Don't throw away your old card collection
As a kid, collecting baseball cards ate up all my lawn mowing money and now most of them sit in a box collecting dust. But I also could be collecting money.
In the 1960s when moms and dads were throwing out baseball cards and little boys and girls were using them as noisemakers in their bike spokes, little did anyone know they were actually throwing money down the drain.
With cards disappearing and becoming rare, prices skyrocketed and collecting in the '90s became profitable for anyone who had a clue what he or she was doing.
Of course, when everyone began holding on to cards again, the prices went down as they became as common as a Kansas City Royals' loss.
That doesn't mean there aren't some newer cards worth money.
Royals' third baseman Alex Gordon's Topps' rookie card from last year is selling for hundreds, even thousands, on the Internet, because the cards weren't supposed to be released until this season, and only around 100 (mainly in the Wichita area) were available.
A friend of mine recently pulled a Ryan Howard card worth nearly $2,000 out of a $6 pack.
Another pulled an Alex Rodriquez printing plate out of a pack, which also was signed by the Yankees all-star third baseman.
The plate was used to print all the cards, and is the only one in existence — basically it's priceless.
But what could be interesting in the next 20 to 30 years is to see if people start throwing cards away again because the prices have gone down.
If so, kids and adults alike could be sitting on some money and not even know it.
Sometimes thinking about cards as a way to make money takes the fun out of buying them for your favorite player or the stale bubble gum.
Still, it's always interesting to try and find something that allows you to make a quick buck.
But don't think you can run out and just buy cards and pull out something worth money every time.
Back in college I decided to try and get into collecting cards again, thinking I would automatically find some worth something.
Instead, I threw down $100 and ended up with my best card being worth about $10.
But that's my luck.
My friend with the Howard card always seems to have good luck, including finding two Ken Griffey Jr. 1989 Upper Deck rookie cards in the same pack, each worth then about $150 — that's a lot of money when you are 10 and your job consists of doing the dishes for 50 cents.
So, there are cards out there worth money and some that could be if they are held onto for the next 20 years.
But if you have my luck, don't get into it for the money, just enjoy them for what they were originally intended to be — noisemakers for kids' bike spokes.
