Sold your cards to fund......

[Tao_Moko]

I've been parting with some of my scarcer cards to fund home renovations in preparation for a nursery area and other wife "needs". Now that some of my tougher cards are gone it's depressing to look at my collection.

What non-baseball related items have you funded with the money from sold pre war cards?

[Brian Van Horn]

Eric,

Just remember a happy wife takes priority.

[glchen]

a minivan for family, necklace as birthday present for wife

[caramelcard]

Guitars and other instruments.

[Tao_Moko]

Originally Posted by glchen

a minivan for family, necklace as birthday present for wife

Want to sell your van? Looks like I might end up needing one. It is a VW bus right?

[Cardboard Junkie]

Sold a lot a few years ago to finance my daughters internship at The Louvre.
Then another bunch recently, to start moving away from collecting and to buy some toys. (Little sports car and farm equipment.)

[t206blogcom]

Selling much of mine to help fund a new home purchase. It took me around a year or so before I could muster the courage to start listing my T206's. Now I'm letting just about everything go!

[Bicem]

nothing comes to mind.

[Tao_Moko]

Originally Posted by Bicem

nothing comes to mind.

I'm guessing your wife has never wanted Swedish made hanging cradles and mid-century modern furniture for the nursery.

[midwaylandscaping]

I collected pretty hardcore from 1984-2000. Late 2000, my Mom developed some serious health issues, as things were with my own life going I had one option left to me to help her: Sell my collection. So I did, and would do it again tomorrow if I had to. And in 2000 unlike now, one could get $80 for a PSA 9 1987 Donruss Greg Maddux, or $80 for a PSA 9 86 Donruss Canseco rookie. It hurt to part with everything for maybe 10 seconds. Looking back now, best collecting decision ever made on my part from that standpoint. And all is well with Mom, still kicking at 81

[freakhappy]

Originally Posted by midwaylandscaping

I collected pretty hardcore from 1984-2000. Late 2000, my Mom developed some serious health issues, as things were with my own life going I had one option left to me to help her: Sell my collection. So I did, and would do it again tomorrow if I had to. And in 2000 unlike now, one could get $80 for a PSA 9 1987 Donruss Greg Maddux, or $80 for a PSA 9 86 Donruss Canseco rookie. It hurt to part with everything for maybe 10 seconds. Looking back now, best collecting decision ever made on my part from that standpoint. And all is well with Mom, still kicking at 81

Some of the best choices are things we don't want to do, but man did that work out for ya! Glad to hear Mom is still around...they mean so much to us!

[slipk1068]

The family and I spent 9 days in Disney about 15 years ago when my daughter was 6. It was worth it. I wouldn't trade those memories for anything (well almost anything).

In recent years, I am slowly replacing some of what I sold.

[kamikidEFFL]

had to sell my partial set of T205's when I lost my father. It was my first tobacco era stuff i collected and didn't want to sell but needed some money in the tough times. Speaking of that its been 3 years today since I lost my father.

[I Only Smoke 4 the Cards]

Originally Posted by kamikidEFFL

had to sell my partial set of T205's when I lost my father. It was my first tobacco era stuff i collected and didn't want to sell but needed some money in the tough times. Speaking of that its been 3 years today since I lost my father.

Sorry to hear that. I imagine it is a tough day.

[97manoftroy]

Originally Posted by kamikidEFFL

had to sell my partial set of T205's when I lost my father. It was my first tobacco era stuff i collected and didn't want to sell but needed some money in the tough times. Speaking of that its been 3 years today since I lost my father.

Deepest Condolences.

I sold my entire collection HOF's from 1948-61 in 99' for the same reason. We collected together, painful to part with but had to do it. 15 years and it still isn't easy, just have to think about the good times every day.

[conor912]

Originally Posted by Tao_Moko

I'm guessing your wife has never wanted Swedish made hanging cradles and mid-century modern furniture for the nursery.

I'm guessing this is your first kid....otherwise you guys would be out buying the cheapest Ikea furniture you could find. I'm sure your expensive nursery furniture will look lovely with bite marks, ketchup, sharpie, and whatever else it can get its hands on all over it.

