Post your best story! The Buy that got away

[damonh23]

I'll start this off..

the year was 1990. I was 15, and about 6 months into my first ever job working at a baseball card store in Virginia. The hobby was a boom, and I was helping a new startup card shop in an antique mini mall booth.

I was actually working it by myself on a Sunday when an old guy walked up with a brown paper bag (he was probably 45-50, but old to me). He asked if I could look at his cards and tell him if they were worth anything.

I thought to myself, really? A brown paper bag? Than what I saw astounded me. He laid out on that glass showcase about 300 to 400 t206 cards, the most beautiful cards I've ever seen. Of course being 15, I was shaking...I saw beautiful Cobbs, Youngs, Johnsons, etc. And being a Cubs fan I remember the Tinkers, Evers, Chance..

I honestly choked. Even in 1990, these were worth a small fortune, but before PSA was even a concept..I just loved the color, sharp corners and clean backs. In today's value who knows? Of course I looked for Wagner and Plank, didn't see them.

Knowing I could rip him off, I didn't have the heart to do it..This guy didn't look like he had 2 nickels to rub together or a house to live in. I decided to give him free top loaders & sleeves and told him he had a mini fortune on his hands, as I scrolled down the Beckett Almanac. He actually gave me an Evers in exchange. I cannot recall what I advised him to do, or even come back to sell the cards to the shop owners..I honestly botched it and let them slip away forever!

I often wonder who got them, and how many are graded PSA 8's today!!