Posted By:
Jodi BirkholmWell, for starters, I don't think a public announcement to the board was in your best interest! 
While I'm certain that many board members are aware of your fascination and will respectfully refrain from bidding against you, there are even more who might only need a few cards out of the grouping and outbid you. And, knowing that you want cards featuring the McCormick stamp, they may run you up in the process of selling off the remainder.
My apologies for the pessimistic spin on this, but I'm fairly certain a similar situation has happened to the majority of us when we became so excited about a project as to let loose our secret!
I wish you great success in your undertaking, and sincerely hope I'm wrong in my speculation.