Baseball Cards, Our Boyhood Hobby, with Bubblegum, the Bubble Now Popped

[DonRocks]

^ Very cool post. Do actually own some or any of those cards?

I used to; I was obsessed with baseball (and baseball cards - which were pretty much my only source of baseball information back then, other than the occasional televised game and my monthly copy of Sports Illustrated). Then, when I was about 12, my big brother bought my entire collection for $13, on the condition that I sort the cards for him.  (*)

Matt had a fairly large card collection that he got sick of, almost overnight - he was going to dump them for next to nothing, and I told him I'd buy the cards from him at market value. I didn't want him to make the same mistake I did.

(*) On a similar note, we made a $5 bet on who would retire with more home runs: Willie Mays or Hank Aaron. I was about seven-years-old, this was probably around 1968, and I had no concept of aging - Mays was the much bigger marquis player, was way ahead of Aaron, and I literally couldn't conceive of him being passed. From 1969 going forward, Mays hit 81 more home runs; Aaron hit 245 more.

There should have been a 1954 Bowman card of Banks, and there should have been a 1972 Topps card of Banks, but there were neither. Note also that Topps used the same picture in 1955-1956, and then again in 1968-1969; I never knew they employed that practice until tonight (not that there's anything wrong with it; I just never knew).

Baseball cards are a lot like tapas - tapas used to be a throw-in as an enticement to get you to buy a drink, and baseball cards used to be a throw-in as an enticement to get you to buy cigarettes (the T206 Wagner is now an expensive throw-in.)

[darkstar965]

I used to; I was obsessed with baseball (and baseball cards - which were pretty much my only source of baseball information back then, other than the occasional televised game and my monthly copy of Sports Illustrated).

Me too.

Baseball cards are a lot like tapas - tapas used to be a throw-in as an enticement to get you to buy a drink, and baseball cards used to be a throw-in as an enticement to get you to buy cigarettes (the T206 Wagner is now an expensive throw-in.)

When I last paid close attention to this stuff (quite some time ago), I think I remember learning that the Honus Wagner card was The Most Expensive, or most valuable, card.

[DonRocks]

When I last paid close attention to this stuff (quite some time ago), I think I remember learning that the Honus Wagner card was The Most Expensive, or most valuable, card.

"The Card"

[Kibbee Nayee]

In my years of collecting, when I was gathering up worthless cardboard, I could have grabbed a medium-condition Honus Wagner for about $1500 and a nicer condition Mantle rookie for half of that.

Luckily, instead of blowing everything on the worthless cardboard of the '80s, at least I was sane enough to assemble, one-by-one, a complete set of Topps '67 and '68, with all errors and variations, and including all inserts.

[DonRocks]

In my years of collecting, when I was gathering up worthless cardboard, I could have grabbed a medium-condition Honus Wagner for about $1500 and a nicer condition Mantle rookie for half of that.

Luckily, instead of blowing everything on the worthless cardboard of the '80s, at least I was sane enough to assemble, one-by-one, a complete set of Topps '67 and '68, with all errors and variations, and including all inserts.

I remember when I was 6-7, my brother swore that 1967 was a watershed vintage for Topps because that's when they started mass-producing cards. "There's no way they'll ever be worth what they were from 1966 and before," he said. To some degree he was right, but the real mass production started in the 80s, and the bubble popped shortly thereafter - there were no serial numbers; nobody had control of the printing dyes; it was unlimited license to print a lot of money, and it had to fail.

The true rarities are still priced accordingly, although not what they once were, and counterfeiting has not helped things.

So you have a 1967 Brooks Robinson high number. Sweet!

I've always had an affinity for card #1 in that set:

[DaveO]

Completely related to baseball cards and somewhat tangentially related to food; the bathroom at Earl's sandwiches in Courthouse/Clarendon has a terrific set of baseball cards mounted on the wall.

I happened to spend an unusually longish time in that room during one visit to this appropriately revered sandwich provider, reviewing the baseball cards of '60's and posssibly '70's vintage baseball stars.  The collection and mounting are provided thanks to the owner, Steve.  Upon leaving I commented on the cards to a staffer who related that per the owner they are pretty much worthless as collectibles, but they do highlight quite a number of stars.

