Monday, March 26, 2012

STAMPS and the Children That Love Them

The Stamp King of California
Why is this boy so excited?  He just won some STAMPS

This was a picture from my local paper this week.  The local stamp collectors club held a "youth day" to get kids interested in stamp collecting.  They had over twenty kids show up.  For stamps!  They had raffles, stamp-related games, and a big pile o' free stamps.  Everything a stamp-loving youth could want.

I couldn't help but see the parallels between the stamp collecting and the card collecting hobby spheres.  According to the event's organizer:
"It's a dying hobby, and a lot of us that are members have been collecting over 50 years," he said. "This is a wonderful hobby that's taught us all about history and geography."  The club is primarily made up of older adults averaging 65 years old.  "We still have a lot of fun with our hobby, and we're trying to educate our young people that there's more to life than video games," he said."  
It went on to talk to a couple of the old-timers and how much their stamps were worth.  These guys didn't even care since the stamps had such sentimental value to them.

Could you not write that exact same thing about the card collecting world?  As the average age of collectors continues to creep up, take a look at what could happen to the hobby if you don't get kids excited about it.  It could be relegated to the Senior Citizen center.

But these folks are not going down without a fight.  They are investing some time and money into these kids.  I think it was a great idea to have an event specifically for them.  And the kids seemed to love it.
"I have about 1,023 stamps," one boy said.  Do you remember those days when you first started collecting cards and knew EXACTLY how many cards you had??  That's the level of passion that was being ignited there.

Could this be done in the card collecting world?  Could the hobby shops or a group of collectors  in a city band together to stage an event like this? 

Have these things:
  • Card and memorabilia displays
  • Games
  • Raffles (for cards and binders/pages/boxes),
  • Snacks
  • A giant pile of free cards (with the local teams well-represented)
  • Make sure every kid goes home with 50-100 cards and info on where they can get more.  
  • Post it on Craigslist, email it to the Little League coaches, and submit it to the local paper.  
  • Make it all FREE
 I think it would be easy to find people to "give back" if you made it easy for them to donate.

Has anyone ever seen this happen?  Do you think it would work?

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

The Ginter Code

I'm sure some people enjoy the Ginter Code.  Really REALLY enjoy it.  But it all seems a little TOO obscure for me (and I LIKE puzzles!).

It seems sort of like this....


Source: Wondermark

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Brien Taylor, or How the Mighty Have Fallen

Brien Taylor was the face of the future for the Yankees.  He was the #1 overall draft pick in 1991.  He signed for $1.5m, or as they called it back then, "Van Poppel Money."  He was the top of every "prospect" set...does anyone remember this one?
 
That was Larry Johnson, Eric Lindros, Russell Maryland, and Brien Taylor....all the #1 picks from the draft.  How did they turn out? 
  • Larry Johnson became "LJ", "Grandmama", played 10 years in the NBA, scored 16 ppg.
  • Eric Lindros played 13 years in the NHL, and would have had even more except for taking too many concussions.
  • Russell Maryland played 10 years in the NFL and was part of the three Dallas Cowboys Super Bowl victories in the 1990s.
  • Brien Taylor...hurt his shoulder in a fight while he was in the minors and was never the same again.
 Now the news this week tells us that Brien Taylor went from this:
To this:
He was arrested on cocaine trafficking charges this week.  What a sad story.
http://deadspin.com/5889964/brien-taylor-former-yankees-superstar+to+be-arrested-on-cocaine-trafficking-charges

Monday, March 5, 2012

Craigslist Cards - What to Offer?

Hey all -- quick question...this guy on Craigslist has a lot of cards for sale.  Some G/U, Autos, and it looks like lots of miscellaneous.  He doesn't have a price on it -- he says to "make an offer."

My question to you is....How much should I offer him for this stuff?  Based only on what you can see, what do you think it is worth?  He's "local" to me, so there wouldn't be any shipping cost.  Please leave a comment below.

http://ventura.craigslist.org/clt/2885168525.html