Card losses, sad but true...

[Aaron Seefeldt]

About 15-17 years ago I had a group of 10 or 12 Boston Garters from the "locker room series". Before I had sold a single one, a guy I was talking with on the phone wanted to see scans but my scanner was broken. What did I do? I went to the local public library and scanned them all 1 by 1. I had them in a binder and when I was finished scanning, I left... only 1 problem - I forgot the Fred Clarke on the copy machine. When I realized it was missing I went back to the library, in a state of panic, and naturally it was long gone. Some kid probably found it and thought it was a coloring book or something.

I was depressed, deeply depressed, for quite a while. Not just at the monetary value lost but also because it is a truly rare f'n item!

Anybody else have any stories of loss?

[Leon]

My desk has a ton of raw (large and small) and slabbed cards on it, where I work from everyday. I am a procrastinator and there are piles of stuff I have almost forgotten about. Around a month or two ago, I spilled a semi full cup of coffee on it. Yes, cards and all.....Not a good morning. Live and learn to be more careful.
.

[bobbyw8469]

Originally Posted by Leon

My desk has a ton of raw (large and small) and slabbed cards on it, where I work from everyday. I am a procrastinator and there are piles of stuff I have almost forgotten about. Around a month or two ago, I spilled a semi full cup of coffee on it. Yes, cards and all.....Not a good morning. Live and learn to be more careful.
.

Ouch!

[Rhotchkiss]

I bought a gorgeous T206 Clark Griffith Red Hindu PSA 2 (picture below) a few years ago (I think it was in one of the david Hall Heritage auctions). That sucker has up and vanished like a fart in the wind! I cannot find it anywhere. I put it with all my other cards, locked in a room locked in a safe, but I dont know what happened to it. I keep hoping one day ot will just pop up, but I am losing hope.

[Casey2296]

Originally Posted by Rhotchkiss

I bought a gorgeous T206 Clark Griffith Red Hindu PSA 2 (picture below) a few years ago (I think it was in one of the david Hall Heritage auctions). That sucker has up and vanished like a fart in the wind! I cannot find it anywhere. I put it with all my other cards, locked in a room locked in a safe, but I dont know what happened to it. I keep hoping one day ot will just pop up, but I am losing hope.

Have faith Ryan, I recall the postwar post recently, and the members name escapes me, but he lost his Mays, Aaron, Ruth, signed ball for 25 years, it showed up at his dads house if I recall.

[todeen]

Originally Posted by Casey2296

Have faith Ryan, I recall the postwar post recently, and the members name escapes me, but he lost his Mays, Aaron, Ruth, signed ball for 25 years, it showed up at his dads house if I recall.

Doug Goodman. Anddon't forget Saduhara Oh! What a story! I tell it to everyone I know. Someday when I get a chance, I'm going to tell it over the pulpit for God to hear how happy I am for Doug. LOL

As for my own story, I got adhesive stuck on my only Ruth, a 1934 Butterfinger. They are extremely fragile. I can't believe it existed 90 years, essentially a flimsy piece of paper, and someone who cared about it and took extreme pride in it is the one who ruined it.

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[pwang100]

When I was a kid, I used to look at my cards while I was in the bath tub. Until, one day, the tray holding my cards fell into the bath water. I still remember crying, and crying; and my mom pressing all my cards between towels to 'salvage' them.. 45 yrs later, I still have those cards...

[arcadekrazy]

Originally Posted by Rhotchkiss

I bought a gorgeous T206 Clark Griffith Red Hindu PSA 2 (picture below) a few years ago (I think it was in one of the david Hall Heritage auctions). That sucker has up and vanished like a fart in the wind! I cannot find it anywhere. I put it with all my other cards, locked in a room locked in a safe, but I dont know what happened to it. I keep hoping one day ot will just pop up, but I am losing hope.

I miss that card.

[Chris Counts]

I once returned a broken scanner to Staples. When I got home, I realized there were four cards still in it, and they were some good ones. I quickly drove back to the store, and was able to retrieve three of the cards, including a one-of-kind Play Ball color proof, but one was missing, a 1952 Berk Ross rookie card of Minnie Minoso.

[G1911]

Ouch. It seems somehow a little sadder to me when the incident involves a destruction or possible destruction of the card than a theft where the card will probably at least remain extant and in the hobby for the next generation.

I’ve been pretty lucky, my worst has been misjudging where a card was in the envelope and tearing it in half when opening the envelope. Felt like the dumbass I am. Thankfully it wasn’t expensive, but I hate to see any T card get destroyed.

[JustinD]

Originally Posted by G1911

I’ve been pretty lucky, my worst has been misjudging where a card was in the envelope and tearing it in half when opening the envelope. Felt like the dumbass I am. Thankfully it wasn’t expensive, but I hate to see any T card get destroyed.

I certainly sympathize with that, I have done it more than once.

[GasHouseGang]

Talking about theft...did you see this story?

Japan rocked by Pokémon card crime spree as thieves go to extravagant lengths to steal from shops
By Bradford Betz FOXBusiness

A Pokémon card crime spree has reportedly been sweeping Japan, with shop owners reporting tens of thousands of dollars in losses. A new report from The Wall Street Journal details the extravagant lengths thieves have gone to steal these highly sought-after cards – some of which fetch six figures.

