If only you could have these 5 cards back again

[bcbgcbrcb]

If you could have 5 cards back from your prior collecting days, what would they be?

Here are mine, all let go between 2010 and 2014, back at a time when I didn't care at all about the values of cards and was a 100% true collector. I had no idea what my collection was even worth back then at any given time. In today's money, I think these five would value over half a mil easily. How much did I wind up getting when I sold them, $37,500. Now that really hurts today in a time where my day to day life depends almost entirely on whether my collectibles go up or down in value.

[darwinbulldog]

W600 Eddie Collins
1952 Topps Mantle
Holland Creameries Zahniser
W590 Gehrig
Propagandas Montiel Musial

[bnorth]

I have owned many cool cards and a lot of seriously rare stuff but this Eddie is really the only one I truly miss.

At the time I was looking to add a nice looking Eddie rookie and a nice looking T206 Red Cobb. At the time the Mathews was the more expensive card. Then my wife decided we needed to try camping. So I had to buy a pickup and travel trailer. That cut into my fun money so I only bought the Eddie.

Then a year or two later and the Red Cobb had really started to climb in price. I had the opportunity to trade Eddie for a near perfect centered Red Cobb that is now in PSA 2.5 slab from 2 big creases near the bottom of the card. After owning the Cobb a very short time it just kept increasing in price and I realized it was a card I only wanted until I owned one. I sold if for way more than I had in the Eddie.

Someday I will replace Eddie.

[4815162342]

Phil, if it’s any comfort, some guy at some point sold each of those cards for lunch money. At least you got a used car out of the deal.

[FrankWakefield]

Golly...

T200 premium of Cleveland... a big/huge team portrait.
A very nice clear image of Ed Delahanty on an Old Judge.
George van Haltran Old Judge cabinet card.
T210 Casey Stengel.
Tie... E90-1's the tough Mitchell and the Joe Jackson.

The one that I got back, a nice T206 Cobb bat off shoulder with an American Beauty back.

[bcbgcbrcb]

You guys are bringing back more memories, including a second “top 5” tier that I once owned:

E90-1 Joe Jax
N172 Delahanty
52T Mathews
W590 Gehrig
Propagandas Musial

Sold those for $12K total, not quite as big of a shortfall at today’s prices as my top 5 but plenty of meat left on the bone, that’s for sure…….

[jetsetr1]

Pre grading, my pre-teen self went to a swap meet with a box full of 80's cards, mostly RCs. Didn't even plan to sell or trade them, and somehow left with a box full of soon-to-be-rusty pocket knives. Can still remember the old guy drooling while taking advantage of a naive young kid. Thinking he was getting the deal of a lifetime.

Looking back, nothing in the box would be worth much now. If anything would still like to have them for sentimental reasons.

[fkm_bky]

Painful Memories. My top 5:

1. E95 Wagner in VG condition
2. T206 SGC40 Red Cobb w/ Polar Bear Back
3. T206 SGC20 Green Cobb
4. E95 Matty
5. T206 PSA3 Young Port - Hindu back

Sold them all (and a lot more) for a song back in 2007 after getting laid off. Very short-sighted of me. Alas, I'm still collecting and having fun!

Bill

[Leon]

So many painful memories, as a lot of friends on the forum have had. I will just leave it at I sold a '25 Gehrig Exhibit for 10k that ended up in a 6 holder. I had won it in '97? in a mastro auction. I was in a shower in Jamaica bidding on the phone, there weren't computers so much back then. It was sold raw as NR-MT- MT....but it was a 6.

[MattyC]

I think all collectors are bonded by having the ones we let slip away. I've come to look at it as part of the journey of collecting cards. Plus, I figure as long as I love my collection the way it is in the present moment, I must therefore be at peace will all the moves made in the past that led to this moment.

My five are:

M101 Ruth
1925 Exhibit Gehrig RC (two of them)
Tip Top Wagner
e90-1 Jackson (two of them)
CJ Jackson (three of them)

Honorable mention to a dead centered 52T Mick 5.5, Zeenut Batting Joe D, D304 Cobb, and two worthy-of-the-grade PSA 10 Fleer Jordans.

