So I have certainly had my fair share of stupid money moments over the years. What Dave Ramsey and Team affectionately call, "Stupid Tax" moments! Listening to this Ramsey episode yesterday, it once again reminded me of my all-timer story.
In the summer of 1990 while living in Olney, MD my Mom and I went out together on a Saturday morning for one of our favorite bonding and shared passion experiences: yard sale bargain hunting! Yes, going back to when I was a young kid, negotiating and getting deals was wired in me both naturally, and influentially through my Mom. On a side note, Mom had just started her successful Real Estate career that year!
A home in our neighborhood had items for sale in their garage. My prime mission at the time was hoping to find deals on my current hobby: sports cards! As hoped, there were a couple shoe boxes filled with random cards, for 5 cents each!
To my delight, there was a Rickey Henderson rookie card! At the time, I recall it was worth around $150. I actually ended up trading it for Joe Montana’s rookie card a couple years later. Check out what it's selling for now in mint condition!
But the gold mine, was they also had the Magic Johnson/Larry bird rookie combo card! At the time, this card was worth around $250-300. Again, check out what it is selling for now!
Yes, I paid a total of .10 for these 2 cards. I was feeling pretty good leaving that yard sale!
A few years ago, I wrote about how I was a big Michael Jordan fan. And a good buddy of mine, had the holy grail basketball card: Michael Jordan's 1986 fleer rookie card! At the time, it was worth around $450-500. His favorite player was Larry Bird. And he didn't have the Bird rookie. I wanted Jordan. He wanted Bird. So I swapped my Bird/Magic card, and David Robinson rookie, for his Jordan. I was ecstatic. I had some great cards, but now Jordan was my prize collection.
Then the summer of 1991 rolled around, and Jordan's Chicago Bulls won their first NBA Championship. Even though I was a Washington Bullets fan, I also pulled for Jordan and the Bulls when they made the playoffs. And now in '91, it was their time as Jordan got his first of 6 rings.
Anyone from that time remember what one of the most trendy items to wear was? Starter Jackets! And now in the fall, the Jordan champion Bulls soared to arguably the most popular and must-get starter jacket. And I jumped on the bandwagon and wanted one! There was only one problem: I didn’t have enough money saved to buy one. So I went into strategy mode of how I would make money quickly.
Problem number one? I was impulsive, and wanted the jacket now.
And keep in mind, there was no E-Bay, no online market sites- no internet at that time! We had to create a market, in person. There was a sports card show in Gaithersburg at the Casey Barn Community Center and I decided that I should sell some of my cards to get the $ needed for the Bulls jacket! Before leaving my house I looked at my Jordan rookie card. I paused, considered…should I try to sell my best card? Then I looked closely at it. While it was in very good condition, I noticed a slight nick on the bottom left corner. The stupidity impulse monster in me was growing to next-level mode. I had the brilliant idea: why don’t I attempt to use my scissors and ever so slightly trim the nick, to make it look in even better…perhaps even mint condition? Yes, I listened to stupidity, trimmed the card, and took it with me in hopes of getting a king’s ransom- hopefully a lot more than was needed for my Bulls Starter Jacket!
I talked to one of the dealers and as expected, he was interested in buying my Jordan! But there was a problem. While looking at it closely, he said that it looked like it had been trimmed and asked if I noticed and agreed. Trying to play it off, I said it looks pretty good to me and didn’t make a big deal of it. He said he would give me $50. Yes, FIFTY dollars! Internally I was stunned. Only $50? Surely it’s worth more than this! Of course it was, even with the slight trim.
Problem number two? I was desperate…and wanted the jacket now! If I could go back in time, I wish I could tell my 16 year old self to listen to the financial alarm bells going off, be patient and wait until I had the money saved, and delay the impulse for instant gratification.
So yes, in that stupid money moment of time, I agreed to exchange my 1986 Michael Jordan fleer, slightly trimmed rookie card, for a whopping $50! The thing is, most people even knew me as a shrewd negotiator at that time. I was always the one wheeling and dealing, including trading cards for more valuable cards! I had a pretty valuable card collection. But emotions took over and I clearly wasn’t thinking rationally. I had to have my Jordan Bulls Starter Jacket!
So what if I never sold that Jordan rookie card? With all the official card grading scales today (not around back in 1991), what would the trim version grade currently be worth? Or, what if I never trimmed it? What would that grade version be worth? Though hard to say exactly, I definitely recall it being in very good shape before the trim. Check out the list price of this one!
Based on a couple conversations with card collectors, I don’t think it’s far fetched to think my Jordan could possibly be worth upwards of $250,000 these days! Honestly, I can laugh and smile when I tell this story! I don’t have sleepless nights, anxiously wondering about what might have been. Hey, the optimistic side of me says if you go full-circle, I still managed to flip a 5 cent investment, into a $50 sale! Sure, it’s a painful memory but it’s also a good story that I want to remind myself, and tell others about. 2 lessons we can learn:
Don’t be impulsive, desperate and make stupid financial decisions. Be patient, save, and buy something when you have the money and the time is right.
Hold onto your valuable sports cards and let them go up in value!
Oh yeah and that Bulls Starter Jacket? I enjoyed it and had good memories. Then I sold it a few years later. Can’t even remember how much. And what is it worth today?
Good times.