No Need for a Savings Account When You Have Toys

I have the best mother-in-law in the world. She has always been supportive, kind, and gracious. She filled trays full of holiday leftovers for us when we were starving college kids, she included my brother and cousin in family holiday meals when my folks lived in Alaska, she makes homemade sauerkraut and pickled beets that fill our pantries, and she is always full of love for her family. Several years ago, she decided to begin the process of cleaning out closets and trying to provide her sons with the belongings they left behind when they moved out of her home. For my husband, some of these belongings consisted of old books, photographs from high school, sporting equipment and so forth. Many of these items were placed in our car trunk in Sheridan, MT and thrown in a dumpster once we arrived home in Miles City, MT. We just did not have a need for the items and if we did not throw the stuff out, our kids would one day be throwing the stuff out.

I spent a little time last weekend going through dresser drawers and hope chests in an effort to de-clutter.  In one of my hope chests, among a shredded baby blanket and newspaper clippings from the 1970’s, I found a small cardboard box. The box was filled with Topps Star Wars, basketball, and baseball cards from the 1970’s. The cards had belonged to my husband when he was a tween and my mother-in-law had sent the cards home with us almost 15 years ago. I have no idea why I saved the cards. I am infamous for throwing things in the garbage. I live by the mindset that if I stumble upon something that I have not seen nor used in a year, it goes in the trash or donation pile. But here were the trading cards. 

I hauled the box to our kitchen and my husband and I began going through the cards. There were stacks of Topps Star Wars cards, Star Wars Card stickers, baseball, and basketball cards and mini-cards that were big in the 70’s. Out of curiosity, we went online and watched a couple of YouTube videos on valuable Star Wars cards.  We were amazed to find that his collection had many of the highest value cards listed by various sites. While images of an upcoming trip to Spain and an expanded house remodel danced through my greedy head, I also learned that the cards must be graded and certified to possess resale value. The cards are inspected for authenticity and condition and then given a grade. This is a process and I do not know how to go about having the cards assessed in Montana, but my husband and I are seriously considering looking into what the process entails and where we could obtain those services. 

My husband has always taken care of his possessions. He is neat, orderly and will store his belongings in their original packages. I am not surprised that most of his card collection is in pristine condition. I am not surprised that his mother was thoughtful enough to save the cards and return them to him when he was in his 40’s. However, I am surprised that I did not throw the cards out and that I also put them in a safe area that maintained their condition. Wish us luck on getting the cards appraised and certified. If pictures of us in Spain pop-up on Instagram in the next month or two, you will know the process went well.