General Forum

I had promised IftBirdsCards a story (actually 2), but here is one of them.

Back in the 1990, my family and I were in some pretty bad times (financially). We had moved from NJ down to FL, and the job that my dad had been promised was suddenly no longer available the day we moved there. (Apparently, the company he was going to do to had no honor.) So, we struggled. I see that there's a local place that runs a card show every month, and the tables are a really decent price, so I talk it over with the rest of the folks and I decide I'm going to set up at a show. (I had always wanted to do shows anyway, finally the chance.) So I break out all the good stuff, and I sold one items that made the day (and the week, actually, it fed us for 2 weeks - 1984 Topps football wax box). But something else happened.

I put up a sign, that said "Trading for..." and what I collected. So, this 9 or 10 year old comes up to me with his stack of doubles from 1989 Topps and Donruss and asks,"Will you trade with me?" This is what set me apart from all the other dealers in the room - I said "Let me see what you have to offer." No one else would do this. I looked through the cards, I pulled out the latest Beckett (sorry, that was how things worked back then), and I showed him what he had. I told him what cards would go into my collection, which ones would go on my table to be sold, and which ones would get tossed in the giant empty monster box (brought just for picking up stuff). I then explained to (and showed) him how my cards were priced at about 60-75% of Beckett's guide, and told him he could pick $x.xx worth of stuff from my table. He took 4 or 5 cards that added roughly to that amount (went a little over, but I told him not to worry about it). He left with a huge grin, I got a couple cards I wanted, and one or two I could sell (or hold onto for nearly 30 years), and I was happy. Perfect trade - both parties happy.

Next thing I knew, I had a line of kids wanting to trade. And I took my time with each one of them and made fair and equitable trades with each of them. (I even remember one who basically had nothing I wanted, but just didn't want the duplicate cards. I think I just asked him what do you want from the table.)

Shortly after that, the other dealers started dropping by to see why I had so many people at my table while they had no one. One word, Trading.

That is how I promoted collecting among the youth back then. (I wasn't that far removed from those guys, I was about double their age!) I gave them the knowledge of what they had and what they could get. It was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed doing those shows and trading with the wide-eyed kids.

Now, I just give a little extra discount when I know it's a kid on the other side of the deal. :)

:)  awesome story DAN truly loved it

Thats a great story.

Kids a few doors down from me stopped me on my driveway last week asking if i wanted buy any baseball cards, one had a small stack of 20 2017 topps. I took a look and I told them to wait there a sec. Went in the house grabbed about 300 cards from my trade pile and handed them over for the 20 cards. Told them now trade with someone else the cards out of that stack you dont want. Should have seen there faces, made my day!

I actually made out good there was 16 in the pile i didnt have lol

For some odd reason, I find myself pondering what some non-actual ways of promoting the hobby to the youth would look like.

Love that small story :)

I recently gave a 10 yr old kid about 5,000 mixed brands of cards from the 90's and up. A year ago he had no interest in cards from what his mother said. His mother said that's all he looks at after home work is done.

Lmao i can't stop laughing about that lol 

Is there such thing as giving a kid too many cards?  How many cards would be considered too much for a kid to have?  

A buddy of mine at work has a 10 year old just getting into watching a lot of sports on TV.  I asked him who he liked and the kid is a Carolina Panther fan and a UNC basketball fan.   I dug up some stuff from my trade list and handed them over about a year ago.  A few Cam Newtons, a few Luke Kuechlys, etc. etc and all he asked his parents for Christmas this past year was cards.  He gets his cards out during the games and points out the players he has cards for.  Awesome!!   

I also have a neighbor who knocked on my door one day with a box full of cards and wanted to know if I wanted any because he knew I collected.  He's 11.  I sifted through the box as he patiently waited for me and I ended up only needing/wanted about a dozen or so, but still knocked some off my want list.  I gave him a generous monetary compensation in which he proceded to go buy more cards to ask me what I wanted, and the cycle continues.  He keeps what I don't want and I buy what I do from him.   When there are local garage sales, he goes with his mom and keeps an eye out for cards and grabs them when he can to let me pilfer.  Awesome again!!  He's got a nice little collection going and I don't have to leave my home to get some goods. 

GREAT story, James! I don't have a lot of face-to-face communication with sports fans at all and especially any children. But I have been giving duplicate cards to my neice and nephew for many years now. My neice keeps everything I give her, but she is still very young. My nephew keeps most of what I give him. While he hasn't become a collector of NFL or MLB cards, he does keep all of the NASCAR cards I give him. He is still collecting, but it's mostly the Pokemon/Yu-Gi-Oh/Magic type of cards. But at least he still collects cards! At 10 years old, I'm not surprised that he goes with what the other kids around him collect. As long as he collects cards, I still have hope that he will move back to sports cards. Either way, I started him on the journey of collecting cards. My neice is only 6 now, but she really likes to see my new cards when she comes to visit! I can't control how their hobbies will go, but I like that cards are part of their young lives. If sports continue to be a small part of their life growing up, I'd think that cards can be too.

I live in a neighborhood of mostly retired people, so children aren't really around this area much. But things have changed recently and there are a few younger families living on this road now. I have the chance to make cards available to the children. But I just don't know how to do that. Living way out in the country means that most people don't talk to each other too often.