It was the mid-nineties and I was at the National, being held that year in Atlanta. I was perusing the wares on offer when I spotted Kevin Struss at the SportsCards Plus table and went over to say hello, which I did. Kevin is an old friend. There in his case was a T206 with the familiar orange background. Yes, it was him, Honus himself, positioned handsomely in a PSA 4 holder. While in a state of disbelief, I asked Kevin if I could hold it and he happily obliged. So I can truthfully say I have held the Holy Grail. But then things got interesting. He explained that the card belonged to Mastro who had purchased it from an older woman in NJ and and was looking for a quick sale.
The more we talked the more I sensed that perhaps some kind of deal could be struck. Memory fades, but I believe he was willing to consider cash and trade (I had a stack of beautiful just graded '14 Cracker Jacks, including Jackson. to offer up). To make a long story short, we reached a number of around, astonishingly, of $150,000, which would have been the deal of the century. At the time, I was a dealer, Full Count Baseball Cards and to complete this surreal transaction would have taken all my cash and some star cards. I just couldn't do it and walked away, regretting it to this day. Of course, I still wonder who the lucky person was who captured Honus.
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