Check your basements

[Carlos Danger]

All I ever find is mouse poop. But somebody was more fortunate than I:

http://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/mlb/dollar1-million-cache-of-century-old-baseball-cards-found/ar-BBqhNQT?li=BBnbfcL

[TAFKASP]

Only under our floor is sand, lots and lots of sand.

[Coolbreeze44]

I love stories like that. Still lament all the cards my Mom threw away because she thought it was a useless collection.

[Carlos Danger]

I love stories like that. Still lament all the cards my Mom threw away because she thought it was a useless collection.

Yep. I held onto my Tops Baseball and Football cards for about 20 years and then actually chucked them myself a while back during one of my moves. I didn't have any great (rookie cards) and the ones I had were pretty beat up from my games as a kid and the moves/storage as an adult. I'd bet many posters on here still have cards though....what sports, brands years you holding onto and what is your best (valuable) card?

To make money, you literally have to buy stuff and never open the packages or touch them. Good luck getting an 8 year old Carlos Danger not to open up his baseball card packs and eat that delicious (crunchy) gum!

[Coolbreeze44]

I love stories like that. Still lament all the cards my Mom threw away because she thought it was a useless collection.

Yep. I held onto my Tops Baseball and Football cards for about 20 years and then actually chucked them myself a while back during one of my moves. I didn't have any great (rookie cards) and the ones I had were pretty beat up from my games as a kid and the moves/storage as an adult. I'd bet many posters on here still have cards though....what sports, brands years you holding onto and what is your best (valuable) card?

To make money, you literally have to buy stuff and never open the packages or touch them. Good luck getting an 8 year old Carlos Danger not to open up his baseball card packs and eat that delicious (crunchy) gum!

My greatest collections are Sports Illustrated and The Sporting News Magazines from circa 1972 - 1977. I still have virtually every issue and they are in near perfect condition. When they were delivered each week I was a young kid, yet I still made sure no pages were bent and that they were filed away in a box that kept them like new. Two things keep the value down: 1) The address tags on the front cover 2) The absence of autographs. Wish I had the time to tour the country and get some of them signed before the majority of athletes die off. Autographed copies make the value skyrocket.

[Carlos Danger]

I love stories like that. Still lament all the cards my Mom threw away because she thought it was a useless collection.

Yep. I held onto my Tops Baseball and Football cards for about 20 years and then actually chucked them myself a while back during one of my moves. I didn't have any great (rookie cards) and the ones I had were pretty beat up from my games as a kid and the moves/storage as an adult. I'd bet many posters on here still have cards though....what sports, brands years you holding onto and what is your best (valuable) card?

To make money, you literally have to buy stuff and never open the packages or touch them. Good luck getting an 8 year old Carlos Danger not to open up his baseball card packs and eat that delicious (crunchy) gum!

My greatest collections are Sports Illustrated and The Sporting News Magazines from circa 1972 - 1977. I still have virtually every issue and they are in near perfect condition. When they were delivered each week I was a young kid, yet I still made sure no pages were bent and that they were filed away in a box that kept them like new. Two things keep the value down: 1) The address tags on the front cover 2) The absence of autographs. Wish I had the time to tour the country and get some of them signed before the majority of athletes die off. Autographed copies make the value skyrocket.

Interesting. What sort of value do you think that collection has today? I was always a poor collector in that regard. Probably the most expensive things I had sold were my old Tonka Trucks/Bulldozers etc. I had got them when I was a little older and getting into sports - so I never really played with them as a kid. They were in my parents basement forever and my brother took them to an auction a while back and sold them for like $75 bucks each. I had no idea people would pay for stuff like that. Now with eBay, I guess I should try to sell everything vs. throw things out!

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

I only collected baseball cards (and a handful of LaDainian Tomlinson cards I purchased at a sports memorabilia shop) growing up. It's the sport I was best at playing and the sport I had the most passion about as a young man. I usually only bought Topps brand because of the popularity that the name holds, but I bought some Donruss and Upper Deck packs too.

Best/Favorite Baseball Cards:

- Albert Pujols 2002 Topps All-Star Rookie Card W/ Gold Trim
- Dan Haren 2005 Upper Deck SP Collection personally autographed
- Alex Rodriguez 2000 Royal Rookies Limited Edition
- John Smoltz 1989 Upper Deck Rookie Card
- Torii Hunter 1998 Skybox Premium Rookie Card
- Joe Mauer 2004 Topps Rookie Card
- Joe Mauer 2004 MLB Hot Prospects Draft Edition Card
- Vladimir Guerreo 1997 Donruss Rookie Card
- 2001 Topps Stars Jake Peavy Rookie Card
- Complete Set 2005 Topps Draft Pick Collection (includes Felix Hernandez, Andrew McCutchen, Jacoby Ellsbury, Matt Kemp, Jay Bruce, Ryan Braun, Ryan Zimmerman, etc.)
- Complete Set 2005 Topps Futures All-Star Collection
- Complete Set 2006 Topps Opening Day Collection
- Others include: Jersey Cutout Cards from Jeff Bagwell, Ivan Rodriguez (x2), Carlos Delgado, Dontrelle Willis (rookie) and Jeff Clement. Also have a Baseball Bat Piece Card from Austin Kearns.

There are a lot more rookie cards as I thought those were the coolest, aside from autographs, jersey/bat pieces.

Also have a 2006 St. Louis Cardinals baseball ticket from Busch Stadium with David Eckstein's signature. Significant because Eckstein was World Series MVP months previous.

Favorite Football Card:

- 2001 Upper Deck MVP LaDainian Tomlinson Rookie/Draft Card. My first football card and LT would go on to be my favorite athlete of all-time and one of the best RBs of all-time. Probably holds more sentimental value than anything, but years ago it was valued at $30. Not bad.

[bleedspeed]

I used to have this.

[Phenom]

I kept a small collection of Garnett cards, rookies, Jersey cards etc. And I have a plastic 1992 team USA team photo card worth about 30 bucks last I checked. Laettner!

[Monster]

That's crazy it reminds me of something that happened here in Lincoln a few years ago.

I am a bicycle guy. I haven't ridden as much the past year or so but I also used to fix up and sell them quite a bit as a hobby and make some extra cash. I would always be looking on Craigslist for deals and one time someone was giving away 15-20 old bicycles in their basement. They typed out all the brand names and they were all road bikes made in Italy or France etc and at least one was an Eddy Merckx. Basically every bike they were giving away was worth at least $300 each just as they sat. Whoever got there first to pick them up made out like a bandit even if they just sold the frames on eBay. You don't see bikes like that around this part of the country very often.

I have been trying to downsize stuff and my sports cards were one thing I let go last year. I don't think I had anything that was worth a lot so mostly it was sentimental value. I took pictures of all the cards (most of them were already in page sleeves) and gave them to one of my good friends who has a young niece who really loves old cards. I think he gave me $20 or something and I only took it because he insisted. It's always he'd to turn down big packs of random cards at thrift stores now. Lol

I have some old toys and some Star Wars card I am going to see if one of the local guys will buy as a lot for a few bucks. I don't know about other places but Facebook groups are a good way to unload vintage type stuff locally for a few bucks and people actually buy it much better than Craigslist IMO.

On eBay it's funny what some people want. Last year Isold my wife's old Creative Zen Nano for probably want she paid for it new 12 years ago. Lol So if you have some old stuff like that it maybe be worth offloading to some hipster and give your wife shoe money. iPod Nano 1st generations sell well because you can send them to Apple because they have a battery issue and they will send you a refurbished latest generation of the Nano.