The one that got away...
 

We all have one. That stunner that we lusted after. She was perfect for us in every way but for some reason, the stars did not align. Maybe the timing wasn't right, maybe we were too involved with someone else.

For me, it was a stunning psa 1 '52 Topps Mantle. I saw it on the CU Forums but was no longer a member. Then it appeared on eBay. I admired from afar and when I finally worked up the courage to try and take her home, she was gone.

Anyone have that's one card they kick themselves for not buying?

For me, easy: in June 2013, a PSA 8 Mantle RC that was 50/50 and in 2006 a Ruth RC. Runner up: a CJ Shoeless in LOTG. They all still sting, LOL.

Still kicking myself...
 

1988 Donruss Al Pedrique. Absolute pristine condition and I let it walk....oh well, live and learn.

Theres a PSA6 RC mantle in Heirtage right now, if risking 19K for a O/C to right and maybe a tilt. :D

I passed up a nice Cobb CJ and a 40 playBall Jackson, I been chasing a 33 goudey Ruth for many years, the ones in my area have paperloss or severe wrinkles..waiting patiently for a nice 1, then theres time i missed on a t206WB Cobb, either variation (red or green) When able, i always place a bid, if the front is presentable.

The one i missed and always remember: the 1963 Mantle plaque.mask
Thats because as a avid Mantle fan, it may be ugly, but wouldnt hesitate next time i see one. I love seeing it here, when a board member shows his.

Here's a long and boring story. In the mid-late sixties. I was about 14-15 years old. There was a guy (Goodwin Goldfaden...he only died just a few years ago at 94, Was quite well known in the trade) who had a sports cards/books/publishing/etc shop in Los Angeles. I bought most of my pre-war vint from him. Later he sold all but the cards, and worked out of his house and garage. And he had also just happened to move just a quick bike ride from me. So I spent a summer going over there and sorting/cataloging a ton of cards. I'd seen them all anyway and already had anything I wanted. Mostly this was all post war vint. Stars and commons and future HOFers. I'd sit in his kitchen, his wife served me lemonade, I'd plow through a box and he'd bring in another from the garage and more lemonade. It went like THAT! A kid's dream! He paid peanuts but I would have done it for free. So, one day I'm sorting all this boring sixties stuff, and POW, there's #311 staring straight at me! I'm like WHOAAAAA.... Now, I had a ton of Mantles, him being my favorite player and me being born in NY. But not this card because it was always too expensive for me, even then, at a ridiculously low price. I set it aside and thought about it. I should have asked him just to hold my pay and give it to me at the end of the summer. Or we could have worked out a layaway. I wasn't sure. He was a miser but his wife was very very sweet. Maybe I could get her to intervene. But, instead, at the end of the day I showed it to him and said, Look what I found!" I still kick myself daily. And still don't have one. In fact I can afford it even less so now than then.

Paul, in all honesty, your story was not very long, and was by no means boring. I feel for you, as I was pretty shy at that age, and would have found it difficult to muster the courage to ask Goodie about a possible deal for his '52 T Mantle. He had a very intimidating manner.

I share your situation as well. There's some cards I still want, but most are now beyond my reach.

I made 2-3 visits to Goodie in the early 70s, and passed on the purchase of a pair of wretched-looking '52 T. Mantles. The price was about $20-25 each, but their condition was intolerable. My standards were a lot higher then. No, I take that back; my standards are still very high. I was and am extremely picky. He said I was foolish. In retrospect he was right (in regards to future investment-resale potential); however, at the time I was 18 and had very limited card-buying funds.

--Brian Powell

You too?

Years ago I was outbid on a gorgeous PSA 7 example of a '54 Dan Dee Mantle. It stung for a few years, until a PSA 5 came along that was nearly as nice at 1/4 the price.

Few years back on Ebay I missed a signed 55 topps Gil Hodges, have only seen one other since and borders were trimmed off. Still forget why I didnt/couldnt bid.

