Stupidest thing you've ever done to a future collectable (preferably as a child)

When I was a kid, I had the original MECO Paul Stanley and Peter Criss dolls. I asked my mother one day if she ever wondered what Peter Criss looked like without makeup, and I can blame this following tale on her because she said YES.

I went to my room and very meticulously scratched all of the makeup off the doll's face with the rough edge of a paper clip.

After this, I proudly presented it to my mother, who spent even more time telling what what a stupid move that was. I realized it moreso in later years when I saw what kind of money they were fetching.

So then, top me!

My grandma gave me her cedar chest which is over 100 years old built by her grandfather. Well, I sanded it down and re-stained it. Now 20 years later I know that was a NONO!:bonk:

Being a Vancouver fan adn a young kid at the time I can't remember how many Wayne Gretzky rookie cards I ripped up or traded for nothing because he used to score at will against my team.

Many thousands of dollars could be made if I knew then what I know now

In the 60's I had those bubble gum cards of each of the Beatles and I cut their faces out and glued them to my notebook.

When I was about 8, my uncle gave me a baseball signed by Kent Hrbek (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kent_Hrbek).
Well, one day me and my brother wanted to play baseball so we used the ball. My brother hit it up onto the roof, and when it was rolling down, it got stuck in the gutters.
We forgot about it until my dad was cleaning the gutters one day and found the ball. It was severely watterlogged from the rain and it was totally ruined.

At the time, if I had known who Kent Hrbek was, I don't think I would have done that. :doh:

When I was about 8, my uncle gave me a baseball signed by Kent Hrbek (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kent_Hrbek).
Well, one day me and my brother wanted to play baseball so we used the ball. My brother hit it up onto the roof, and when it was rolling down, it got stuck in the gutters.
We forgot about it until my dad was cleaning the gutters one day and found the ball. It was severely watterlogged from the rain and it was totally ruined.

At the time, if I had known who Kent Hrbek was, I don't think I would have done that. :doh:
:eek: :faint:

Sounds like that movie THE SANDLOT.

:eek: :faint:

Sounds like that movie THE SANDLOT.
When the vicious dog gets the Babe Ruth ball and the kid doesnt know who he is

When the vicious dog gets the Babe Ruth ball and the kid doesnt know who he is
You got it.

It is his step-dad's collectible ball. The kid doesn't know a thing abt baseball. These local kids show him how to play. One day their ball goes over a fence. So, this clueless kid goes to get his dad's ball...I mean, it is only sitting on a shelf collecting dust. :eek: Next thing he knows, that ball goes over a fence where a vicious dog is. :faint: He doesn't know yet that ball is a collectible until the kids tell him who Babe Ruth is. YIKES!!!! That ball was signed by Babe Ruth!!!!!!!

I dont know if ive ever done anything quite THAT bad, but, as kids, me and my bro used out HotWheels and Matchbox cars for demolition derbys......tends to destroy the value when you smash off headlights and wheels.
I also had the LARGE FORMAT Corgi Batmobile and Monkeemobiles....i still have whats left of the Monkeemobile, but, my Batmobile got lost when we moved ......they are now worth in the hundreds of $ in good condition!!! :(

We had two autographed baseballs signed by the entire Brooklyn Dodgers team, plus a personally autographed Gil Hodges baseball to my brother.

I'm embarrassed to say this, but they were thrown in a drawer, lost, played catch with--whatever. Smart move.

When i was little in the mid-60s my parents living room set was some shlocky second-hand 50s "kitch" furniture...they had the couch and love seats, the tables and coffee table and the lamps.....in the early 70s, they went to the dump and became landfill ( They didnt recycle much back then )....today the couch is worth about $800 , the tables $400 each and even those cheesy lamps are worth $150-200 each ( At least thats what they were asking for an IDENTICAL set at an antique barn i recently visited! )...cause, as tacky as it was, 50s kitch is now "retro" and much in demand!

When i was little in the mid-60s my parents living room set was some shlocky second-hand 50s "kitch" furniture...they had the couch and love seats, the tables and coffee table and the lamps.....in the early 70s, they went to the dump and became landfill ( They didnt recycle much back then )....today the couch is worth about $800 , the tables $400 each and even those cheesy lamps are worth $150-200 each ( At least thats what they were asking for an IDENTICAL set at an antique barn i recently visited! )...cause, as tacky as it was, 50s kitch is now "retro" and much in demand!
I know what you mean. I love to go to antique stores and vintage stores. I have seen our living room tables from the 70's in those stores! I also seen a replica of this coffee table centerpiece that we had from the 60's. In this antique store the replica was priced at $100:eek: . DAMN!!!

Also, I once seen the exact same dollhouse I had as a child. It was in good condition. It was selling for $135. I wanted to buy it just to have it for memories. But I don't have a decent place to put it away. Who would've thought that same dollhouse I had, would one day be valued at over $100? :faint:

Not a real major collectible, but I wish I never got rid of my playstation, and all the awesome games I had for it. NERRRRRR.

Not a real major collectible, but I wish I never got rid of my playstation, and all the awesome games I had for it. NERRRRRR.
I still have my Super Nintendo and play it ...I dont need anything more elaborate anyway.

Speaking of collectibles that you never thought would be expensive.....When i was a kid , my Granma had a set of these little glass birds for the Xmas tree that clipped on like a clothespin. They were probably made in the 30s and would have been fairly $$$ at the time. Anyway, when Granma died, there werent enough left to go around......so, we didnt inherit any. :( However, i promised myself that if I ever found any, id buy them cause i always wanted one of my own......last fall, i found 2 of them in an antique shop, and thought id buy at least one, hopefully both, they werent in the best condition, but, they were still pretty.......................................$125 EACH!!!!!!! ( Well, Ill keep looking, maybe ill get lucky and find some cheap at a Goodwill store , or something.):(

my Grammas birds were all like this first one....there was red, blue , yellow and green...2 of each ( But most of them were broken by the 80s )

Speaking of collectibles that you never thought would be expensive.....When i was a kid , my Granma had a set of these little glass birds for the Xmas tree that clipped on like a clothespin. They were probably made in the 30s and would have been fairly $$$ at the time. Anyway, when Granma died, there werent enough left to go around......so, we didnt inherit any. :( However, i promised myself that if I ever found any, id buy them cause i always wanted one of my own......last fall, i found 2 of them in an antique shop, and thought id buy at least one, hopefully both, they werent in the best condition, but, they were still pretty.......................................$125 EACH!!!!!!! ( Well, Ill keep looking, maybe ill get lucky and find some cheap at a Goodwill store , or something.):(
Those are GORGEOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Those are GORGEOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
yeah..but only the one on THIS page looks like the ones Granma had....the others were similar examples

I'm to young to have anything of real collectable value.
But when my mom was a kid she had all the original barbie dolls and all the acsesories. Well she barely played with them (since she'd rather go outside). So my uncle decided to play with them and lit some of them on fire. But there were still a ton left and in the nineties (when they were really getting up in price) my Gram gave them to my cousin and she sold all of them. She got a ton of money. My mom was so mad.
Ps. Those birds are very pretty.

Your mom could have taken your cousin to small claims court, but, that wouldnt have been good for the family, so, its best to forget about it @_@