Last August, thieves stole around 540 cards worth about $200,000 from a shop in Tokyo. And last month, thieves targeted a shop in Kyushu, stealing some 600 cards worth around $47,000, according to The Journal.

In another incident that defies belief, a man tied a rope to the top of a building and rappelled down to the sixth floor where he smashed the window and stole a collection of Pokémon cards. The suspect, who was eventually nabbed by police, said he used the skills he learned in his high school rock-climbing class.

Shop owners have taken to investing in more security, buying safes, or making copies of their collection for display, though such measures have cut into sales. "Do you want to look at fake paintings on display when you visit a museum," Hosaka, a shop owner from the Tokyo suburb of Machida, asked The Journal.

[brianp-beme]

Originally Posted by Aaron Seefeldt

About 15-17 years ago I had a group of 10 or 12 Boston Garters from the "locker room series". Before I had sold a single one, a guy I was talking with on the phone wanted to see scans but my scanner was broken. What did I do? I went to the local public library and scanned them all 1 by 1. I had them in a binder and when I was finished scanning, I left... only 1 problem - I forgot the Fred Clarke on the copy machine. When I realized it was missing I went back to the library, in a state of panic, and naturally it was long gone. Some kid probably found it and thought it was a coloring book or something.

I was depressed, deeply depressed, for quite a while. Not just at the monetary value lost but also because it is a truly rare f'n item!

Anybody else have any stories of loss?

Man, that is a sad story, but take solace in that Fred Clarke was probably the least attractive of the underwear wearing players in the set.

Brian

[rjackson44]

How about receiving bubble mailers getting all the cards out and then realizing you threw a card out by mistake omg. Happened with a ken dryden rookie. Got the stan makita and threw out the dryden. It happens

[Exhibitman]

I think I accidentally threw out an E121 Cobb.

[Johnny T]

I have a tendency to purchase cards now and again, that I already have!

In fact, I won Lot A in Leon's auction yesterday with the main card draw for me being the Frank King Southern Leaguer with an Old Mill back.

I was thrilled to win it only to find there was one in my box of slabbed T206's that I forgot to cross off on my list!!!!

Anyone want either a graded SGC 1 King SL or the one Leon had at the last auction???

This getting older shit really sucks!!!

JT

[NiceDocter]

Back in the early 1980s I bought some Hires Root Beer cards ex-mt w tabs of 4 different guys since I had their original signed contracts ….. as I recall Runnels, Antonelli, Jensen, and Kluszewski. I even remember the paper sack they were in. Within a month I couldn’t find them and I guess I tossed them out in the sack. Still have the contracts…. and a 0.001% hope that bag will still turn up some day in a box !!! Keeping hope alive!!!

[todeen]

Not my story: Who was the gentlemen who sent a huge portion of his collection to a new auction house and had the worst time ever recovering his property? Was that in 2019? I remember a portion of what he gave then was returned to his porch in a rain storm. That has to be one of the worst stories I've read on this board in the last 5 years.

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[Aquarian Sports Cards]

Originally Posted by todeen

Not my story: Who was the gentlemen who sent a huge portion of his collection to a new auction house and had the worst time ever recovering his property? Was that in 2019? I remember a portion of what he gave then was returned to his porch in a rain storm. That has to be one of the worst stories I've read on this board in the last 5 years.

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That story was weird in every direction. Still can't figure out what, if any of it, was truth.

[MikeGarcia]

Originally Posted by Aquarian Sports Cards

That story was weird in every direction. Still can't figure out what, if any of it, was truth.

.. That Crazy Uncle Auction thread , and the Skydash saga , are my favorite threads to re-read when I'm snowed in .

..

[Yoda]

Yes, the dog ate my baseball card. My beloved yellow Lab, Captain, had a voracious appetite for anything that looked interesting. One day when I was out, he discovered my precious E90-1 Tris Speaker on a chair where I had carelessly left it. When I returned, I discovered, much to my horror, that Captain had had a little snack. Nothing left except a few slobbered pieces. He was a BAD Boy for a couple of days until, of course, I forgave him.

[jsfriedm]

For my 8th birthday, all I wanted was a Willie Mays card. My dad ended up going to a garage sale and finding a beat up Nolan Ryan rookie and a 1968 Tom Seaver (I am a Mets fan), but I had my heart set on a Mays, and I wasn't happy. Soon after I went to a card show and paid the princely sum of $13 for a 1972 Topps Mays. Despite many moves, I have managed to keep almost all of my collection from when I was a kid, but somehow that 1972 Mays got lost.

[Vintagedeputy]

Not a loss, but a stupid decision. When I was a young teen, I was very much involved in working card shows for a dealer in NJ named Ron Durham. Ron actually ran the 1988 National in Atlantic City. Well, I was all full of myself and fancied myself as a card dealer. Rented a table at a few shows and sold some stuff.

One day, I went to a garage sale and found a 1957 Topps Al Ciccotte card and a gem mint 1957 Topps Yankee Power Hitters with Mantle and Berra. This card was glorious. Bought both for $5.00!

Went to a card show and read that book value on that card was like $40 or something so I laid it on my table and some shrewd buyer snapped it up.

I'm still crying.

[todeen]

Originally Posted by MikeGarcia

.. That Crazy Uncle Auction thread , and the Skydash saga , are my favorite threads to re-read when I'm snowed in .



..

I had to look up Skydash Saga. That was before I was a member on this board. Quite a collection to read about.

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