Meaningful Worthless Card Stories

[orioles70]

I have thousands upon thousands of cards as do most of the people reading this and I have many of them displayed for people to see. My question is does anyone else have some cards displayed that only have value to you? I have 2 cards prominently displayed in my office that have absolutely no monetary value at all…I mean not even late 80’s Donruss commons value.


I have a 1967 Topps Boog Powell with a bad lower right corner…actually it has no corner. I was about 12 years old and an eager card collector and an Orioles fan…and still am. I started collecting in 1969 and really got into it in 1970. By 1972 I had accumulated a few thousand cards and I considered anything before 1969 as old cards and traded for them as often as I could and Oriole cards were my favorites. I had 2 classmates…more on them in my other worthless card story.…that collected and were regular trading partners. Like most kids of the day I kept all my cards sorted by team and in stacks with rubber bands. I would regularly sort and resort them…by position, year, card number, batting average and era, etc but always by team…and I read and analyzed the backs. In 1972 we got our first dog, a mixed beagle terrier pup with 4 white paws…we named her Boots. I often took my cards to school in a big cardboard box to trade at lunch or on the bus. I would require my own seat on the school bus due to the size of the box. We even traded during class when the teachers back was turned. One morning I left my cards in nice neat rubber banded stacks by team in my bedroom floor and went to school. I came home from school and to my horror our new pup had decided that of the 24 stacks the Orioles must have smelled the best and chewed on that stack. Many cards were ruined including Powell but he was a favorite so I decided to keep it. I replaced the Powell card many years later when building the set. I look at that card almost everyday in my office and am glad I kept it. Boots lived a long happy life and died while I was still living at home with my parents after I graduated from college and was working to save for a house that I bought and still live in. The card is worthless to anyone but me. I occasionally have a client that will ask why I have such a terrible Powell card displayed with his autographed ball. I always smile when they ask. Thanks Boots.


I have one other story and card to share if there is any interest.


I would love to hear other stories like this.


John



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