Are you a Hardcore HOF player collector?

[hcv123]

Howard, thank you for sharing your story of missing out on that prized Kahn's Roberto Clemente. Your honest humility and enduring pain is easy to understand. Believe me, I feel for you and can so relate to the guy's terse pronouncement, "I didn't know what I was looking at". Wow, the offer of about 10K for a PSA 6-appearing tough Roberto regional underscores what I have maintained for a long, long time. The rare and typically off-condition casualty found among the regionals will eventually come to command "boo koo bucks", once they are understood. Specifically, when a specimen's condition starkly stands out from the norm, decide speedily and get the wallet out fast. Otherwise, the refrain from an old radio show used beautifully in a Daffy Duck - Porky Pig cartoon comes to haunt, "YOU'LL BE SORRY!" The regret indeed haunts, but we tend to accumulate some regrets in life.

I sit amazed as I think of some of the sales involving the 54-55 Esskay Frankfurts Baltimore Orioles.

Better stop. Hope you're able to get a nice black 'n white Kahn's Clemente one day before too long. Cheers. ---Brian Powell[/QUOTE]

Thanks Brian,

I actually have been fortunate enough to own 2 other 1958 kahn's Clemente's (1 of which still sits proudly in my collection). Neither coming close to the amazing condition of the one that was missed! I have found it to be a very interesting thing in the collectibles market - the effects of supply and demand economics. Even though there are some RIDICULOUSLY short supply cards and memorabilia out there - in many cases so few, collectors either don't know about them or consider them so short in supply that they are unattainable - keeping the price relative to the short supply relatively inexpensive. I have been very slow to part with certain rarer/near impossible to replace items I have unless getting very strong prices for them. The handful of people who know what they are looking at are usually tickled to be able to buy these items - as in my opinion they should be given their scarcity............now, has anyone seen a complete 1960 Bazooka box with Clemente around?????????????