My manager at work used to collect baseball cards, and he recently bought a price guide to check out the value of his collection.

He let me look through it. After doing so, I determined there are 3 cards that make up about half the monetary value of my collection of 5,000 cards.

1994 Alex Rodriguez Rookie Card $80



Too bad it's not close to being in mint condition...

1995 Vladimir Guerrero Rookie Card $80



This was the pride and joy of my collection even before Vlad became a Los Angeles Angel of Anaheim.

1995 Andruw Jones Rookie Card $40



Sadly, I think the Andruw Jones rookie card is worth more than the 4,000 baseball cards I have from 1990-1992.

Apparently, rookie cards of star players are the only cards that seem to retain their value. All of the other flashy cards don't hold up over time.

I guess I'm just glad I didn't invest in Darryl Strawberry, Eric Davis, or Jose Canseco cards...