Great thread.
My 2020 highlights in review:
Bought this raw in January in a lot. Paid less than $300 for the lot of about 10 '54s (rest were commons). Never had a '54 Kaline, always wanted one in midgrade. Wasn't the best scans in the listing so I took a chance that paid off.
Bought this in April. I had a 7 in my set but sold it at a show for $150. Bought this one for $130. Can't beat that.
Bought this in early July. Much like the Kaline, it was one I always wanted and took a gamble on a raw lot. It was a BIN obo, I got it for around $500 thinking it was a 5. Obviously, this one didn't pay off, but I still have no regrets. It's the best looking 1.5 I've ever seen.
Bought this in August. The one in my set wasn't up to par and I like to upgrade stars as I can. Wish I would've upgraded this one a year or two ago but prices continue escalating. This card is almost always o/c l/r, so I liked the centering on this one (although it is slightly o/c top/bottom).
I had a 5 in my set, but this card caught my eye. Upgraded to this for about $50 net.
Something I had been considering a while was refocusing my collection. I have (had) Topps complete sets back to the mid-50s. The mid-70s to today, I never had much attraction to. They were purchased complete, set on a shelf, and I never looked at them. Additionally, I don't plan on holding on to my collection forever, so I also looked at the investment aspect of it: I think holding a few higher $ cards is a better asset, and more liquid, than 50 years of Topps sets. Covid allowed me more time at home to get a plan together. I sold every complete set 1973-2019 individually locally on Facebook, Craigslist, shows, and a few I sold here on net54. I ended up buying a run of Mantle's including:
No regrets from that.
For about $75 net, I upgraded my '64 Mantle (5) to this:
I had a PSA 5 Mantle that was o/c (not qualified, but more o/c than I liked). I upgraded to this and actually made about $50 in the process.
Lastly, I bought this in November. Love the '57s, love Ted (and think he's criminally undervalued), and thought this was a great looking 5.
2020 was a weird year, unlike any year I've ever seen. But it was a fun year in the hobby and I look forward to what 2021 has in store.