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An entire side of Topps: Boise family uncovers wall of baseball cards inside their new home

Sometimes, homeowners may have to settle for a fixer-upper instead of the walk-in ready home in order to even have a shot at finding a home.

BOISE, Idaho — In a hot housing market like Boise, it can be hard to find something unique.

Sometimes, homeowners may have to settle for a fixer-upper instead of the walk-in ready home in order to even have a shot at finding a home.

Like the Brodt family. They bought a mid-century modern home on the Boise Bench late last year. It's a fixer-upper, so they knew there would be work involved in making it their own.

About three weeks into their renovation, they started removing shingles from the walls of one of the bedrooms.

Yes, shingles.

"There were exterior shingles, I think as a creative idea and they were painted this dark green," Melissa said.

But once they started pulling them off the walls, they found almost 1,600 retro baseball cards underneath.

"I was surprised, shocked, confused," Melissa said. "I wasn't sure what I was looking at until we continued to pull down the shingles."

Those cards belonged to Chris Nelson, whose family owned the home previously.

Chris said at one point in the late 1980s, he had between 10,000 and 15,000 baseball cards in his collection, including Greg Maddux, Willie Hernandez, Jim Ackers, Dave Revering, Jack Lazorko, Tom Neidenfuer, and Bob Horner.

"We just had all these cards and my mom was like, 'well, why don't we do this?' and I was game," he said. "So we spent a weekend gluing baseball cards to the wall."

They were the focal point of his room for about five years.

Then, they decided to cover up the wall with shingles.

"I think at that point my parents figured it was the easiest way to cover them up," Nelson said.

Now, the shingles are coming down, but the Brodt family says they're not sure what they're going to put up in their place.

If you're interested in getting your hands on those cards, the Brodt family says the entire wall is available, as one piece (no individual cards).

Send us an email if you're interested (and quick): the208@ktvb.com.

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