Introduce yourself

It's been awhile since people here have introduced themselves. Since things are slow, this is a great time to let the new people know who we are and also a chance for the new people to introduce them. Long time lurkers are also encouraged to introduce themselves.

I'm Jay Behrens, co-founder of the forum with Ben Fischer. I started collecting vintage baseball cards back in 1980. That is when I and my brother Lee, who runs Sterling Sports Auctions, went to the big annual show at the Thunderbird motel in the Twin Cities after finding the 1979 Beckett price guide. I picked up a complete run of Pete Rose cards, an amazing looking 1956 Jackie Robinson, n162 Caruthers and nice lot of 1955 Topps commons from the King of Commons, BIll Henderson.

I've owned cards from just about every set and held in my hands just about every major card in the hobby. I've been very lucky in who I met and became friends with in the hobby. They taught me a lot about cards and other things. Book knowledge about sets is nice, but nothing beats actually handling the cards without a slab on them. Around 1985 I started setting up shows, buying and selling cards. In 1992 I sold everything.

In 2002, my brother, who had never really collected tobacco cards started picking my brain about t202s. I game him the name of a person that was an expert on the set and he said she was on a forum he frequented. I checked it out, ran across some old hobby friends and slowly got sucked back into the hobby. Since that time, my collecting focus has shifted from chasing a "player set" (one card of every player that appeared on a baseball card, to working on the t205, Delong and Diamond Stars sets to my current focus "The Gang of 10".

I needed to narrow my focus because I started up a business making and selling BBQ and wing sauce. That is finally taking off, as it is now on store shelves in MN and WI and my wing sauce took 5th place this year (2014) in the Scovie Awards for best fruit based wing sauce.

To the new members and the lurkers, don't afraid to ask questions. There are no stupid questions, but I can't promise we won't give you a stupid answer   Also, don't be afraid to show off what you have. Just because we've been around while doesn't mean we don't appreciate other people collections. From beaters to mint, we love them all.