My uncle swore I'd never find a complete set of 1952 Topps baseball cards at a garage sale, but I pulled the last one I needed out of a shoebox in Eugene for $3.

He told me people who collect know what they've got and don't let stuff go cheap, but the family selling didn't even know what they had and I almost walked right past that box, so has anyone else been proven completely wrong by a relative's old advice like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

adamk951mo ago

My dad told me the same thing about old fishing gear. Said nobody would ever sell a vintage Penn reel for pocket change because they'd know better. Found a 1950s Penn Senator at a yard sale last summer for $5 because the guy's wife just wanted the "rusty old reel" out of the garage. Cleaned it up, it works perfect. Dad had to eat his words on that one.

milesbailey1mo ago

The real trick is that most people don't know what they have until someone else tells them. Your dad's probably right about a serious collector knowing their gear, but that's not who you're dealing with at a yard sale. You're dealing with a wife who sees an eyesore or a kid cleaning out grandpa's house who just wants it gone fast. The real secret is that the best stuff usually comes from people who never cared about the hobby in the first place. That's why you gotta be nice to everyone at those sales, not just the old guys with tackle boxes. Makes you wonder how many other treasures are sitting in junk piles waiting for someone who actually knows what to look for, right?

alexk601mo ago

Those 1952 Topps cards are a great find but I gotta say the Mantle in that set is the one everyone talks about for a reason. Even so, uncles and dads are usually right about people knowing what they have in this hobby, especially with vintage baseball cards. I've seen plenty of guys overpay at shows just to get a common card they're missing, so getting that last one for $3 is pretty wild. Your uncle probably just didn't want you to get your hopes up too high because those kind of garage sale scores are rare. Cleaning up that old Penn reel sounds like a fun project too, by the way.