If you could go back to the moment you bought that first pack of cards and NOT buy it, would you? Knowing what you know about the hobby, how much you spend on it, how much time/space/money it requires, do you wish you had never started?
My very first pack, sort of the beginning of my story as far as the hobby goes, was posted right here.
It was this card that got me hooked.
What would you do?
I'll tell you what I would do tomorrow.
No, I wouldn't change it. I would end up spending my money on other vices (like gambling).
ReplyDeleteI can't exactly remember the contents of the first pack of cards I bought, but as far as baseball goes it would be a pack of '77 Topps. Collecting that set now brings back a lot of memories of collecting those cards as a kid.
I would still buy that pack. I remember the very first card I saw from that pack, 1978 Dave Rozema. I was instantly hooked (a Tiger, with an All-Rookie trophy on it). Going through those cards bring back memories.
ReplyDeleteI would have still bought that first pack. Only I would have not tried to build the 85 and 87 Topps football sets from packs skipping 86. I would have skipped 85 and 87 and just bought pack after pack accumulating Rice RCs. (I was a football collector before baseball)
ReplyDeleteI would have still bought that first 1979 pack, but I wish I could go back and slap the 14 year old me before he bought loads and loads of 86-93 Topps.
ReplyDeleteI'd have said, "Spend that money on 50s cards!"
No, I wouldn't stop myself from getting into baseball cards. If I could go back and keep my early 1990s self from buying any basketball cards, I probably would though. (Anybody need some worthless Hoops cards?)
ReplyDeletenope... that's when I really had fun with the hobby. Taking cards to scholl, swapping with my buddies, playing scramble etc...
ReplyDeletegood times.
now if you were to ask me about the LAST pack of baseball cards... my answer would probably be different.
is it the definition of irony that I mis-typed the word school???
ReplyDeleteoy vay.
It would have been 1975. No way I don't buy those cards. There are way to many great memories in them. The 1975 World Series. I couldn't figure out why one team was the Reds and the other team was the Red Sox, they both had red socks?!
ReplyDeleteI would have bought more of the stars cards and the older cards. And not sold them to buy a guitar.
I would still want it. Card collecting (along with first edition books) brings me a lot of joy and there are a lot of worse things to make habit-forming. Well, as long as you keep it in check, of course.
ReplyDeleteI am glad that I arrived on the collecting scene as a kid in the late '70s and not, say, early '90s.
My only desire now is to refine my collecting goals and finish a few lingering sets. When I returned to the hobby earlier this year after a few decades away, I went a little crazy.
Just like the others before me, I wouldn't take it back. Besides the fun collecting has brought over the years, I have cards to thank for teaching me how to be organized and to take care of my things. I went from being a kid with a disaster area of a bedroom to a neatly arranged library and museum of sports pretty quick. Well, the exhibits were 1989 Topps, but you get the idea. Plus, collecting has brought me friends over the years and carried me through some tough times. My only regret is not having proper focus at times, especially in the '90s and when I first returned. That, and not picking up vintage cards back in the 1990s when they were cheaper.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if you were to ask random people on the streets the same question if you would get any negatives.
I wouldn't take it back either. I loved opening packs and memorizing the players so much as a little guy. I love baseball and it's just another way for me to enjoy the game - even now.
ReplyDeleteI would still do it. Some of my favorite memories from growing up were with my dad in our local card shop called "The Shoebox". Wouldn't trade it for the world.
ReplyDeleteJust like everyone else as posted, i too would not change a thing. Collecting cards is a great way to escape from real life problems. was then, and still is today.
ReplyDeleteI chose the name "Cardboard Junkie" for a reason. If it wasn't baseball cards, it would have been coins or comics or heroin or... ponies. I guess things worked out reasonably well. So yeah, I but those packs of 1981 Topps.
ReplyDeleteNow if the question is "would you stop buying packs in 1991 and NEVER BUY ANOTHER ONE EVER", you'd get a different answer...