Lovely story. My cornflakes had little plastic train sets with different carriages, and also lunar landing modules. I was strictly forbidden from sticking my hand into the cornflakes to feel around for them. Among my greatest problem solving moments, as an 8 yo, I would decant the cornflakes into a cake mixing bowl, use tongs to extract the toy, then pour them back into the packaging. I loved that shit! Tiny black wheels etc
Such an enjoyable story Damian, it took me way back to the great days of being a little kid and the joy of the collector card.
I lived in Adelaide till I was 9 and our SANFL cards came via Tip Top bread and flapjacks when I moved to Victoria the dusty bubble gum blew my mind. Before I left Adelaide and when the collections started was actually KISS cards. Probably to coincide with their 1980 tour which I saw at Football Park and I remember a couple of “big kids” happily swapping away a couple of Ace Frehley’s for some Gene Simmons tongue near the bike racks at Stradbroke Junior Primary.
Thanks again for such a great trip down memory lane and I’m glad that people in your life have paid it forward. 🍻
Thanks James. I scored a VIP double to see Kiss at VFL Park in 1980. They'd been gifted by a family friend who was a music journo at the Sunday press. To be honest, I wasn't that into them, but my best mate Pete Gleeson was, and I was earning schoolyard cred for having the VIP tix. Dad had agreed to drive us all the way over to distant Waverley. Come the day of the concert, Victoria was in the grips of a protracted petrol strike & dad broke the news to me, that he couldn't afford to waste the petrol. We didn't even have Kiss cards to console us.
Lovely to find Cal in there (don't look at me. I'm not crying...you are).
It's also wonderful that people are gifting you cards back bigger and better than ever.
I wish I had something to send you but any St George rugby league cards I may have had were cermonially burned years ago (of which I am sure you will approve).
I couldn't afford them all but I had a friend with seemingly endless disposable pocket money.
He gifted me all his spares.
I was able to make both (I say both because, in mind there were only 2), posters that reversing the cards and laying them out in order produced.
I suspect these are worth a fortune now but sadly, as is the case with most of my childhood treasures, they were thrown out without consultation many years ago.
By the way, was your pink chewing gum stick lethal?
I remember regularly producing gum-piercing shards with the first bite of it.
I'm a Sydney boy so Rugby League cards were my thing in the 70s and early 80s.
You've brought back some great memories Damian, with two stand-outs. Firstly, the top card in the pack with the dusty coat and the sweet odour - I used to love sniffing the cards! And secondly the anticipation of being able to form the big photo by putting together the back panels of the full set once collected. I think I achieved it only once or twice in the late 70s .....
And as I'm a big fan of Tripod, thanks for confirming what a 'legend' Scod is!
With the growth in throw-away merch in modern times, my kids built up so many incomplete collections of tazos and McDonalds toys, etc, that nothing seemed to be valued that highly.
But there are 2 of their collections that I've kept aside now for just shy of 20 years - little cricket balls with the Australian Ashes squad of 2006-7 and medallions of the Socceroos squad from the 2006 World Cup.
Both came through the Sunday papers if I remember correctly. I feel like they'll trigger some good memories and conversations with my kids and their kids (should they be lucky enough to have their own families in the future), so I'll be hanging on to them for a while yet.
Thank you for the trip down memory lane ...... absolutely loved it!
Thanks Andrew. It's the memories that these momentos evoke that make them special as time passes. I recall seeing my first NSW first Rugby League cards & as the design was identical, it was like peering into a parellel universe ... & Scod & all the tripod boys is a legends. We still keep in touch
This has sparked several memories and opened up some wounds that have never quite healed, Damo. I can offer you quite a few cards from the 2025 set, including a heap of Essendon ones. In an echo of 1972, I have eight doubles of the Scanlen's retro Andrew McGrath card!
Myopic fervour have been banned from Glastonbury. The retro Scanlen's cards are a nice touch, but I was bemused by the the overall mixed bag nature of the contents of the 2025 packs. I'll meet you next to the Modernist Madonna a statue for a swap soon.
Champagne storytelling!
I'm pretty sure we now have to call Methode Traditionalle Storytelling ... or even Australian Sparkling Storytelling.
Lovely story. My cornflakes had little plastic train sets with different carriages, and also lunar landing modules. I was strictly forbidden from sticking my hand into the cornflakes to feel around for them. Among my greatest problem solving moments, as an 8 yo, I would decant the cornflakes into a cake mixing bowl, use tongs to extract the toy, then pour them back into the packaging. I loved that shit! Tiny black wheels etc
'I would decant the cornflakes into a cake mixing bowl' ... a sentence that will stay with me for some time.
