Dreams of "The Find"...
FB
Posts: 1,684 ✭✭
Last week, I received a call from my mother inviting my wife and I to dinner. During the conversation, she mentioned that the 80 year old widow across the street had told her that her husband had been putting away the excess baseball cards from the candy distributor he worked for for years before he died and she wondered if my mother knew anyone who could tell her what they were worth.
Her husband passed away in 1992 and had worked at the same distributor for 35 years. I remember him giving the kids in the neighborhood packs when I was a kid (early 70's).
So, needless to say, I was pretty excited about seeing what she had! My mind was racing thinking of all the 60's and 70's material that might be in there!
To make a long story short - when I got to her house, she asked me if I could get the boxes out of the attic because they were too heavy for her to lift. So, I quickly went upstairs and brought down 4 "copier paper" boxes weighing about 30 pounds each. When I removed the tape from the first one, I found a full box of loose 1988 Donruss. The next box was mostly 89 and 90 Topps. The 3rd was 90 Topps and Score and the last one was 89 to 92 Donruss...
I don't know who was more disappointed... (probably me...) She asked if they were worth anything... I told her that she get more enjoyment out of them by giving them to her great grandkids than she would ever get money for them.
Her husband passed away in 1992 and had worked at the same distributor for 35 years. I remember him giving the kids in the neighborhood packs when I was a kid (early 70's).
So, needless to say, I was pretty excited about seeing what she had! My mind was racing thinking of all the 60's and 70's material that might be in there!
To make a long story short - when I got to her house, she asked me if I could get the boxes out of the attic because they were too heavy for her to lift. So, I quickly went upstairs and brought down 4 "copier paper" boxes weighing about 30 pounds each. When I removed the tape from the first one, I found a full box of loose 1988 Donruss. The next box was mostly 89 and 90 Topps. The 3rd was 90 Topps and Score and the last one was 89 to 92 Donruss...
I don't know who was more disappointed... (probably me...) She asked if they were worth anything... I told her that she get more enjoyment out of them by giving them to her great grandkids than she would ever get money for them.
Frank Bakka
Sets - 1970, 1971 and 1972
Always looking for 1972 O-PEE-CHEE Baseball in PSA 9 or 10!
lynnfrank@earthlink.net
outerbankyank on eBay!
Sets - 1970, 1971 and 1972
Always looking for 1972 O-PEE-CHEE Baseball in PSA 9 or 10!
lynnfrank@earthlink.net
outerbankyank on eBay!
0
Comments
Mike
You had me going there for a bit!
I'm thinking to myself "He's hit the mother lode the lucky so and so"
Good one!
Why so glum ... I here cards from the late 80's make great wall paper...Just think you could be proactive and suggest to your sweetheart that you want to redecorate
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Here's to the hope that collectors will have a Jose Canseco Renaissance and start collecting him again en masse (e.g. 100 and 500 card lots of his rookie card)
Hear hear!
It always sucks being the bearer of bad news, because if I give the person the most straightforward & honest advise I can, they still think I'm trying to rip them, because they have 10x as much into it.
I went to one guy's collection where I swear he made a conscious effort to buy the worst possible deals. Cards had little value outside of some complete sets. He had a few autos, but they were so bad it wasn't even funny. Like a 16x20 Mantle/Maris auto photo - I'm reading the cert dated '96 that said "Mickey and Roger were very good friends of ours and signed this before they passed away. We love you & miss you guys!" It kinda sucked to point out that this cert was dated over a decade after Maris' death...
During the mid-late 80s, I was able to get my sister interested in collecting cards. About 5 years ago, right around the time PSA took off, we looked through her cards and basically found nothing (e.g., 87 Topps McGwire). Every year since then when we get together for the holidays she asks "So what are my cards worth now?"....I just keep shaking my head.
BUT, I am saving the best for last:
In the late 1980s, just as I was entering college, I was cutting lawns/landscaping to earn some extra money. One gentleman and his wife would always invite me in for lunch. One day, we started talking about where we grew up. He said he grew up in Evansville, Indiana. My ears perked up. I said did you know Don Mattingly (they were about the same age), and before I could finish my sentence, he said he grew up playing local baseball with Mattingly's older brothers. As if that was not "cool" enough, I proceeded to tell him about the Boggs, Gwynn, and Mattingly rookie cards I had stacked up in my bedroom. His ears perked up.
