Cards getting beat and abused is nothing new to me. Growing up, my friends and I routinely wrapped our cards up in rubber bands. I'm sure a few of them still put them in their bike spokes. As far as I can recall, we never taped or glued them to albums or stuck them to the wall with push pins. The hobby was different back then, and so was how we treated our collections.
Earlier this month, a TCDB named Leroy posted on the site's forums offering flawed cards for free. They were, in his words, "cards I would not sell or trade, but I will give them away. They might have corners that are too soft, or scratches, or gum/glue residue, or who knows what. But someone might want them."
He was willing to give anyone up to four cards of their choice free to good homes. I have no problem with soft corners and scratches, so I looked to see what was available. There was just a single Red Sox card available, which I put a claim in. Lee messaged me back and said to take up to four, so I did:
I gotta be honest, I thought these were going to be a lot worse. The corners, the bends - all in line with most cards from the 60's I see nowadays. The Lefebvre has a little paper loss, but still looks good to me!
Favorite Card: I'll give Stanek the win here for having the best background.
Thanks, Leroy!
Yeah, the top two especially look nice! I'm always happy to get cards I don't have, even if the condition isn't good, especially older ones. In fact there are certain cards I'm particularly looking for in off-condition if it will save money (a Gary Carter rookie, for example).
ReplyDeleteI've never seen a guy who would complain about free baseball cards. Nice additions.
ReplyDeleteVery nice freebie foursome!
ReplyDeleteI definitely used rubber bands to store my Star Wars cards... and probably my first baseball cards. I also remember trying out the clothes pin/baseball card thing on my bike, but can't remember if it was successful or not.
ReplyDeleteAs for abused cardboard... I too have been known to adopt unwanted cards. I'm sure these four cards are very happy to go to a warm home where they will be loved and appreciated.
Nice cards, better than most of the ones I have from that era.
ReplyDeleteI don't remember anyone still using rubber bands when I was a kid, but I do recall being in a few bedrooms where a card or two was pinned to the wall.
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