Dragging this thread up from its buried position due to some updates.
Back in March of last year , the last vestiges of the WWII ties in my family died when the old man died at 81
Leaving me with just 2 or 3 living relatives of mine born at or before 1945. Next gen starts around 1958-64 with a bunch of boomers of which I'm part of, then continues to the 70's "baby" crew. I say "baby" but "baby" refers to a while bunch of "kids" who just hit 50+.
His death hit me more than I expected. Not in any sense of personal loss, but just smacked me topside my forehead when I realized who showed up at the funeral with their "grandchildren". Me sitting there thinking " I'm older than these people and these are grandchildren". Sorta smacked me topside a 2nd time when I then realized- crap- retirement sorta snuck up on me. I was way, way, way too busy working to know or pay attention to the fact I can claim retirement FULL 100% benefits in January of 2024. I still haven't even seen the VA guys about my disability yet either.
Took me a while to come to grips with that "mortality-it can leave at any minute" reminder. But its now firmly planted in my head. Reading up on some others who have undergone bypasses and other old man body abuse issues again reminded me of my age
Why does any of this matter? I've decided after being the caretaker of some rare items for nearly 50+ years in some cases to start divesting for retirement , and padding said retirement funds more than the paltry sums they currently are possessing. Oh, I'll still collect my favorites, just less of them, and sell off every single dupe I find .
I'm going to start posting some stuff in the usual places, and in a few instances may use a trusted 3rd party when the value gets excessive. I cant talk about the vintage as the lawyer wont allow it. But modern he's told me do as I wish- how little does he know. Although in several instances of modern where there are some touchy and thorny legal issues - well, I'll avoid that subject matter until given the appropriate legal green lights.
With this my first post regarding my divestiture isn't a sad case, it actually turned out better than I expected, as life gave me sorta a reminder how sharing with the next gen sometimes brings back unexpected rewards of its own.
Many people have seen me post my Roger Clemens Donruss Crusades in Gem or Pristine condition.
Below are two of them I recently sold to a fellow Clemens Collector from the younger generation ( he's in his 40's so yeah -next gen to me).
Below that-- a card another fellow Clemens collector owned-- our very own @mindgone61008 (Chris Frost)
The collector I sold these two happened to be the lucky bidder when Chris sold. Since I have dupe raw purples- decided to work out a deal. I get cash to pay bills in my retirement, he sends me the slab also , and we both walk away fully satisfied with the transaction.
Other items may just go on certain sites as I don't want to choose favorites it just happened to work out this way on these two.
WHAT I PASSED DOWN TO THE NEXT GEN ( for cash and considerations of course)
,
,
,
View attachment 345835
View attachment 345836
,
,
,
WHAT CAME BACK HERE ( amazingly a card owned by fellow Clemens collector Chris Frost @mindgone61008)
I'll just release the PSA slab and get BGS to slab it and put it back in my registry with one of my dupe purples
,
,
,
View attachment 345837
While I m not a slabbed/grading guy, I will commit to not removing the these from their homes, because they are comfy, and because the next " young guy" may appreciate tracing the slabs years from now.
Cant say I was seeking both cards or expecting the deal, but agree it worked out well for both parties. And by the way, even in my 40s, sadly I m trying to envision the "end game" on a room full of thousands of cards that took a lifetime to assemble.... for now I ll just look at them and enjoy them I hope.