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BC Collecting Tips

My Collecting History

I started collecting business cards when I was a kid back the early 1980s.  I don't remember exactly when, but I collected them for quite some time. I remember storing them in a cigar box with a paper divider up the middle. I probably had a couple hundred during the peak of my early collection.  I started gathering business cards when I found a gold 3-D plastic multi-dimensional honeycombed patterned business card at my grandmother's house, similar to, but not the one displayed to the right.  The text seemed to float on the card with an optical illusion.  It was pretty cool back then, still is now.

Another one of my more memorable early business cards was a card for a restaurant in San Francisco, California. Maybe it was San Diego...hey, it was a long time ago and I no longer have the card :(. My uncle got it when he went on vacation.  That same uncle had several business cards laying around himself.  He was a manager of a restaurant and had a couple different cards with various current and previous titles, as well as a limousine company he owned for a few years.  I had a couple of each of those.  I also had a round chocolate chip cookie shaped card from a cookie shop at my local mall.  I seem to remember that the stores in the mall were far more likely to have business cards available on display 15-20 years ago then they do now.  That was a rather large section of my collection, the local mall shops.

Eventually I stopped collecting business cards when I was a teenager, and ultimately lost track of them.  However, after I graduated from high school, I went to college for graphic design, called "commercial art" back in the early 1990's, and graduated with an Associate's Degree in Advertising, Design and Production.  This started to spark another interest in business cards, now from the design and layout perspective.  Soon after, I joined the army which put a six year delay on officially starting up collecting again.

Finally, in 2000 I started collecting business cards again.  At that time, I grabbed cards that I found and frequented eBay auctions, building up my collection.  Eventually, while surfing the 'net, I came across a link for the International Business Card Collectors (IBCC).  Wow, there was actually a group of weirdoes like me who collected business cards.  I joined the IBCC in September 0f 2002, and created the New England Business Card Collectors (NEBCC) in August 2003.

Specific Business Card "Wish List"

Here is a specific wish list of some business cards I would like to obtain one day.  Some are more easily obtained than others, but there have to be some out there :). I have seen certain ones on eBay that have eluded me thus far...

• Donald Trump

• Bill Gates

• Jim Henson

• Arnold Schwarzenegger, Governor (got one!)

• George W. Bush

• Vincent K. McMahon, WWE

• Dana White, UFC

• Bill Clinton

• George H. Bush

• Ronald Reagan

General Business Card Collecting "Wanted" Categories

Here is a list of my ever growing most popular categories.  I do collect any general business cards, but this is the top keepers:  (Primary, secondary)

• Tattoo & Piercing, Harley Davidson
• Animals - Moose, Lobsters, Sharks, Penguins
• Graphic Design or Art related (not craft)
• Martial Arts - schools, dojos, related
• Restaurants - not plain or boring
  • especially Asian (any Chinese, Japanese, Thai, etc.)
  • Steakhouses (Longhorn, etc.)
  • Seafood (Red Lobster, etc.)
  • Major Fast Food, or chains (McDonalds, Burger King, etc.)
  • Hooters
  • Famous Owners
• Breweries and Wineries
• Bank of America, Home Depot, Wells Fargo
• Foreign (non-USA)
  • especially those on wish list categories
  • US Companies in overseas locations
• PhDs, Big Corporate CEOs, Company Presidents
• Aerospace & Avionics, Engineering
• Unusual Cards, Die-cuts or Materials (including wood grain)
• Drogins
• Card says "New England", "Granite State"
• Last named "Cook"
• Others

This list last updated: 07/26/2008

General Business Card Trading "Want-Nots"

Here is a list of cards I would prefer not to receive in an arranged trade:

• Home-made, micro-perforated edged cards
• Business Card Collector cards that are not your own
• Damaged, dirty, marked on, tack-holed, creased cards, unless otherwise discussed

Add your cards to my collection!

If you have any business cards for me to add to my collection send them to:

NEBCC
 

I am always accepting business card donations and trade requests.  I will trade 1-for-1 any specific category for that category, or any other category on your list, or general cards.

"Millions of business cards change hands each day.
Most meet tragic ends: tossed out, lost forever, burnt to ashes
by incinerators. Help stop all this needless carnage! 
Please send cards you no longer need and want to get rid        
of to me. I'll pay postage if need be!     Thanks in advance."  
       
      -------a Bernhard card.---© Aug. 2003  B.C.F.Klein-----------