Growing up, Nester Trafananko was more of a fan of bubble gum than baseball cards.

Trafananko’s passion for chewy candy was the main reason why he bought packs upon packs of cards during the 1950s and the early ’60s.

“As a kid, it was more about bubble gum,” Trafananko said with a laugh. “But I grew up in the Prairies and baseball was pretty popular at that time, so it was the kind of thing us kids would trade and gather.”

Decades passed by and those hundreds of baseball cards Trafananko collected as a kid were stored away in box and forgotten.

Until recently, that is.

“Then, all of a sudden, you come across these and think ‘Oh wow, I wonder if they have value?’” Trafananko shared.

Trafananko travelled from Guildford to the Ramada Inn in Pitt Meadows Thursday morning to have his treasure trove of vintage cards appraised by buyer Kevin Hansen during the Great Canadian Roadshow event.

Trafananko brought between 300 and 400 cards to the Ramada. Arguably his most valued possession is a 1952 Willie Mays (New York Giants) card.

At the original point of purchase, Trafananko figures the cards had little or no value.

“They’ve been sitting in the basement for 40, 50 years so it’s time to bring them out and see if there’s any value to them,” he said. “At the time [when I bought the cards], I didn’t think that 50 years later, I’d still have ’em.”

Seeing them again “sure brings a lot of memories,” Trafananko said.

“Looking at different cards, I look back on people who I traded with and the games we used to do with these cards as far as throwing them against the wall or setting them up on the rug and playing our own games with them,” he said.

Trafananko saw an ad for the roadshow, which once again piqued his curiosity about how much his cards are worth.

In terms of if he plans to sell any of the cards, Trafananko said, “We’ll see what happens.”

The roadshow started Tuesday, Jan. 24 and wraps up this Saturday, Jan. 28 at the Ramada, located on the corner of Lougheed Highway and Harris Road.

Hours are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday and Friday and 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday.

No appointments are necessary,

During the roadshow, experts evaluate and examine items free of charge, as well as educate the owners about their wares. The roadshow sees hundreds of people during a typical week.

According to the roadshow, trains, musical instruments, scrap gold and silver, toys, pocket watches, porcelain dolls – anything can be sold. If a collector is looking for a collectable, a buyer will make an offer to buy it.

One of the potential sellers waiting in the common area late Thursday morning was Maple Ridge resident Joan Corney who brought with her old coins and, she said, “knick knacks,” some of which are more than a century old.

“I saw the ad in the paper and decided, I’m getting older, why not find out what these are worth?” Corney said.

Corney said, more than anything, curiosity brought her to the event.

The roadshow is serving as a fundraiser for the Heart and Stroke Foundation. Any donation to the foundation will be matched dollar for dollar by the Great Canadian Roadshow, up to a maximum of $50,000 received in donations.