I have heard that, about every ten years, most people find themselves sitting on a potential fortune, which they bypass because they don’t realize the value that they have. For me, it was the comic books which my mother threw out as soon as I left home – I had the original Wonder Woman – which sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars. I also had the first Lone Ranger ever published. Also Raggedy Amme and Raggedy Andy. Probably a lot of Pluggers wonder whatever became of those comics they had which later brought thousands of dollars.
My brother and I had lots of comic books and baseball cards, many of which would be quite valuable today, if our mother hadn’t thrown them all away. Of course, if mothers everywhere had kept them, there would be too many surviving and their value would be much less.
I remember doing that but quickly realized you didn’t do it in the position depicted in the comic. That caught on the first turn of the wheel and flipped off clothes pin and all. Also put on right you couldn’t roll your bike backward or the same result. That was in the 60’s for this 71 yo plugger!
I didn’t use my baseball cards, I used playing cards. I did get upset with my mother when I returned from my second year of college and found out she threw out my baseball card collection And my comic book collection. All from the 50’s.
My parents never would have thrown my stuff out. Sadly, my sports cards which would be valuable today, were destroyed in a house flood. I sometimes lose sleep thinking about that. A few survived though.
I could think about my late husband’s old baseball cards that were lost when we married in 1966 that contained a couple of Roberto Clemente and Pete Rose cards. His mom must have thrown them out, who knows?
Still have all my baseball cards,some football cards,James Bond & Man From U.N.C.L.E. cards but here’s the rub: we actively looked at’em,held’em,traded’em so they have,oh my gosh! The dreaded rounded corners! Ain’t worth anything at all,bummer‼️
Hah… I had the first Superman comic, too, AND a huge format Superman 3D that came with those Red and Blue cardboard glasses inside. That is why they are worth so much today – because almost all of them got worn out and thrown away.
Used to be a comics collector. The two things that drive the value of comic books are scarcity and condition. The reason that Action Comics #1 (first appearance of Superman) can be worth over a million dollars is that there are only about two hundred known to still exist, and only a handful of those are in decent condition. Same goes for baseball cards. Both of those things are considered “ephemera” and are expected to be bought and soon thrown away. I paid a tidy sum a few years ago for a collectible pre-WW2 board game. Much paper and cardboard ephemera got swept up and pulverized during the scrap paper drives of WW2, so for anything like that to have survived until today is very unusual, which drives up the price. That is probably what happened to a lot of pre-war comic books.
We used the little pieces of cardboard that separated the packages of graham crackers in the box. Anyone else?
I think our comics were so read and re-read between us three kids as to not be worth much at any rate. But we did have a pretty nice train set that, as the youngest child, I begged my mom to let me keep, but she sold it at her sister’s yard/farm sale in the 1960s, dang it all.
I used plastic cottage-cheese containers, slit down the side, and held in place by four or five of Mom’s highest-quality, steel-spring loaded wooden clothespins. On steel-spoked 27-inchers, I had the epitome of a imaginative Harley Hawg…well, until I predictively lost a cylinder/jug or two, at around 10-to-15 mph, down-hill plus a tail-wind! Which just meant back to the trash can, and a quick-raid of the clothespin bag…☺
Zykoic 12 days ago
And Apple stock they sold to “diversify”.
LoisG Premium Member 12 days ago
I have heard that, about every ten years, most people find themselves sitting on a potential fortune, which they bypass because they don’t realize the value that they have. For me, it was the comic books which my mother threw out as soon as I left home – I had the original Wonder Woman – which sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars. I also had the first Lone Ranger ever published. Also Raggedy Amme and Raggedy Andy. Probably a lot of Pluggers wonder whatever became of those comics they had which later brought thousands of dollars.
phritzg Premium Member 12 days ago
My brother and I had lots of comic books and baseball cards, many of which would be quite valuable today, if our mother hadn’t thrown them all away. Of course, if mothers everywhere had kept them, there would be too many surviving and their value would be much less.
juicebruce 12 days ago
Did not do that one . We used ballons somehow ;-)
Robert Nowall Premium Member 11 days ago
My father told me he and his buddies used playing cards.
gsps4me 11 days ago
I remember doing that but quickly realized you didn’t do it in the position depicted in the comic. That caught on the first turn of the wheel and flipped off clothes pin and all. Also put on right you couldn’t roll your bike backward or the same result. That was in the 60’s for this 71 yo plugger!
ryanestrada 11 days ago
Mchigan???