But without parting with a few of those above, I would never have landed a couple of cards I have today that are my favorites I've ever had. So it all comes out in the wash. Now excuse me while I go hang myself

[philliesfan]

Can only think of 1 at the moment. A raw 1940 Playball Jo DiMaggio that would have graded a 6 to a 7.


Oh yea, 3 Michael Jordan rookie cards graded PSA 9, PSA 8, and PSA 8 that I sold way too early.

[jingram058]

We all know my sad story. I will never do it again.

[DodgerMike22]

Wow, all of these amazing cards that you guys own and have owned are cards I can only dream of adding to my collection. Maybe one day LOL.

My five are:

1951 Bowman Willie Mays
1955 Topps Sandy Koufax
1979 Topps Wayne Gretzky
1980-81 Topps Bird/Erving/Johnson
1986-87 Fleer Michael Jordan

[B O'Brien]

The ones that hurt the most from having to sell out during my divorce were the T206’s that I worked so hard to put together many with the help of board members back in the day:

Johnson HAC Lenox SGC 40
Johnson Port EPDG 40 or 50
Cobb Rec Tolstoi SGC 40
Marty Port Hindu SGC 40
And either the Marty Dark AB, Collins BL350, or Merkle Uzit

There are others I would like to have back, but those are the ones that still sting. It took 25 years to put the group together and most were sold in a McDonalds parking lot one Saturday morning on the north side of ATL!

Still a little bitter,!!
Bob

[JeremyW]

I think I bought this one around 2012-14. Sold it for a small profit to chase a 1869 Cincinnati cdv at Huggins & Scott. Lost the auction & learned a valuable lesson. This one hurts the most because it was a card that I always wanted & is beyond my means these days. I did manage to pickup a W575 as a consolation a few years later.

[ullmandds]

Mine are:


M101-6 ruth sgc 3
E121 ruth psa 4
34 wwg ruth psa 4
E90-2 wags

Only 4!

[packs]

A couple of mine:

[Exhibitman]

Thanks, guys. i don't feel so bad about my fubar deals now as I read about yours. A few that I think of:

--1954T Aaron and Mays PSA 7 sold just before the run-up.
--1939 PB Williams RC; don't recall what I got but it was a pittance.
--Some of the Exhibit cards I sold are worth a multiple of the sale prices now.

I'm more rueful about the ones that got away. I thought a $2K Gehrig RC was a good deal but didn't do it. Figured I'd just get one later. Ditto with the 1933G Ruths I wanted.

[ClementeFanOh]

I see the Masochist's Union is called to order

1) T206 Addie Joss Portrait PSA 7
2) Fleer Wilt rookie SGC 84
3) 52 Topps Willie Mays SGC 60
4) 55 Topps Roberto rookie PSA 7
5) E90-1 American Caramel Ty Cobb PSA 3

Please note that revealing the list is NOT therapeutic in any way!

Trent King

[Yoda]

I still bleed inside when I think of these:
1. M101-5 Babe Ruth. SGC 5.5
2. Boston Store Joe Jackson. PSA4
3. T206 Griffith-PSA7 Drum Back
4. E107 Matty - never graded but about ex.
5. 1915 Cracker Jack - Joe Jackson PSA5
Sob.

[whitehse]

Sadly I don't have pictures of any of these cards but my list in no specific order

1. 1994 Upper Deck Mantle/Griffey dual auto I pulled myself from a pack.

2. 1933 Goudey Ruth #181 - I paid 50 bucks for it in the very early 80's (1980?) when "book value" was $250. It would likely grade a 2 today but I didn't care...it was a Ruth.

3. 1934 Goudey Gehrig. I paid 50 bucks for it in the very early 80's (1980) when "book value" was $250. It would likely grade a 2 today but I didn't care...it was a Gehrig (bought from the same guy as the Ruth).

4. 1941 Play Ball Ted Williams. I bought two of these from the same gentleman and I believe I paid $50 for both of them. These would also grade a 1 or 2 but it was the earliest Williams I knew I would ever own.

5. 1955 Sandy Koufax rookie. I just loved this card for some reason and regret selling it.

