How long have you been collecting cards?

[loose cannon]

I've no doubt that some of our older members have been collecting since the year dot. How long have you been collecting and what do you think have been the main changes to the hobby since you've been involved in it?

[IanSammel]

I think the first set of cards I had was Brooke Bond Out into Space, given to me by an old man whose lawn my father used to cut.  Sadly they got lost in the mists of time.  The first cards I remember collecting myself were Lyons Tea Australia and Brooke Bond Freshwater Fish.  Somewhere I still have them.

The biggest change I have noticed is the demise of tea cards and the rise of trading cards and Panini stickers.  Not to mention the prices of course.

[Captain Pugwash]

I was given a part set of Brooke Bond Freshwater Fish by an Aunt when I was five years old.This set me off collecting Brooke Bond cards during my school days.Also at this time I collected Sweet Cigarette and Bubblegum cards.All were given away when I left school  .

I started collecting again about 30 years ago,by then in my mid twenty's.

I am now only concentrating on A&BC Gum,anything to do with the company.

By far the biggest change in my opinion has to be ebay,which has opened up the hobby to the whole world.

[bri.d]

brooke bond for me as well first set i ever completed was the history of the motor car. and still collect brooke bond . so it must be 45years .if it wasent for ebay i dont think i would still be collecting cards

[lachlan]

Another Brooke Bondy! For me, the first set I collected was Out into Space sometime in the late 50s. It instilled in me a life-long love of star-watching. I still have some of those original cards. The first cards given to me were from the Wills Time & Money set of 1908 (from my grandfather). I was so fascinated with them as they were so informative. I used to pore over maps looking for the countries shown on the cards. I can remember most capital cities thanks mainly to Wills. Who says that cigarette cards are not educational?!

[misterguineagold]

My 1st set was Treasure Trove by Churchmans. Went round the playground swopping cards till i got the set. Very dogeared I might add as most had been flicked up the wall.but I was hooked.
             That must have been about 1955 ish.

[derek dea]

Again another Brooke Bond,that started me on the card collecting trail, started with the Out Into Space, enthusiastically collected from the tea packets, there was always a certain thrill when a new series card first appeared, It is hard to explain.
My Gran always saved the tea cards for me so whenever we visited her I always came home with a big wad of cards.
My father told me about the cigarette cards he used to collect, so I suppose it was he who started me on the ciggy card route.
Have been collecting cards on and off since about 1959, so a long while.
I still have all the tea cards I collected including the few  Lyons tea sets they made available.
I did attempt to collect A&BC cards notably the Flags of Nations set, but they never really had the same impact as tea cards,so these were traded on for the tea cards and ciggy cards.

[Captain Pugwash]

derek.

You should have traded all your A&BC cards with me for my tea cards. lol