[kailes2872]

I was at a show as a 10 year old in 1982. I had a complete 1981 set in my binder and was sitting in the lobby. A teenaged kid walked up and asked if I would be willing to make a trade. He needed to complete his 81 set and would trade me a '58 Ted Williams in exchange. I spent about $20 for the set and was pretty proud of it but after thinking for a minute, I decided to do the deal. I cannot remember how many cards he took - it was less than 50 and did not include Fernando or Raines or any major stars like Reggie, Schmidt, Rose, etc.

Of course, in my wisdom, I went proudly into the show ready to sell Ted(??). I ended up making a 3-1 trade where I got a 74 Ryan and two other cards that I can't Remember. I ended up with a 69 Bench at that show, although it slipped through my fingers like Sand - probably for a some late 70's star. So, what started out as a good trade turned badly in a hurry.

Although it wasn't card for card, another deal as an 8 year old at a show goes down as the world's worst deal. In second grade, our teacher's aide saw that I collected cards. She asked me if I wanted to trade. My shoebox of 1980 Topps were my prized possession and I had no desire to part with them. However, since she was a family friend and went to our church, I decided to do it.

A couple days later she came over with a shoebox from 70-75. Multiple Aaron's Mays', Clemente, Gibson, Kaline, Brooks and Frank Robinson, Brett, Yount, Schmidt - every superstar from that era - many times multiples. In addition, she brought Basketball and Football from those years as we. Tall Boy Alcindor, Wilts, Wests, Oscars, Dr. J on the Squires, Unites, Staubach. It was every single card of significance in those 6 years. All in fantastic condition - especially the 74s and 75s

Fast forward to about a month later. I gave away a bunch of the doubles to friends - especially Mays and Aaron - but the collection was still awesome. I wanted to go to a card show because I had heard that my cards were valuable. Forget the fact that I was 8 years old and my only need for cash was to buy baseball cards - like the ones that were so generously given...

Melanie went with me to the show. I walked and went to the first table I saw that said they were buying. A guy proceeded to pick through all of the super duper stars and pulled out about 75 cards. He offered $8. He had a 1980 Topps set that I desperately wanted and I tried to play hardball and ask for $14 (the price of the set). He said $8 was the best I could do. So, I took it. I then found the next table that had a buying sign. I sold him the remaining cards in the box for $5. I then borrowed a dollar from my mom to buy the 1980 Topps set from the first table that I went to - so it was almost a trade. I then proceeded to okay games daily with my 80 cards (especially George Brett) to the point where corners were so rounded that they looked like the circular cards by the time I was done.

Although my $14,800 for $6,100 + $2,000 in stuff I kept is tough to top in the grand scheme of bad deals. I can say that my penchant for bad deals goes way back and leaves emotional scars. When I first did the bad deal last August, my wife told me (only half jokingly) "you are the only guy that buys $2,000 worth of cards for $15,000 and sells $2,000 worth of cards for $13 (of course in 1980 they didn't carry that much value but it was pretty funny and spot on)

The only good thing about that deal in 1980 is that it left a permanent mark. As I got older, I would go to card stores and show the boys all of the cards that I used to have. One evening while looking at what they were worth on EBay, my wife uttered the words that she now regrets "I wish you would stop whining about cards that you sold 30 years ago. If you want them, just buy them back!" Within 2 weeks I had bought all sets from 1971 to 1984. Over the last 2.5 years, I have made it back to '56. She reminds me that she was only talking about the cards and years in the shoebox.