One That Got Away
 

Not many regrets...but one would be a nice full set of Type I & II V-61's (1922 - known as Neilson's Chocolates). It was a beautiful set with all the stars. Type I's are more difficult to find - probably because of their paper stock.

Went to bid it...and it was gone. I have never seen another complete set. And rarely see any of the more difficult to locate Type I's.

Regards,

1958 Kahn's Clemente PSA 6
 

I am a HUGE Clemente collector. I saw the card raw for the first time at the first Robert Morris College show I set up at. It was offered to me by its owner at ~20% over book. I was very new and naïve in the dealer role and tried to offer him half book - he laughed and said if that's what I was offering, I didn't know what I was looking at. WOW was he right. I came to learn over the next couple of years that the 1958 Kahn's is far and away the most difficult Kahn's Clemente and one of his most difficult cards in ANY condition. The condition that one was in was not to be believed. It was later purchased by a friend from the dealer who was smarter than me at the time. My friend had it graded - it came back a 6 - still the only 6 with none higher and one of a handful graded. In a moment of insanity he sold it to someone else for A LOT of money. He has been trying to buy it back since. Ouch that hurts! Not as much the money as I had it in my hands (literally) and let it walk away the condition it was in would go nicely with the rest of my Kahn's cards!

Forgot to comment on this one.... great story, and not too long. :)

I was in the middle of saving up for an engagement ring and was catching flack for not buying one yet--we were already engaged I just wanted the time to design the ring, meet with the jeweler, save the money. Anyway, a really nice 1960 Venezuelan Mantle/Boyer popped up right in my price range. I actually probably would have paid a bit more. But, I held off for the ring as I wanted to make sure the important one didn't get away.

I have not seen another example for sale since...

Paul, fantastic story! Thanks for sharing. No card, but what a memory.

Thanks George. You know, I would have had impressionistic memories of that summer anyway -- such as how the SoCal summer light filtered through their kitchen curtains. But the Mantle "appearance" just solidified the whole experience for me -- like a lengthy youtube video in my mind.

Chris, you know in your heart you did the right thing. Honestly, had you opted for the Venezuelan Mantle/Boyer, your guilt would then strike you every time your eyes gazed at your card. You'd be stealing from yourself every ounce of what would have been future pleasure in owning that card. Let your memory of the words of the knight from Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade come back to you strongly, "YOU HAVE CHOSEN......WISELY".

Wishing you and your wife a most happy and meaningful Valentine's Day!:)

--Brian Powell

Thanks Brian. You are definitely right. It's an awesome card, but I made the right decision. That card will come back up again sometime :) Happy Valentines Day to you too.

Autographed Richard Nixon BB. $75 will good provenance. 1986?????

Well, this is really nitpicking but Paul's story reminded me of this one. In 1976 I was 9 years old and I had an older cousin named Kenny that lived in Kankakee, IL where my dad grew up. (We lived in O'Fallon, IL, metro east area of STL). Anyway, I was into cards for a few years and my cousin had a HUGE collection as far as a 9 year old was concerned. He was probably about 16 at the time. One day when we were up in Kankakee at my grandparents for the weekend he and his family came over and he had a big box with the top cut off (I think I remember it being an old Kool cigarette box) that was full of cards, all in vertical piles separated by rubber bands. There were probably in excess of 5,000 cards. The years ranged from 1974 back to 1955. There a couple thouand from 1973 and 1974. They were all his doubles and he was giving them to me. I remember being blown away and I started to look through some of them. The first pile I picked up and starting going through was 1959, where there were probably only 50 or so cards. I still remember one was Willie Mays #50 and I said "Look, Willie Mays"!!! He said "Let me see that!" and took it back! Well, I stopped looking at that point! I brought them home, and sorted through them. Some of the highlights included 2 Mike Schmidt RC's in incredible condition, tons of stars and high #s from 72, 69 and 68 Mantles, some great 66's including Billy Williams, #544 (you know if you put that set together), Horace Clarke, 65 Aaron and Mays. There were just a few in each year from 55-63, no really big stars. But what it did was give me great starter sets in those years, and about 12 years ago I started putting sets together back to 59, of which I finished about 2 years ago. My cousin passed away much too young a few years ago, but I was always grateful he was generous enough to give me all those cards. Even though Kenny was a Cubs fan. :)

As a "newbie" to this forum, I am still catching up. I was directed to this thread by another member based on a story I told him. As I read the postings here, I found myself welling up with emotions. There is always ONE story. It could be because of inexperience, foolishness of youth, or just a life's decision when we are at a certain crossroad.

