To celebrate its golden anniversary, Topps is inserting more than 30,000 vintage cards in this year's packs, including redemption vouchers for three 1952 Mickey Mantle rookie cards, Topps' piece de resistance . We used to flip 'em, trade 'em and, yes, stick 'em in the spokes of a bicycle to make it sound like a motorcycle. Now collectors acquire and divest them as in a portfolio and hope the profits help 'em buy a motorcycle. It could be going to the 7-Eleven, getting some apple juice and picking up some cards. Just as timeless is the equally irresistible urge for America's mothers to toss 'em, or so we claim.
Moms are the ultimate scapegoats for the lost treasures of our youth.
He's still mad at me. The comment was from Barbara Bush, to Newsweek last summer, about the 43rd president of the United States. George W. may exaggerate the market value, but his childhood collection was indeed enviable. The popularity of baseball cards has gone in cycles, but it seems they mean the most to the kids who collected them before they became investments. We didn't have all the highlight shows.