Did you collect sports cards when you were young? What happened to them?

LTC Stephen F. — Thu, 28 May 2015 15:20:02 -0400

When I was young in the early 1960's I "collected" baseball cards - usually Topps. In my neighborhood, older boys played a game which I think was called flipping or something similar where you took turns tossing cards and somehow somebody "won" and had a right to keep the cards. I lost many cards until I figured out it wasn't worth playing to keep "friends' who were not really friends. I did have some sports cards - mainly baseball with some football cards - since I was from Philadelphia I liked the Phillies primarily and the Flyers secondarily and after that the Eagles. After I joined the Army, my parents tossed out the cards at some point.
About 15 years ago I started collecting 1960's Topps baseball cards for myself and 1990's cards [Topps, Bowman, Fleer Ultra, Stadium Club, etc.] for my sons as well as Pokemon cards for them when they were young. I have done my best not to throw out the cards.

Response by LTC Stephen F. made May 28 at 2015 3:21 PM

LTC Stephen F. — Thu, 28 May 2015 15:21:53 -0400

My parents threw out my cards, the ones that survived the neighborhood games.
I started collecting cards again later in life after I had sons and helped them acquire cards for their own - some sports cards but later their interests changed to other kinds.

Response by MAJ Robert (Bob) Petrarca made May 28 at 2015 3:25 PM

MAJ Robert (Bob) Petrarca — Thu, 28 May 2015 15:25:14 -0400

Never really got into them too much and ended up trading them away over the years.

Response by SPC Charles Brown made May 28 at 2015 5:26 PM

SPC Charles Brown — Thu, 28 May 2015 17:26:39 -0400

What do you mean when I was young? I still do LTC Stephen F..

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made May 28 at 2015 5:39 PM

LTC Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 28 May 2015 17:39:55 -0400

I still have all of them and hoping that they retain value and even gain some again. I need to go out and buy a couple of Beckett Magazines and check there value.

Response by SSG (ret) William Martin made May 28 at 2015 5:56 PM

SSG (ret) William Martin — Thu, 28 May 2015 17:56:38 -0400

I had Greg Jeffries rookie card and the neighborhood kids ripped me off for it.

Response by SSG Paul Setterholm made May 28 at 2015 7:27 PM

SSG Paul Setterholm — Thu, 28 May 2015 19:27:05 -0400

I still have autographed and some rookie cards. I was born in Minnesota and have I 2nd cousin who is married to player. I have about 80-90 autographs dating back to the 70's. Did I just reveal that I'm old?

Response by SSG John Bacon made May 28 at 2015 7:27 PM

SSG John Bacon — Thu, 28 May 2015 19:27:56 -0400

I still have the majority of my collection which were Nolan Ryan Cards. I have over 300 of them including his rookie 1968 and 2nd year card 1969. Several autograph's are in the collection as well.

Response by PO1 John Miller made May 28 at 2015 9:12 PM

PO1 John Miller — Thu, 28 May 2015 21:12:32 -0400

I never got into sports cards. Yeah I used to buy the packs of baseball cards with the little piece of cardboard in them that was called chewing gum but I always gave the cards to my friends and fellow Cub Scouts.

What I DID collect when I was a kid was comic books, which my Mom still has stored in her house. Unfortunately they were mostly Archie comics so not a lot of resale value.

For a while I got into collecting NASCAR die cast model cars. I even have one that is autographed by Richard Childress, Dale Earnhardt, and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

I also have a small collection of old Blue Jackets Manuals (books issued to Navy recruits). I have one from 1914.

Response by PO1 Private RallyPoint Member made May 29 at 2015 12:08 AM

PO1 Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 29 May 2015 00:08:08 -0400

I grew up seeing the effects of hoarding. My grandmother met and married my grandfather while he was stationed in Brazil. She came from nothing...dirt floors and such... to the United States where there is too much of too many things. I get a sick sense of joy by throwing things out. I don't attach sentimental value to "things" so I wasn't very successful at collecting anything. I live minimalistically these days. Sorry, that was my long answer.

Response by CW5 Sam R. Baker made May 29 at 2015 1:12 PM

CW5 Sam R. Baker — Fri, 29 May 2015 13:12:12 -0400

I have 4 moving boxes in my closet that have had them for 22 years unopened. I have like 10 pristine Warren Moon rookie cards and some John Elway and Dan Marino 2nd year cards. I open them every now and then and look at them. I have lost the mojo to collect, the 90's were great for collecting, my Emmitt Smith uncut sheet that is autographed and signed from PROSET is ink fading, but a great card.

Response by SSG Richard Reilly made Jun 12 at 2015 1:06 PM

SSG Richard Reilly — Fri, 12 Jun 2015 13:06:02 -0400

I use to make great money as a kid buying and selling cards at shows. I use to buy a box and take rare cards out and immediately sell them for other rare cards and another box. I still have several cards too.

Response by PO1 John Miller made Jun 12 at 2015 1:53 PM

PO1 John Miller — Fri, 12 Jun 2015 13:53:02 -0400

I just remembered that I also collected WWF trading cards. I have no idea what my Mom did with them.

Response by SPC Jeffrey Bly made Jun 12 at 2015 7:43 PM

SPC Jeffrey Bly — Fri, 12 Jun 2015 19:43:47 -0400

Well... The sad part about all this is I did not know how people kept their cards professionally preserved. I decided how better to permanently preserve then shellacking them. Yep, true story. My 1970's and 1980's New York Yankee cards. Still as new as the day they were shellacked and because I did that, worth nothing. Yay me! Oops!

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 15 at 2015 10:51 AM

MAJ Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 15 Jun 2015 10:51:09 -0400

I sure did! I got into it when it was still just a fun pastime for kids in the late 70s, and I stuck with it as it transitioned into a multi-million dollar industry in the 80s. My passion was baseball, with a heavy focus on my home-state Minnesota Twins. Thanks to the proliferation of card shows, it became easy to find vintage cards of Killebrew, Oliva, Allison, and Carew. I still have these. Hockey was my secondary interest, and my timing was impeccable, as I acquired doubles of both the U.S. (Topps) and Canadian (OpeeCee) rookie cards of Wayne Gretzky. I will not part with these, so don't ask! From 1981 through 1988, I also purchased complete Topps, Donruss, and Fleer baseball sets, as well as the Topps supplementary Traded sets for each of these years, which, among, others, provided me with the Cal Ripken Rookie Card, which, next to my Nolan Ryan Rookie Card, is most most treasured in my collection.

I quit collecting about the same time I graduated high school, joined the Army, and when the collecting industry reached a point of saturation that it became too expensive that it was no longer a simple or enjoyable hobby. It all happened at right about the same point. I can still go to my cards though, open my album, and detect the faint smell of the gum from the wax pack, and it takes me back to those simpler times.

Response by CW4 Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 15 at 2015 1:49 PM

CW4 Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 15 Jun 2015 13:49:46 -0400

I have a very extensive basketball, football and baseball card collection dating all the way back from the early 80’s to the late 90’s to go along with about 1000 comic books. I gave them to my father for safe keeping when I joined the Military. He still has them to this day and I will eventually pick them up and pass them on to my son when he is much older.

Response by CDR Mike Kovack made Jun 17 at 2015 6:14 AM

CDR Mike Kovack — Wed, 17 Jun 2015 06:14:45 -0400

I used mine to open a sports collectibles shop after I got out of the Navy! I sold it a number of years ago, but it sure did help out in those first few years out of the service!