What a treat; fresh cooked turkey, ham, and roast beef;  quality sandwich breads and spreads, excellent other food items, killer soups, btw...and then on top of that a tour of some of baseballs greatest players from the 60's and 70's.  Wonderful food and nostalgia.

[DonRocks]

Completely related to baseball cards and somewhat tangentially related to food; the bathroom at Earl's sandwiches in Courthouse/Clarendon has a terrific set of baseball cards mounted on the wall.

I happened to spend an unusually longish time in that room during one visit to this appropriately revered sandwich provider, reviewing the baseball cards of '60's and posssibly '70's vintage baseball stars.  The collection and mounting are provided thanks to the owner, Steve.  Upon leaving I commented on the cards to a staffer who related that per the owner they are pretty much worthless as collectibles, but they do highlight quite a number of stars.

What a treat; fresh cooked turkey, ham, and roast beef;  quality sandwich breads and spreads, excellent other food items, killer soups, btw...and then on top of that a tour of some of baseballs greatest players from the 60's and 70's.  Wonderful food and nostalgia.

This area of the website can be completely unrelated to food.

Of note: Topps has made reproductions of their vintage cards, and if I owned a restaurant, and wanted to hang something like this in a restroom, I'd be using the reproductions for sure (they are nice looking, but genuinely devoid of monetary value).

[dgreen]

Wow, you guys are old . I'm more of a football card guy with the bulk of my damage done between mid-80s and early 90s (born in '75). Taking my allowance and riding my bike to a store to buy football cards every two weeks was big part of my childhood. Under the stairs in my basement is a plastic container full of football, baseball, and hockey cards. My son (9) has bought a few packs of cards and I've used them as stocking stuffers a few times. The other day I mentioned the bin of cards in the basement and, of course, he asked to see them. We didn't have time right then; I need to remember to break those out soon.

[Al Dente]

In 1976 I collected the entire MLB starting rosters. We moved two years later and the cards disappeared. 

On a related note, around the same time, I had a baseball signed by Tom Seaver that I kept under tight security in my room. A year or two later I noticed my sister throwing a ball back and forth with some friends. Yep, it was *that* ball-- now all grass stained and scuffed. I still don't speak with my sister. 

[darkstar965]

...

On a related note, around the same time, I had a baseball signed by Tom Seaver that I kept under tight security in my room. A year or two later I noticed my sister throwing a ball back and forth with some friends. Yep, it was *that* ball-- now all grass stained and scuffed. I still don't speak with my sister.

Sounds like the kind of "tight security" they had up at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum exactly 25 years ago?

I though the standard security protocols on baseball cards for most of us were to stash them in the attic? Not that that worked for me either.

[Kibbee Nayee]

I remember when I worked downtown, in the late '80s, there was always a mid-winter event of some sort at the Orioles Store at Farragut Square. Hot dogs were served and some Orioles showed up to sign autographs....one year, '88 or '89, Donruss produced a card with the Ripkens all sitting in a row in a dugout. The event at the Orioles Store featured Cal Sr. with Billy and Cal Jr.

I took the card to get autographed, and got in line. The three of them came into the store, with Cal Sr. carrying a big box of stuff and his two sons were carrying nothing, which is an image I'll never forget. And then as they sat down at the table they were going to use for the signing, Cal Jr. and Billy got into it a little bit, like brothers do, and Cal Sr. actually admonished them with "Hey, knock it off" kind of a comment. Those two images are firmly planted in my mind from that day.

When I got to the table, I gave the card first to Cal Jr., then Cal Sr. and then Billy. When Billy got the card, he said he hadn't seen it before (it was from the just released Donruss set) and started telling his brother and dad that he remembered where and when the picture was taken, and didn't know that it would become a baseball card. Therefore, when Billy signed it, I had in my possession the first-ever signed version of that card by all three.

I had it framed and it hangs on my baseball wall, along with many other prominent items (like a framed poster of the '66 Orioles, signed by all of them)....