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Mom's Garage Sale Oddball Find From Baseball Card Bill

Many of us probably grew up and knew of an adult baseball card collector that we envied. As an adult he had an awesome collection we could only dream of. 

"Baseball Card Bill" lived across the street from my childhood home. Twice a year Bill would have a garage sale. His sales varied each time, but the one known was baseball cards and sports memorabilia.

There are not too many finds I can recall from Bill's garage sales, though I made many purchases as a kid. Once I bought a small box of vintage basketball cards. Another time a stack of old sports magazines. One year my best friend Luke bought a Mark McGwire 1985 Topps rookie card for about $8. That was like two week's allowance. Unlike me, Luke held on to his cards (I constantly traded and later sold), and was fortunate to still have it when the value soared to $200 in 1998. I think he dumped it for $100-150 around this time. 

Each time I head back to my hometown and look across at Bill's house I wonder if he still has his large collection and if he's willing to sell. He recently sold his house and held his final garage sale where as a kid garage sale day at Bill's was like Christmas morning.

My mom asked Bill if he still had all his cards, and he said he did. He mentioned that he thought he may have to sell them all, but his new house will accommodate them. The only cards that remained for sale was a couple uncut sheets. 

The uncut sheets came in a dirty, old, large glass frame. When my mom gave them to me she said, "I know you won't want the frame, but you have to take it." 

On top, was a 1992 Starting Lineup collector sheet. Only one Chicago Cub is represented here: Ryne Sandberg. It's one solid sheet, so I'll probably just stick it in the corner of my card room.

The second sheet was something I was more excited about. It's a 1988 Chef Boyardee uncut sheet. This sheet of 24 cards does have perforations as well as a pair of Cubs: Sandberg and Andre Dawson.

Here's my dilemma. Do I keep it intact, or do I break it up and keep the Cubs and trade the other 22 cards? Any help with this one? 


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