Oh, so you collect baseball cards he said....I have a bunch down in my basement. My ears perke up. Oh really, do you have them in protective holders (I assumed he was a dealer or someone in the know). "Oh, no, they are just in shoe boxes." He went down in the basement and brought up a couple of shoe boxes. In the boxes were cards from about the mid 1950s thru the mid 1960s, and most were in really decent shape. We quickly sorted through the big names and reviewed the conditions. I began to tell him about the baseball card show circuit that I was part of and told him he could make a lot of money selling these cards. When we finished looking through these boxes I was about to get ready to go out and finish the lawn when he said do you want to see the rest? The rest? Well, needless to say that afternoon I did not finish the lawn. He had boxes upon boxes upon boxes of cards. I never had some much fun just going through the cards. He probably had 5-10 of each player (equalling 5-10 complete raw sets) from the mid-1950s through the mid 1960s. Now, the cards were not in mint condition, but they all appeared well kept and in the mid to high range (e.g., PSA 6,7,8).
After working with him all summer, he ended up giving me some of his lesser quality Mantles & Fords (as a Yankee fan). In late 1990s I had them graded by SGC and they came back SGC 70, SGC 80, etc....right around what I would have expected.
So, a VH1 "Where are they now", well, I helped him sell most of his cards through card shows over the next year or so....and he made a ton of money. He never did tell me how much, but he said he did well. Oh for PSA just a few years earlier...
Don
JasP24
according to my values and my needs. Nothing holds dominion over me, I stand alone as the ruler of my life.
My "find" was at a small flea market in rural Ohio in the summer of '96. A middle-aged guy with a scraggly beard and wearing fatigues had a small pile of 1915 Cracker Jacks laying in the back of one of his display cases with metal bracelets and various junk. I asked to see them and they were in very nice shape, NM or so. I had $40 on me, with which he let me pick out 5 cards because "he knew they were worth something." When I got back and took the Matthewson et al from the Ziploc bag he had them in, I couldn't believe how glossy they were... just a little too glossy I thought? Nah... sure enough, they were all reprints and all but one had been stamped "reprint" and gently rubbed off. He gave me a refund without much trouble.
Joe
<< <i>Cat damage... when my parents cat was in his latter years he lost control of his bladder and "hermitically sealed" my brother's star box. I'm telling you, we could barely pry the penny sleeves apart. Joe >>
They must have been valuable cards to make you handle them after being soiled.
I grew up with cats in the house, but I believe I was luckier than some of you here - My collection survived with no evidence of "CD".
JEB.
About 10 years ago, the neighbor kids down the street (twin boys) came by our garage sale. I had a few old baseball cards lying out. The boys noticed a few '67 Topps and said, "My dad has a bunch of these."
I asked, "What's he got?"
They said, "A lot of Rod Carew cards with that other guy on the same card."
I sent them back home with explicit instructions to bring back the cards to prove it to me.
They scampered off and returned a few minutes later. Sure 'nuff. He had six (6) 1967 Rod Carew Rookie cards. So beat up, not a one would have graded above PSA 1.
I think I sold them some of my commons so they could have better cards than their Dad had.
That is so funny...it's a clear case of who can rip off who (if they're not reprints, they're clearly worth much more than $40)...and as usual...the dealer wins 90% of the time.
Regards,
Alan
I had collected baseball cards as a kid from 1974-78, but quit collecting as I entered high school and found other "ventures" upon which to waste my limited funds.
In the spring of 1986 I had just finished college and, while waiting to go to graduate school, went to work for an old "Greek" guy who ran a railroad salvage company. (He is a complete book all unto himself). In any event, in conjunction with his salvage yard he collected junk (not to mention ex-wives). One day, as we were finishing work, he said that we would be working overtime to clean out one of his storerooms. The room was stuffed with bottles of fruit juice, boxes of candy, etc. As I was moving some stuff, I found 4 boxes of 1985 Topps baseball cards. I quickly covered them up and went to the Greek and asked him if any of the stuff was for sale. He laughed at me and said we weren't being paid. Our pay would be whatever we could carry out of that room and take home with us. I quickly snagged the cards and put them in my car trunk. I ended up working about an hour for 4 boxes of cards, 2 boxes of 1985 Topps stickers, several cases of juice, candy, etc.
The cards netted me a little more than 1 1/2 sets (one Dion James short of a full set, however), 4 Mark McGwires (I felt screwed I only got 1 Oddibe McDowell. I knew who he was. I didn't have a clue as to McGwire) and a couple Roger Clemens. That "find" kick-started me on this particular road to perdition. I then started buying 1986 Topps and have been at it ever since.
I recently had two of the cards from my "find" graded and earned a PSA 8 McGwire and a PSA 8 Clemens out of the deal. Not bad pay for an hour of unpaid overtime.
Thanks
Randy
I am always looking for mint and gem mint George Brett cards.
roseyx@aol.com
<< <i>Hey - has anyone ever bought one of those great Shop At Home packages? They're each an incredible find onto themselves - I saw them open one of those Blue Chip boxes on air for $69.99 and pull out a 1986 Fleer Michael Jordan rookie! >>
It is a well known fact that those "Finds" will net you at least 1k book value
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Welcome to the boards. Great story.
Rob...
