So I bought a mountain this weekend... [updated a wee bit]
MikeLeamer
Posts: 236 ✭✭
Because I'm a glutton for punishment, a die-hard treasure hunter, and a collector on a budget, I got up at 6am on Saturday to take a look at a pile of sports cards a guy was selling at his garage sale:
There were about 20 more boxes on a table that were a part of my acquisition, but this was the photo I sent to my lady to ask permission to stack this monster in our dining room (we rent a very small house with no garage) while I comb through it for goodies.
While I was awaiting her reply, I looked through a few smaller boxes and realized that there were many key rookies still buried in the collection (rifled through a shoebox of 2008 Topps Update baseball cards and immediately found 3 gorgeous Kershaw rookies in the first few handfuls). I asked what he wanted for the whole mess and he said $120.
It took four trips in my Mazda 2 to get it all home (side note: they have a pretty sturdy suspension for a little car) and now I am on day three of sorting through somewhere between 500,000 and 750,000 cards looking for stuff to grade and sell.
More later.
There were about 20 more boxes on a table that were a part of my acquisition, but this was the photo I sent to my lady to ask permission to stack this monster in our dining room (we rent a very small house with no garage) while I comb through it for goodies.
While I was awaiting her reply, I looked through a few smaller boxes and realized that there were many key rookies still buried in the collection (rifled through a shoebox of 2008 Topps Update baseball cards and immediately found 3 gorgeous Kershaw rookies in the first few handfuls). I asked what he wanted for the whole mess and he said $120.
It took four trips in my Mazda 2 to get it all home (side note: they have a pretty sturdy suspension for a little car) and now I am on day three of sorting through somewhere between 500,000 and 750,000 cards looking for stuff to grade and sell.
More later.
0
Comments
That is awesome. My wife would destroy me if I brought a haul like that home.
You guys and your wives--time to grow a pair!!
That is awesome. My wife would destroy me if I brought a haul like that home.
You guys and your wives--time to grow a pair!!
Hiya David.
Congratulations on your pickup.
I'm looking forward to what you find - best of luck.
That is awesome. My wife would destroy me if I brought a haul like that home.
You guys and your wives--time to grow a pair!!
It is called negotiating power "my wife will kill me if I spend X on cards." Mine does not care and goes to the National with me, and she knows who to buy and prices... My little one wants Mantles over Trout's - hoping I have taught him well
That is awesome. My wife would destroy me if I brought a haul like that home.
You guys and your wives--time to grow a pair!!
Hiya David.
Howdy Mike!
That is awesome. My wife would destroy me if I brought a haul like that home.
You guys and your wives--time to grow a pair!!
It is called negotiating power "my wife will kill me if I spend X on cards." Mine does not care and goes to the National with me, and she knows who to buy and prices... My little one wants Mantles over Trout's - hoping I have taught him well
Good stuff KC!! My best friend is also a huge collector like me and whenever he spends 10k on a card he always says "Don't tell Devorah!" But my new girlfriend collected cards (baseball and basketball) when she was a kid. She's 12 years younger than me so I'll have to find her cards and go through them when she's not looking to see if she has any Jordan rookies (think the seinfeld episode when jerry was dating the chick with the vintage toy collection and she wouldn't let him play with them so he had to get her drunk in order to do this). If we end up tying the knot it might work out great for me--I won't have to keep any secrets!!
No really, I see a lot of Score baseball there. Great snag!
Good luck with your search, please continue to share the gluttony
That is awesome. My wife would destroy me if I brought a haul like that home.
You guys and your wives--time to grow a pair!!
It is called negotiating power "my wife will kill me if I spend X on cards." Mine does not care and goes to the National with me, and she knows who to buy and prices... My little one wants Mantles over Trout's - hoping I have taught him well
Good stuff KC!! My best friend is also a huge collector like me and whenever he spends 10k on a card he always says "Don't tell Devorah!" But my new girlfriend collected cards (baseball and basketball) when she was a kid. She's 12 years younger than me so I'll have to find her cards and go through them when she's not looking to see if she has any Jordan rookies (think the seinfeld episode when jerry was dating the chick with the vintage toy collection and she wouldn't let him play with them so he had to get her drunk in order to do this). If we end up tying the knot it might work out great for me--I won't have to keep any secrets!!
Too funny. I just referenced the Seinfeld episode in a PM to another CU member earlier this evening! "More turkey and wine?"
I actually purchased a mountain a year after I graduated collet back in 1991. UD Griffey's, 90 Leaf Thomas, and Stadium club cards were all the rage. Set up at a local Holiday Inn local show with a buddy of mine, and bought a few cards off of a guy who was a farmer. My girlfriend at the time tells me he is trying to sell what he has and needs like $950 by a certain date. I meet him and his wife at a restaurant across the street and he tells me what he has for sale. We go to his house and there are about 50-65k cards all in monster boxes. All sports with vintage baseball, Montana rookie, Lew Alcindor cards, 60's and 70's hockey. He needs $900 for it, and just want I could eyeball there was several times that which I could see and an easy way to get my $$ back.
