Help me spend my ebay prize

[bugler1998]

Yesterday I got a note from ebay telling me they sent me a $25 coupon because I have been there from the beginning.

My current id started in November 1998.  Anybody start on ebay earlier than me?  I know some of you have changed names over the years.  Who is the earliest ebayer.

To celebrate the prize, I will buy an item from a regular on this board (or the sports collectors board) that you can convince me would be a good addition to my collection.  Here are my interests:

-Local history, particularly vintage history from eastern Missouri or Southern Illinois.

-Vintage pre-1970 sports cards or memorabilia, particularly st. louis baseball.

The item has to sell for $25.01 or more, and should be a decent value.  Does not have to be a bargain.

-As the coupon has a deadline, please mention your candidate on this board by September 7.  I will find it if it is among your listings.  Do not break any ebay rules please.  I will announce the winner once I make the buy.

Mike

[emerald1830]

Got it too...this is the youngest ID I have had with Ebay..My other one states 1998..that being sad, I got it for this one..

[mmadigan]

Mike

My date was June 1998 but according to their firsts I did start buying selling till 2001.

Matt

[bugler1998]

Matt, my firsts were also shown as a few years after I started, and I know I was active early.  My first buy was bubble mailers.  Why would I buy bubble mailers if I was not actively selling?

In the early days there was no my ebay, so I would keep handwritten lists of my sales.  Not easy to write those 10-12 digit listing id"s accurately.

[lludwig]

I received the coupon too. I started selling on ebay March 1998.

[imagine.ink]

I also received the coupon!  It says I registered as imagine.ink on 6-10-1999, but I was timetraveler7 before I switched my ID to imagine.ink. 

It also says my first purchase was ALICE/THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS on 11-25-2001, which doesn't make sense if I registered over 2 years prior.  I bought before I sold on eBay.   (But the purchase sounds right as I have a small collection of antiquarian Alice in Wonderland books.)

Oh well ... who cares about the details?  Thanks, eBay, for the $25! 

BTW, Mike (Bugler), I just listed something as a candidate for your prize money.  It's a boxed hardcover book about St. Louis that is a limited association copy and presented to Charles Van Ravenswaay, the director of the Missouri Historical Society in 1956.  It has the coolest photo illustrations of your (and my) hometown and is in very good condition.

The funny thing is that I got it from an antiquing friend when we lived in Maryland who offered it to me because he knew I was from St. Louis.  I love the way books travel so freely all over the country!  I'd love to see it go back home to St. Louis.  

[bugler1998]

Michelle:  You no longer own the St. Louis book. It is mine.

It is funny. but I own a dozen or more of the paperback version of the book.  All of mine are sealed in a box from the publisher.  I opened one box long ago so I could see what it was.  Not sure where the opened one went, but this reminds me I need to unload the boxed paperbacks.

Your presentation copy will be in my collection.

The Missouri Historical Society is a great resource.  Assuming you are on facebook, I will send you a link to a daily facebook post that usually shows photos or posts about events in St. Louis history, posted on the date of an important anniversary.

For example recent posts have been about St. Louis tornados, with photos of damage to the old arena, or photos of Worlds Fair events.  They even have photos of the old Coral Courts motel.  Also photos of a car carrier of brand new Edsel's crossing the St. Charles bridge.

Thanks again.

[imagine.ink]

Thank YOU, Mike! 

The book was shipped out today.  I'm glad you'll have it in your own personal collection. 

I wonder if Charles van Ravenswaay got all 100 presentation copies of the limited edition, or if he just got a few of the 100 and the rest went to others involved in the book's production.  I do think it's cool that this particular one is presented to him, since he was so pivotal in providing the historical context of the photos.

How this St. Louis area book wound up in Maryland is anyone's guess, but I did notice that Charles ended his career in the mid-1970s as director of the Henry Francis Dupont Winterthur Museum and Gardens in Delaware.  Delaware is a neighboring state to Maryland, so I guess it hopped a state line and found its way into my friend's hands.

I don't have a Facebook page in my own name, for reasons of privacy, but in the name of a relative.  I'll give you that name in a private message and you can message me on Facebook to that St. Louis link. 

Thanks again and enjoy the book!

[sigmapsidelta]

Missouri? Have either of you ever been to Butler? Just wondering if there is anything there to note that it was the birthplace of Robert Anson Heinlein, the 'Dean of Science Fiction'. A statue would be a bit basic, but the rocket from his 1950 movie 'Destination Moon' might be nice on a plinth. Or even the 1970s one, from the cover of the Panther paperback of 'Double Star', that some artist expropriated and won the Turner prize with.

.

[taylor_memorial]

I've been around a while: I remember Timetraveler7 on the boards.

I don't remember all my ID's, though. The first one especially escapes me.

[imagine.ink]

Sig, I never knew till I read your post that Robert Heinlein was a Missouri native!

I found a link for you if you ever visit Butler, Missouri:  

http://www.butlerpubliclibrary.org/heinlein-room/

Also, this philanthropic link soliciting Heinlein books to send to active duty military members and military veterans was nice to discover:

https://www.heinleinsociety.org/h4h/

[bugler1998]

Sig:  Butler is in the western half of Missouri, south of Kansas City.  I have no reason to travel  that route as it is not on the way to anything I would visit.  Sorry.  On the other hand, if they have barbecue there, I might have a reason to visit.

Mike