

[zeprock]

I started in 1989. Me and my grandmother would go to the local liquor store and they had packs. 1989 Topps was the first cards I ever got. I was hooked from there. We would go to flea markets, card shows and every Saturday we would go to the LCS together. I miss those days.

Baseball card packs at the liquor store? WHAT????????????

[redskins316]

lol...
Yup...
Topps and Donruss, they didn't carry fleer, score or UD, we had to go to the LCS or Ames for those...lol

Baseball card packs at the liquor store? WHAT????????????