Sports collectible finds in strangest places. Lets hear yours

[GrayGhost]

Do you guys have a special collection you've gone to see, heard about, or in a strange place. Maybe If I describe mine, more of you can reply , knowing what I mean.

Ie lived in the city Im in now for a majority of my life. Well, for all my years, this small barber shop has been there. Ive never gone, but recently, to get a HC for a job interview, a friend told me bout it, and the guy had some collectibles.

I go in this little place, I see Uconn stuff all over. baseballs, baseball photos, posters of Buddy Rich , and just memorabilia everywhere. Nothing super rare, but just a great little place, where its like heaven. The man wears a small tool pouch for his barber stuff and caters to an older clientele. Everyone is a friend in there, but if you say something against the Yankees, he may tell you to STFU

I asked the man where he got it all, after nearly tripping over a HUGE Largemouth Bass Mailbox. He tells me he only got bout 2pct himself, his customers just bring it in, and he puts it all over the place.

Such a cool guy, great little barbershop and I never knew it was there. But, today I brought him in a Slaughter movie press photo to add to his stash, and traded him a Goose signed ball for a cool Marty Marion piece someone gave him, which I wanted more. He was happy tho, I am happy, and Ive made a friend, in the oddest of places, to see this kinda stuff

Anyone got similar stories on collections or finds?

[Exhibitman]

I went to one this year and one of the guests had been told I was a card collector so he brought a shoebox of cards from his childhood that he wanted to get rid of. Nothing like matzoh ball soup and classic Topps cards!

[GrayGhost]

AWESOME. What helps w mine too is he is a Yankees fan. I LOVE these kinda stories. the Passover one is just what Im talking about.

[Runscott]

I've had some great finds, but the most unexpected was when I was visiting an older woman and she gave me a pile of 1950's baseball cards, including two Mantles. She was a teacher and had been helping other teachers clean out lockers during summer break. She brought them home to give to her son - he didn't want them, so she gave them to me. I never say 'no' to free Mantles.

[Writehooks]

I lived and worked in Beijing, China, for 14 months in 2004-05. As a lifelong boxing collector, you can imagine my shock and awe one winter afternoon when I wandered into one of the ubiquitous smoke shops that dot the capital and saw that every inch of the back wall — an area of about 8 feet high by 20 feet long — was adorned with photographs, posters and clippings of Muhammad Ali. About half the stash was printed in Chinese; the rest was English, Japanese, Korean, etc. The young lady who served as my interpreter explained to the shop owner that I was a huge Ali fan, and, through her, we had a terrific hour-long chat about 'The Greatest.' When it was time to say goodbye, the gentleman presented me with two pinbacks commemorating Ali's visit to Macau in the mid-90s.

[FourStrikes]

TRUE STORY

in the early 1980's, went to a day game at Dodger Stadium with my Dad...sitting next to us was a couple from Canada and they asked me about my interest in baseball...mentioned that I was a baseball fan and collected baseball cards, and as the conversation continued the couple told me they had some early baseball cards at home, and if I wanted them they'd "send them to me" if I gave them an address.

amazingly, a few weeks later, a box from Canada arrived at the door, and when I opened it, inside was a partial set - a complete run of #'s 1-224 filed numerically - of 1955 Bowman baseball cards in great condition...

we were beyond shocked, and I immediately sent them a thank you letter, but never heard back from the couple again.

in hindsight, I wish I would have kept it, but since I already had a complete 1955 Bowman set, a few years later I wound up selling the partial set.

[steve B]

I've had a few small finds in sort of odd places, and a couple really odd ones.

Coin show 1980 or so, before many coin dealers cared about cards. Found a silk of Baker.

Bottle show 1990's- Found a cubs coffee cup that's restauraunt ware. Maybe from the team or something?

Same show the next year - an oddball advertising set complete with the envelope and ads.

And the oddest ones---
Again probably around 1980. Walking home from the baseball card shop, I found a plastic page of 1948 Bowman football cards on the top in a trash can. P-G, but a waterfield rookie.

My brother came back from camp one time and said I should call a friend of his. They'd been playing softball and one of the bats had cracked But he said it looked pretty old. Yep, old. Bon-Topper bat company from Hartford, with a Fred Parent signature burned into the barrel. Probably a game bat. I traded a Hank Aaron store bat they could use for that bat ,an old D+M bat and one or two other fairly rough condition bats that he figured were too old to use anymore.

Steve B

[brob28]

When I was about 12, around 1980. There was an abandonded burned out house about 20 minutes (by bike) from my house. One day I got the guts to explore the garage & found a shoebox full of 1970 through 1972 Topps baseball cards. If a 12 year old was going to have a heart attack, that would have been my moment! My wife doesnt know the story, but always makes fun of me as I can't take my eyes off abandonded homes when we're out and about!

[GrayGhost]

What great stories, and you guys got lots of good stuff and FREEEE.

[bh3443]

Well, Scott, I have a story from the other day. I gave my wife a gift certificate to get her nails and hair done. While in the salon, she noticed a bunch of magnet sports schedules all over the staff's refridgerator. She asked if she could have one, thinking they were a current promotion.
The woman said, "oh your Husband won't want those, they are ones from the 90's thru last year, we should really throw them away!" My wife explained that I collect them from all years and I got a bunch of them and they are all from obscure sponsors and distinct designs!
Not vintage, but a nice find in a strange place!
Speaking of schedules, our youngest daughter just sent a box of North Carolina teams to me. My family's very toughtful.
Regards,
Bill Hedin

[David W]

I was teaching a class about 6 years ago, and we were using a library conference room in South Bend as the classroom. They had their used book sale going on that day, and during a break I quickly scanned through some boxes of magazines.

In one box for 5 cents each were Notre Dame basketball programs and scorecards, mostly from the 1970's and one of which was quite noteworthy, the famous game where Notre Dame ended UCLA's win streak at 88 games in 1974.

So for a nickel, I guess I did all right.