1960s Archives

Home » 1960s » Page 2

How to value baseball cards

Dave Farquhar Baseball August 12, 2016November 25, 20181960s, 1980s, 1990s, Babe Ruth, baseball cards, collectibles, Goudey, Jose Canseco, Missouri, Star Wars, Topps

If you have a collection, knowing how to value baseball cards is helpful. That way, if you need to insure or liquidate the collection, you’ll receive a fair price.

But fair also means realistic. A lot of factors go into value. It’s not too different from valuing other vintage collectibles, so if you already know about those, you have a head start.

Also, even though my focus here is on baseball cards, more or less the same principles hold true for any vintage trading cards: football, basketball, hockey, or non-sports cards.

Dave Farquhar

David Farquhar is a computer security professional, entrepreneur, and author. He has written professionally about computers since 1991, so he was writing about retro computers when they were still new. He has been working in IT professionally since 1994 and has specialized in vulnerability management since 2013. He holds Security+ and CISSP certifications. Today he blogs five times a week, mostly about retro computers and retro gaming covering the time period from 1975 to 2000.

dfarq.homeip.net

Wiring an old house for Ethernet

Dave Farquhar Servers and Networking July 26, 2016March 13, 20211950s, 1960s, baseboard, Blade, cat5e, home improvement, network cables, Windows 10

Wiring an old house for Ethernet can be challenging but offers real benefits. Wired Ethernet is faster and more reliable than wireless, so devices that have a wired connection can take advantage of it. Having wired connections also allows you to distribute wireless access points throughout your house for better, faster coverage.

So you even if you’re a heavy wireless user, there’s a lot to gain from having good wired connections. Believe it or not, you can do it with simple tools and very little tearing into your walls.

Dave Farquhar

dfarq.homeip.net

Types of Lionel knuckle couplers

Dave Farquhar Toy trains June 23, 2016March 10, 20221950s, 1960s, 1980s, lionel, Lionel Scout, marx, old trains, postwar lionel, sakai

There have been three major types of Lionel knuckle couplers produced since resuming train production in 1946. Lionel knew it would have to make a splash when it brought its trains back after the end of the War, and the knuckle coupler was one of the keys.

Two of these coupler types are compatible with one another, but one has a gotcha.

Dave Farquhar

dfarq.homeip.net

Selling Tyco trains

Dave Farquhar model railroading April 18, 2016October 10, 20171950s, 1960s, 1980s, american flyer, christmas, collectibles, HO, ho scale, lionel, marx, o gauge, old trains, recycling, Spare Parts, Star Wars

I got an inquiry last week about selling Tyco trains. As a child of the 70s and 80s, I certainly remember Tyco, and in recent years Tyco has gained a bit of a following.

If you’re looking to sell some Tyco gear, you certainly can do it, but you have to keep your expectations realistic. You’ll probably be able to sell it, but don’t expect to get rich off it.

Dave Farquhar

dfarq.homeip.net

Marx vs. Lionel

Dave Farquhar Toy trains March 3, 2016March 2, 20231:64 scale, 1950s, 1960s, 1980s, 1990s, boxcars, christmas, electric trains, HO, ho scale, Korea, lionel, Louis Marx, marx, marx trains, Model Power, New Jersey, New York, New York City, o gauge, o scale, old trains, postwar lionel, Quaker Oats, sears, tin

In the 1950s, Marx and Lionel took turns being the biggest toy company in the world, largely riding on the popularity of O gauge trains. Neither company particularly liked the other, but both owed some degree of their success to being compatible with one another. Because of their interoperability, the two makes of trains are frequently compared and contrasted even today. Let’s take a look at Marx vs Lionel.

Dave Farquhar

dfarq.homeip.net

Repairing Lionel transformer cases made of Bakelite

Dave Farquhar Toy trains August 28, 2015February 1, 20221960s, KW, lionel, super glue

Bakelite was the world’s first synthetic plastic, invented in 1907 and was commonly used for everyday objects in the mid 20th century. Lionel used it for transformer cases well into the 1960s. As a general rule, if a vintage Lionel transformer case isn’t metal, it’s probably Bakelite. For example, the highly desirable Lionel ZW and KW transformers used Bakelite casing. If you’d like to try to repair Bakelite transformer cases, read on.

Today, Bakelite is a specialty material. Although it’s generally a strong material, there are other plastics that tend to be more durable in everyday use, and they are cheaper. Another problem with Bakelite is that it is difficult to repair, although it’s not impossible.

Dave Farquhar

dfarq.homeip.net

Nostalgia can make you younger

Dave Farquhar Health, Music, Retro Computing, security June 25, 2015November 27, 20161960s, commodore, John F. Kennedy, lionel, lionel train, New Wave, podcast

This month’s Social Engineer podcast featured psychology professor Dr. Ellen Langer, whose specialty is mindfulness. Dr. Langer brought up a lot of important things, including the idea of work-life integration rather than the more difficult work-life balance, but another thing she briefly touched on really resonated with me. She brought up a study, originally done in the late 1970s, where a group of 80-somethings were immersed in 1959 for a week. At the end of the week, they didn’t act like 80-somethings anymore. It seems nostalgia can make you younger.

That got me thinking about the power of nostalgia.

Dave Farquhar

dfarq.homeip.net

Does AT&T U-Verse drop connections like DSL?

Dave Farquhar ISPs June 5, 2015August 3, 20171960s, AT&T, AT&T U-verse, phone wiring, Southwestern Bell

I got this question anonymously, but it’s a fair question: Does AT&T U-Verse drop connections like DSL?

In my experience, over the 3½ years I’ve had it, sometimes. But not nearly as often.

Dave Farquhar

dfarq.homeip.net

My son’s Hall of Famers

Dave Farquhar Baseball December 31, 2014December 30, 20141960s, baseball cards, christmas

I took my sons back to the local baseball card shop this week. They had Christmas money, and my oldest son wanted to get some baseball cards. Really good baseball cards, he said.

It turned into a learning opportunity. Read more

Dave Farquhar

dfarq.homeip.net

The power company’s aid in saving energy

Dave Farquhar Saving money October 31, 2014July 17, 20171960s, 1980s

My local electric company is going to start including a power usage comparison on the monthly bill.

For the last several years, they’ve been sending one annually, but it’s not all that hard to miss it. This is why I generally know I use less electricity year over year, but I don’t know how many people actually see the report. Read more

Dave Farquhar

dfarq.homeip.net