How many times has this happened to you?

ctownboy · #1 02-11-2012, 10:35 PM

This is one of the things I am going to do when I win the lottery and am a multi-millionaire. I am going to first buy an industrial strength paper shredder. Then, I am going to go around and buy these overproduced cards and take them home and shred them. I am then going to donate the shredded cardboard to a local church for their paper drives.

This way, in maybe 20 years, I will have destroyed enough of these things that they MIGHT be worth something....

David

sycks22 · #2 02-11-2012, 10:52 PM

I had one buddy told me he collected a lot in the '70's so I thought maybe something decent. He also had he had some nice graded cards, those turned out to be PSA 9 Griffey Donruss / Topps traded rookies that he picked up late one night on QVC. I felt bad giving him all back and telling them they're pretty much worthless so I shot him $40 and he was happy. There are some Ryan's / Brett's in there, but nothing over $10.

novakjr · #3 02-11-2012, 11:15 PM

My wife's stepfather did this to me once. Told me about all these cards he had and how much he thought they'd be worth someday. One holiday he pulled 'em out to show me. I really didn't have the heart to tell him that they were all worthless...Even by late 80's-early 90's standards, they were worthless. Even if I had told him they were worthless, he probably wouldn't have listened to me. So I just let him keep afloat in fantasy land...

rp12367 · #4 02-11-2012, 11:56 PM

Havn't had it happen with cards. But with comics, we were at a party and my wife mentioned that I collected comics, I had/still have a ton of silver age. So a guy claimed he had big collection, went over there a few weeks later and he had a ton of late 80's, early-mid 90's junk, a key apperance here or there but overall not worth cover price.

zljones · #5 02-12-2012, 03:10 AM

I had the same thing happen with a girl at my work that collected when she was a kid. She hyped up like she had some badass cards, then she brought them to work and they were all 1992 Topps, Donruss and other crap that was not even in great condition, creases, rounded corners, etc.... Of course I told her those cards were worth squat.

The problem is, these people that think they have these great cards they collected in the late 80s early 90s think their stuff is still hot, even though they haven't watched the market in nearly 20 years. When they see my collection they are blown away, but realisically my collection is great but compared to many other collectors, my collection is no comparison. My most valuable card is worth $1,500.

I also noticed that many people say cards are not worth anything anymore, then I correct them saying only those newer cards from before or during the baseball card bubble are the ones worth squat, but prewar is going up.

sandmountainslim · #6 02-12-2012, 07:19 AM

I had a customer who owns alot of rental property tell me "You should SEE the cards I found in on of my renter houses a few years ago" then he started to tell me how old they were and how many baseball stars were represented. Of course I asked to see them. He brought the cards by and they were all mid 80's Topps and Fleer. I told him they didn't interest me and his reply was he will give them to his grandson because they will be worth a fortune in a few years.....I just let him think that.

kcohen · #7 02-12-2012, 07:40 AM

I worked part-time at a local card shop for a number of years. There was a period where several calls a week came in with people expressing interest in selling their "old" cards, especially with the downturn in the economy. Many knew that they weren't worth much and just wanted to make room in their houses or just get anything they could. However, there was a small segment who thought that the cards were going to put their kids through college with the proceeds.

If they were located any distance from the shop, we told them not to even bother since the proceeds, if any, wouldn't cover the gas for the trip. Oh well. Unlike some other investments or speculations, at least with this one you cannot lose more than 100%.

teetwoohsix · #8 02-12-2012, 09:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ctownboy

This is one of the things I am going to do when I win the lottery and am a multi-millionaire. I am going to first buy an industrial strength paper shredder. Then, I am going to go around and buy these overproduced cards and take them home and shred them. I am then going to donate the shredded cardboard to a local church for their paper drives.

This way, in maybe 20 years, I will have destroyed enough of these things that they MIGHT be worth something....

David

This is a wonderful idea !!

It made me laugh because I've had a stack of late 80's cards sitting on my dresser for around 3 weeks now- I put them there to remind myself to throw them away.........I don't know what my problem is, I just can't seem to do it

Sincerely, Clayton

Tomman1961 · #9 02-12-2012, 09:52 AM

I had it happen once. A girl told me she had hundreds of old cards. Some even black and white. I'm hoping for Playballs. It was one of those Topps Turn Back the Clock Cards? She did not believe me when I too, told her the shoebox was worth $20. I recently took about 10,000 1987-1990 Topps commons to Salvation Army.

steve B · #10 02-12-2012, 11:07 AM

The flip side is a friend of mine teling me he wanted to give his nephew his cards but wanted me to check them out first in case any were worth anything. Total collection? 5 cards. 2 71s 2 72s and a Schmidt rookie. I think he still has the Schmidt, I should have told him to sell it then.

Steve B

carrigansghost · #11 02-12-2012, 11:19 AM

It happens, but I still will take a look. On the flip side, how many times has it turned out to be a good find? I'm still making a few bucks off a shoebox full of 50's cards that I bought in 1982 for $20.

Rawn

sycks22 · #12 02-12-2012, 11:33 AM

The other thing is when people actually have some decent stuff they look in beckett and think they should get 60% of book even though there are 4 creases and the bottom left hand part of the card is missing. I had a guy today offer me his '52 Topps Bill Dickey ($1,800 high book) for $800 saying it was in good condition, but with creases. I told him that's a $200 card and he wasn't having it.

David W · #13 02-12-2012, 11:53 AM

I went to a local card show last Saturday, and one weekend warrior still had boxes of individual cards of Sosa/McGwire/Thomas/Gwynn/et al, not to mention the Kenny Lofton rookies and Juan Guzman rookies in his dollar boxes.

That was it, everything he had was from about 1983 to 1993.

90 Donruss Sosa's were 50% off his "list" price of $12.00.

I wondered why he was wasting a perfectly good Saturday.

#14 02-12-2012, 12:16 PM

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.

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