Funniest things you've heard from non collectors

What are some funny things non collectors have said to you?

As a card store owner, I've heard a lot, here's a few.

1. "I have hundreds of cards from the fifties"

Turned out they were '88 Donruss but he thought the player's date of birth was the year the cards were made.

2. "I have really old cards like Matt Nokes, Paul Assenmacher and Eddie Whitson"

"But my son paid a LOT of money for these from QVC back in the 90's"

In 1991 When I was a dealer, people would say; "I bought all these 1987-1991 sets to pay for Jr's college fund" now they're saying they should've stuck with beanie babies!

Fordman

flightwim said:

In almost all cultures and societies, children have collected a broad spectrum of items. Although the activity seems to be universal, very little has been written on this subject. And even though collecting has played an important part in many individuals' lives, it is seldom described in memoirs or autobiographies.

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I had to look up your post history, because this has "bot" written all over it.
To my surprise - real person!

I went to my friends dad's house the other day and noticed a sheet of PG&E cards as told him that I'm a collector and I would like to buy them from him.. He laughed and asked how much. So I offered him $10 or $15 which I believe is way more than they are worth as it was like 9 perforated cards on a sheet and he laughed and showed me some signature on the side and told me there was no way that could be replaced for $15.. I forgot who he said it was, but it was no one important.

He then digs out a 1987 Donruss card of a Giants players and a 2006 Topps and tells me that these cards are worth a lot... I just laughed and told him they are worth about $.10 if you're lucky and carried on because I could see there was no way out of getting through to him that his stuff was really worth pennies and I was just being nice and wanted it.

Several of the dealers I see at the local shows are clearly non-collectors, as they show no real knowledge of the game or hobby outside of the current hot prospects. One dealer in particular has tried to hard sell me on junk a few times; once, trying to get me to buy an old Mother's Cookies Astros set, he's flipping through and naming off the players as if Craig Reynolds and Jose Cruz were the same as Trout and Harper. Reminds me a lot of that sketchy Sham-Wow guy.

One day when I was at Walmart buying some rack packs for sets I was building, the cashier asked me "Do you ever get any valuable cards?". He was about 20 years old or so, so I seriously doubt he grew up when cards were in their hey day.I told him not so much from Walmart because buying cards at a retail outlet is usually a waste of time unless you want base cards or cheesy inserts. He told me that he didn't believe me and he figured there was a lot of really expensive cards in the packs. Now this bothered me a little. Not so much because he didn't know about the hobby and how it works, but mostly because I just didn't understand how he could think they were worth so much. How a person could just magically buy some packs and then pull really expensive cards like there was nothing to it. I asked him if it was that easy, wouldn't everyone buy the packs. He just sat there for a minute and then finished ringing up my items and shook his head.

Not a big deal but it just irks me a little. Is the non-collecting public really that out of tune with how any hobby works? This is also why I'm very careful with who I show my collection to or who I tell about it. God knows I don't want some fool breaking in to steal thousands of worthless base cards/low end inserts just because they are dumb enough to think "Oh my god, I'm gonna be rich". And people are naive enough to do it. Honestly you'd be better off stealing a television or gaming console.

I've heard a lot of the other type of comments where a guy has "millions of dollars" worth of "old" cards that are pretty much all 80's and 90's junk era stuff. The funniest part is they never believe they aren't worth anything and give you the most evil look when they are told as much. You'd figure with as lazy as general society is now, it might benefit them in the manner that they would actually google or look at ebay to see it for themselves. Of course watching two seconds of Pawn Stars leads to the reality that a person is generally foolish enough to look at ebay and just notice the asking prices, which are usually always high anyways, and thinking that is "what the item is worth".

I don't mind answering questions for folks if I know the answer, but it's funny how angry and arrogant people get about something they know nothing about. Oh well....

"You collect baseball cards? I have TONS somewhere, I should have you take a look. There are tons of good stuff if I remember right."

When I went home over Christmas to visit my parents, I was telling my Dad about some cards I sold on eBay.
My Mom then asked, "People still collect baseball cards?"

She seriously didn't know because sportscards have been out of the mainstream media for so long, and I was a huge collector as a kid during the boom of the '80s when cards were everywhere.

My Mom (and most non-collectors) haven't heard about or noticed our shrinking hobby in more than a decade, so she just assumed they were a fad like Beanie Babies.

Besides my family and people on here, I dont tell anyone I collect cards.

BiggioBrooks755 said:

Besides my family and people on here, I dont tell anyone I collect cards.

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Seems like most people just don't understand. Some don't see the fun and others seem to think it's either a million dollar hobby or completely worthless.

Do they still come with gum inside?

Nothing in particular, but when I look at Craigslist for cards the sellers say some crazy things like late 80's cards are old or vintage. And misspelling stars names.

"Daddy, you're weird! Do you realize you are a grown man collecting pictures of other grown men?"

I honestly never thought of it that way until my daughter so blatantly pointed it out to me.

"I just don't understand it." -- My dad, after taking me to the baseball card shop yet again to pore over these pieces of waxy cardboard when I was 12, over 30 years ago
"I just don't understand it." -- My dad, after watching me rip, sort, and file away a box of cards I got for Christmas in the early 90s
"I just don't understand it." -- My dad, earlier this year after seeing a Paypal receipt for $150 for one card (glad he didn't see the other one for $711)
Suffice it to say my dad is neither a sports guy, nor a collector of anything. He hasn't even opened the box sets of SG-1 I got him for Christmases and birthdays 10 years ago.

Back about 20 years ago I went to a card show one Saturday or Sunday morning before work, and I bought a 1955 Bowman Willie Mays, as I had decided to start maybe building that set (which I'm still working on). I worked at a call center where we sat in these "pods" of about 12 seats in a big cubicle. When there weren't any calls, we'd all turn to face the center and just talk. This girl, Monica, on whom I had a crush but didn't really know, asked me what I did that day. I could've hid my nerdiness but I decided to just be honest and told her I went to a card show and bought the Mays. She asked if she could see it. So I pulled it out of my backpack, still in the half-inch lucite screwdown, and handed it to her. She immediately turned to the other girls and exclaimed,"Look what Joel just gave me!" and started passing it around telling everyone about it. I knew she was breaking my balls but I still had this bit of apprehension that, not only was I being ridiculed, but she might actually keep my card. Nah, everything's cool. She laughed and gave it back. Monica is one of my best friends to this day.

And I have another friend who I hang out with most Saturdays. We go to lunch, walk the dog, go to shops, etc. Except he doesn't like the hobby shops (comics, cards). One time we pulled up at the card shop and he went for a walk down the street. The owner, a crusty old Korean guy, saw this, and not for the first time. So he asks me,"Your friend, he no like card?"
"No, Bobby, he doesn't."
And then I swear his next question was,"Does he drink?"
"Actually yes, he's a recovering alcoholic."
"Hmmmmmm...."

It always annoys me when people ask "Have any cards that are worth anything?" or "What's the most expensive card you have?"

Money is not why I collect!

My girl explaining to her sister, that I only collect the shiny ones.

"What do you do with game-used uniforms... wear 'em?"