NYT: 20 Million Cards: A Sports Memorabilia Gold Mine Uncovered in Virginia

[glchen]

For those who have a NY Times sub: Link

[Kawika]

Very interesting article, thought provoking for me. I have never counted my sportscards. Been collecting for twenty-five years, have two or three football and hockey sets and a dozen or so sets of Topps, Goudey and other diverse baseball issues. My count is probably somewhere in the low thousands. The pandemic and my wife's illness have kicked the shit out of me, I can see the gallows in the distance. The need to liquidate my relatively humble collection saddens me and is also an overwhelming prospect. My record keeping is not all that great and I have both the IRS and Revenue Canada greedily waiting to make my life miserable. Along comes this guy with a giant warehouse of cardboard and for me it's like watching a horror movie. He seems pretty stoked. Better him than me.

[calvindog]

I had the same reaction.

[Brent G.]

From the few things I can make out, looks like a whole lot of what no one wants.

[conor912]

bonfire.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Maybe he can get a discounted rate from PSA.

[JasonL]

seeing this picture gives me hives...

[Exhibitman]

Gives me goosebumps.

Guys, we need to get out of our vintage silo a little more often. There is a market for junk wax, modern, other sports, and even nonsports. 1990 Score factory sets, for example, can go for $10-$25 each. People harvest the #697 Bo Jackson cards out of them; heck, he could bust them all, pull the Bo cards, and get a guaranteed $10 per. If any are PSA-worthy, a 10 will go $200, readily. NASCAR cards, depending on the issue, can sell for good money. As for Michael Jordan cards, even the cruddy ones sell. There are many junk wax singles that I cannot keep in stock for shows--people snap them up.

It might not be champagne and cocaine money in every box but a lot of pretzels and beer-quality boxes add up too.

Plus, how much fun would it be to go spelunking in a 20-million-card warehouse? Order in some pizzas and I know what I would do for my summer vacation.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

Gives me goosebumps.

Guys, we need to get out of our vintage silo a little more often. There is a market for junk wax, modern, other sports, and even nonsports. 1990 Score factory sets, for example, can go for $10-$25 each. People harvest the #697 Bo Jackson cards out of them; heck, he could bust them all, pull the Bo cards, and get a guaranteed $10 per. If any are PSA-worthy, a 10 will go $200, readily. NASCAR cards, depending on the issue, can sell for good money. As for Michael Jordan cards, even the cruddy ones sell. There are many junk wax singles that I cannot keep in stock for shows--people snap them up.

It might not be champagne and cocaine money in every box but a lot of pretzels and beer-quality boxes add up too.

Plus, how much fun would it be to go spelunking in a 20-million-card warehouse? Order in some pizzas and I know what I would do for my summer vacation.

4 Sharp Corners would make millions off stuff like this. Do not underestimate the power of a PSA 10, however worthless the actual card.

[Eric72]

Pyrite mine.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Group ebay lot, local pickup only.

[Eric72]

Perhaps best suited for an episode of Storage Wars or some other "reality" TV show...if those are still a thing.

[bbcard1]

I am looking at a smaller but still very large collection from the 50s through the mid 70s plus a bunch of 80s an 90s stuff. I would probably keep it in a "bubble" and try to liquidate it all at a mild profit, not really cross-pollinating it with my collection (I do expect to upgrade some singles in sets but nothing significant). It's just a lot of chopping for the wood you get out of it. He's trying to negotiate and I would probably be as interested in backing out as I am in negotiating. I haven't seen a single card worth more than $50 or so.

I do expect from the collection in the NYTimes there may be a Jordan rookie or two and probably some semi-desirable sets but I don't think it will make any difference in the hobby.

[doug.goodman]

Certainly it's possible that there is some value hidden in one or more of those boxes, but I'm betting that those cards aren't worth what it would cost to ship them across the street.

Doug

[MonsterMash]

I read this article when it came out, and immediately got hooked on T206. Hadn't even considered cards since I was a kid. Now I'm here!

[vthobby]

Those 1990 Score Factory Baseball Sets are impressive. The Cobb's and Ruth's must be hiding underneath them!

The owner is probably hoping for a massive fire only and then be compensated by the unfortunate insurance company.

[Republicaninmass]

Originally Posted by vthobby

Those 1990 Score Factory Baseball Sets are impressive. The Cobb's and Ruth's must be hiding underneath them!

The owner is probably hoping for a massive fire only and then be compensated by the unfortunate insurance company.

Least it's almost winter time. fire up the pellet stove

[Fred]

20 million sports cards for sale. $1,000 + $10K shipping.

[bmattioli]

Originally Posted by Republicaninmass

Least it's almost winter time. fire up the pellet stove

Pellet stoves do not like cards or paper..

OCD and hoarding is a terrible disease that most do not understand. It's not fun trust me..

[Hankphenom]

Originally Posted by bmattioli

OCD and hoarding is a terrible disease that most do not understand. It's not fun trust me..

You have my sympathies, I've seen it close at hand. It's also not fun for those who have anything to do with a hoarder or have to live or work in a hoarder space. Certainly there is an element of compulsion to it, but there is also a disregard for others in their orbit who are also forced to deal with it. It's pretty nasty behavior for all concerned except maybe the hoarder, who can seem oblivious to everyone else's discomfort in not at least trying to do something about it.

[jayshum]

For those who couldn't read the NYT article, here's a link to the same article on the Seattle Times.

https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-...d-in-virginia/

[todeen]

Every collector who is a millennial (like myself) is nostalgic for 80s and 90s peak junk wax, early 90s inserts, and finally late 90s serial numbered cards. Like others have said, harvest the HOF'ers and liquidate the rest.

Sent from my SM-S926U using Tapatalk

[Peter_Spaeth]

Yep. There's a generation of collectors for whom Jordan and Griffey are the equivalent of Mantle to an older generation.