Your best "gift" this year--that is, card you got in great deal

[GregMitch34]

No need to supply dollar details, just describe how you picked up a cool card at great price thanks to luck or research or just staying alert...

[packs]

I thought I lucked out pretty well on this Esterbrook. It's a script series card with no team designation, which I think makes it one of the first cards issued in the Old Judge series and could possibly date to Fall 1886, pre-dating the majority of the set.

Besides that it's got a much nicer image in person and is a card of one of the game's greatest eccentrics and best nicknames:

[DHogan]

Cool name. Dude

[t206hound]

Shown before... pictured in an auction house lot and the person scanning/photographing actually turned the card so it was NOT upside down to take a picture of the back (so that the back was the same as all of the other backs in the scan/photo). I was fairly certain it was an upside down back... extremely excited when I received it.

[Thromdog]

Probably doesn't satisfy the "alert" notion of this thread as it wasn't until after I bought this I realized how rare this guy is......And I bought it for a song.

Elite 8 T206 with a 350 back.....and a rarity card to boot.

[atx840]

Had been looking for clean example over the last few years and an inquiry into another card unintentionally led to the opportunity to pick this up.

[DeanH3]

Wow!! Awesome card Chris. The color and registration just explode off that card.

[abothebear]

I picked up an ebay lot of about twenty 30s R cards that turned out to be in nice condition, included several cards I needed for the R313A set I am putting together, and several more HOFers. It also included a R313A envelope (which I also needed). The lot ended up having 3x the value I paid for it. So it was great for my wallet as well as for my particular collecting focus.

[Michael Peich]

Picked up Mr. Demmitt this past Sunday. Great surprise find!

Happy Holidays to all,
Mike

[mrvster]

Chris

that Dunn proof is a work of art....a true piece of history..........

[Sean]

I got a great deal on the Street. The Merkle was expensive, but I'm grateful to have it.


scan0001.jpg

[Sean]

scan0001.jpg scan0002.jpg

[mrvster]

glad to see you get the street scrap! I felt guilty owing mine

merkle coupn off the chain

[Sean]

Hey Johnny, now we have twins. You probably already know the details...

[GregMitch34]

Got this just recently. Since I work almost all day on my laptop I can check the newest ebay vintage BINS (a little too) often. I keep figuring that real buys will show up because of this get-there-first monitoring--but they almost never do, at least for what I'm interested in and happen to know what a bargain price might be. In fact, I was ready to quit this (too frequent) checking last month when a couple of higher-grade SL Hindus showed up and I pounced....happens too rarely, though. Most sellers too savvy or too greedy (take your pick).

http://www.net54baseball.com/attachm...1&d=1419453391

[mrvster]

printer's scraps, will be, some of the most highly sought after "chase" cards in the monster....

collectors will realize....just trying to get mine while I still can

[Epps]

Got this for a lot less than I expected and love having it

T210 Benny.jpg

[mrvster]

killed it with that upside down! a real find

[CW]

Whoa, cool proof, Chris! Dayum!

Merry Christmas to all!

[glynparson]

Wagner already SGC graded for a price so low I had to look at the card for 5 minutes to make sure it was real. The price was about 10% of retail and the card was already graded.

[Exhibitman]

A bit off the T206 theme, but all three of these were in the same boxing ephemera grab bag:

1915 self-issued Benny Leonard promo card:



1908 Stan Ketchel promo cabinet card:



19th century engraving of John Morrissey:



rounded a corner at the National and was able to cross this off my want list:

[Phillies*phan]

Not exactly a steal but went for less than i thought. Put a "glad if I get it but doubt I will" bid in and sat back and won it. Had to do some quick liquidating but happy it's here now,

[atx840]

Amazing card Doug.

[Sean]

Doug, great card. I made a run at it, but couldn't keep up. Congratulations.

[mrvster]

DUDE! talk about a name at top

congrats!

[4815162342]

My best pickup this year, thanks to a great board member:

[Phillies*phan]

All I need is the green Cobb twin to Young and I'll be happy.

[atx840]

Originally Posted by Phillies*phan

All I need is the green Cobb twin to Young and I'll be happy.