Needless to say, being a high school kid in the late 70's-early 80's who had money to buy baseball cards was pretty lucrative. I worked and sunk most of my money into buying shopping bags full of cards at a time people could not believe I was paying cash money for stuff they were going to toss out. As I got older and the card boom came, I used these cards as an opportunity to offset our income as we didnt make very much then and help pay for things my kids needed for school. I regret selling everything as I had one heck of a collection but on the other hand, I regret nothing as my kids got to play instruments, go to a private Christian school and get an excellent education and so much more.

[brian1961]

Originally Posted by whitehse

Sadly I don't have pictures of any of these cards but my list in no specific order

1. 1994 Upper Deck Mantle/Griffey dual auto I pulled myself from a pack.

2. 1933 Goudey Ruth #181 - I paid 50 bucks for it in the very early 80's (1980?) when "book value" was $250. It would likely grade a 2 today but I didn't care...it was a Ruth.

3. 1934 Goudey Gehrig. I paid 50 bucks for it in the very early 80's (1980) when "book value" was $250. It would likely grade a 2 today but I didn't care...it was a Gehrig (bought from the same guy as the Ruth).

4. 1941 Play Ball Ted Williams. I bought two of these from the same gentleman and I believe I paid $50 for both of them. These would also grade a 1 or 2 but it was the earliest Williams I knew I would ever own.

5. 1955 Sandy Koufax rookie. I just loved this card for some reason and regret selling it.

Needless to say, being a high school kid in the late 70's-early 80's who had money to buy baseball cards was pretty lucrative. I worked and sunk most of my money into buying shopping bags full of cards at a time people could not believe I was paying cash money for stuff they were going to toss out. As I got older and the card boom came, I used these cards as an opportunity to offset our income as we didnt make very much then and help pay for things my kids needed for school. I regret selling everything as I had one heck of a collection but on the other hand, I regret nothing as my kids got to play instruments, go to a private Christian school and get an excellent education and so much more.

Andrew, my dear brother in Jesus, as that grand aged knight said in INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE, "You have chosen...wisely." --- Brian Powell

[jcmtiger]

My 4 different poses ot TY Cobb T206 & and my T3 Schmidt Detroit Proof. Oh well. And many more to many to list.

[whiteymet]

I guess I have to put T206 Wagner at the top of my list. You can see and read about it here:

https://bid.robertedwardauctions.com...e?itemid=86408

But my absolute favorites were Roberts, Konstanty and Stanky from the 1951 Topps Current All Stars

And more recently the 1961 ( though really 1963) Topps Dice card of Mickey Mantle

[4815162342]

Originally Posted by whiteymet

I guess I have to put T206 Wagner at the top of my list. You can see and read about it here:

https://bid.robertedwardauctions.com...e?itemid=86408

But my absolute favorites were Roberts, Konstanty and Stanky from the 1951 Topps Current All Stars

And more recently the 1961 ( though really 1963) Topps Dice card of Mickey Mantle

My goodness. Close the thread.

[Seven]

Originally Posted by whiteymet

I guess I have to put T206 Wagner at the top of my list. You can see and read about it here:

https://bid.robertedwardauctions.com...e?itemid=86408

But my absolute favorites were Roberts, Konstanty and Stanky from the 1951 Topps Current All Stars

And more recently the 1961 ( though really 1963) Topps Dice card of Mickey Mantle

What an incredible story

I know this thread is painful to some, but I can't even fathom some of the cards being posted and talking about. Can't even imagine what the Wild West of this hobby was like back in the day.

Reading the story about the Wagner has me thinking about Mike Aronstein and his store that used to exist up in Cooperstown. A lot of fond memories involving that place.

[jcmtiger]

Originally Posted by whiteymet

I guess I have to put T206 Wagner at the top of my list. You can see and read about it here:

https://bid.robertedwardauctions.com...e?itemid=86408

But my absolute favorites were Roberts, Konstanty and Stanky from the 1951 Topps Current All Stars

And more recently the 1961 ( though really 1963) Topps Dice card of Mickey Mantle

Quite the payday!!!!!!!!!

