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Some dude called me yesterday. UPDATE - A Bird in the hand.

so, just for fun, i thought i'd chime in about MY potential amazing find. image

yeah, it seems this guy has a monster collection of stuff which he inherited from his brother, who passed away about 10 years ago. fair enough.....it must have been traumatic to lose a close family member and then take responsibility for his prized possessions, but, ultimately this guy did, in spite of the fact he knows nothing about cards, nor does he want to.

he took all the boxes of cards, approximately 30 he says, and stacked them on a pallet and covered them up with a tarp.

outside. in the backyard. where it's over 100 degrees during the day in summertime. like now. image

hmmmmmm.

maybe this stuff is under a tree or shaded by a wall or overhang. i didn't want to ask for too many details. somewhere at the core of all this might be something special.

i retained this thought even after he also reminded me about how many recent wet winters this stuff has survived as well.

he mentioned Mantle. that's really all it took. details someday soon. image

Comments

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    onebamafanonebamafan Posts: 1,318 ✭✭
    As long as he stacked and tarped them, you should be good to go. Whats a Mantle with black mold go for these days anyway?
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    itzagoneritzagoner Posts: 8,753 ✭✭


    << <i>As long as he stacked and tarped them, you should be good to go. Whats a Mantle with black mold go for these days anyway? >>



    ooooo, thanks for the reminder. i'm ordering a Hazmat suit.
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    frankhardyfrankhardy Posts: 8,046 ✭✭✭✭✭
    What would really be funny if it was "really old cards", like early 1990's.

    Shane

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    itzagoneritzagoner Posts: 8,753 ✭✭
    yeah right? all the Score i can eat.

    he did mention "sets".

    he also said most of it was accumulated when his brother was a LOT younger. image
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    What kind of qualifier does PSA give for mouse droppings on cards ?
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    itzagoneritzagoner Posts: 8,753 ✭✭
    hmmmmm.

    maybe i'll find an exotic snake. image
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    waxman2745waxman2745 Posts: 725 ✭✭✭


    << <i>What kind of qualifier does PSA give for mouse droppings on cards ? >>


    probably along the same lines as MINT 9 (CP): the cat pee qualifier image
    Adam
    buying O-Pee-Chee (OPC) baseball
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    jeffcbayjeffcbay Posts: 8,948 ✭✭✭✭
    Do him a favor and bring lighter fluid. image
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    Holy crap... You would think even the most inexperienced person would realize that storing paper products outside is a terrible idea. But you never know. Hopefully that tarp doesn't have any holes in it. image
    A SWING AND A DRIVE!

    For Sale on eBay
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    Sounds like an adventure, please enjoy and bring us pics no matter the outcome...

    peace
    image
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    HallcoHallco Posts: 3,627 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Sounds like a guy I talked to last week. He said he has a whole "mess" of football cards he is "fixin to git rid of". Keeps 'em in his truck bed in a "big ole' hefty sack!" Said I could meet him anytime to have a look!!! Of course he asked me what my mouth looks like too! imageimage ....I'm still thinking trying to decide! imageimage
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    stevekstevek Posts: 27,727 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Food for the termites.
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    yankeeno7yankeeno7 Posts: 9,242 ✭✭✭
    I think you should buy a few packs of hot dogs, get a few cases of beer, call a few friends and just have a bonfire
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    itzagoneritzagoner Posts: 8,753 ✭✭
    under normal circumstances, i would treat this as a Craigslist situation and demand at least some kind of proof that there is anything to which time should be devoted, or just say thanks and move along.

    but.......i have it on good authority that there actually IS something worth seeing here, and my source is dependable....he knows condition very well and insists that it would be worth the effort to take a look.

    i must believe him.

    i also know that this same source was allowed to "rescue" at least a couple vintage cards from this horde about 5 years ago or so.

    i don't what they are. he won't tell me.

    this could turn out to be a great big whompin' surprise, or........the cards he took were the only ones worth taking. imageimage
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    jeffcbayjeffcbay Posts: 8,948 ✭✭✭✭
    Oh I would still go check them out, I would just have my hopes very low. Heck, there are still people digging and diving, looking for the long lost boxes 1952 Topps cards that Topps disposed of... lol.
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    itzagoneritzagoner Posts: 8,753 ✭✭
    hopes diminished. i've been through this before.....typically, if they overhype their stuff, it's pretty easy to tell, but if they underhype, the only way to go is up. image
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    123Slider123Slider Posts: 851 ✭✭
    What in the world are doing shooting the breeze with us? Get on out there and start diggiing under that tarp!

