Collector's Nightmare - the trashcan

[bnorth]

Not prewar but I was sorting threw several piles of cards to get rid of some commons from the junk era. Later noticed I no longer had any Donruss Aqueous Test Issue cards.

[JustinD]

My mistakes have been many, but my favorite "always double check" story involves buying a traded set at the height of the ARod craze after he signed with the Yankees.

I opened the packing peanut filled box and removed the set and tossed the box in the dumpster. A few days later when I got around to looking for the ARod, I noticed it was missing from the set and emailed the seller.

I received this reply -
"I removed it from the set and it was in the box in a card saver as it is the best card"

Sigh...

At least that couple hundred dollar loss is now a faaaar smaller loss now, lol.

[philliesfan]

Dang. Sorry to hear that. I am extremely cautious, my grandfather taught me that. I never really had an accidental loss like that but I did throw away a load of 1984 Topps football commons way back. They were all commons but a few Marino's and Elway's may have been in there. But at the time I did not care because they were only about 50 cents when I trashed them.

[NiceDocter]

Dont give up hope yet! I have "lost" items that I couldnt locate after a reorganization of my collection only to have them turn up in the bottom of some box years later where I had obviously put them without thinking. Yes, you could have tossed them out but the bigger your collection the more likely they are stashed somewhere and you just cant find them right now. Are you certain you kept them in the same box or could you have transfered them to another container? KEEP HOPE ALIVE!!!

[71buc]

Although my mistakes have been memorabilia related they were painful nonetheless. About 20 years ago I purchased a game worn signed Steve Carlton jacket. I was so excited When opening the box I cut a two inch hole into it. Recently I placed seven 1971 post season press passes to San Francisco, Pittsburgh, and Baltimore in a large book. I got distracted and forgot about them. My wife subsequently sold the book to half price books. I didn't think I would ever see them again. I called them a couple of days later and they still had the book and returned the passes to me.

[egbeachley]

Some years ago I wanted to sell my N559 Lake Erie Governor card (non-sport) because I knew I wouldn't be able to complete the set as it became too popular. Couldn't find it. Looked everywhere...nothing. Checked again a few weeks later after a thorough Spring cleaning/organizing. Still missing. Gone. I must have accidentally thrown it away.

About 2 years later I was walking through my bedroom to the closet and it was laying in the middle of the bedroom raw with no top-holder but in the same condition I last saw it.

Baffles me to this day!

[thecatspajamas]

Originally Posted by egbeachley

Some years ago I wanted to sell my N559 Lake Erie Governor card (non-sport) because I knew I wouldn't be able to complete the set as it became too popular. Couldn't find it. Looked everywhere...nothing. Checked again a few weeks later after a thorough Spring cleaning/organizing. Still missing. Gone. I must have accidentally thrown it away.

About 2 years later I was walking through my bedroom to the closet and it was laying in the middle of the bedroom raw with no top-holder but in the same condition I last saw it.

Baffles me to this day!

Seems pretty clear to me that whatever poltergeist swiped the card in the first place also had trouble completing the set, and it finally just gave up and returned the card.

[midmo]

Originally Posted by NiceDocter

Dont give up hope yet! I have "lost" items that I couldnt locate after a reorganization of my collection only to have them turn up in the bottom of some box years later where I had obviously put them without thinking. Yes, you could have tossed them out but the bigger your collection the more likely they are stashed somewhere and you just cant find them right now. Are you certain you kept them in the same box or could you have transfered them to another container? KEEP HOPE ALIVE!!!

I really hope that's the case. My home is basically a big open loft with only a few rooms so unfortunately there aren't many hiding places. I've kinda resigned to them being gone. If they show up on my bedroom floor a couple years from now I'll be ecstatic.

[MEBBoy]

I stupidly threw out the entire large set of 1970's Sportcaster cards 11 years ago before another military move. I had them for many years and kept them through multiple moves in the military.

I was out of collecting for years and started to get back into it a little, around 12 yrs ago, but I never saw any info on these cards. I kept them in storage and finally threw them all out in a storage dumpster while cleaning out my storage space before my next move.

A few years later after the move, I started really getting back into collecting more seriously, and I saw some of these Sportscaster cards for sale at a collectable show and was blown away by the prices listed. The Bruce Lee, Babe Ruth and Duke Kahanamoku card prices alone were huge. I'd see just 1 or 2 of these cards listed by a seller at a show and get sick to my stomach as I had ALL of the cards - the entire set of 1500-2000 cards or so (not sure the exact number, but I had everything) every sport - track & field, soccer, baseball, football, karate, boxing, etc....

I'm more sick to my stomach that I did not lose the cards, but threw them out myself. I kept them for almost 30 yrs and then threw them out, in haste, during a stressful military move, just to save space during the move.

Needless to say, I learned my lesson and am reminded of it every time I see a Sportscaster card for sale with a nice price tag on it. :-(

MEB Boy

[midmo]

This table/case has been in a closet for a few months. Today I decided to carry it downstairs and figure out what to do with it when I heard something slide around. I forgot it even had a little drawer. Total surprise when I opened it. I had written these pins off for dead. Monday happiness!