[Leon]

Amazing story, Fred. IF we only knew....

and I think there are probably a few more board members that sold a Wags a bit too early also.

Originally Posted by whiteymet

I guess I have to put T206 Wagner at the top of my list. You can see and read about it here:

https://bid.robertedwardauctions.com...e?itemid=86408

But my absolute favorites were Roberts, Konstanty and Stanky from the 1951 Topps Current All Stars

And more recently the 1961 ( though really 1963) Topps Dice card of Mickey Mantle

[judgebuck]

1952 Topps Mantle PSA 1
T206 Cobb red VG/EX
complete set of 1969 Topps baseball in NM/MT
1941 Play Ball Joe DiMaggio VG/EX
Quite a few 1933 Goudey Ruths (lower grade)

I wish I had every card back that I have sold. I have never regretted buying a card, but I have frequently regretted selling.

[Chris Counts]

Here's my Hall of Shame: a 1933 Babe Ruth, a 1952 Topps Jackie Robinson, a 1952 Topps Willie Mays, a 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle and a 1934 Goudey Lou Gehrig. I acquired all of them as a teenager, and sold them all by the time I was 18.

[EGreenwood]

Mine are relatively small potatoes

1. T206 Elberfeld Portrait - Washington
2. 1955 Bowman near set autographed (I was missing about 22 and got disillusioned when missed pulling the trigger to get Mantle)
3. 1955 Topps Koufax
4. 1963 Topps Mantle
5. 1977 Chicago Tribune Chicago White Sox Scrapbook Jorge Orta

[trib01]

Oh so many! If I had them all back I would be retired and living on a beach somewhere right now LOL

1952 Topps Mantle
e95 complete set
Boston Store Walter Johnson SGC 50
PSA 7 Koufax rookie
both of my t206 Walter Johnson Hindu back portraits

* for extra credit - my run of Mathewson t206 backs

[LEHR]

Originally Posted by Leon

So many painful memories,

This...

Things I've sold that I've instantly regretted....

1. I sold a Graig Kreindler painting of Ty Cobb in 2021 (dumbest move ever).
2. I sold a T200 Cincinnati Reds team card that was graded a PSA 6, but looked NM-MT. Just an amazingly beautiful card.
3. Around 1997-98'ish I sold over fifteen T206 PSA 8's, and more than a dozen PSA 7's....including Southern Leaguers. This was when 8's were selling for $450-$600 and 7's were bringing $125-$175.
4. I sold a half dozen N172's in a group that were all SGC 40-60, but had the best image quality you could imagine.

These all still hurt. I've made many, many more dumbass moves over the years but these always come to mind first.

[Hankphenom]

