This story isn't about disappointment... In the early 80s, I used to buy 70's football/baseball cards at a local bookstore (Old Fool's) for 1 penny apiece. Compiled an entire '76 football set that way, without the Payton Rookie. Found my first "vintage" card there, not pre-war but a 1960 Hoyt Wilhelm was a nice find for a penny.

Fast forward to 2008, went to a yard sale sale in town where there were boxes and boxes of books. The owner of Old Fool's was selling his collection. I asked him about all the cards he used to have, and he pointed me to some shelves in the back of his garage "You can have them all for $50". There must have been 40 file boxes of cards! I told him my wife would kill me if I brought them all home regardless of the price.

So I sat down, and rifled through some boxes to check cards and condition, just like when I was young. Felt that joy of collecting/searching again, and said to myself, this is too much fun... paid him the $50 and loaded up my truck. Got home and hid them in the rafters of our garage. Over the past few years I've gone out to "work on the car" just to spread all those cards on the hood and search through them. The best $50 I ever spent.