    Snakeboots optional....
    The best pitch to start a hitter off with is always strike one.
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    itzagoneritzagoner Posts: 8,753 ✭✭
    hi-lites from the amazing find.....no Mantle, in fact no vintage by definition of some members of this forum, however, after poring through a healthy amount of what appears to be closer to 100,000 useless cards, i did manage to find a few things worth bragging about, apologies in advance for the scanner dust......

    decent Schmidt rookie, well-centered, nice color, soft corners....possible 6

    image

    not bad.....

    image

    heh heh.

    image

    modern dudes on shiny cardboards.....the A-Rod auto was a nice find, i guess they go for good $ in a Beckett holder, gotta look into that......

    image

    image

    image

    image

    throughout my experiences with liquidating collections, i have always gone into it with minimized expectations and tempered excitement, but as almost always happens, there's that one thing, that special "find" within the pile that kind of softens the blow, so to speak, because after sweating my arse off in the heat on Monday while viewing and loading/unloading this stuff, then spending all day yesterday tromping in and out of a hot garage with box after box of junk, i felt it was due time for me to find that one thing......so i grabbed an ugly stack of 1977 Topps baseball cards, most of which wouldn't even get the qualifying nod for my raw near mint set.

    i found this.


    image


    mission accomplished. image
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    jeffcbayjeffcbay Posts: 8,948 ✭✭✭✭
    WOW, I'd say it was well worth it!! Nice find! I can't believe there was an Arod auto laying in those boxes... lol.
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    itzagoneritzagoner Posts: 8,753 ✭✭


    << <i>WOW, I'd say it was well worth it!! Nice find! I can't believe there was an Arod auto laying in those boxes... lol. >>



    i agree. i can't believe it either. image

    this stuff was fished out, all 90's full of inserts, subsets, etc, etc + gobs of old school collector stuff, like......ahem - McGwire and Sosa cards, when laid end-to-end might stretch from here to New Jersey!

    the guy who accumulated these cards obviously knew what to look for and several local card shops managed to stay afloat just a little longer thanks to his buying habits on new product. image
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    Thanks for the update. I kinda wanted to see how it all looked sitting in his garden, under the tarp and tree, just for fun...

    Anwyays thanks again

    peace
    image
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    itzagoneritzagoner Posts: 8,753 ✭✭


    << <i>Thanks for the update. I kinda wanted to see how it all looked sitting in his garden, under the tarp and tree, just for fun...

    Anwyays thanks again

    peace >>



    you're right, i wish i could have done a photo spread for you, complete with centerfold-quality bedroom shots. image

    so, when i arrived, dude and friend had already stacked everything up on and around a table, but you could tell where weathering had occured and several boxes had water damage, cards were f'd up, but nothing presumably valuable so far.....there are still more boxes which i need to check, but i think most of the goodies are found already.

    the area where the boxes once sat beneath the tarp was teeming with crickets, they were jumping everywhere inclduing into the swimming pool. image
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    No need for the centerfold pics anymore, I can see it quiet clearly in my mind now.... *cricket*

    Thanks again...
    image
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    PiggsPiggs Posts: 1,934 ✭✭✭✭
    The dreaded cricket qualifierimage The few that you nabbed look nice and good luck with the pest control. Doug
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    itzagoneritzagoner Posts: 8,753 ✭✭
    no pest control necessary, Jiminy and friends stayed behind.

    i guess they don't like shiny stuff, but i need to wear sunglasses there's so much of it. image
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    Glad there was something worthwhile in there... It could have been filled with '88 Donruss puzzle cards. image Any desire to tell us how much you paid for the haul-away?
    A SWING AND A DRIVE!

    For Sale on eBay
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    itzagoneritzagoner Posts: 8,753 ✭✭
    heh heh. there is a box filled with '88D puzzle cards, as well as the contents of the wax boxes they came with.....i'll scour that baby for gems someday. image

    there was no money exchanged for this stuff with the understanding that anything sellable will be divided up fairly, only so i can be compensated for my time and potentially wind up with a few more nice cards in my collection, the rest goes to the owner.

    the aforementioned friend who helped out is someone for whom i already liquidated a few nice sets, and i wound up with some very nice cards to add to my own sets.
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    jamesryanbelljamesryanbell Posts: 1,099 ✭✭✭
    That's a good find in my book!
    -- Ryan Bell
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    Yep, sounds like all parties will end up making something on it and all you'll be out is the sweat off your back. Now pardon me, it's been raining here lately and I need to go check the tarp covering my 1952 sets. LOL
    A SWING AND A DRIVE!

    For Sale on eBay
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    GarabaldiGarabaldi Posts: 2,004 ✭✭✭
    Great find and it is crazy that everything survived through all those seasons outside. Crap, I lost almost all my collection in a flood from last year. I had everything in bins and up on shelves and it was washed out by our so called 100 year flood.
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    itzagoneritzagoner Posts: 8,753 ✭✭
    just spoke to the guy on the phone so i could explain what i've found so far....i made it pretty clear that what i found wasn't going to help either of us retire anytime soon, but there was something here to at least bring a fair amount of money, but would require time, effort and of course, patience.

    when i told him what to expect, he was kind of taken aback, so i explained to him that there is a lot about this collection which seems to be more conspicuous by absence than presence....i told him that perhaps the person who owned these cards was pretty hip to market tendencies and quite likely bought, sold & traded his way to other stuff, so it would make sense if key sets or cards were missing.

    then he mentioned the "other box".

    ya know, the one that was protected from the elements, crickets and......me. image

    i suppose i'll be receiving another phone call when the "other box" comes out of storage.

    stay tuned.
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    PiggsPiggs Posts: 1,934 ✭✭✭✭
    There seems to always be the "other box", and he should only be "taken aback" that the cards survived the elements because he got gravy with the one's you rescued, IMO.
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