collecting patterns when retired

[goudey1933]

I was wondering...for those who are soon retiring or are currently...did your collecting patterns change?As somebody who dabbles in the hobby there is a part of me who is hesitant to indulge knowing that retirement is 5-6 years away.Even though my wife and I have prepared well its still a fixed income and in this day and age with healthcare etc every $$ counts.Thoughts?
Scott

[Eggoman]

I have been paring down my collection since I retired, and have been using the results to continue collecting!

In addition, I STILL frequent Garage Sales, Estate Sales, Flea Markets, etc. for bargains that I can then re-sell - NOT limited to just Baseball cards.

You might be amazed at how cheaply people sell things for when they are in a hurry to move or unwilling or simply too lazy to sell them through a venue like ebay...

My 2 cents...

[ruth_rookie]

Originally Posted by Eggoman

I have been paring down my collection since I retired, and have been using the results to continue collecting!

In addition, I STILL frequent Garage Sales, Estate Sales, Flea Markets, etc. for bargains that I can then re-sell - NOT limited to just Baseball cards.

You might be amazed at how cheaply people sell things for when they are in a hurry to move or unwilling or simply too lazy to sell them through a venue like ebay...

My 2 cents...

It’s always been a dream of mine (and probably everyone in this hobby) to come across a lucrative find of vintage sports memorabilia in a garage sale. I have had no such luck. Have you discovered anything of value, financial, sentimental, or otherwise? If so, talk about a dream come true!

[Eggoman]

Originally Posted by ruth_rookie

It’s always been a dream of mine (and probably everyone in this hobby) to come across a lucrative find of vintage sports memorabilia in a garage sale. I have had no such luck. Have you discovered anything of value, financial, sentimental, or otherwise? If so, talk about a dream come true!

Maybe NOT as lucrative as you think, but when I can turn a $10 bill into a $20 bill OR a 20 bill into a $50 bill simply by having a "Good Eye" and be willing to put in the little effort that is required to sell something on eBay - I am willing to do that!

That gets me a T205 or T206 card for my collection!

As far as luck, my Dad has had more than me - see scans!!!

[John V]

Since my retirement, I found my interests have shifted somewhat. There’s more time now for other hobbies and projects. My collecting focus has narrowed and I’ve even thinned out my collection a bit. Still, I’m visiting this site, eBay and auctions each day!

[chlankf]

Originally Posted by ruth_rookie

It’s always been a dream of mine (and probably everyone in this hobby) to come across a lucrative find of vintage sports memorabilia in a garage sale. I have had no such luck. Have you discovered anything of value, financial, sentimental, or otherwise? If so, talk about a dream come true!

Jason

Not trying to hijack this thread and not retired, 12 years to go. On garage sale finds, I have a great story of my favorite find. At a GS I noticed some late 70s police cards of the Iowa Oaks, Iowa baseball is my main focus. I asked the elderly gentleman if he has any other baseball items. His answer is a quick yes. He invites me in taking me to his basement. He has tub after tub of minor league memorabilia from the I-Oaks & Cubs. Come to find out this man was a stadium usher from 69-85. After a few hours chatting about both out local baseball passion I ask what he wanted for all of it. The guy says this all belonged in my collection and all he wanted was $100, dinner out with his wife and I and to see my collection of local baseball pre 69. I told him it was all worth much more than he was asking and tried to offer $1000. He declined. We had a great time at dinner and hours going piece by piece through my collection. He had multiple bats and jerseys, complete seasons worth of scorecards, lots of miscellaneous items. The miscellaneous items are fantastic and include keys and keychains for different areas of original Sec Taylor Stadium, a 70s usherette uniform for the Oaks, a ball found wedged in the chain link fence, original to stadium, behind the 70s wood outfield wall that was discovered when stadium was torn down and so very much more. We stayed in touch until his passing a few years later. He was great and I treasure the items I received.

End hijacking
Craig

[Bored5000]

Originally Posted by ruth_rookie

It’s always been a dream of mine (and probably everyone in this hobby) to come across a lucrative find of vintage sports memorabilia in a garage sale. I have had no such luck. Have you discovered anything of value, financial, sentimental, or otherwise? If so, talk about a dream come true!

I am an auto racing card collector, and I have shared this story several times in the "Vintage Racing" thread that pops up every now and again on this board. The card I have posted below is arguably the holy grail of American auto racing cards -- "Lorenzen with car" from the 1972 STP racing set. PSA has only graded two examples of the card. it may not be a Cobb T206 with a Cobb back, but it is probably the most valuable auto racing card in the hobby.

Fred Lorenzen has two cards in the 1972 STP set, and both are rare. But the "with car" version is so rare that several racing collectors had only ever seen one copy in 20+ years of collecting. As a result, I could not believe it when I saw the card show up raw on eBay two years ago. The seller had no idea what he had -- until multiple messages started coming in asking him to end the auction early. The seller was a picker who had bought a lot of old NASCAR clocks and photos of 1980s drivers Dale Earnhardt, Rusty Wallace, Tim Richmond, etc. The guy bought the lot for $40 at an estate sale and hoped to double his money.

A single "Lorenzen with car" card and 12 examples of Fred Lorenzen's portrait card from the set were also included in the bottom of the box. Unable to find any information about the cards online, the picker who bought the lot thought about just throwing away the cards before deciding to put them on eBay to see if there was any interest at all in them.

That $40 estate sale purchase was worth over $4,000. I wasn't the lucky buyer at the estate sale, but I was able to pick up two cards I was almost certain I would never own. It is crazy how close the cards came to simply being thrown out as worthless garbage because the the guy who originally bought them did not know what he had.