Slightly OT -- My Weekend

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Posted By: Chris

Unlike several of you who have been doing this for many years, I've never been part of a "find"... until this weekend. And I'm dying to finally tell people who will understand!

A friend called me last week and said that a family member was recently placed in a nursing home and they were working on cleaning his house and compiling his belongings. In the process they found "some baseball cards". He asked if I'd be willing spend the weekend sorting through them and evaluate what the owner had and if it was worth keeping with his other items.

I had no idea what to expect. Trying to describe cards over the phone to someone who doesn't collect is like trying to hit with a blindfold on. Frustrating to say the least. So off I was...

I thought I had a large collection. I was mistaken.

Within 5 minutes I had located (in a pile, among rubber bands, pens and paper clips) several T201's, T205's and T206's (probably all cards averaging EX+). Obviously I was quite excited for what might be in the boxes that were piled virtually everywhere.

Unfortunately that was about all I found in terms of pre-war cards. BUT, among the boxes were thousands of mid-50's-70's Topps baseball. All look as if they were removed from packs, collated, and not touched since. Same goes for the 50-60's Football "piles" (really the best way to describe it). And I didn't even have a chance to sort through the 1970's basketball stuff.

The interesting thing about this gentleman is that he must have been acutely aware of what he had. I found a run of The Trader Speaks in his attic and as we were sitting there the mail arrived and with it was the latest Tuff Stuff. Recent auction catalogs from many major dealers were also piled nearby.

The best news from this whole story is the owner of the cards is warm, safe, well fed, and in good company in his new home. Unfortunately he is having lots of trouble with his memory -- it would be great to sit and talk cards with him. Though he's nearly 60 years my elder, it seems we have a lot in common.

Is it bad that I wanted to cry when I had to leave all of those treasures?

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Posted By: JimB

That is a great story. I bet he would love it if you went to go talk cards with him. People get awefully lonely in those homes.
JimB

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Posted By: barrysloate

The best thing you can do is to build a rapport with whoever is in charge of the collection and let him know you are honest and trustworthy. In time, you may be allowed to purchase it or help him sell it. If the owner is that old, chances are that is a collection that will be on the marketplace. Good luck with it.

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Posted By: Reid Bruce

Ask him if he wants to rent a safe deposit box....and make sure to tell him to keep relatives away from it while he is in the home. You would be surprised what some people would do for a buck or three.