Collecting things other then comics.

[Hepcat]

I had a card collecting epiphany around 1992. I'd been pecking away since 1980 at reassembling the cards and coins I'd either had or just admired but missed out on as a kid.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was so busy going after the cards I really liked that were issued from about the mid-fifties to the late-sixties that I hadn't made any effort to stay current with any of the hockey cards issued after 1972-73 though. My thinking was to just fill in the more recent stuff at some future date. It was plentiful enough that I figured it wouldn't present much of a problem when I finally got around to it.

 

But with the explosion in cards in general and sportscards in particular that occurred after 1990, I came to the realization that I could never have everything. It was then that I decided to take another leaf from the book I had as a kid. I'd collect only the hockey cards I liked! There was no reason to even go after something from every year.

 

I had four or five sets from the late seventies and early eighties that were still in bricks. I'd never bothered to unwrap them from their cellophane wrap and put them into sheets. When I asked myself why, the answer was clear. I didn't care for the cards. One of the reasons was that I had no nostalgia for these cards since I didn't remember them from the schoolyard. But then again the 1971-72 O-Pee-Chee cards also came out well after my time yet I really liked them. I realized that beginning in the 1973-74 year a fundamental change occurred in hockey cards. They'd gone from a player's picture superimposed on some type of art background to photographed action shots! Well I didn't like the action shots. They weren't like the hockey cards I collected as a kid.

 

Accordingly, I took the four or five bricks to Sports Connection on Eglinton Avenue in Toronto and sold them for a good price. One of the bricks was the 1979-80 Wayne Gretzky rookie card set although the Wayne Gretzky card was so badly cut that it could hardly be classified as even VG. Ironically I'd bought all the bricks some twelve years previously at Comics Unlimited on Keewatin Strret before they moved to Eglinton Avenue and became Sports Connection!

 

Moreover I didn't have to concern myself with filling in the 1969-70 O-Pee-Chee set which I thought was plain ugly either. I just took the dozen or so 1969-70 hockey cards I had out of their sheets and put them with my traders.

 

But if I didn't have to collect any hockey cards I didn't like, I was still free to collect any I actually liked. But I could use a rifle shot approach on certain subsets and insert sets. I didn't necessarily have to collect all the other cards in that set if I considered them to be cruddy looking. If I bought one card from some certain subset though, I had to collect all the others in that subset. I've always considered going after only certain players like some fanboy to be too much like being a groupie. It's cards I collect, not hockey players.

 

The 1993-94 Fleer Ultra Wave of the Future inserts may have been the first post-1990 hockey cards I added to my collection. Over the years I've amassed three binders of hockey cards from the nineties that appeal to me. Included in these are complete sets of the Leaf Limited and Fleer Metal cards, and almost all the 1997-98 Skybox Metal Universe minus the half dozen Super Powers inserts I still don't have. These all have gaudy enough backgrounds of artwork to strongly appeal to me.

 

It was back in 2004 that I stumbled upon what's become the main thrust of my modern hockey card collecting efforts. I was delighted to see Pacific issuing a set of cards for the AHL in 2004. Imagine that, players who aren't paid $millions and actually play hockey as opposed to striking for higher wages! While looking to fill in the last few Gold Parallels and Jersey cards from this Pacific AHL set at a Hamilton Bulldogs game at the Copps Coliseum, I chanced upon a 2003-04 Titanium Patch Ryan Miller card. It was the one below with a portion of a white number against red backing:

 

 

I was enthralled by the card! I hesitated about a minute before buying it though because I knew by buying the one card I'd be opening a real can of worms. After all, I'd need to buy all the others in the set and even defining what constituted a set would be a problem. Well I've been accumulating whatever different 2003-04 Titanium cards I can find at "reasonable" prices for the last nine years. Here's a scan of a sheet of some of the more limited Parallels from my collection:

 

 

Then I decided the 2003-04 Black Diamond cards were cool enough looking to collect as well. But each of the 198 cards in the set also have Green, Red and Clarity Parallels and the Clarity Parallels are serial numbered to only ten! I've accumulated only a dozen of the Clarities but I have dozens of the Green and Red Parallels:

 

 

 

Then of course there's the Jersey cards.... I'll never finish the "set", but the fun they say is in the chase....

 

Nonetheless, I've filled five binders full of these 21st century hockey card sets.

 

Nor have I put aside my vintage card collecting either. I'm still pecking away at upgrading the last few hockey cards I want from the 1957 to 1965 period and driving myself crazy doing so. The 1964-65 Tall Boys have been a bit of a problem. So have the 1963-64 York Peanut Butter cards. I like the backs to be a bright white!

 

And of course the Chex cards, Weekend Magazine photos and Bee Hives still beckon.... I love them all!

 

[Badger]

I had a card collecting epiphany around 1992. I'd been pecking away since 1980 at reassembling the cards and coins I'd either had or just admired but missed out on as a kid.

