Can you imagine tearing into a pristine wax pack of 1972 Topps baseball cards and pulling a vintage card of Hammerin’ Hank Aaron? Talk about a hobby dream come true.

But for Doug, a long-time collector from Grand Rapids, MI, it’s no dream — it actually happened!

That’s just one of the many awesome memories Doug has built during nearly four decades of collecting, and he was gracious enough to share his collector’s story with us.

Enjoy the golden memories …

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How long have you been collecting?
37 years. Since I was 7.

How did you get started collecting?
My brother introduced me to them. I loved baseball and when he first showed them to me I was in awe.

What is the first card you can remember owning or buying?
My first pack was 1977. I remember opening it and hoping for a Mark Fidrych as we were diehard Tiger fans. I didn’t get that one, but I did get a Rusty Staub. The All-Star ribbon made it seem like I hit the lottery. Loved that card.

Which sports do you collect?
Baseball and football.

What other memorabilia, besides cards, do you collect?
Not much other than some jerseys and balls.

What is the focus of your collection?
Most of what I have I have sold over the years. I keep a small portion that I have on display. 1971 is my favorite year with 1959 a close second.

Who are your favorite players?
Lou Whitaker was my favorite player growing up. I loved George Brett. Mickey Mantle and Pete Rose as well.

Which is your favorite team?
Detroit Tigers

Do you have a favorite card or set?
Top three in no particular order: 1969 Mantle, 1971 Nolan Ryan, 1977 Rose.

Do you have a collecting project or goals you’re working on now?
Nope. Been pretty quiet. I still find myself on eBay staring at cards I either had or never got the chance to own. 1959 Mantle for sure. Can’t justify buying it at my age.

Where do you buy most of your cards?
Local Meijer store and the occasional eBay purchase

Which card or set have you always wanted to own but has always eluded you?
The cards I mentioned earlier, and the set is 1977 Topps. I never was able to complete it, and it was so special to me being the first year I collected

What’s your favorite hobby memory?
Card shows. The excitement of seeing the older cards has been unmatched. I would buy Al Kalines and Mantles and Aarons and then stare at them for hours.

Do you have any other memorable hobby moments to share?
Buying an unopened pack of 1972 Topps in 1985 — opened it up to a Hank Aaron. So it was worth the $5!

Anything else you want other collectors to know about you or the hobby?
I got in it for the love of the sport and the player. Never about the money. Looking at an old card brings back so many memories. Just picturing a 1962 Lou Brock instantly reminds me of the place I bought it (card show in Grandville), the price I paid ($9!), and how it made me feel. Not many other things can do that.

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Amen, Doug!

Who doesn’t still get chills when a favorite old card passes our way, either in real life or on the computer screen?

While Doug doesn’t have a lot of time to devote to baseball cards these days, he does keep up with the hobby through Twitter and various websites he finds there.

It’s a pull veteran collectors know well.

After all, when you’re in it for the love of game, you can’t stay away from the cardboard gods for long.

UPDATE!!

In late June 2019, I caught up with Doug again, on Twitter, and he had some interesting things to share about his hobby activity over the last couple of years.

Here’s how that conversation played out …

What have you been up to, hobbywise, since we spoke in 2017? Any projects or focus areas come into play?

Well, we can blame Wax Ecstatic for my jump back into the hobby. I always bought a pack or two of the latest Topps each year, but that’s it. Listening to his podcast, especially going over the old years I loved so much, got me to eBay. I started buying up a bunch of the old cards I either had and sold or never got and wished I did. I bought every Rose from 64-79 and put on some shadow box displays to look at. Picked up several Mantles and Kalines. Just basically got acquainted again with old friends.

 

I’m not the kind to go back and start rebuilding sets but I have started buying old complete sets of the Tigers. Got the ’59 then ’74-’78. No real stars other than Kaline, so affordable except for some of the sets with a lot of high numbers.

 

Nice. So is eBay still your go-to, or are you using any other sites, too? Any online trading, going to card shows, etc.?