Fred's story is the mic-drop, I don't think anybody could top that. But somebody described the hobby in those days as the Wild West, and that's exactly what it was. And for Fred's sake, everybody should know that an entire generation of collectors in the 70s and 80s had a few shots at a Wagner and didn't pull the trigger. My first memory of one that I could have bought was in a Trader Speaks in the mid-70s for $1,500. That was a chunk of money in those days, but I probably had as much in my stereo system, so not out of the question. But, as I tell people when they ask me why uber-rich guys ever stop bidding on something they really want, I answer "well, nobody wants to feel like they're being stupid." Nobody knew where the hobby was going, and nobody knew how many Wagners would surface as it grew. Now we know, and it can make our decisions look foolish in hindsight. Dan McKee told me that he let not one, but two, Baltimore News Ruths go, one for $1,000 and the second for $8,000, and that his dad, Dan Sr., saw one in a shop for $1,000 and passed on it, going back the next day only to find it had been sold. So there you are. Things were different back then.
This is to preface my story, which fits in well here. Sometime around 1998 or so, I needed money and, being a memorabilia guy, decided to sell my WaJo card collection. I only had these cards because an avid collector named Bill Rubin, who worked with my mother at the Labor Dept,, would pick up cards of her father at shows when he saw them cheap. She put them in a cigar box for years, and at some point she gave them to me. I had pretty much every standard WaJo card there was, not in great condition, but not beaters, either. They were "presentable." Then at some point around the mid-90s, I met a dealer named Dave Speidel, who would somehow come up with the rarer WaJos and trade them to me for Johnson cancelled checks, which the family had started letting out into the hobby some years before. I don't know what his sources were, but Dave, a real hustler and wheeler-dealer, came up with a Texas Tommy, a Baseball Bats, a Willards Chocolates, a Holland Creamery, an Oxford Confectionery, a Vassar Sweater, a BF2, some other very rare cards, and a few strip cards, some of which were uncatalogued. One day he brought me a Texas Tommy Type 2, which I turned down because his guy wanted $1,500 cash for it. In addition, I had a nice collection of WaJo postcards, some supplied by Dave, some from the family scrapbooks, and some I had bought. There was a PC 757, a PC 796, a Johnson Birthplace, an Oakland Tribune, a Weiser Wonder, a Lawrence Semons, and a few other goodies in that group. I had all the cards and postcards in one binder, and at a Fort Washington show, I started shopping them around. As I said, I needed money, so I priced the entire binder to sell--at $4,000. At the House of Cards table, where they were still in the process of blowing out a collection of thousands of baseball books they had bought, Bill Huggins (R.I.P) spent maybe a minute turning the pages, then said, "Hank, it's not there," and pushed the binder back across the table. Dean Zindler was next, and he spent a little more time going through it before handing it back to me with a shake of his head. "What the hell," I thought, I believed I had really priced these things to sell. Now I was pissed, and I had also by then starting signing up for some shows to start selling off the bottom of my memorabilia collection along with my book, so I decided to start putting my cards out at those rather than come down from my price, which I thought was more than fair. There were a bunch of shows around Baltimore at that time, and the first one I did was a little vintage-only one at a motel in Laurel, MD, I think, promoted by collector and media guy Phil Wood. The first person to show much interest in my binder was Val Kehl, who picked up the Texas Tommy for $300 along with a few other gems. Over the next few shows, I did pretty well, it seemed--I remember Bob McCann giving me $1,000 for one of my postcards, and pretty soon I had pocketed about $8,000, which took care of my money problem, so I stashed most of what was left back in the binder and parceled them out over the years. I remember the Oakland Tribune went for five grand in an auction, and the Weiser Wonder did about the same. I have no idea how much I ended up pulling in from the collection, some healthy multiple of my original asking price--but I was pretty darn proud of myself for not giving in to the discouraging beginning of my venture. To this day, I can't understand what Bill and Dean were thinking--maybe times were tough in the hobby right at that pre-grading and pop report time. Of course, I shudder to think what that binder would be worth today, and I'm extremely pleased that my friend Val got to put some of the extreme rarities in his wonderful collection. We would all like to have back today just about everything we've ever sold, and God bless the collectors who had enough faith in the future of the hobby to have held on to the things they bought. Being quite comfortable now and delighted with what I still have, I can look back with some sanguinity, but it makes for a hell of a story, no?

[Leon]

Great stories, Hank.
There is a chance I was the one that won the Tribune card. I NO longer own it, unfortunately.