[ullmandds]

david...is that a mazdaspeed mx-5? either way...nice...i've been toying with getting one of those too...good cheap fun!

Tao...I love vintage modern furniture...but I'd have to agree with Conor...the kid(s) will eventually destroy it!!!!!

[I Only Smoke 4 the Cards]

Originally Posted by conor912

I'm guessing this is your first kid....otherwise you guys would be out buying the cheapest Ikea furniture you could find. I'm sure your expensive nursery furniture will look lovely with bite marks, ketchup, sharpie, and whatever else it can get its hands on all over it.

Whenever the kid destroys the furniture (which is inevitable) remember that he/she is just a kid and it is just furniture.

[Tao_Moko]

Originally Posted by conor912

I'm guessing this is your first kid....otherwise you guys would be out buying the cheapest Ikea furniture you could find. I'm sure your expensive nursery furniture will look lovely with bite marks, ketchup, sharpie, and whatever else it can get its hands on all over it.

Second kid and I'm an old gray haired grizzled up combat veteran but I've got nothing on my old lady. She's a hundred pounds of coal miners daughter and the furniture is more for her and not the nursery. The beauty of mid-century modern furniture is it's already been there and done that and built to handle it while still looking cool. We bough a FLW inspired home and have furnished it with period pieces so it's like stepping back into the mid fifties. One of her requests was to have a ceiling mounted, hanging orbit chair overlooking our wooded area while she feeds the baby. What momma wants, momma gets.

Sold some of mine to fund my "Synthetic Pension"

[dabigyankeeman]

I wanted to retire at age 61 instead of 62, and did a bunch of financial juggling to come up with money to get me thru that first year with no Social Security, and part of that was selling a lot of my collection.

Needless to say, its now 5 years later, and i have re-bought most of those cards over the last few years!! How many of you have re-bought cards you used to have? I bet a bunch of you guys have done that.

[MyGuyTy]

Originally Posted by Cardboard Junkie

Then another bunch recently, to start moving away from collecting and to buy some toys. (Little sports car and farm equipment.)

Been down the selling cards to fund sports car road.......Never again. Ended up a losing proposition all around. Ridiculously high maint costs, higher insurance due to it being an exotic, speeding tickets, going through tires at a blistering pace, the need to spend money on "upgrades", arguments with the wife due to high rate of speed, and fearing if I kept it and passed it down to my son, he'd end up killing himself in it..........I should have kept the cards

[drmondobueno]

In 1985 to pay for a divorce attorney. I can tell you selling the collection for any reason to help my family today would be much more preferable to those bad old days. Consider the positives! All those cards will be out there for you when you get around to them again.


Peace and best wishes

Keith

[RTK]

Originally Posted by drmondobueno

In 1985 to pay for a divorce attorney. I can tell you selling the collection for any reason to help my family today would be much more preferable to those bad old days. Consider the positives! All those cards will be out there for you when you get around to them again.


Peace and best wishes

Keith

My cousin did the same thing in the late 80's, although the collection was a shoebox collection he gathered as a kid, not T206's. Still, there were some nice cards, early 60's to maybe 1970-71. he sold them to a card shop, I wish he would have called me.

What's nice for many of you, you get to start over

[Cardboard Junkie]

Originally Posted by MyGuyTy

Been down the selling cards to fund sports car road.......Never again. Ended up a losing proposition all around. Ridiculously high maint costs, higher insurance due to it being an exotic, speeding tickets, going through tires at a blistering pace, the need to spend money on "upgrades", arguments with the wife due to high rate of speed, and fearing if I kept it and passed it down to my son, he'd end up killing himself in it..........I should have kept the cards

Mines just a little tootsie toy, and didn't cost much. Cheap to maintain and a million miles per gallon. Ins. is 4oo/yr, and it's got new tires. Also I'm almost 63 and never got a ticket in my life. Already been offered more than I paid. I think I'll be OK. But I see what your saying

[MyGuyTy]

Originally Posted by Cardboard Junkie

Mines just a little tootsie toy, and didn't cost much. Cheap to maintain and a million miles per gallon. Ins. is 4oo/yr, and it's got new tires. Also I'm almost 63 and never got a ticket in my life. Already been offered more than I paid. I think I'll be OK. But I see what your saying

Smart choice on car, little invested, fun, economical and won't make you lose your breath when you're handed a five figure maint bill

[glynparson]

4 years ago to fund my employment service. I have since bought back far more than I had prior to selling out. It was certainly the right move for me at the time. I have never regretted it for a single moment. I know have a rather successful business and a pretty nice collection.

