One Helluva Story
airjoedan
Posts: 776 ✭✭✭
Let me start this off by saying it was great to stumble upon a PSA message board, I never thought to look over the site beyond submission forms and promotions. Anyways, I figured my first post should be about one of my best vintage stories....one that makes me sick to my stomach everytime I think about it.
One day at work I was walking down to the garden center area to give back a return when I overheard this older gentleman speaking to an employee about baseball cards. I jumped in and said "what about baseball cards?" ....well, the old guy had one helluva story. The man claimed that his older sister gave him a bunch of cards when he was ten years old or so, and that he still had the cards in a box in his house. I looked at the man and it quickly clicked that he must be eighty or ninety years old!.....meaning that if he's not full of crap, he might have some very valuable tobacco cards! Well, I shook his hand after the story and told him to bring me in some cards to look at when he finds them.
....two weeks later, he came back. He told me how he looked around his house and couldn't find the cards, that he thought his son-in-law or someone took them. At the end of his story, he took out his wallet and slowly unfolded this tiny discolored piece of paper. Inside the piece of paper were four 1909 T206 tobacco cards. As I nearly crapped myself, he said, "I managed to find four mixed in with some old papers." I couldn't believe it.....T206, the Wagner set! I looked through the cards (in EX or better condition) with unbelievable excitement....but they were all commons. I told him they were worth between $80-$120 dollars, depending on the market and the buyer.......and I told him that he could have thousands of dollars worth of other cards, depending on the particular card and condition.
I didn't expect to ever see him again, but out of the blue, a month or so later, he came in with four more cards. This time he had two commons, a Frank Chance, and........an E93 Ty Cobb. The Cobb, by the way, would probably have graded a PSA 5 or so. I told the old man what his cards were worth and he didn't even seem remotely phased. He spoke to me about how much real estate he owns, so he obviously is worth quite a lot of money. He also spoke to me about how he now found ALL of the cards.....around 150 according to him. I told him I couldn't live with myself if I didn't at least try to get some of his cards for my collection......I even offered to give an appraisal and help him sell his cards. He laughed and said he appreciates my honesty, but isn't ready to sell the cards yet, says he might even pass them on. The guy said he'd come back to show me some more cards in a few weeks....ten months have went by and I haven't seen him since. By the way, the guy was ninety-two years old and was constantly telling me about his health issues during our conversations....there's no telling what happened to him. The last time I saw him I wrote down my name and phone number and had a good hour conversation with him, about his life, family, and his cards. Everytime I see a T206 I get a sick feeling in my stomach, wondering what could have been in this guy's collection. A month or so ago on ebay I almost bid on a E93 Cobb, but was drawn away by the hope that I might one day see this man again. The cards were beautiful and the story remains one of my best...... a collection of endless dreams and hopeless possibilities.
Got a good story too?
Joe
One day at work I was walking down to the garden center area to give back a return when I overheard this older gentleman speaking to an employee about baseball cards. I jumped in and said "what about baseball cards?" ....well, the old guy had one helluva story. The man claimed that his older sister gave him a bunch of cards when he was ten years old or so, and that he still had the cards in a box in his house. I looked at the man and it quickly clicked that he must be eighty or ninety years old!.....meaning that if he's not full of crap, he might have some very valuable tobacco cards! Well, I shook his hand after the story and told him to bring me in some cards to look at when he finds them.
....two weeks later, he came back. He told me how he looked around his house and couldn't find the cards, that he thought his son-in-law or someone took them. At the end of his story, he took out his wallet and slowly unfolded this tiny discolored piece of paper. Inside the piece of paper were four 1909 T206 tobacco cards. As I nearly crapped myself, he said, "I managed to find four mixed in with some old papers." I couldn't believe it.....T206, the Wagner set! I looked through the cards (in EX or better condition) with unbelievable excitement....but they were all commons. I told him they were worth between $80-$120 dollars, depending on the market and the buyer.......and I told him that he could have thousands of dollars worth of other cards, depending on the particular card and condition.
I didn't expect to ever see him again, but out of the blue, a month or so later, he came in with four more cards. This time he had two commons, a Frank Chance, and........an E93 Ty Cobb. The Cobb, by the way, would probably have graded a PSA 5 or so. I told the old man what his cards were worth and he didn't even seem remotely phased. He spoke to me about how much real estate he owns, so he obviously is worth quite a lot of money. He also spoke to me about how he now found ALL of the cards.....around 150 according to him. I told him I couldn't live with myself if I didn't at least try to get some of his cards for my collection......I even offered to give an appraisal and help him sell his cards. He laughed and said he appreciates my honesty, but isn't ready to sell the cards yet, says he might even pass them on. The guy said he'd come back to show me some more cards in a few weeks....ten months have went by and I haven't seen him since. By the way, the guy was ninety-two years old and was constantly telling me about his health issues during our conversations....there's no telling what happened to him. The last time I saw him I wrote down my name and phone number and had a good hour conversation with him, about his life, family, and his cards. Everytime I see a T206 I get a sick feeling in my stomach, wondering what could have been in this guy's collection. A month or so ago on ebay I almost bid on a E93 Cobb, but was drawn away by the hope that I might one day see this man again. The cards were beautiful and the story remains one of my best...... a collection of endless dreams and hopeless possibilities.
Got a good story too?
Joe
0
Comments
I lost your phone #.
Please provide again
Nice story.
Great story. I hope the old man remembers you.
Bob-
MY GOLD TYPE SET https://pcgs.com/setregistry/type-sets/complete-type-sets/gold-type-set-12-piece-circulation-strikes-1839-1933/publishedset/321940