BASEBALL CARD & FOOTBALL CARDS GALORE

Do you remember when you were young and foolish when it came to your hobbies?????  Or remember when you were young and every penny that went into your pocket left as quickly as possible in buying what tickled your fancy?????

Alas I remember what I spent my money on from the time I was five years old.  I remember nearly every penny, nickel, dime, quarter, and paper money I found, earned, or was given (paper money was far and few between 60 years ago -- yes, I know -- I am getting really, really old).

From the time I was five until about twelve I spent every cent on trading cards. I can remember prices as low as a nickel per pack and you got a really good piece of gum. I also remember winning so many cards by playing flip and match. The way the game was played by the first person throwing down/flipping down anywhere from five and up to 20 cards. The second member had to flip cards and match every card face side up or back side up. If you did not match exactly the person who did the original flipping won your cards. If you matched card for card then you won the first persons card. I got so good at this game of flipping I could match nearly 100% of the time. I remember the biggest match I ever did to this day --- 500 cards flipped and matched. Here is the tough part -- you had to match individual cards one by one. In other words I would have to call out a card I was matching and then flip and match it -- face up or backside up

So by the time I was 14 or 15 I had a collection...no lets call that some 5000 or so cards that I had stuffed into boxes in no particular order.  Want to talk about value.  More than 20 Mickey Mantle rookie cards.  I had cards from the 20's, 30's, 40's, 50's, and a few originals from the 1890's.  I had a ton of St. Louis Browns cards before they moved to Baltimore.  Boston Braves before they moved to Milwaukee, and eventually to Atlanta.  Brooklyn Dodgers, N.Y. Giants.  I could go on forever about what cards I had.  I stuffed them into show boxes then into three large boxes.  When I was nineteen years old I joined the Marine Corps.  When I was assigned to go the wonder world called Vietnam (was mostly in South for 15 months) I came home on 15 day leave before shipping out.  My dad and mom were getting ready to move so mom ask me what to do with all those cards.  Just like so many before and after me the words were easy to say; "DON'T CARE MOM, THROW THEM AWAY IF YOU WANT". 

So if I had been the one person with magical foresight I would have been a wealthy card collector who would not be sitting here acting as if I knew something about collecting trading cards.  Alas, there were many more like myself who disposed of all those baseball (14 teams), football (took the AFL to appear and merge with the NFL), basketball, hockey (only 7 NHL teams back then), and other cards.  If everyone had saved all those cards collected in their youth what would a Mickey Mantle RC be worth today??  About the same value as any other common card in todays market because Mickey Mantle cards would be so plentiful there would be little if any desire to collect and save a Mantle card.

So like everyone else here at eBay I am in the position that to seek out and but those cards that are of value to me.  I tell my wife of thirty five years that eBay is like a community of business friends looking out for each other, wanting to make a few dollars (or many), and to make friends with each other so we have a surplus of be back customers/friends.