My purchases from the National
 

Had a great time in Chicago. Really enjoyed catching-up with old friends, drinking and eating and listening to some fascinating hobby stories at the Net54 dinner on Friday night. Thanks to Leon and the sponsors!

As always, brought a hefty budget (for me) and spent every penny on cards I needed. These didn't come cheap, and several threads that have discussed "over-priced" cards at the National may be inclined to use my buys as evidence. I'll give you the "sales data" below, you be the judge of whether I got hosed or paid a ~fair price.

From Brady Hill (Luckiest Man Sportscards):

Attachment 282414

Spent: $3600 (listed @ $3750)
SMR: $2500
Last 10 sales: $3167.33 (avg); $4095 - $2555 (range)


From TripleS Sportscards:

Attachment 282415

Spent: $1700 (listed @$2000)
SMR: $1200
Last 10 sales: $1335.88 (avg); $1680 - $1000 (range)


From 707:

Attachment 282416

Spent: $1150 (listed @ $1375)
SMR (estimate): $650
Only recorded sale: $1380 in 2008


From Jeff Foy (Card Country):

Attachment 282417

Spent: $575 (listed @ $650)
SMR: $400
Last 10 sales: $546.63 (avg); $726.55 - $450 (range)

I appreciate your honesty and candor in posting paid prices!

Great cards regardless!!

They all look nice for the grade. Worth a premium to vcp average. I don't even consider SMR though when making a purchase decision. I think you did fine.

I love the Kaline...the centering is awesome. You might have paid a tad too much now, but it will be worth it in the long run. That card is sweet.

😳😳😳😳Wowsers!!!! All of those cards are amazing. great centering, color, and great eye appeal. Not all grades are created equal. I don't know if you overpaid or not. People would pay a premium for cards that are that nice.

I am happy for you and everyone else should be as well.

I will be attending my first National next year. I can't wait. I will be coming to collect my allowance from you. Jk'n

I agree with Jesse. I think you did well, and I think SMR is getting less relevant by the day. I spent time looking at Brady and Jeff's cards, and I think the premium they get is justified by the eye appeal their cards offer. Basically you've paid a premium to have someone curate a nice card for you.

I must say, I am surprised 707 was that flexible on price. I've never seen more than a marginal discount. Nice work!

Does Brady sell on eBay? Had good stuff.

Loved reading your post and thanks for including all the data. Think you did extremely well. Like Sam said you're paying for quality. Someone once said, "Quality doesn't cost, it pays!" (Oh yeah that was at the Psa lunch)

Your Ruth is as nice a "3" as I've ever seen. Deserves a bump try!

Collector focus. Luckiest man.

Thanks for sharing the details!

Love the Ruth!

Pretty tough to find a nice E95 Plank without a diamond cut, plus the color on yours is exceptional. The Ruth has outstanding eye appeal. Love the centering and registration. Great pickups!

Nice purchases. The Ruth has great eye appeal, and the Spahn card is very underrated.

I'll echo the sentiment of others. It is beautiful having the prices you paid there for everyone to see. It gets tiresome seeing threads where the prices of sold cards have been removed. Kudos to you!!

Great cards, good deals. Sounds like you had a great time.

Thanks for sharing, I love the Ruth and the others aren't bad either lol. I think you did great as those are all nice examples for the grade. Sounds like you had fun and brought home some great cardboard.

As most have mentioned, going to the National isn't just about cards it's about the hobby and camaraderie. Here are some random things I picked up...I probably overpaid a tiny bit for a few but I wanted to pick some stuff up and was happy overall.....

btw, I almost bought that Ruth 144 above to replace my sold one......it is sweeeeeettttt!!