If I only knew then....

[bcbgcbrcb]

Funny you mention the '86-'87 Fleer basketball cards. When they first came out in December of '86, I bought two wax boxes at J.J. Newberry's in Paramus, NJ at the Bergen Mall, which was across the street from my first-ever bank job at 18 years old. At the time, the two wax boxes were priced at $10.00 each but the cashier rang them up as $10.00 total so I happily took them home at the bargain price of $5.00 each.

Of course, I ripped open all of the packs as soon as I got home and made three complete sets along with dups of Jordan, Ewing, etc. Fast forward to around 1990 and I see an ad in SCD with Rich Altman paying around $200 for the Jordan RC alone, of which, I had four from my sets. I quickly packed and shipped them along with Ewing's, Malone's, Barkley's, etc. and got back a fat check for just under $1,000. What a steal for my $10.00 investment, right? I had to go bragging to all of my friends too.

Of course, fast forwarding to today, unopened wax boxes routinely bring $10K+ each so, if I only knew then what I know now............

[jcromp78]

I find it hard to believe for as many 86 Topps baseball and football packs I bought as a kid that somehow I failed to even buy a single pack of Fleer basketball that year. Perhaps my town (pretty small) didn't have them I will never know. I also would have told myself to stop trying to open so many 89 Donruss packs to get Griffey when in the future they would be so cheap. I never bought any 89 Upper Deck as a kid but I managed to pull the Griffey rookie last year after only a couple of packs from a card shop in Vermont.

[kailes2872]

The first thing that I would do is go back and assure young Kevin that the future Mrs. Ailes will be far and above anything he could hope for. Therefore, stop stressing. Stop spending extra money on clothes, cars and other stuff that loses value in this adolescent pursuit of a mate because everything will work out better than fine.

Then, with a now clear mind and fattened bank account, I will turn my attention to cards. It is my sincere hope that after young Kevin recovers from the first stiff uppercut, a second right cross comes that says - hold off on spending you card money on 87 Topps baseball. Find a small quantity of pre-war and vintage cards. Buy them, and take good care of them.

I would then go Biff Tanner and tell me the next 25 Super Bowl and Workd Series winners and I'll build my bankroll for the really good cards!