Are your cards ===mint=== ???

[BradH]

Arnie - I feel your pain, but I think this is common with a lot of things in life - people don't tend to show a ton of interest or appreciation for things they don't care much about or understand.

We took our kids back home to see relatives in northern Indiana at Christmas time and one night my brother-in-law was talking about an old car he'd recently finished working on in his barn. (Other than basic maintenance and how to change a tire and my oil, I don't really know squat about cars.) So I showed some interest and asked him a few questions about it. After he talked for a while I realized I was doing just what you're talking about. My eyes had to have been glazed over. Then he said something that caught my attention. He said the car was a '68 Camaro SS and that he'd "rebuilt it with matching numbers." This intrigued me and I asked to see the car. We spent the next hour in his barn as he showed me this unbelievably beautiful vehicle (Google '68 Camaro SS and you'll see what I mean).

He explained the pains and searching involved in doing a car with parts that have matching serial numbers. This is a whole sub-culture that I was never aware of and he just beamed as he explained all of this too me. Some of the parts took him years to find and I realized how important this was to him and I was glad that he got to enjoy showing it off to me. And while I was tempted, I never asked the "how much is it worth" question because I hate it when people do that with my cards.

I think I've somewhat educated my family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, etc. about my collection. Now some of them actually seem to be interested when I have a new addition to my collection. Sometimes they actually like the stories behind how I found a card hidden deep in an antique shop or at a flea market. Or how I searched for a card for years and finally found it.

Anyway - most of us understand what you're experiencing.