BY TROY KIRK
Staff Writer
When I was 13 years old, I went all in on collecting baseball cards. Instead of just buying the current cards, I was now after all the old baseball cards I could find. This was in 1972, before there was an internet and before there were any baseball card price guides. There were no baseball cards stores, either. But how was I going to get any old cards?
The answer was pretty simple. I would hit up the boys at my school. Just about all the boys I knew were heavy into baseball card collecting from about 8-11 years old, then they usually lost interest. So, all the 13-year-old boys were sitting on old baseball card collections that they no longer wanted. Back then, baseball cards had little value, and many childhood collections were still being thrown away.
I started asking everyone if they had any baseball cards they were willing to part with. Some of them did, and I quickly bought their collections, and it didn’t cost too much back then. Some had cards, but were reluctant to part with them, even if they no longer wanted to collect them. I remember going to one kid’s house who had about 100 1956 Topps baseball cards, which I was drooling over since I didn’t have any that were that old. Of course, I never showed any excitement when I saw some great cards, as I didn’t want the price to go up too high. I never could get that kid to sell me his stash of cards, though. I was only able to pry one card from him, a 1956 Eddie Mathews card, which I treasured.
== 1956 Topps ==
One kid had a sack full of early 1960s cards he no longer wanted and was willing to sell, probably 500 cards or so. There were a lot of 1964s in there, a set where I didn’t have many cards. He brought them to school one day and we settled on a price and I was elated. My only problem was that I was still looking at them when my shop class started, and the teacher quickly confiscated them. I had no idea if I would ever see those wonderful cards again, but luckily for me, he handed them back as I was leaving class at the end of the period.
Another time I put an ad in the local paper looking to buy old baseball cards. I got some responses and bought some cards, but one day at school I overheard a kid I didn’t know very well talking to someone else about a baseball card ad he’d seen in the paper. I didn’t say anything. A few days later he called and responded to the ad and I went over to his house to see about buying his collection. I always thought that was pretty funny that I had a heads up that I would be receiving a call, kind of a small world moment.
In another response to one of my ads, I went over to a house and bought some baseball cards from the late 1950s and early 1960s, including just about all the 1961 Fleer Baseball Greats high-numbered cards, which were difficult to find. There were a lot of really nice 1959 Topps baseball cards, but whoever had originally owned them had very neatly cut out all the colorful little team logos off the fronts of the cards, pretty sad to see. One of the cards was a nice 1959 Topps Yogi Berra card, I might still have that card in my collection.
== 1961 Fleer ==
I bought the collection of another kid at school one time, mostly late 1960s cards for a low price, but he insisted that I also take all his baseball magazines from the late 1960s as well or there would be no deal. I didn’t really want them, but I took them to finish the deal. I think I might have those magazines around somewhere, though I’m still not very interested in them.
I got a call from a guy from one of my ads and he told me he had some cards from the early 1960s, but was more interested in trading than selling. He gave me his address and I drove to his house up a mountain and back into a wooded area I never knew existed. I think I eventually ended up on a dirt road, very secluded with very interesting small houses here and there, kind of like a fairytale setting. It was kind of startling to me that this area was pretty near where I lived in a typical suburb. I finally got to the house and the guy was about 10 years older than me, nice guy with a really good collection, though I think he was just starting to collect again after a long hiatus. I traded him my newer cards that he hadn’t ever collected for his older doubles.
I mentioned to him that I was one card away from completing the 1961 Topps baseball card set, but it was a high number card of #540 Jackie Jensen and that it had been impossible for me to find anyone that had it. He said “I have that card” and went to his singles and pulled it out. It’s funny how the collectors of the 1950s and 1960s cards knew all the cards in their collections without even having to look, I was the same way. Even though it was not a double, he gave it to me to finish my set, pretty nice guy, though I never saw him again.
== 1961 Topps ==
One day I was talking baseball with a new kid at school who seemed to have a very high level of baseball knowledge. As I always did, I steered the conversation to baseball cards, and he told me he had a pretty large collection. I made arrangements to come over to his house to see his cards. This kid had a great collection, and they went back to the late 1950s. But I couldn’t get him to sell. The more we talked about baseball cards, the more his interest seemed to be growing.
Oh well, this happened once in a while. When I found a kid who still wanted to collect, I usually just switched into trade mode. I asked to see his doubles, and he gave me a funny look. It turned out that he had no doubles! He had given all of them to his younger brother. What did he need doubles for? What an oddball! Had he never traded baseball cards? Didn’t he know that you needed doubles if you wanted to trade? Now what was I supposed to do?
Well, if you can’t buy someone’s cards and you can’t trade with him, that only left one option: Become lifelong friends with him. As you may have guessed, that kid was none other than BaseballCardFun.com Editor & Publisher Mark A. Larson, and he and I have been friends and card buddies for over 50 years now.
I have to tell you, Mark did take pity on me that first day I saw his collection. He did allow me to leave with one card, a 1962 Post Cereal card of Rocky Colavito, which I coveted more than any other card he had and which still resides proudly in my collection.
== 1962 Post ==
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