Such an enjoyable story Damian, it took me way back to the great days of being a little kid and the joy of the collector card.
I lived in Adelaide till I was 9 and our SANFL cards came via Tip Top bread and flapjacks when I moved to Victoria the dusty bubble gum blew my mind. Before I left Adelaide and when the collections started was actually KISS cards. Probably to coincide with their 1980 tour which I saw at Football Park and I remember a couple of “big kids” happily swapping away a couple of Ace Frehley’s for some Gene Simmons tongue near the bike racks at Stradbroke Junior Primary.
Thanks again for such a great trip down memory lane and I’m glad that people in your life have paid it forward. 🍻
Thanks James. I scored a VIP double to see Kiss at VFL Park in 1980. They'd been gifted by a family friend who was a music journo at the Sunday press. To be honest, I wasn't that into them, but my best mate Pete Gleeson was, and I was earning schoolyard cred for having the VIP tix. Dad had agreed to drive us all the way over to distant Waverley. Come the day of the concert, Victoria was in the grips of a protracted petrol strike & dad broke the news to me, that he couldn't afford to waste the petrol. We didn't even have Kiss cards to console us.
Lovely to find Cal in there (don't look at me. I'm not crying...you are).
It's also wonderful that people are gifting you cards back bigger and better than ever.
I wish I had something to send you but any St George rugby league cards I may have had were cermonially burned years ago (of which I am sure you will approve).
Great stuff.
Thanks Damo. ♥
Yeah. it was nice to have her up on my card box. I'm at the point now when such unexpected reminders make me smile.
I was a Star Wars card guy.
I couldn't afford them all but I had a friend with seemingly endless disposable pocket money.
He gifted me all his spares.
I was able to make both (I say both because, in mind there were only 2), posters that reversing the cards and laying them out in order produced.
I suspect these are worth a fortune now but sadly, as is the case with most of my childhood treasures, they were thrown out without consultation many years ago.
By the way, was your pink chewing gum stick lethal?
I remember regularly producing gum-piercing shards with the first bite of it.
Love this ❤👏
I would add 'Wearing long sleeves - Plus 2 points.' 1 point for each shy bicep.
I will have to show you my treasured family footy cards from the 1930s. x
Personally, I love a long sleeve jersey but almost never see one a contemporary footy card. Brad Close being the exception. 2 points for Master Close
Don McKenzie brings back some great memories, catch up with you on the tour . . .
I'm a Sydney boy so Rugby League cards were my thing in the 70s and early 80s.
You've brought back some great memories Damian, with two stand-outs. Firstly, the top card in the pack with the dusty coat and the sweet odour - I used to love sniffing the cards! And secondly the anticipation of being able to form the big photo by putting together the back panels of the full set once collected. I think I achieved it only once or twice in the late 70s .....
And as I'm a big fan of Tripod, thanks for confirming what a 'legend' Scod is!
With the growth in throw-away merch in modern times, my kids built up so many incomplete collections of tazos and McDonalds toys, etc, that nothing seemed to be valued that highly.
But there are 2 of their collections that I've kept aside now for just shy of 20 years - little cricket balls with the Australian Ashes squad of 2006-7 and medallions of the Socceroos squad from the 2006 World Cup.
Both came through the Sunday papers if I remember correctly. I feel like they'll trigger some good memories and conversations with my kids and their kids (should they be lucky enough to have their own families in the future), so I'll be hanging on to them for a while yet.
Thank you for the trip down memory lane ...... absolutely loved it!
Thanks Andrew. It's the memories that these momentos evoke that make them special as time passes. I recall seeing my first NSW first Rugby League cards & as the design was identical, it was like peering into a parellel universe ... & Scod & all the tripod boys is a legends. We still keep in touch
Fantastic writing and memories, as always!
Thanks mate
This has sparked several memories and opened up some wounds that have never quite healed, Damo. I can offer you quite a few cards from the 2025 set, including a heap of Essendon ones. In an echo of 1972, I have eight doubles of the Scanlen's retro Andrew McGrath card!
Incidentally, 'Myopic Fervour' would be a great heavy metal band name.
Myopic fervour have been banned from Glastonbury. The retro Scanlen's cards are a nice touch, but I was bemused by the the overall mixed bag nature of the contents of the 2025 packs. I'll meet you next to the Modernist Madonna a statue for a swap soon.