Originally Posted by Hankphenom

Fred's story is the mic-drop, I don't think anybody could top that. But somebody described the hobby in those days as the Wild West, and that's exactly what it was. And for Fred's sake, everybody should know that an entire generation of collectors in the 70s and 80s had a few shots at a Wagner and didn't pull the trigger. My first memory of one that I could have bought was in a Trader Speaks in the mid-70s for $1,500. That was a chunk of money in those days, but I probably had as much in my stereo system, so not out of the question. But, as I tell people when they ask me why uber-rich guys ever stop bidding on something they really want, I answer "well, nobody wants to feel like they're being stupid." Nobody knew where the hobby was going, and nobody knew how many Wagners would surface as it grew. Now we know, and it can make our decisions look foolish in hindsight. Dan McKee told me that he let not one, but two, Baltimore News Ruths go, one for $1,000 and the second for $8,000, and that his dad, Dan Sr., saw one in a shop for $1,000 and passed on it, going back the next day only to find it had been sold. So there you are. Things were different back then.
This is to preface my story, which fits in well here. Sometime around 1998 or so, I needed money and, being a memorabilia guy, decided to sell my WaJo card collection. I only had these cards because an avid collector named Bill Rubin, who worked with my mother at the Labor Dept,, would pick up cards of her father at shows when he saw them cheap. She put them in a cigar box for years, and at some she gave them to me. I had pretty much every standard WaJo card there was, not in great condition, but not beaters, either. They were "presentable." Then at some point around the mid-90s, I met a dealer named Dave Speidel, who would somehow come up with the rarer WaJos and trade then to me for Johnson cancelled checks, which the family had started letting out into the hobby some years before. I don't know what his sources were, but Dave, a real hustler and wheeler-dealer, came up with a Texas Tommy, a Baseball Bats, a Willards Chocolates, a Holland Creamery, an Oxford Confectionery, a Vassar Sweater, a BF2, some other very rare cards, and a few strip cards, some of which were uncatalogued. One day he brought me a Texas Tommy Type 2, which I turned down because his guy wanted $1,500 cash for it. In addition, I had a nice collection of WaJo postcards, some supplied by Dave, some from the family scrapbooks, and some I had bought. There was a PC 757, a PC 796, a Johnson Birthplace, an Oakland Tribune, a Weiser Wonder, a Lawrence Semons, and a few other goodies in that group. I had all the cards and postcards in one binder, and at a Fort Washington show, I started shopping them around. As I said, I needed money, so I priced the entire binder to sell--at $4,000. At the House of Cards table, where they were still in the process of blowing out a collection of thousands of baseball books they had bought, Bill Huggins (R.I.P) spent maybe a minute turning the pages, then said, "Hank, it's not there," and pushed the binder back across the table. Dean Zindler was next, and he spent a little more time going through it before handing it back to me with a shake of his head. "What the hell," I thought, I believed I had really priced these things to sell. Now I was pissed, and I had also by then starting signing up for some shows to start selling off the bottom of my memorabilia collection along with my book, so I decided to start putting my cards out at those rather than come down from my price, which I thought was more than fair. There were a bunch of shows around Baltimore at that time, and the first one I did was a little vintage-only one at a motel in Laurel, MD, I think, promoted by collector and media guy Phil Wood. The first person to show much interest in my binder was Val Kehl, who picked up the Texas Tommy for $300 along with a few other gems. Over the next few shows, I did pretty well, it seemed--I remember Bob McCann giving me $1,000 for one of my postcards, and pretty soon I had pocketed about $8,000, which took care of my money problem, so I stashed most of what was left back in the binder and parceled them out over the years. I remember the Oakland Tribune went for five grand in an auction, and the Weiser Wonder did about the same. I have no idea how much I ended up pulling in from the collection, some healthy multiple of my original asking price--but I was pretty darn proud of myself for not giving in to the discouraging beginning of my venture. To this day, I can't understand what Bill and Dean were thinking--maybe times were tough in the hobby right at that pre-grading and pop report time. Of course, I shudder to think what that binder would be worth today, and I'm extremely pleased that my friend Val got to put some of the extreme rarities in his wonderful collection. We would all like to have back today just about everything we've ever sold, and God bless the collectors who had enough faith in the future of the hobby to have held on to the things they bought. Being quite comfortable now and delighted with what I still have, I can look back with some sanguinity, but it makes for a hell of a story, no?

[Hankphenom]

Originally Posted by Leon

Great stories, Hank.
There is a chance I was the one that won the Tribune card.

Good pickup, Leon, I think there might be three of those known, two of which came from the family scrapbooks. If so, there should be a letter of provenance if you got it in the original auction. I'm always amazed, though, at how many pieces I've seen over the years that have become separated from my LOAS--why would anyone let that happen? I was interested to see that the REA Weiser Wonder PC went for some 20Gs, about four times the original auction price from 15 or so years ago. I would venture to guess your card would do about as well today.

[Bicem]

1910 Hubel Ty Cobb postcard
1915 Red Sox Team (Ruth rookie) postcard
1908 ALPC Ty Cobb postcard
1908 ALPC Honus Wagner postcard
1908 Rose Co. Walter Johnson

[Hankphenom]

Originally Posted by Bicem

1910 Hubel Ty Cobb postcard
1915 Red Sox Team (Ruth rookie) postcard
1908 ALPC Ty Cobb postcard
1908 ALPC Honus Wagner postcard
1908 Rose Co. Walter Johnson

What a list!

