Deceased soldier's collection; value...

[GoodFriendDave]

Hello. My name is David and please allow me to thank you all for your attention in this forum.

Last month, I lost my good friend Clifford in what was described as "an insurgent attack" in Iraq. I could go on and on about him, but let's sum it up by saying that he was one heck of a soldier, friend, and father.

Because his family isn't very computer literate, I offered to help them determine the value of his belongings that they are needing to sell. Going through his things has been quite painful for both me and his family, but we are almost done. However, his basketball card collection (mostly Michael Jordan), has me stumped.

If anyone can help me determine the value of the collection as a whole, I would really appreciate it, as I don't want his family to be taken advantage of. His little boy deserves mountains, and I know we're probably talking mole hills here, but I want to give them as much as I can.

Thank you in advance for any insight you all can give me in this matter...

Dave

[Setzy]

From just a quick glance, theres nothing out of this world in the collection. It has some decent book value but most people aren't going to pay a whole heck of a lot for the cards. My advice would be to sell perhaps as a lot on eBay if you have an account or perhaps just put them into a lockbox or something and the kid would have a nice something passed down to him. I had a papaw give me a wallet many years ago, after he passed away I wear it and remember him.

If you're completely adamant about squeaking out anything you could get for the collection do a little eBay research and type in the card names and click on advanced settings to the right of the search box and tick completed listings, you will see what has recently sold (in green) and not (in red).

Good luck.

[BCUS28]

Unfortunately Setzy is right, not much there in terms of value.

Also, Setzy's suggestion is a great one. Put the cards away for his son and someday give them to him.

They were his father's collection, likely pulled all of them, held all of them, admired all of them. It would be a great materialistic connection.

As a card collector I can speak on most's behalves here- that is what we would want.

Our condolences Dave. May Clifford rest in peace and his family and friends celebrate his life.

[bdrr]

Unfortunately Setzy is right, not much there in terms of value.

Also, Setzy's suggestion is a great one. Put the cards away for his son and someday give them to him.

They were his father's collection, likely pulled all of them, held all of them, admired all of them. It would be a great materialistic connection.

As a card collector I can speak on most's behalves here- that is what we would want.

Our condolences Dave. May Clifford rest in peace and his family and friends celebrate his life.

+1

I think that his son would eventually enjoy to have something of his father's.

[Hilfiger1975]

I agree, save them for his son he would want him to have them...

[GoodFriendDave]

Thank you all for your responses. I agree that saving the cards for when his boy is old enough to appreciate and take care of them would be the best idea. However, we live in an area where the economy was down *before* the economy went down. Personally I went from a desk job to roofing, flooring, drywall, etc at 1/3 of the pay. I'm afraid that his family is in need of the money with real world problems at hand (that I respectfully won't elaborate on).

I guess my only real question left would be what a reasonable starting price for ebay would be for the whole collection, as to make sure it sells.

Thank you all again for your sound advice and honest consideration in this matter.

Dave

[XxViSiOnxX]

Moved to Basketball Talk, Might help out.

[raymor77]

Not to take away from Clifford's memory. But didn't his family receive his Servicemember's Group Life Insurance and all his pay and entitlements?


The cards above would get the most monetary value being given to his son, on eBay you might get $20-30 after all the fees, etc....

[armyatc22]

Not to take away from Clifford's memory. But didn't his family receive his Servicemember's Group Life Insurance and all his pay and entitlements?


The cards above would get the most monetary value being given to his son, on eBay you might get $20-30 after all the fees, etc....

Yes his family should have received around 400,000 from the SGLI

Terrible loss....huge respect from a fellow service member

[GoodFriendDave]

Not to take away from Clifford's memory. But didn't his family receive his Servicemember's Group Life Insurance and all his pay and entitlements?


The cards above would get the most monetary value being given to his son, on eBay you might get $20-30 after all the fees, etc....

They did. It's the difference between the mother and the rest of the family. However, this falls into the family situation that I didn't want to have to go into. I am considering buying them myself for fair value, so that I can keep them for his boy. But like I said before, we live in one of the most impoverished areas in the nation, and times are tough. That much money buys alot of food if you spend it wisely. I bet I can come up with it if the weather and work keeps coming for me.

But if $20-30 sounds like a good starting point for ebay, if all else fails I'll post them up there in a couple of weeks.

Thank you all again, and thanks to the mod for moving the thread.

Dave