Yesteryear’s affordable collectibles now have endless variations and can be worth big money

Yesteryear’s affordable collectibles now have endless variations and can be worth big money

LAS VEGAS — Fifty years ago, as kids, my brother and I saved nickels and dimes to buy baseball cards, a 10-pack for 15 cents or 18 cards for a quarter, each with a stick of gum whose half-life rivaled Plutonium-239.Today, those same packs, unsealed, can fetch up to $850.The hobby is berserk, fueled by rookie cards, parallels, refractors and autographs, many variations of one photo that shame the 1975 Topps series that featured single editions of…