[parkplace33]

I look at this post differently. Sure, there are cards I wish I had back. But not enough to offset what I received by moving on from those cards.

“No amount of regret can change the past. No amount of anxiety can change the future.”

[Leon]

Yeah, as I am eating my sour grapes , especially when I constantly see cards I used to own, which I sold for peanuts, now being sold as gourmet meals! I won't even post any pics as there would be too many...

Originally Posted by parkplace33

I look at this post differently. Sure, there are cards I wish I had back. But not enough to offset what I received by moving on from those cards.

“No amount of regret can change the past. No amount of anxiety can change the future.”

[Hankphenom]

Originally Posted by Leon

Yeah, as I am eating my sour grapes , especially when I constantly see cards I used to own, which I sold for peanuts, now being sold as gourmet meals! I won't even post any pics as there would be too many...

I know it's tough, Leon, but we (you and me) have to find a way to accept what has happened. As I recall, you were pretty happy with the haul your collection generated, and had great uses for it. You did so well for the time, and as the tritest of sayings goes, "it's only cardboard." I've said for years I would like to have back just about everything I've ever sold, and I think any of us would make that deal in a heartbeat. But it doesn't work that way, and we sold those things because we had good uses for the money. We're not the whales who can afford to choose the timing of all their buying and selling, but we've done well, grasshopper! You're such a nice guy, I hate to see you feeling badly about something that's been such a big part of your life, and I hope maybe this helps a little.
Hank

[Leon]

Thanks Hank. There are many others in my same situation or worse. And, you're correct, it was all good at the time and the money was well spent/invested. No regrets in those regards.
I remember chatting with you at the National when the collection was up for auction.
First world problems. No, I won't be a whale unless I win the lottery, which I don't play. Collecting on a budget is still fun...

Originally Posted by Hankphenom

I know it's tough, Leon, but we (you and me) have to find a way to accept what has happened. As I recall, you were pretty happy with the haul your collection generated, and had great uses for it. You did so well for the time, and as the tritest of sayings goes, "it's only cardboard." I've said for years I would like to have back just about everything I've ever sold, and I think any of us would make that deal in a heartbeat. But it doesn't work that way, and we sold those things because we had good uses for the money. We're not the whales who can afford to choose the timing of all their buying and selling, but we've done well, grasshopper! You're such a nice guy, I hate to see you feeling badly about something that's been such a big part of your life, and I hope maybe this helps a little.
Hank

[glynparson]

Top 3 are clear
Cut I have a number battling it out for 4/5 slot.

1958 Jim Brown PSA 9
1951 Bowman 253 Mickey Mantle PSA 8
1952 Topps 311 Mickey Mantle PSA 7

Probably:
1968 Johnny Bench PSA 10
1986 Fleer 57 Michael Jordan PSA 10 (sold when only $2500)

[bcbgcbrcb]

Glyn:

When did you move those 5? Those are some REALLY BIG cards.

[rand1com]

I did not save a picture of it but about 20 years ago, I bought a 1951 Bowman Mickey Mantle with a rookie era autograph on Ebay for $1000.

To be clear, it was an early graded GAI 2 but for those who remember the early days of GAI, they also had Mike Guiterrez as their autograph authenticator.

The autograph was deemed authentic by GAI.

I got it in my hands a week or so later and relisted it for $2000. It immediately sold.

It has never resurfaced over the last 20 years but in the recent REA auction, a similar condition card with an autograph from Mickey's card show era with his familiar signature sold for $210K.

Wonder who has it in their collection? One day it will arise and I will recognize it.

[brunswickreeves]

1953 Topps Jackie Robinson, hands down.

[mordecaibrown1]

Cracker Jack Joe Jackson
52 Mantle in a 7
Error Back e Wagner
US Caramel Gehrig
Ruth Pitching

But did get a couple Back since I got back in after a 20 plus year lay off!