General Forum

 I'm finally at a point where entering my collection is paramount. After a good 2 years of attempting to reorganize and establish a consistent structure, I decided to start adding my vintage cards 1st. Going through the older cards again brought back so many memories. Many of these cards were collected when I was a boy, and moved from house to house with me.

Some cards had writing on them, like a player could play SS or 3B, I would write it in. The neighborhood gang would play stickball daily, with records, scoreboard etc. We would each pick teams and players, everybody wanted the Yankees....I took the KC A's with players nobody ever heard of...in the day they called the A's, a Yankee farm system. lol. I also made a game to be played inside, complete with pitching marbles and swinging bats. The cards would actually stand up in the field as the actual players. Once again we kept track of their "game" records on the back of the cards. And here... those same cards withstood time with my own childhood handwriting as I entered them in TCDB. Would you replace these cards with a card of better condition? I couldn't do it ! Just too much history, my g-kids, will see these some day and say "PopPop wrote this".

Thought this would be an interesting thread to hear from other collectors ... opinions and stories.

~Bob~

That was really cool to read.  Unfortunately, most of the cards from my childhood were thrown away.  I didn't realize I would be into this hobby as an adult.  I wish I had kept them as they would be full of memories like you mentioned.  

Having a connection to cards still in your collection is wonderful, it is like it is aprt of your childhood. I didn't hold on to any cards after I hit my teens and now I look back and wished I did.

I suppose it depends on what you're collecting and who you're collecting it for. I'd never part with cards that had that kind of nostalgia and history to them. If I'm collecting memories and momentos, then those certainly fit the bill. If I'm collecting to finish a set for someone else to eventually enjoy, then I would probably look for substitutes. You can't call them replacements, because nothing can replace those memories. Read my tag line. Value what you collect, don't collect for value. This is exactly one of the kinds of things I'm referencing. You've got to actually like what you collect. There's not enough joy in collecting anymore. This is exactly where the joy comes from. 

so you were in a gang, bob?    ha ha

mark

I have a small collection of cards with writing on them. They don't have personal meaning to me but I do find them interesting for all the reasons you mentioned. Somebody cared enough about the card to make notes on it or draw a mustache (or some other body part).

I think a card with visible history tells a story that goes beyond the card or the player. I try to upgrade cards like that in my collection. But I do keep them once I upgrade. I even store them in a Velveeta box like I did when I was a kid.

Tough call.I had a Billy Williams card—his last one—and include it on my last Topps card off HOFers collection. I had marked in pencil his career highs on the back, putting a little check next to each number. I upgraded the card and gave the old one away. Kind of regret that for the reasons others have articulated. 

For the Santo coin I referred to in the moral dilemma thread, that question was solved when my daughter said she wanted the old one. History saved; coin in family; improved card with set. 

I generally don’t keep doubles, but if a card had as much personal history as you described, I’d probably replace it in my set and have a separate “played with as kid” set. 

V3

I never collected as a kid per say, but I did find one card from my past when I moved out of my parents at 26. Under the old bedframe (it was built into the wall ... thanks dad!) I found a old 74ish season highlight card from OPC. No clue it was there and do not how I go it but it is in a penny sleeve and top loader in all its beat up glory. I look at it sometimes and wonder if that was the card that gave me the itch. =) As for my personal collection, grade is of no concern to me for the most part. If I seea card and it looks good I Buy it. I needed a Semenko RC and picked one up on the weekend, He had three an $8 a $6 and a $12. He wanted me to take teh $12 of course but the $6 was more than fine for me so I took it instead.

I have a separate spot in my collection for the ratty cards of my youth. They don’t count towards any set I’m trying to build. I have an 86 Topps Steve Mura card that as far as I can remember is my first baseball card. My Uncle gave it to me out of his collection. It rode around in my wallet for a time in high school so it’s pretty rough, but I’d never get rid of it.