[ParisianJohn]

I was showing a new T206 collector one of my cards yesterday (a Moose Grimshaw T206!) and he asked me how much I'd paid for it. I couldn't recall off the top of my head as I'd bought it ten years ago, so I searched my email for the receipt and in the process saw some messages from eBay on auctions I lost on around that time. That got me thinking of price spikes, and this morning I searched my email account for all messages with the phrase "Sorry you didn't win this time" from 2013.

Below are some I lost out on along with similar recent sales for those cards on eBay (all within the last 90 days, and all from auctions). You'd expect (or at least hope) the prices would go up in ten years, but this really drives home for me by how much they've increased. I'm in my mid-40s, make six figures, own my home (mortgage is done!!), but I have my bills and two kids in elementary school who'll need some tuition paid at some point, and I see more and more than the cards like the 1933 Ruth that used to be within my grasp are just gone now. Even seeing a Steamer Flanagan PSA 4 go for $160 brings up issues about who's going to even casually get into collecting.