[deadballpaul]

Sold most of my best cards & postcards to fund a move, so I could be there to help my Dad who were in failing health. Funny thing was, that I got a new job a couple weeks after selling them, & the company paid for our entire move back to the Phoenix area.

[packs]

I sold a pretty large chunk of my smaller items while I was in graduate school and supporting myself with student loans. Of course I wanted to take out the least amount of loans possible while still being able to eat and live somewhere. Still regret selling a few items but I have done pretty well for myself since completing my Masters.

[I Only Smoke 4 the Cards]

Originally Posted by packs

I sold a pretty large chunk of my smaller items while I was in graduate school and supporting myself with student loans. Of course I wanted to take out the least amount of loans possible while still being able to eat and live somewhere. Still regret selling a few items but I have done pretty well for myself since completing my Masters.

Grad school expenses and student loans suck.

[I Only Smoke 4 the Cards]

I was taking some stuff out to possibly sell the other day. My wife got upset and told me not to sell anything. She then looked up all of our finances and explained why she thought I didn't need to sell anything.

I was totally shocked. She cares about my collection and I had no idea.

[Golfcollector]

The first time around after college, I paid for most of my studen loans and my wifes engagement ring.

The 2nd time about a year ago, I paid for a significant portion of my new home with my golf card collection

[Leon]

I sold off most of my 19th century stuff because I needed the money to help a very poor business decision. My guess is I will sell more in a few years for my daughters college. It's nice that they are quite liquid..

[Harliduck]

Originally Posted by Leon

IMy guess is I will sell more in a few years for my daughters college. It's nice that they are quite liquid..

I am pretty lucky and was hoping to be doing the opposite...about a month ago my daughter who is a Junior in HS got a full ride for softball...me thought I was taking her now defunct college fund and exchanging it for a nice 52 Mantle. The wife then reminded me that my 7th grade daughter blows a trumpet, doesn't swing a bat, and I may just need to put a hold on that Mantle...haha....dang kids!

[Harliduck]

When I was 19 in 1989 I sold my 65 Topps Joe Namath RC and 55 Topps Sandy Koufax RC to put a downpayment on my first house. Bought the house for $69,000, sold it 4 years later for $120,000...so the cards did well! (House is worth about $600K now, on the beach on Puget Sound)

I then at the time sold a 1984 Donruss set to buys some furniture, lol.

Recently a couple of months ago I set broke a 1957 Topps set, got twice as much as expected (super high grade set) and paid for the adoption of our latest daughter (I have 4 daughters, 1 son, ). Wife was pretty happy about that....had enough left over for a nice leather sectional to replace the old couch.

I am not much of a seller, don't like it, but through my life I have a lot of examples where cards were very key and helped with a lot of important things. One of the many reasons I have such a passion!

[srs1a]

I just sold a bunch of cards to fund a classic car purchase. My kids are at the perfect age to go cruising with the top down (8, 9, and 12) once the weather gets nice and my cards were sitting in a box in my closet. I'll miss the cards, but I hope I'll generate some wonderful memories. Here's my new baby -- a beautiful '71 Cutlass Supreme Convertible.

[Vintageismygame]

I collected really heavy my senior year of college (2006) and for about 3 years afterwards. I was still living with my college roommate in his parents "extra" house. They furnished everything I needed and only charged me $300/mo. Man, I was able to stocked back the cash to fund my card purchases. I would advertise and buy up collections, cherry pick them and then sell off the rest to recoup my initial costs. 7 times out of 10 I made money on the overall purchase and ended up with "free" cards in my collection.