Over the past year he is constantly asking for an extra beer or a ride down to the liquor store.I would almost always politely decline or come up with an excuse so I wouldnt be contributing to his problem.
One very chilly day...There he is walking down the street with a big box in his hands.Well,I pull over to offer him a ride.He gets in and I ask where he is going.He states he was on the way to the bus stop to go to the local card store to sell some more of his cards he has in the box.I figure its your typical 80s and 90s thing or if they are old,
they would be in horrible shape.
I said that I collect herand there and ghtbe interested.
Well....he had most of the 66 and 67 topps set minus the big stars in solid nm shape with some hi#s and short prints sprinkled in.
I ask him how about 100.00 for all of them sounds and he says that would be way more than the guy at the card store pays him.
The next day I ask him where the Mantle,Mays,etc are.
He says ...I have been selling them for the past few months to the card store whenever i need some cash but would have sold them to you had I known you collected.DDOOOOOOOOHHHH!
All and all ...a pretty cool find.But now I have to finish those sets!!
<< <i>My next store neighbor is about 45 years old
and doesnt work or drive (probably due to his
alcoholism and numerous DUIs)
but is a very pleasant guy... >>
Now THAT is hilarious stuff right there!!
Funny!
In the same sentence the guy is talking about having several Pokemon cards in plastic sheets.....so I'm thinking to myself......man...don't bring me a bunch of this late 80's junk in and expect it to be a downpayment on a new home or car.
So the next day, the guy brings in this big binder and one of my friends who also collects cards called to me in the break room, and said to come look at the guys cards.......I said...yeah..yeah...I will in a little while. He said....no....you don't understand.......you better come look at this guys cards.
So, I get up and walk out to this guys desk.......before me.....spread out in this huge binder are pages after pages of beautiful 1949, 1950, 1951, and 1953 Bowman Baseball cards, not to mention several pages of very sweet early Bowman football cards.
I stand there with my mouth hanging open, and the guy is telling me is mom and dad gave these cards to him and he had no clue what they were worth.
So, I'm sitting there going through his cards, and trying to make him understand he had a small goldmine laying out there before me.
I'm looking at a 1953 Bowman color Stan Musial in top grade, and telling him the appromimate value, and I swear.....he's standing there telling me that he's got his prize cards in another binder....some 1991 Topps cards......I wanted to strangle him and give his cards a good home where they would be appreciated......However, instead of doing that, I suggested a friend of mine who would be interested in looking at them to buy.
A few days later he sold them to my friend, and still to this day, talks about those damn Pokemon cards.....
"There's no crying in baseball card set building."
One of my neighbors was having a garage sale and her son had set up a table selling off cards of his own. He had been working for me for four years sorting vending boxes into complete sets. Rather than take money - he wanted the cards instead. So, for every 4 boxes that he sorted, he got 1 box for free.
Two guys in their late 30's/early 40's got out of their car and went up to his table. They looked through a bunch of his stuff and probably spend $50 buying rookie cards and stars for resale. Then, they asked him if he had any older cards.... To this day, his answer still cracks me up. He told them "No", but see the guy over their washing his car? He's got a ton!" and then he didn't say another word. He didn't tell them that I was running card shows. He didn't tell them that I had tractor trailers pulling up to my house from Topps and Donruss. He didn't tell them that I was making more money buying and selling cards than I was as a DP Manager.
These guys come over and introduce themselves and ask if I've got any "old" cards... Since I had already been taken to the cleaners when I was 16 by the local "townie" card dealer, I was a little more savy 12 years later. So, I told them "yeah... I've got some old cards". I spent the next 10 minutes pulling out sets from 55, 56, 57, 58 through 67 (probably EXMT) across the board as well as assorted singles from 39 to 41 and a bunch of early Bowmans. It was truly funny to see them suppress their excitement so that I wouldn't realize what they were worth!
They checked through all of the sets and told me that I had some pretty nice stuff. I lied and told them that my father had saved them for me until they were ready to make an offer. Then, they talked amongst themselves and told me that they could give me $500 for the whole load!!!
After contemplating their offer, I told them that if they raised their offer to $1500, they could have the 55 set. Then, I got the "oh... everyone thinks that they have GOLD, but the reality is that Yes, these cards are worth something, but NOT as much as you think!"
After that, I couldn't hold it any longer and let them know that I knew EXACTLY how much they were worth and why.
In the end, they bought almost everything from me over the course of 6 months for between $6,000 - $8,000. But, it was nice having the advantage of them knowing that they tried to short-change me up front. Plus, they became pretty good customers at buying unopened cases from the early 80's.
Sets - 1970, 1971 and 1972
Always looking for 1972 O-PEE-CHEE Baseball in PSA 9 or 10!
lynnfrank@earthlink.net
outerbankyank on eBay!