 

EBay only as it’s simply the cheapest route. Haven’t done any trading yet and have stayed away from the shows. Too dangerous. (WPG note: No Kidding!)

 

I keep track of release dates. Hit the Targets and Walmarts and Meijer out here for Topps, Heritage or Bowman. The thrill of opening a pack never leaves you.

 

Any favorites among recent issues? Favorite current players?

I loved this year’s Topps (2019). Last years Heritage was nice as there was just something about the 1969 set I liked despite all pictures being boring. The All-Star cards that year were awesome.

Love Cabrera and Verlander for sure. Judge is a great player. Kershaw. Not a huge Trout fan but that’s due to the media always thinking he deserved MVP votes over Miggy so often.

Are you doing much with football these days?

Not much new. I’ll grab a few Paninis for the new season but that’s it. Collected about ten old Lions sets off eBay. Those cards really don’t hold the memories like baseball ones do for some reason. I can see a card from the 60s or 70s and can remember the first time I saw it and if I owned it, who I bought it from. Or at least what show or LCS.

Any parting shots?

One thing I would like to add about cards….I loved looking at them for hours growing up. One of the main reasons was that was a rare glimpse into that player, that team, etc. You didn’t always see pics of say Pete Rose except on a magazine or All-Star Game. Because of the internet, pictures are countless. Video, etc. It’s not the same. You can’t go back unfortunately.

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Thanks, Doug. Always fun “talking” to fellow collectors online, which does help me go back to simpler times, at least for a few minutes.

And speaking of going back, Doug indulged me by answering a couple of time-warp type questions with more personal interest to me …

First, Doug — who goes to 2-3 Tigers games a year — took on the subject of whether he preferred Comerica Park or Tiger Stadium …

That’s tough, as you are comparing memories. Tiger Stadium was my first game at 8 years old. It was being a part of “the wave” in 1984 with the stadium literally feeling like it was liquid. Comerica has hosted 2 World Series. It is beautiful, but I guess if I had to choose, I would choose the old one.

And then, at the prodding of my wife, Doug shared a few logistics about how he houses his collection — specifically, how much room it swallows in his house …

 

Funny question. I took from my house when we got married a large amount that I kept in a storage shed at our first place. It now resides in a full closet but, I now have 5 framed shadow box holders for my favorites. I have a room upstairs with some of my Tigers sets and even New England Patriots cards from the last Super Bowl. I try to not have them all over.

 

For the record, I do try to have them all over, but that generally doesn’t fly. Doug’s approach seems much more considerate and mature than mine, I suppose.

 

Thanks again for the updates, Doug. Fun to catch up!

 

(Read all of our collector stories here. Want to share your own story? Let me know!)

Along about 1982 or 1983, something happened to my dad.

I’ve never been quite sure what that was exactly, but all of a sudden, we were spending our weekends running to antique shops, flea markets, and antique shows all across Indiana. Before that, it was nothing but weekend-long naps and dreadful bouts of home repair for our family.

Whatever happened, I wasn’t complaining. Not only were we having fun, but it seemed like there were baseball cards everywhere we went. I was just starting to follow baseball, but I had already accumulated a few hundred baseball cards thanks to my mom.

My curiosity was stirring and before long, baseball cards were “my thing” when we went out.

How Much Are They Worth?

About this time, we stopped into one of our normal haunts, a little rough-hewn antique mall in rural Indiana on US Highway 40 , aka the National Road. Appropriately enough, the shop was called Country Antiques.

The place consisted of a couple thousand square feet filled with primitive furniture, dainty glassware, and creepy porcelain dolls. There wasn’t a baseball card in sight, but there was a book rack full of volumes about various types of antiques and collectibles.

Among the tomes was — you guessed it — a baseball card price guide.

Now, this wasn’t a Beckett price guide –– I’d have one of those soon enough, and the two books were definitely different.

It also wasn’t one of those “pocket” guides like the one with Pete Rose on the cover from the early 1980s.

