How many times has this happened to you?

Jantz · #1 02-12-2012, 10:58 PM

I've had this happen to me about a dozen times now. As recent as two weeks ago, but on two occasions it was worth it.

I was having a casual conversation one time with my ex's cousin and he mentioned that he needed money for college. He told me that he had no interest anymore in his baseball cards and would be willing to part them. I went with the assumption that they were going to be 80s & 90s cards because of his age. Turns out that he had some nice rookie cards from the 70s & 80s. We both walked away happy with the sale.

The other occasion was when one of my father's co-workers ( & friend ) asked if I would take a look at some baseball cards and give him a dollar value for all of them. So I get the cards from my father & a few days later call him up with a price. My father then informs me that it was all a joke and the co-worker wanted me to have all of the cards. There were around 100 cards from 1940 Play Ball to 1968 Topps.

Jantz

jefferyepayne · #2 02-13-2012, 06:20 AM

Same here. Usually looking at people's "collections" has been a waste of time but I did snag some good cards on three different occasions.

A co-worker of my father-in-law had some cards he wanted to get rid of. They were late 50's / early 60's with a 1960 Yogi Berra and a few other HOF'ers as well.

A friend sold me his cards from the '60s that included a Brian Piccolo rookie card for 1 cent each in the 80's.

A friend of my father-in-law wanted to get rid of his kids old cards that included a Terry Bradshaw rookie.

The best card find story I've experienced first hand came from an older co-worker about ten years ago. When his mother died they cleaned out her attic. He didn't know it but she had taken all of his late 40's / early 50's baseball cards and put them in a large tupperware container where they had sat for 50 years. They were all in NM condition and he had a lot of stars/HOFers. He brought them to work and showed them to me and, as much as I wanted those cards, knew I could never give him a fair offer for them as I didn't have the $$$ at the time. He ended up selling them through an auction and made more money from those cards than the family got for ALL of the rest of his mother's possessions. What a great Mom!

jeff

theseeker · #3 02-13-2012, 06:23 AM

I'm sure it's only me, but I not only buy the "shinny junk," I wish it had come along a generation sooner so that my childhood era cards could be had at easily affordable prices and also be of FAR superior quality.
It's a sad irony that at the hobbies height of popularity (late eighties thru early nineties), an investment mentality prevailed and most child-aged collectors were planning on financing their college education with the cards that are now refurred to as "worthless, shinny junk." Equally ironic is how the suddenly huge industry of manufacturers and dealers act of fueling this investment hype with promo cards, endless insert sets, premium grade, and super premium grade cards sealed then own fate when the bubble inevitably burst. With all the cases of cards being bought and the proliferation of supplies to protect these over-produced "investments," I'm still shocked at how many adults fell for this obviously manipulated market by all involved, including MLB with it's ridiculously liberal use of licensing.
No doubt in my mind that it is the disappointment with how these "shinny cards" did as investments that is the root cause of all the present resentment towards them.
Is it any wonder that the hobby is now largely viewed as a baby boomers activity? I fall into the tail end of that and I am part of the last generation where it was a true collector's activity. As a result, I see the cards from this era for what they really are.......plentiful, affordable, and vastly superior products to anything that came before them. Yet, perhaps because they were the first cards to be targeted to an adult market, utterly lacking in any visceral attachment.
As to the owners who still beleive there is any value in them.........................

bbcard1 · #4 02-13-2012, 07:11 AM

Happens absolutely all the time. The way I look at it is that the folks invited me into their home and it's not their fault they are ignorant of what they have. It make the good ones finds more interesting though.

HexsHeroes · #5 02-13-2012, 09:27 AM

.

. . . imagine how impressed (or stunned !!!) all those folks you talked to at social events (who claim to have vintage cards) will be when they come to your home and see what amazing and vintage cards truly are. YOU might find yourself (and your collection) the topic of conversation at later gatherings.

7nohitter · #6 02-13-2012, 10:06 AM

I have a neighbor across the street who is 97, his wife is 95. They are both in incredible health...I've always fantasized about the day the topic of BB cards comes up and he asks me if i'd be interested in seeing his cards from the '20's and earlier!!!!! Just a pipe dream

Kalineman · #7 02-13-2012, 10:31 AM

We've all heard the stories about people at parties having old cards and then seeing all those 90s cards. But for every 19 times that happens, the 20th time is gold. So I never say no. Two years ago a guy at a party was telling me about old cards he had in a plastic bag. So the next day I drove out to take a look at them and BAM, a bag full of Kahns baseball cards from the 60s.

dstraate · #8 02-13-2012, 11:12 AM

And on a brighter note, you don't have to worry about reprints when collecting 80s junk.

edhans · #9 02-13-2012, 11:17 AM

I may have one of the saddest stories of all time. I Had an uncle who was born in 1902. After has passed away in the early 90's, my aunt asked me to look at some baseball cards he had put away. Visions of caramel and tobacco cards danced through my head for a week before I was able to get to her house. You might imagine how crestfallen I was when she brought out a 1989 Topps factory set, sorted by team and in ex condition.

tachyonbb · #10 02-13-2012, 11:17 AM

For my 20th anniversary at work I received a T206 Mordecai Brown card. Right after that one of the other teachers told me she had a bunch of "little cards" that her brother had given her when he moved.

I went with high expectations to look at her collection. Turned out to be 2002 Topps T206 cards. She did have one of the "buy back" real T206's and a Joe Mauer autograph card but the rest was a disappointment.

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