My other best find was of my own cards. After collecting as heavily as I could at ages 11-13, I stopped after the 1983 season (my Phils losing crushed my enthusiasm, I guess). I bought a few Topps packs in 1987. I remember scoffing at 99-cent packs of some fancy new brand in 1989. But then in 1991, I got back into it with both feet because of Topps' great design. Digging my old box of cards out of the attic, I had a lot of fun seeing who was who, finding that those 1983 cards of Sandberg and Gwynn had become valuable and were still in great shape somehow, that I still had a lot of 1980-81 hockey, and that I still had a bunch of 1975 minis. But I hadn't looked at them in almost half a lifetime, so it was almost like looking through someone else's stuff. Despite the fact that I had jettisoned a good chunk of my collection in stupid trades, details of which are too painful to explain, I still had a nice nucleus of a 70s-80s collection, not to mention all the memories.
2005 Origins Old Judge Brown #/20 and Black 1/1s, 2000 Ultimate Victory Gold #/25
2004 UD Legends Bake McBride autos & parallels, and 1974 Topps #601 PSA 9
Rare Grady Sizemore parallels, printing plates, autographs
Nothing on ebay
One day as we were waiting for the manager to bring out older Donruss boxes (84 and 85), we strolled by the candy aisles and found the stockboy sweeping packs of cards off the floor and dumping them in the garbage. We asked him why he was throwing the cards away? He said he couldn't stock them on the shelves because there wasn't any room. We looked up and on the top shelf of the aisle were boxes of cards stacked to the ceiling. Occasionally the packs or a box would fall to the ground and be swept into the garbage. The manager asked us if we wanted to take the boxes off his hands for a cheap price. He said that not only did he have all this inventory on the top shelves, but he also had cases in his stockroom he couldn't move. We declined. Nobody collected basketball than, even Fleer basketball. That's right, 86 Fleer Basketball stacked to the rafters and being swept into the garbage. I still get sick thinking about this lost opportunity.
Fabfrank,
Great story!!!
I once had this "dead" case of 90 score football sets(unopened)that I traded for a case of 90 pro set wax(unopened,of course).I am pretty sure that I made a mistake,considering I still have that case of wax(still unopened).Go Figure!!
I did,however,run an ad in my local paper on a lark(no idea why I did it)and it turned out to be the best find that I ever had.I bought a run of sets from 55-59 along with a 75% complete set of 55 Bowman,(all EX-MT) for 40% of book.This happened in 89.I eventually sold all the cards. That buy is the reason why I am collecting the 56 set today.The only card that I have ever regretted selling out of all the cards that I have sold was the Mantle that was almost perfect drop dead MINT.I still see that card in my sleep sometimes
Vic
2nd story. I worked at McDonalds in high school. when mcdonalds would have sports cards I would beg the managers for the extras, I always tried to work with this one manager because she would let me take home tons of stuff. I have probably 1000 packs of unopened Upper Deck Basketball from 92-93 (Shaq's rookie year) and maybe 800 different NFL Gameday (oversized cards in sheets by regional teams and superstars) about half Detroit Lions (since I'm from Michigan) and Half superstars sheets. Not bad since I didn't pay a dime for any of them.
THe last story always makes my dad cringe more than me. He used to collect cards in the 50;s and I showed him some of my vintage cards. He would remember the card designs and say he had lots of this set or that set. (mostly 52-59 topps) Then he said, "I used to have hundreds of those cards that were televisions, probably enough for 4 or 5 complete sets" I showed him some 55 bowmans and he said those were the ones. Of course he doesn't have them anymore, my grandma threw them all away when he was drafted into the army for Vietnam.
He opened the small box of cards (maybe 100-110) cards total....and I almost passed out!!!! A group of 1956 Topps Baseball and they were all *STAR* cards in drop dead MINT condition. I have been a gold PSA member for 6 years so I have at least an idea of condition. They contained multiples of Musial, Aaron, Killebrew, Clemente, Koufax, and Mays!!!! I started in on the virtues of PSA and the potential windfall he had...heading into retirement. He quickly decided that they could not be trusted to keep from switching his cards for others of lesser quality. I even offered to accompany him to the Chicago Sports show in August to a walk through grading of these cards (believe me they would be worth it). Anyhow, he retired and I went a couple years before I saw him and asked him what happened to them. They are sitting on a high shelf in his kitchen wainting on a whim to finish the set..................................
His kid is gonna be a happy camper one of these days...........................do you think he might adopt me??????????
My Dad told me the exact same thing....he never could find them before he passed away (I think his brother took them from his mother's house when he found out how much they could be worth)....but he did give me all his 57s, 58s, 59s, 60s, 61s and 64s. They are probably PSA 3-4 condition, but they are definately some of my most prized cards....I even keep a lot of his 1960 VGs in my EXMT set I am making...he'd be proud to know that he is helping me complete a set....
thats my find....