In physical size, the book fell somewhere between the standard Beckett price guide and the pocket guides, and it contained prices for thousands of cards. I plunked down my $2.95 (or whatever) and devoured the information on the way home. I had that book for years but can’t find it now — I would love to have another copy if I could find one.

Anyway, the book had a few pictures on the cover and grainy black-and-white photos throughout the book.

I was mesmerized, particularly by cards from the 1950s and 1960s that I’d never seen before.

The price guide also gave a brief commentary on each set at the beginning of the listings.

Like any kid who thought he might be sitting on a goldmine of cardboard at home, the first thing I did was run through the book looking for big-value cards and trying to match them up to my own collection.

While I pretty much whiffed in that endeavor, I did get a whirlwind tour of the modern hobby’s most valuable cards, from the 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle rookie card to the exotic 1975 Topps Minis set.

Hammerin’ Hank

One listing stopped me cold, though: 1959 Bazooka.

The blurb for the set said it was issued in very limited quantities, and the prices in the accompanying listings seemed to back that up. That was great and made me hungry for a hunk of 24-year-old bubble gum.

What really revved my collecting engine, though, was the accompanying photo.

It was a shot of the 1959 Bazooka Hank Aaron card, and it was the most beautiful baseball card I’d ever seen.

By that point, I knew that Aaron was the all-time home run champion and that he was a Hall of Famer. I’d even checked out an Aaron biography from my grade school library a couple years earlier and read it cover-to-cover.

That Bazooka card seemed to embody everything the book taught me about the legend — the powerful swing, the intense gaze, the kind and unassuming face.

I could almost imagine Aaron wearing that same billowing flannel uniform the day he got off the bus in Wisconsin touting the cardboard suitcase his mother had packed with sandwiches for the first trip of his minor league career.

Even today, the mere glimpse of this card makes me at once nostalgic for baseball’s past and excited for the next game, and it’s easily one of my favorite oddball cards of all-time.

This card pulled me in and erased any doubt that I’d be a baseball card collector.

And it’s cards like this one that keep me enthused about the hobby year after year and ensure that I’ll never leave it behind.

While veteran collector Matt Prigge may not have quite the baseball chops that Yount does, the two men do share one strong bond — an abiding devotion to their beloved Brew Crew.

Matt, who hails from Milwaukee, was kind enough to share his hobby journey with us, the latest in our series of Collector Stories. As you might imagine, his tale is tinged throughout with powder-blue Brewers memories.

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How long have you been collecting?
On and off since 1989, when I was seven.

How did you get started collecting?
The first thing I ever remember collecting was matchbox cars, and I started that when I was probably 4 or 5. I had a kind of fascination with cars then, which didn’t last, but I also had a fascination with baseball, which did last. I think pretty much as soon as I figured out such a thing as baseball cards existed, I wanted some.

What is the first card you can remember owning or buying?
I remember having a stack of Kraft Mac & Cheese cards, the kind you cut from the back of the box, which would have been 1987. I don’t remember anything about them, though. I vividly recall my first wax pack. It was 1989 Topps. One of my parents had stopped at a corner store and picked up some sodas (soda was a treat back then) and left them in the fridge to cool. When they told me I could go get my can, I opened the fridge and found a soda with the pack sitting on top. I have forgotten nearly all of the reading I did in grad school, but I still remember getting a Gil Hodges Turn Back the Clock and an Angels team leaders in that pack.

Which sports do you collect?
Baseball. I collected basketball and football as a kid, but can’t force myself to care about those sports anymore.

What other memorabilia, besides cards, do you collect?
I collect a lot of Brewers memorabilia and pretty much anything Milwaukee-related. Bobbleheads, maps, old hotel keys, political campaign pins, etc., etc.

What is the focus of your collection?
I’m trying to build Topps base sets. I have a 1974 set nearly done. I’m trying to see how many of those I can get signed. I’ve got about 80 so far. I’d like to see if I can get everything going back to ’74. I’ve tried a few of the pre-74 sets before, but always got stuck on the high numbers. I am also trying to build an All-Time Brewers set, one card of each guy who every played for the franchise and see how many of those I can get signed. Right now, I’ve got about 92% of the roster, with about 20% signed.

