LEON WROTE: Many times I have sniped at 5x+ what something is worth if I have to have it. I have never regretted it.[/QUOTE]
Beautifully expressed, Mr. Luckey. If you really WANT something, and I refer to something that has everything you love in a card, you better believe you must fight to win. If you're thinking, "I must get it for a fair price", or "will there be any upside potential for a profit later?", then you may have a kinda naive mindset. Remember, you're hunting WHITE WHALES. Did you really think there would not be other ships looking for those same whales? Assuming you have good taste, there are others with that same good taste--and they're gonna fight 'til the blood runs, matey!
In some other thread, I mentioned getting a rare Mickey Mantle card for a high amount of cash. Though this was '89, it was a lot of money to me then. Book value may have been barely a grand, but the card presented miles ahead of what you think of when you see VG-EX. His price was $2,500. I asked if he would come down some. No. My worst fear would be that he would consign it to another auction or worse yet, take it to that year's National Convention.
I KNEW if my fellow collectors got a better look at it, my chance would be gone for good. So, I paid 2.5 times book. When I got the card, I was dumbfounded, spellbound. The card was THAT good-looking. It's chapter 3 in my upcoming book. It took perhaps a decade for the book value to match the price I paid. But look, think hard, lots of issues are not studied that closely for value, though now VCP.com has fixed that to a point. Even then, many issues are thinly traded. White whales are excellent examples of this.
Why? The items were almost invariably purchased by a collector for their own collection, not to re-sell in five to ten years, unless one of the four dreaded D's transpires in their life.
They don't call them white whales for nothing. You need to find out where the white whales are--who owns them. If they've owned them a while, it's 'cause they like them. They enjoy them. It might take some hefty jingle for them to say OK. But you want it to be YOUR jingle they're saying yes to.
So, as others have said, let the hobby know you want them. Some ads may cost you. How bad do you want them? Collectors in our hobby and other hobbies used to do that, and sometimes the ad was a full page. If you do it on an internet BST, the space is free. SO GET CREATIVE, OR FIND A FRIEND OR HIRE SOMEONE THAT WILL CREATE A STUNNING VISUAL AD THAT WILL BE NOTICED. IT'S NO DIFFERENT THAN MADISON AVENUE. YOU WANT PEOPLE TO NOTICE WHAT YOU WANT IF YOU ARE GOING TO GET THE BITES YOU WANT THAT MAY LEAD TO LANDING SOME OF THOSE DREAM CARDS. Make a small list of 5 that you want the most. If you don't show a figure you're willing to pay, at the very least express that you'll pay handsomely. You better mean it, if you want success. Ask around the hobby--who's a good hunter? Who knows who has what? HIRE HIM.
But that's gonna cost some of my card-buying money? YUP. Again, how bad do you want them? I suppose when you get sick and tired of dreaming about them, as your original post alluded to, you'll listen to some (not necessarily mine, that's completely up to you) of the advice shared here and fight smarter.
I sincerely wish you happy hunting. Oh by the way, I, like Leon, have never regretted getting that rare Mantle. Every time I look at it, the card gives me genuine joy and my admiration for it wells up all over again.
Happy hunting. ---------Brian Powell