i started collecting when i was a kid, i don't think that is really all that unique, but... i got really into it, my mom drove me around to card shows and flea markets and i found employers (mainly neighbors with tall grass or snow filled driveways) willing to exploit my eager child labor and most of that money was spent on 2-1/2" x 3-1/2" little slabs of cardboard. the first set i tried to put together was the 1984 Topps set. it started with buying a pack at my local convenience store, i think they were 35 cents there, but it lead to so many places. i realized that there was a card shop just a bike ride away. there i learned about penny sleeves, price guides, top loaders and 9-up pages. i started going there just about every day and staring into the glass cases and making a mental list of all the cards i was going to buy someday. at the time, i was a huge Steve Carlton fan. i don't know what it was that drew me to Lefty, but he was a god to me and i decided the first time that i went into that shop that i would one day own every card ever made of Steve Carlton.
i also chatted a bit with the guy behind the counter, i told him how i was collecting 1984 Topps and he sighed because that was obviously beneath a guy with a mint condition 1963 Topps Pete Rose rookie card sitting right in front of him. I asked to look at it and he said no. "That card is way out of your league" he said, then probably started yammering about how Pete Rose was a first ballot hall of famer, blah blah. It was 1984.
I told him all the things that I wanted to buy, and he listened. I was the only customer in the store at the time... I told him I was looking for a job, but most places didn't want to take a risk on a 9-year old with no experience. He asked me the magic question, "Do you want a way to make some quick cash?". Duh. "Yes!" i screamed and my voice was even higher than it is now... He said if i was ripping packs of '84 Topps, there were 2 cards he would buy as many as I could get my hands on. 3 dollars a pop for every mint condition Darryl Strawberry, Ron Kittle and Don Mattingly card i brought to him. He even gave me a few free top loaders for transport. I was hooked then and there. I could not peddle my bike quick enough to get home and sort through my cards in search of paydirt!
Welcome to the Hobby Blogosphere!!! Your site has now been added to the Sports Card Blogroll.
ReplyDeleteSincerely,
JayBee Anama
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