Who are your favorite players?
I don’t really focus on too many players. But if I had to pick a few, I’d go with Henry Aaron, Nyjer Morgan, and Paul Molitor.

Which is (are) your favorite team(s)?
That begins and ends with the Brewers. I don’t follow or root for anyone else.

What’s your main source of hobby information?
All those wonderful card blogs!

Where do you buy most of your cards?
Ebay or Sportslots mostly, some at Target. I don’t really have a local hobby shop.

Which card or set have you always wanted to own but has always eluded you?
The 1998 Pacific team checklist that pictures Julio Franco in a Brewers uni. I’m planning to do a whole post on it. It’s worth about a dollar, but I cannot find it anywhere.

What’s your favorite hobby memory?
It’s only kinda related to the hobby – it involves an item in my collection – but it would have to be when, back in 1998 at County Stadium, Greg Maddux tossed me a baseball before one of his starts. It was the first time I’d ever gotten a ball at a game, and I just about died.

Do you have any other funny or memorable hobby moments to share?
I once got former Brewers closer Curtis Leskanic to sign the instruction manual for my George Foreman Grill after I read him gushing about how great they were in the newspaper.

Anything else you want other collectors to know about you or the hobby? 
I’m always up for trades! I’m getting back into the hobby and figured that blogging would be a good way to keep me engaged. It’s been a lot of fun so far. 

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It’s clear that Matt is knee-deep in the hobby these days and a dedicated Milwaukee Brewers fan with big collecting ambitions.

Great to see another child of the 80s (and 90s, in Matt’s case) resurrecting his love affair with baseball cards!

If you want to follow Matt’s hobby exploits, you can find him on Twitter (@mjpmke) or on his blog, Summer of ’74.

(Read all of our collector stories here. Want to share your own story? Let me know!)

Many fans consider home run king Barry Bonds to be a real hot dog — or much worse — but the first Hank Aaron baseball card is proof positive that the former title holder was a real Clown.

An Indianapolis Clown, that is.

The Indianapolis Clowns were a barnstorming team in the Negro American League that could trace its origins back to the old Miami Giants. For most of their history, the Clowns were a stunt-driven team, much along the lines of basketball’s Harlem Globetrotters.

By the time the Clowns signed Aaron for $200 a month early in 1952, though, they were playing a more straight-laced game as the Negro Leagues began to wane in the face of integration in the Major Leagues.

After about three months as Indianapolis’ shortstop and leading long-ball hitter, Aaron was shipped to the Boston Braves farm system for $10,000.

Before he left, though, Aaron made enough of an impression on Indy brass and fans to be included in a series of team-issued postcards.

While the Aaron card is clearly labeled with his name and features the front-leaning, almost off-balance batting follow-through that would become part of his Big League signature, debate has raged about whether the player depicted really is  Aaron.

At first glance, the player’s face looks quite a bit different than the Hammerin’ Hank we’re all familiar with, but several collectors have done some solid research into the origin and subject of the card. You can read most of the back-and-forth on this thread at Net54 Baseball, but the general consensus now is that this Clown definitely is a youthful Henry Aaron.

Of course, Aaron has graced plenty of iconic baseball cards, including his 1954 Topps rookie, the gorgeous 1955 Topps follow-up, and several 1970s cards issued around the time that he eclipsed Babe Ruth as the Home Run King.

On a personal note, one of my all-time favorite cards is Aaron’s 1959 Bazooka, which I first spied in a 1980s (non-Beckett) price guide. As an inveterate bubble gum connoisseur and budding baseball fan, the vibrant colors and graceful power — not to mention the Bazooka connection — of the Aaron card pulled me into the hobby almost instantly.

But none of those cards hold the title of first Aaron card. That one belongs to the 1952 Indianapolis Clowns postcard series.

And, while the Clowns issue can’t claim to be a rookie card in the strictest sense because it was not widely distributed, it’s a scarce issue that not many collectors would kick out of their shoebox treasure chests.

(Check out our other player card posts here.)