 

 

Really cool card sets; however, where did you get the Disney themed stained glass? That thing is awesome! (thumbs u

[Hepcat]

I had a card collecting epiphany around 1992. I'd been pecking away since 1980 at reassembling the cards and coins I'd either had or just admired but missed out on as a kid.

 

 

Really cool card sets; however, where did you get the Disney themed stained glass? That thing is awesome! (thumbs u

 

I had it custom made for my collectibles room!

 

[Badger]

Really, really, cool! There needs to be a green with envy smiley.

[Hepcat]

Topps in 1950 issued the Freedom's War card set dealing with the Communist threat in general and the Korean War in particular. The set provided pictures of plenty of spectacular action. The cards were sold individually with gum in packs for a penny and in five cent packs for three two-card panels. Here are front and back scans of some of my two-card panels:

 

 

 

Here's a scan of a one cent wrapper:

 

 

Bowman responded to Topps' Freedom's War cards with a 48 card set entitled Fight the Red Menace - Children's Crusade Against Communism. Some of the cards were issued on beige stock and some on grey stock. Here are a few scans of mine:

 

 

 

Well then here are scans from my Fight the Red Menace set with which Bowman in 1951 responded to the Freedom's War set Topps had issued:

 

 

 

 

 

Note the colouring error on the Mao Tse-Tung card. Mao's eyes were of course brown and not green.

 

 

[Hepcat]

Here are a few more scans from my most prized hockey card issues to add to the ones I posted earlier in this thread:

 

1958-59 Topps

 

These 1958-59 Topps hockey cards were the first hockey cards I had as a kid. It was a dreary day in November or December while I was in first grade when I found four of these by the sidewalk down the street. The first three were Red Wings, but the last was a Blackhawk. Even though I couldn't yet read the team name, the Blackhawks became my favourite team from that moment on because of the big Indian head logo on their chests.

 

 

 

1959-60

 

These 1959-60 Topps hockey cards were the first hockey cards I ever bought. I only managed to find the scratch for a few packs so it was a very modest collection indeed, but it was mine nonetheless!

 

 

 

 

 

1960-61 Topps

 

I collected these 1960-61 cards in a big way and was close anyway to completing the 66 card set. Not only does the set include my favourite players from the Blackhawks' Stanley Cup winning team that year, but the card backs also feature marvelous Jack Davis artwork.

 

 

 

 

Interesting that when my buddy Anthony and I set out to just collect all cards in the summer of 1963, we quickly completed a 1960-61 set but even two summers later we still only had a handful of cards from the two earlier sets. Any cards before the 1960-61 hockey just seemed to have disappeared.

 

Nonetheless, I can still remember how magical these cards seemed to me as a kid when they first came out and they therefore rank among my most prized possessions today.

 

[dgarthwaite-migration]

The glossy cover made the signatures on this look lousy.

 

 

It's signed by Blackie Lawless & Chris Holmes (who later married Lita Ford).

 

DG

[dgarthwaite-migration]

More like "saving" than collecting, but these are things I hold onto...

 

 

Sat off to the side. Good show. I don't remember much.

 

 

 

 

This concert was recorded for the radio. I was right up front at the stage. Hung around and met the band.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

AC/DC is just incredible. No other way to describe it.

 

 

Don't know the year, so I can't say which show this was.

 

 

Not again... don't remember it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I used to see Jackyl in the clubs all the time. I probably went to this show to see Mess of Bones which was one of my favorite local bands back them.

 

 

 

I'm not a big Queen fan, but they blew me away. They are one of the best bands live that you could ever see, We were 18th row on the floor. Didn't really know who Billy Squier was at the time, but I did afterwards. Just an excellent show.

 

 

Went to go see Billy Squier, was blown away by Def Leppard. Almost everyone there was really wanting to see Def Leppard. Great show.

 

 

Ramones!!! One of the best concerts I ever saw. The (Georgia) Satellites opened up for them. Amy Carter was at the show. I was front ceter and pressed up against the stage.

 

 

I saw Quiet Riot three times. This was the first time and it was the best. They blew me away. It was in a small bar. Later the album got big and they sucked more and more as time went by.

 

Electic Cowboy Festival was trying to be the next "US Festival". It flopped. Itwas a three day concert, but I didn't stay for day three. I saw the following bands.... "Axe (one of my favorites), Fastway (featuring Motorhead's Fast Eddie Clark), Mitch Ryder. Quiet Riot, Krokus, Blackfoot, Joe Walsh, Elvis Brothers, Joan Jett, Producers, INXS (saw them the next night in Atlanta and met the band), Greg Kihn, Cheap Trick. Very momorable.

 

 

This Police Concert was filmed. It was day two of filming as they had filmed the show the night before. My understanding is that the live DVD is day one and they used foootage from the show I saw for editing & mixing purpose. It was just a cool experience. The Atlanta show can be bought as a Live CD or as a DVD. Both are sentimental to me. Good show.

 

 

 

I think Dokken opened up. If so, that's the real reason I was at Blue Oyster Cult.

 

 

 

 

 

Wasp, the day after Christmas. Quiet Riot totally sucked at this show.

 

 

 

This isn't everything, but they are the ones I've scanned.

