FORT KENT, Maine — Dale Christensen bought his first pack of sports team trading cards when he was 11 years old.
The 48-year-old part-time hospital and postal worker has amassed a collection of rookie, autographed and notable cards he has valued at about $13,000, according to information Christensen gleaned through a card-by-card analysis using information from the online sports card appraisal site Beckett Global.
He said he’d part with the collection for $10,000.
Christensen’s collection includes Dallas Cowboys Emmitt Smith’s and Detroit Lions Barry Sanders’ rookie cards, a Dallas Cowboys-Los Angeles Rams game day magazine signed by several players including Dallas coach Jimmy Johnson and player Michael Irvin and a 1976 Boston Red Sox poster signed by right fielder Dwight Evans and shortstop Richard “The Rooster” Burleson.
In all, the 23,000-card collection covers a time span from 1949 to 2013.
“I collected them in packs,” Christensen said. “I played sports as a kid, and after a game, my treat was a comic book, a Slurpee and a pack of cards.”
Christensen said he has many fond childhood memories of opening the packs with his cousin to discover any duplicates or “needed” cards and how the two would spend fun-filled hours comparing and trading them.
But now Christensen is selling his prized collection for a very serious reason.
“My daughter was sexually assaulted when she was 6 years old,” he said. “I’ve written a book to help families who are going through what we went through.”
His daughter, Ericka Saucier, 23, said she hasn’t read her father’s unpublished book, tentatively titled “My Family, My Inspiration: A Story of Surviving Sexual Assault,” and the two have not spoken a great deal about it with each other.
“But I am not surprised my dad is doing something like this to help other people,” Saucier said.
Saucier said her assault occurred at a relative’s house and that the attack — and its aftermath — affected the entire family.
“I can understand why my parents had a really hard time dealing with what happened to me,” she said. “For a long time they blamed themselves, [and] I am sure that is what a lot of parents do.”
Her father has been a constant and positive presence in her life, Saucier said, and for that she feels blessed.
“If not for the strong parents I have, I would not be the person I am today,” she said.
Saucier is a social worker with the Maine Department of Health and Human Services.
Nothing, Christensen said, could make the aftermath of a child’s assault easier for a parent, but knowing you are not alone can help.
“When we went through it there was no book for us to turn to that talked about the process,” Christensen said. “I want to help other families cope.”
Christensen said he had always hoped to pass along the collection — and love of collecting — to his children, but funding the book project is more important.
“My kids do a bit of collecting, but I had hoped to share in that with them with my own collection,” he said. “I do wish I could pass it along to them.”
Saucier said the fact her father is willing to part with his treasured collection to fund the project is humbling, albeit not surprising.
“It’s insane to me that he will part with it,” she said. “He is so proud of that collection and has been collecting them for as long as I can remember, [but] helping others is what my dad does, so it does not surprise me that he’s doing this.”
“I really hope they go to someone who appreciates and enjoys them,” he said. “That would really be great.”
Christensen said he researched traditional publishing houses but decided to go the self-publishing route to ensure he kept complete copyright and intellectual control over the manuscript.
“The only problem with that is I need someone to edit it,” he said.
Anyone interested in the collection, which Christensen is only selling in its entirety, may call 975-6747.
