[madmack29]

In November of last year I went to Katy, Texas to help my Aunt and cousin sort through Eddie's (Katykeed) collection. Before I left I contacted several stores local to me and also in the Houston area to see if anyone would be able to meet me there and possibly buy the whole collection. My LCS in Grand Rapids, MI said that if I had a complete list to give them along with pictures they might be interested.

As some of you know Eddie was that rare soul who wanted the base set, all parallels and inserts. He also chased high end cards as well. I was able to see where a lot of the cards I had tried to trade for over the years ended up. That was pretty difficult to do, in part because of the memories that it brought up and in part because of the shear volume. I had no idea his collection had grown that much - I had visited 2 years earlier.

I left after four 12 hour days of sorting, but had only scratched the surface. Basically I was able to catalog the hundreds of sets he had (base and inserts - including a full set of 1989-90 Pacific Ice Blue's) and verify that the contents of 2 collections in his ORG were available (about 1/3 of what was in there). At his request I located the cards that I wanted and was able to being most of them home with me. The last sorting I did was to pull what started out to be the top 100 cards out, but ended up being four 2 row storage boxes full. These were the best of his collection and should sell well.

Before I left I showed my aunt and cousin how to list cards to sell on the fee riddled selling site. I advised them to look up and see what cards were selling for and list them at the average. For the more rare cards I let them know what I thought they should get for them. It pained me to watch some of the cards sell for well below what they should get for them. I know it was harder for them to deal with the things on their end because they do not know the hobby, but more than that they are still not doing well with the loss.

I received a text from my aunt last week that the owner of the LCS in Katy, who I met with when I was there, was able to find someone interested in the collection. She let me know that he has agreed to purchase the whole collection, pending an appraisal - not sure how an appraisal of well over a million cards works.

I want to thank anyone who has read this, as it is mostly my way of saying a final goodbye to my uncle.

He was the one who got me into hockey card collecting in 1997. He was the first person I called when I got home from the LCS, and I could expect my weekly call from him after each of his trips too. We enjoyed teaming up to get cards for each other, sorry but we did - he sent me about $1000 of Bruins cards to help me try to make a trade a few years ago, rather than trying to make the trade himself. He was my best friend and is missed every day.

It is still difficult for me to be an active collector / trader right now. My first instinct is to call Eddie and let him know what is going on. The title may be out of context and not make sense if you don't take the time to read this, but I am hopeful that typing this out helps me in some small way.

So this is a final goodbye to the years of collecting done by Edward Vanderberg. May the final tally of this sale be enough to fulfill his final wishes.

Thanks,
Nathan

[dan_dou_lea]

Eddie was a special guy. He will be missed by us as well.

[veell]

Regrets for he was one of my favourite trading partners.

[dark crawler88]

I read this post and I cannot image having to go through what you have recently done. It is very hard to lose a loved one and have to move on but then having to go through a collection and all the memories that you have as it seems that you and your uncle we very close. It is truly sad. Eddie will be missed by myself and many of the other great members here.

Chris

[rayeates]

Thank you very much for this insightful post and the sharing of memories, Nate! Eddie showed so many members what it is like to be a true gentleman, and I know that his infectious nature spread across the hockey forums. He and I made many a trade that saw him give me PC items for far below what he should have received, but in the end he always wanted me to know that he was my friend and wanted me to have the cards. Eddie truly touched my heart, even though I never had the pleasure of meeting him.

His message to many was loud, clear, and heard! Be respectful and friendly to others, as it will make you a better person. He was one of the best! I miss him and nearly shed a few tears (onions were being cut) when you asked me to remove his name from the Active Traders list.

If there is anything that I can do to give his wife and son a hand, please let me know. I will gladly do what I can to help them out, for it is what Eddie would have done for any of the members' family should the role be reversed. God bless and best wishes to the Vanderburg family, to you, Nate, and to the great members of this community!

Sincerely,

Randi

[csamsal]

a great trader that will be missed

[alto4life]

Very touching post. My prayers are with you and his entire family during this difficult time.

[gmccarth]

That was a very thoughtful, sad, and kind post. Best wishes.

[chemainus]

Eddie was a great trader and is missed through the community. If you're looking for an avenue maybe some people here would be willing to buy some stuff if you're willing to break up the collection...

[bguzowski16]

Thanks for sharing. I had many trades with Eddie. If there are any Brett Hull cards in there (not base). Let me know via PM