An Explosion of Collectibles

Elijah has always been a collector.

He's what you call obsessive when it comes to his "likes."  And many parents would agree that their children go through stages of "likes" but after having two girls who have Not become obsessive about any one toy, I know that this is not universal.  First for Elijah it was lining up trucks, then it was collecting trains, then it turned to parking 100 hot wheels, and then creating a city of roads for hot wheels to finally racing hot wheels in a made-up track and keeping a running list of winners.  And then tangible playing stopped.
     
This was about the time Mario Bros. and Wii Sports and Madden entered our life and then those darn free addictive game apps like Temple Run and Candy Crush and Book Worm.  This has given way to so many available games on so many devices that my head spins.  There is always Something, Somewhere electronic to keep little hands busy.  At times, like when we're taking a long car trip or when I'm in a meeting or when we're at a restaurant for a long time trying to chat with friends, these games come in handy.  But, I am always the first person in the house to call a strike on all video not because I think that the games will turn their brains to mush, but because I want my kids to love board games and playing cards and reading and writing and make-believe as much as I did. (Read that again:  "as much as I did.)
   
But then . . . Kenny did something amazing for him.  He got up in the attic, aka the sauna, and got him 4 boxes of old comic books and baseball cards.  His room exploded in dusty old stuff.  Come to find out, Kenny was a collector himself.  With great fervor, Elijah poured through the boxes, with one thing in mind . . . how much money is this worth?  If I haven't mentioned, E is also an enterpriser.  He always wants to make money - garage sales, lemonade stands, selling his stuff on Craigslist, searching for coins on the floor at Kroger.  The kid loves money.  If he were more political and liked to wear ties, I'd call him Alex P. Keaton.
   
Looking up the current price of old baseball cards and comics is the perfect summer job, so he and Kenny went to Half Price Books and bought 4 giant books filled with card after card and price lists.  So far, I think about $35 is the highest with a lot of $1.00 cards so this isn't going to pay for our retirement.  But, it's exciting and fun and very, very cluttery.  But it may just help pause the electronic fever, and if I"m really, really lucky, I can sneak in some Gin Rummy, or Uno or maybe some Solitaire, with real cards.
     

Another Kenny Collectible.
Each bear had a special name, like Cub Caneveral, the Statue of Libearty, and the last one Kareem Abdul JaBear which in mint condition could be worth something.
After almost 30 years and a lot of attic, not so mint(y).