By the summer of 1979, I was an established collector, having collected since 1971 (age 8) I not only collected the current cards, but I was very drawn to the vintage cards as well. That summer there was an old, small antique store in my neighborhood. Somehow, I found out he had a stash of 1951 / 1952 Bowman. The regular cards were 25 cents apiece. I would stop off at the store everyday and with my lunch / paper route money buy as many cards as I could. There was one problem, he had the 1951 Bowman Mantle and Mays at $25.00 apiece! As a 16 year old kid with just a paper route, I simply could not afford them. I am now 22 cards away from the '51 Bowman set and Mantle / Mays are still needed.. and probably will never be gotten by me.

I can't complain, though. I have been very blessed and lucky with my collecting. I am grateful that is my ONLY regret.

Back in the 1970s I was going to shows at the 65th District Center in New York City. Their shows were every second Friday of the month. I picked up a beautiful 1959 Mantle for $2.50! Those were the days.

Win some, lose some! : - )

My first love in high school, and somebody I have recently reconnected with, oddly enough. In fact, I'd just sent her a message on Facebook immediately before seeing this topic.

There have been cards I regretted not buying. And I love my hobby. But I can never wax poetic about some card that "got away", especially if I could go on eBay and buy the identical card right now if I wanted ;)

Although, Greg, there was this 1975 Topps Robin Yount about three years ago...selling for a C note. If the auction was legit, if the seller really had that card, that was a PSA 10 in the making, a 9 at the very least. And I'll never know why I didn't buy it.

Back in the late 80's, I'd completed the T206 set missing the Big 3 (Doyle wasn't publicly known yet). I had a chance to buy a beautiful Plank and Magie and didn't. Some cards are so rare that you only get one chance.

Thank you, Howard. As a huge Clemente fan, and somebody who is just getting his collection underway, not only did I not know about the Kahn's cards, I didn't know to even look for them.

I'll complete the Topps master set first, then start looking for the more difficult to acquire cards. I'm looking at the Trading Card Database, and the number of Clemente cards far exceeds what I thought to be available. Now I know :)

Since I've been collecting for 40+ years there isn't much that I haven't stupidly failed to purchase at one time or another. But one specific deal that stands out was around 1979 or 1980. I went to a local show and there was a dealer there with a stack of Ty Cobb signed checks for $50 each. I had a few hundred dollars on me but I wasn't into autographs and figured that if he had a stack I'd just get one later. D'oh!

Guys I have not let many great things go by but I have SO MANY regrets about all the great stuff I have sold over the years!

I have had many opportunities to sell my cards, especially in the late 1980s / early 1990s, but never did. I once came within a hair of trading all of my 1951 / 1952 Bowman cards for a 1962 Topps set, but pulled out at the last minute.

Today, I still have my Bowmans and the 1962 Topps set has long been completed. : - )

Good move Tom, I have made the mistake twice but not again.

As only a few know..i let a 63 Mantle premium mask/plaque get away back in 2013 @ REA
while obtaining 2 other lots. I had always looked back on that moment as what if? There is only a handful know to exist.
Well, yesterday a lot ended @ Goodwin, which i bidded as strong as i could afford.
It held up until the last 4 hrs. I thought i would never see another opportunity and wanted it badly, but not go broke doing so.
In the end, i took a look and thought...i am more please to have a Dimmagio Zeenut RC than the premium mask/plaque and still have some extra $$.