 

DG

[The Kaptain]

I have kept all my movie theater ticket stubs since about 1994.

[otherworldcomics]

Reading the answers here, I can see there is a very fine line between collecting and just plain hoarding! .

[aggr1103]

Any OOP/HTF VHS collectors out there?

[dgarthwaite-migration]

Reading the answers here, I can see there is a very fine line between collecting and just plain hoarding! .

 

You are correct. I would say I went overboard and hoarded collectibles after I lost someone special in 1990. When my dad was ill. he just started throwing things away before he passed away. It shook me out of a hoarding mode. I realized you can't take it with you.

 

DG

[dgarthwaite-migration]

Any OOP/HTF VHS collectors out there?

 

I threw out most of my VHS tapes.

 

I have no idea what "OOP" means. Somewhere I had the first Bladerunner VHS. It was released before the price dropped on VHS tapes so it cost me something like $55 brand new. It's edited differently than any other version I've seen. I think I still have a Blondie VHS from when the cassette fit into an inner well and had a flip top cover. I think I have Forbidden Planet with that kind of packaging also.

 

I have an unopened version of the recalled DVD "I Know What You Did Last Summer".

 

I don't watch movies at home anymore, so I've even been giving away my DVD's.

 

DG

[aggr1103]

Any OOP/HTF VHS collectors out there?

 

I threw out most of my VHS tapes.

 

I have no idea what "OOP" means. Somewhere I had the first Bladerunner VHS. It was released before the price dropped on VHS tapes so it cost me something like $55 brand new. It's edited differently than any other version I've seen. I think I still have a Blondie VHS from when the cassette fit into an inner well and had a flip top cover. I think I have Forbidden Planet with that kind of packaging also.

 

I have an unopened version of the recalled DVD "I Know What You Did Last Summer".

 

I don't watch movies at home anymore, so I've even been giving away my DVD's.

 

DG

 

OOP = out of print. Hard to believe, but there are some movies that never made it to DVD that can now only be found on VHS. I have a particular interest in horror movies on VHS. A lot of the wizard video big box horror movies of the late 70's/early 80's are really collectible now.

[dgarthwaite-migration]

Any OOP/HTF VHS collectors out there?

 

I threw out most of my VHS tapes.

 

I have no idea what "OOP" means. Somewhere I had the first Bladerunner VHS. It was released before the price dropped on VHS tapes so it cost me something like $55 brand new. It's edited differently than any other version I've seen. I think I still have a Blondie VHS from when the cassette fit into an inner well and had a flip top cover. I think I have Forbidden Planet with that kind of packaging also.

 

I have an unopened version of the recalled DVD "I Know What You Did Last Summer".

 

I don't watch movies at home anymore, so I've even been giving away my DVD's.

 

DG

 

OOP = out of print. Hard to believe, but there are some movies that never made it to DVD that can now only be found on VHS. I have a particular interest in horror movies on VHS. A lot of the wizard video big box horror movies of the late 70's/early 80's are really collectible now.

 

I tend to save anything that is rare or difficult to replace, but few of my VHS tapes would've fallen into that category. The quality is just so poor. I can't believe I actually watched them.

 

DG

[mintcollector]

Any OOP/HTF VHS collectors out there?

 

Actually there are several collecting clubs that focus on this field. It is a very, very limited market, but in the end there is a small collecting field devoted to this. Much like 8 track collecting, VHS collecting will never be as big as say record collecting, but certain movies that are out of print (as stated) and are only available in this format sell fairly well.

 

 

[aggr1103]

Any OOP/HTF VHS collectors out there?

 

Actually there are several collecting clubs that focus on this field. It is a very, very limited market, but in the end there is a small collecting field devoted to this. Much like 8 track collecting, VHS collecting will never be as big as say record collecting, but certain movies that are out of print (as stated) and are only available in this format sell fairly well.

 

 

Oh I'm famiiar with the collection groups/clubs out there, mint. I was asking if there were any VHS collectors here on the boards. (thumbs u

 

You're right though - it is a limited market, but I've found that if you look hard enough there are good deals out there. There's tons of drek to sift through to find the diamonds, but they are out there.

[Hepcat]

Here are scans of some of my 1954 Blue Ribbon CFL cards:

 

 

 

 

 

The cards were included in with large Blue Ribbon chocolate bars retailing for a dime or more back in 1954. As a result, there were relatively few issued and trying to find the cards today in nice condition is extremely difficult. I've been pecking away at trying to complete the eighty card set for almost twenty years.

 

[(bleep)-migration]

Hard to believe, but there are some movies that never made it to DVD that can now only be found on VHS. I have a particular interest in horror movies on VHS.

 

Oh, then might you have a copy of "Terror in the Aisles" and "It Came From Hollywood!"?

 

A lot of the wizard video big box horror movies of the late 70's/early 80's are really collectible now.

 

I have the original "Wanna date?" vhs box cover for "Frankenhooker", and it still works (thumbs u

[(bleep)-migration]

Awww, no more Corral for Hepcat