DaBump Premium Member 11 days ago
Not me, but I can just see it happening to someone else so clearly — “That was a Mickey Mantle rookie card…”
Watchdog 11 days ago
I still have my 1958 IRS tax return
goboboyd 11 days ago
Another ill-spent youth.
ctolson 11 days ago
I didn’t use my baseball cards, I used playing cards. I did get upset with my mother when I returned from my second year of college and found out she threw out my baseball card collection And my comic book collection. All from the 50’s.
Irish53 11 days ago
My parents never would have thrown my stuff out. Sadly, my sports cards which would be valuable today, were destroyed in a house flood. I sometimes lose sleep thinking about that. A few survived though.
chris_o42 11 days ago
I could think about my late husband’s old baseball cards that were lost when we married in 1966 that contained a couple of Roberto Clemente and Pete Rose cards. His mom must have thrown them out, who knows?
ragsarooni 11 days ago
Still have all my baseball cards,some football cards,James Bond & Man From U.N.C.L.E. cards but here’s the rub: we actively looked at’em,held’em,traded’em so they have,oh my gosh! The dreaded rounded corners! Ain’t worth anything at all,bummer‼️
KEA 11 days ago
no kidding
g04922 11 days ago
Hah… I had the first Superman comic, too, AND a huge format Superman 3D that came with those Red and Blue cardboard glasses inside. That is why they are worth so much today – because almost all of them got worn out and thrown away.
Zen-of-Zinfandel 11 days ago
Yeah, high anxiety. I think I used playing cards.
anomalous4 11 days ago
We used to use playing cards.
mistercatworks 11 days ago
A bike without batteries may soon become a collector’s item.
Claymore Premium Member 11 days ago
Used to be a comics collector. The two things that drive the value of comic books are scarcity and condition. The reason that Action Comics #1 (first appearance of Superman) can be worth over a million dollars is that there are only about two hundred known to still exist, and only a handful of those are in decent condition. Same goes for baseball cards. Both of those things are considered “ephemera” and are expected to be bought and soon thrown away. I paid a tidy sum a few years ago for a collectible pre-WW2 board game. Much paper and cardboard ephemera got swept up and pulverized during the scrap paper drives of WW2, so for anything like that to have survived until today is very unusual, which drives up the price. That is probably what happened to a lot of pre-war comic books.
Pluggergirl 11 days ago
Ma sold all mine for $5, my Archies comic books for $5 and my 1959 Barbie doll & case for $5.
EMGULS79 11 days ago
I used standard playing cards. Never collected baseball cards. Never had any interest in baseball – then or now.
kathleenhicks62 11 days ago
All is gone!
btwzoo 11 days ago
My cards from the 70s and 80s are in my closet.
dlestersprint0 11 days ago
I used playing cards. Maybe that’s why my bike sounded like an Izetta Than a Harley.
NaturLvr 11 days ago
We used the little pieces of cardboard that separated the packages of graham crackers in the box. Anyone else?
I think our comics were so read and re-read between us three kids as to not be worth much at any rate. But we did have a pretty nice train set that, as the youngest child, I begged my mom to let me keep, but she sold it at her sister’s yard/farm sale in the 1960s, dang it all.
Totalloser Premium Member 11 days ago
everyone I knew used cards from players who were scrubs. You would not use Hank Aaron but you used his brother Tommy Aaron
bruno640320 11 days ago
I used plastic cottage-cheese containers, slit down the side, and held in place by four or five of Mom’s highest-quality, steel-spring loaded wooden clothespins. On steel-spoked 27-inchers, I had the epitome of a imaginative Harley Hawg…well, until I predictively lost a cylinder/jug or two, at around 10-to-15 mph, down-hill plus a tail-wind! Which just meant back to the trash can, and a quick-raid of the clothespin bag…☺
raybarb44 11 days ago
Don’t worry about, but most definitely remember……
Strawberry King 11 days ago
If he were a rich bear…
eddi-TBH 11 days ago
One kid here uses a water bottle jammed into the frame. Smart.
wildlandwaters 11 days ago
that actually crossed my mind from time to time… not to mention my dad having the first Superman comic book, etc. ……
chromosome Premium Member 11 days ago
My parents didn’t throw away my comics, but I used them so much I wore most of them out… I didn’t have any special ones, either.