Back of the line is over there.

[Jantz]

It isn't pretty, but the price was right.

[mrvster]

another eagle eye! you are just like Erick.............WOW

[Spike]

Shared in another thread, but qualifies here as the before and after. Found this D381 on a "misc" show table with the hand-written tag for $5. Sent in for an "A," a nice type card for the collection.

[MVSNYC]

Chris- proof is off the charts.

Adam- very nice Morrissey piece.

[Leon]

Wired a board member in another state to do this deal in person.

[darkhorse9]

I picked this up at a local shop for $150. I sent it in to be graded and came back the highest ever graded for this issue.

Flipped it for almost $700

[bn2cardz]

I had a common t205 American Beauty low pop card listed with a price on my site. The price was a "it should stay safe in my collection, but if someone is willing to pay this much I would let it go". Well someone paid the price so I sold it knowing I had paid 25% of the price. Yet I had regretted letting it go when I got more into doing the t205 American Beauty Subset. Then it showed back up in the BST with my original scan. The seller ended up posting it for sale for aprox 2/3 what I sold it to him for so I got it back.

So getting a card back for less than I sold it for was a nice gift. It was like having rented the card out for a few months.

[joeadcock]

Searching for this type cabinet for awhile.
Thanks to board member

[the-illini]

My favorite card in my collection

[Peachman82]

Originally Posted by the-illini

My favorite card in my collection

Awesome card

[Luke]

I don't think I got any incredible deals this year, but I was in the right place at the right time to get some cards I really wanted at a fair price. I also made a bunch of trades with net54 members.

I think my best steal of the year was my new Epson V33 scanner which I just got last week for $36. These cards were acquired from friends on the forum this year, and finally I have a scanner with CCD element to show them off :

[h2oya311]

nice scans, Luke! Feels like you just got some brand new cards, huh? What an important investment!

For me, the answer to this question is a no-brainer. Because a fellow member mentioned in a thread that he was going to be in the Jersey shore area in the summer, I jumped in and mentioned that I vacation in Stone Harbor every summer for two weeks (one week in June and another in August). As chance would have it, an entirely different board member lives there full-time and was gracious enough to allow me into his home to share his knowledge and show off his collection with me during my August trip. It was the first time I had even met anyone in person who shared my interest in baseball memorabilia.

Several series of events had to happen to bring us together (1) someone posting about being in Jersey, (2) me reading the post and responding about card shops in Jersey, (3) the member in Jersey (full-time) reading the same thread and randomly extending an invitation to me, (4) me actually being brave enough to meet a stranger in person, (5) that person having a card that I wanted, and (6) that person being willing to part with that card.

This card wasn't even on my radar screen as I had never seen it "checklisted" anywhere among the "rookie" card checklists, but it would have been near the top of the list if I had known about its existence beforehand.

Many thanks go out to Bruce for working out a deal with me and helping me add my favorite card in my collection!

[bgar3]

To followup on the post by Derek above, I got to meet someone genuinely interested in my collection and the deal was mutually beneficial, in that I got a nice Ashburn photo and funds to help acquire a 1869 Peck and Snyder from runscott(THANK YOU) that I had been the underbidder on at auction. This was just an INCREDIBLE series of events. I look forward to you next visit Derek.

[Compsella]

Been wanting this card since I was a youngster and completed that Hallmark Babe Ruth jigsaw puzzle (the card is part of the image).

Now I have the highest PSA-graded version known. Yay me!

[ledsters]

Congratulations on finally getting your Babe Ruth! Crazy that a PSA 2 is the highest graded. Tough one!

[Compsella]

Originally Posted by ledsters

Congratulations on finally getting your Babe Ruth! Crazy that a PSA 2 is the highest graded. Tough one!

Thanks! Congrats on your Billy Martin. I'm quite sure I've never seen it before.

[bnorth]

Not pre-war or worth much money but I picked up a 89 Fleer Wade Boggs without the black dot after throws right on card back. I had been looking for this rare error for close to 25 years. The best part is a amazingly nice member over on the BO forum sent it to me for free back in June.

[sniffy5]

For me, this Joe Wood is a gift, no matter the cost...