Took them all back to my apartment where I had two roommates who had to be good sports - those cards were everywhere. Dining table, storage closet, bathroom... Took me 1-2 weeks to go through it all, and just on the hockey sales alone plus trade back in her hometown in Ohio I made all of my money back. Took me 18-24 months to sell it all at shows and stuff, and was a really huge help in getting started back in cards after college.
Thanks for sharing.
Have fun my man & I hope you connect hard!
you'll never be able to outrun a bad diet
I bought a lot like this from a friend once, and came out pretty well. I bought his entire collection just for a crack at his 1987 Tiffany complete and traded. I pulled a Maddux 10, a Bonds 10, and a Bo Jackson 9. I also came across an 83 Gwynn Fleer in a 10.
You'll definitely have fun digging. I only had about 1/8th of what you just bought, LOLZ. Have fun!
I'm roughly 20% of the way through the mountain and I've set aside around 4,000 cards or so that will require further research and/or scrutiny for grade-worthiness (several stacks of various years' Topps Heritage baseball that I need to compare to SP/Variation lists to see what's worth keeping, loads of minor rookies from different sports, some lower-dollar inserts of stars and semi-stars, and even a small pile of Pokemon cards), but for now I'll skip to the only cards that I put directly into sleeves at this point:
My initial comb through is just to rule out the bulk of it for disposal and/or cheap sale - then I can concentrate on what I've set aside.
More later.
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good luck with it
collecting RAW Topps baseball cards 1952 Highs to 1972. looking for collector grade (somewhere between psa 4-7 condition). let me know what you have, I'll take it, I want to finish sets, I must have something you can use for trade.
looking for Topps 71-72 hi's-62-53-54-55-59, I have these sets started
Yeah, it's going to take a lot of time, but it sounds like a lot of fun for $120.00. No doubt you will make some money from this. Keep us updated and keep the pics coming. GOOD LUCK!!
Doug
Liquidating my collection for the 3rd and final time. Time for others to enjoy what I have enjoyed over the last several decades. Money could be put to better use.
I must know what's in the box marked in red KEEP THIS BOX and labeled 1976-1985...
Absolutely +1. The two boxes I was wondering about were that one, and also the one that says "Need to Sort & List". Was guessing the sort/list box was either the best stuff of the bunch as if it were pulled first in order to make some money, or, the unwanted duplicates that were castaways from the collection.
I must know what's in the box marked in red KEEP THIS BOX and labeled 1976-1985...
Absolutely +1. The two boxes I was wondering about were that one, and also the one that says "Need to Sort & List". Was guessing the sort/list box was either the best stuff of the bunch as if it were pulled first in order to make some money, or, the unwanted duplicates that were castaways from the collection.
I'll let you know as soon as I find the stack that box ended up in. However, I have noticed that it's a coin flip as to whether or not the writing on the box has any bearing as to what is in the box now.
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Thanks,
David (LD_Ferg)
1985 Topps Football (starting in psa 8) - #9 - started 05/21/06
Lets see more pics !!
They call me "Pack the Ripper"
Back to the boxes! I'll holler back soon if I land anything with a "wow" factor.
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How is your sorting going?
I am somewhere near the halfway point on my initial sort-through and haven't had any "HOLY *****E!" moments yet, but I've set aside around 6,000 cards for further review: lots of potential grade-worthy minor rookies and inserts. So far, this collection is almost totally devoid of any Michael Jordan cards (even base cards) so that bites a little bit. I'm making a mad push to get through the stuff stacked in the dining room by Saturday so that I can return it to it's normal pristine state (and ease my lady's mind a bit). I've got a guy from a local card shop who's going to take everything I don't want and I may even get more for it than I paid for the entire lot to begin with.
If I happen to spot any gems on my continued search, I'll pause and snap a photo of them and post. Otherwise, I'll wait until I've gotten through the bulk of it and begin analyzing what I've pulled aside.
Thanks for asking - now back to the grind!
Side note: I don't recommend sorting through more than half a million cards. Ever.
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1992 Topps FB Golds (72% complete)
1997 Topps FB Minted in Canton (10% complete)
1999 Topps FB Record Numbers Gold (80% complete)
2001 Topps FB MVP Promotion (35% complete)
Hey Mike... before you sell them off to you local card shop. I would be interested in any of the cards on my wantlist below my signature. Let me know if come across any. Thanks. Paul
Hi Paul, I'll keep a look out for those and pull any I see as I continue sorting.
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