Fast forward to 2010. I had complete set runs of 1952(minus Mantle and a few other high #'s) - 1969 Topps Baseball, 1950 - 1955 Bowman Football, and 1955 - 1962 Topps Football, multiple copies of star cards (ie: Ruth and Gehrig Goudey's, Mantle, Mays, Paige, Williams - All the big names in Post-War Baseball and Football) I only had about $14k wrapped up in all this when "Boy met Girl". You all know how the story goes. Anyway, we got married in 2010 and I started selling to fund other purchases like the wedding, honeymoon, a large down payment on a house, and college fund for my daughter. Pretty much everything was sold. Do I miss it? Sure but I treasure my wife and little girl much more than I ever did those cards. Plus, I am much more focused on what I truly enjoy collecting, which at the moment is T206 cards!!

Matt

[ullmandds]

I sold my t206 drum back solly hofman back in the early 2000's to buy a leather recliner that my cat then destroyed leading to the removal of his front claws.

That's really the only card I specifically sold to fund a non related purchase. I have and continue to sell cards to buy other cards...and I think about selling a good chunk of my collection to buy a car at times...but this would be a poor long term investment in most cases!

[MyGuyTy]

Originally Posted by ullmandds

I sold my t206 drum back solly hofman back in the early 2000's to buy a leather recliner that my cat then destroyed leading to the removal of his front

Wow you made out on that one huh?

Something tells me you wish you had that Drum back in your hands right now

[freakhappy]

Beautiful '71 Cutlass! I love classics and that one seems worth it IMO...congrats


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[Pete Pyro]

This thread is pretty great! I know it doesnt count, but I sell cards to buy more cards


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[frankb22]

Broke up my HOF back run and sold a PSA7 UZIT/Marquard, a
PSA4 Drum/ Speaker and a SGC60 BL460/WalterJohnson in the
Fall REA auction. The rest of the backs go this year plus a lot of
the remaining slabbed T206s. In the process of buying a small
house just outside of Rome that I plan to retire in. The proceeds
from the cards will hopefully cover it. Killed me to have to part
with those cards but in the end it will be worth it.

[almostdone]

The first time I sold off part of my collection to pay for my wife and my honeymoon. My wife has been more than generous helping find and replace the ones that hurt the most.
This past year I sold off half of my Hall Of a Fame collection to pay for a second honeymoon. I gave it to my wife for her 40th birthday.
Drew

[Cardboard Junkie]

Originally Posted by almostdone

The first time I sold off part of my collection to pay for my wife and my honeymoon. My wife has been more than generous helping find and replace the ones that hurt the most.
This past year I sold off half of my Hall Of a Fame collection to pay for a second honeymoon. I gave it to my wife for her 40th birthday.
Drew

YIKES! You had to "pay for your wife"???

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by Cardboard Junkie

YIKES! You had to "pay for your wife"???

I have never met a man that did not PAY for his wife.

[MyGuyTy]

Originally Posted by frankb22

Broke up my HOF back run and sold a PSA7 UZIT/Marquard, a
PSA4 Drum/ Speaker and a SGC60 BL460/WalterJohnson in the
Fall REA auction. The rest of the backs go this year plus a lot of
the remaining slabbed T206s. In the process of buying a small
house just outside of Rome that I plan to retire in. The proceeds
from the cards will hopefully cover it. Killed me to have to part
with those cards but in the end it will be worth it.

Those were some big time cards Frank, I remember seeing them. Good luck with your Rome endeavors, beautiful place! I'm sure those cards provided a nice chunk for you towards that house.

[I Only Smoke 4 the Cards]

Nice cars


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[DeanH3]

Wow, some really nice cars there. Back in 2006 I too sold some cards for a big down payment on my 2006 Corvette.

The blue one.

[martindl]

1984, sold my entire card collection in order to buy animation art. Basically a whole bunch of T3's, T206, T205 for original Disney drawings and cels. The animation art market then went nuts in the late eighties, early nineties, so I sold everything bar two pieces and bought our house.

I have a folder with all the buy prices for the cards. It would make you weep nowadays, but same would be said for the art. No mortgage trumps all though.

[TUM301]

Funny, just asked the Queen what she and her sister might like for their birthday. Her answer was a nite on the town in Boston that should include seats for Billy Joel at Fenway Park. Just started looking for the tix and it appears I might be selling on the B/S/T any day now ! PS as far as cars go, sold the 73 vette for a 92 then the 92 turned into a 2007 Cobalt.