Baseball cards have been a part of my life since the late 70's when I was an 8 year old kid...

When I was 19 in 1989 I had worked hard and saved up enough money for a down payment on my first home. I literally used every penny I had to start my American dream. When closing came I was informed I was $750 short on closing costs...closing costs? Ha...it was a gut rip. I had a pretty extensive card collection that I hadn't paid attention too for a couple of years...went down to the local card shop (there were like 5 in every town back then! haha) and we had a discussion...long and short of it, I sold a 1984 Donruss set (rare then!), a 1955 Sandy Koufax RC (crisp), and a 1965 Joe Namath RC (Bent corner) for $1000. I ran that cash tot he credit union that day and finished my obligation to that house (Paid $69,500...sold it for $135,000 in 1991, did good!) I ended up selling a few others to pay for furniture and a washer and dryer. Cards literally got me my start in life...I'm extremely grateful...

In 1991 when I was designing my dream home (in which I still live,) my budget didn't have enough for fireplaces. So, I sold my 70 T3 cards, T206 Matty (white cap) and Waddell (pitching) to get 2 wonderful fireplaces, with Cozy Heat inserts. I love having fires in the winter and have never regretted the decision.

My baseball "card" collection helped me to afford a smaller house than I could have if I didn't have any baseball "cards".

LOL

I should mention the friendships made in the hobby are priceless.
We usually don't have a lot of other friends we have kept up with for the past 25+ yrs. Some but not a lot.
I just need to hit more of the show after-parties, like I used to.
.

Baseball cards helped me get back to my duty station on time, allowing me to keep my Top Secret security clearance, at one point in my Navy career. This was back in the 1990s, my 2nd time around the hobby. I sold a 1934 Goudey Lou Gehrig and a 1941 Play Ball Joe DiMaggio and some other cards at a card shop on Atlantic Boulevard in Coral Springs for something like $200 so I could get back to Naval Air Station Key West on time after a weekend at home. That's when I learned a hard lesson. Whatever I have, desirable though it may be, is worthless if I try to sell it. Whatever you have is worth a fortune.

I also swore I would never do anything like that again, and haven't. It made feel physically sick doing it at the time, but I was desperate. Nowadays I would shove a shopping cart around with plastic bags full of my cards before I would do something like that again.

Yes there is a HUGE difference between wanting to sell and taking your time VS I need money now. It sucks but it is an excellent life lesson I have learned the hard way myself. Kinda like the poor people that bought into the big hype a couple years ago and now their collection is worth pennies on the dollar. I was lucky and missed out on this one but if anybody needs some late 80s early 90s cards.:eek::D

Paid off the house and the car, bought my dream car, though not a 911, a macan turbo

A keen eye notices that your nice car was parked in a fire lane. Hopefully it was moved before being ticketed or towed.


Brian