Your Best Raw Card Success Story

[sox1903wschamp]

Originally Posted by FrankWakefield

Congratulations Jimmy, with the Connie Mack. THAT is what I consider success. I don't consider taking a nice card and getting it entombed in plastic as a 'success story'. So this thread was starting to concern me a bit. Your's is a story of success.

Ahhh yes, there is always a dissenter in our ranks to throw chilly water on our stories. I like all stories be it raw or graded. It's all about passion and collecting!

[canjond]

Picked up a raw 1948 Bowman Rizzuto as an upgrade for my set a few years ago. Scan was a little fuzzy and seller described it as vg-ex. I threw in a bid of $50 and won it for $38 or thereabouts. When the card arrived, it was gorgeous. Sent it into PSA and it graded an 8.

[JK]

Bought this for a about $2800 (the ebay scan looked much worse than this scan):



Though I would have preferred not to, I ended up selling it for several times that amount:

[Cowboy Fan]

Not vintage but this was my best flip.

Bought a 90 Leaf Sosa RC the year he and Mac were dueling from a local shop for $5 and sent to PSA and came back a 10, then sold on Ebay for $600 and I feel bad for that buyer.

[FrankWakefield]

.

[Rob D.]

Originally Posted by FrankWakefield

Proven, not proved.

The correct and intended usage of proven is as an adjective, as in "a proven method." Not the way you suggest using it.

Talk cards. Good idea.

[tedzan]

1st....Early 1990's, I drove up to Peterboro, New Hampshire to buy 64 Goodwin Champions (N162) cards.
A complete set of 50 and 14 extras. Here are the 2 key cards from this collection. I'm proud to say that
they have remained ungraded.



2nd....In 2005, a lot of 404 T206 cards was on ebay. The cards varied from Vg to Ex. Scans of stars (most-
ly VgEx) were provided. The remaining 344 were accurately described. There were only 44 duplicates.

Amazingly, I was only the 5th bidder on this lot. I guess because they were not graded, not too many col-
lectors/investors were interested in this huge lot of T206's......my Gain, everyone else's Loss.


TED Z

[barrysloate]

About seven years ago I bought a large group of several hundred raw T205 and T206 commons in a big lot from one of the major auction houses (don't want to say who they are, but they no longer exist).

Among the group of T206 commons, and unseen by the auction house, was a Nodgrass, which I got graded SGC 40. I was able to sell it for four figures.

[Jim VB]

Originally Posted by barrysloate

About seven years ago I bought a large group of several hundred raw T205 and T206 commons in a big lot from one of the major auction houses (don't want to say who they are, but they no longer exist).

Among the group of T206 commons, and unseen by the auction house, was a Nodgrass, which I got graded SGC 40. I was able to sell it for four figures.

Any wonder why they "no longer exist"?

[Jay Wolt]

My best success $% wise was at the Philly show in Reading seeing a Mint looking
'58 Andy Pafko sitting on top of a dealers $1 pile. I thought it was a Heritage card it looked so nice.
I tossed a dollar on the table, took the card placed it in a top loader.
And sent it to PSA w/ my other submissions, it came back a "9"

I put it on eBay starting at .99 cents, it went for $688.58 (I just checked VCP)
Ironically the buyer also eBay'd it (last year) and a whale won it for $382.00

[HRBAKER]

Originally Posted by barrysloate

About seven years ago I bought a large group of several hundred raw T205 and T206 commons in a big lot from one of the major auction houses (don't want to say who they are, but they no longer exist).

Among the group of T206 commons, and unseen by the auction house, was a Nodgrass, which I got graded SGC 40. I was able to sell it for four figures.

Barry they were too busy writing the world's longest run on sentence regarding the cards they did notice to notice.

[FrankWakefield]

.

[Leon]

Me, I am thinking about getting my slabs slabbed.

(and I know it's almost happened in the coin arena....CAC?)

edited to say I was correct

http://www.caccoin.com/

[Rob D.]

Originally Posted by FrankWakefield

Why must the success culminate in a plastic slab?

I didn't read anywhere in this thread where someone said success must culminate in a plastic slab. But for many collectors it does. Not sure why that would bother other folks or be a cause for "concern."

[Exhibitman]

Originally Posted by FrankWakefield

Hardly a success story, 03sox... surely you can jab better than that.

I bought 3 McGuire rookie cards a few months before his hype hit. 2 were in great shape, one had a crease. I think I had about $25 in the cards. When the cards were selling for $100 or so, I sold one of the good one's to a friend for $50, he was glad to get the card for what was then about half price. Sold the one with the crease to a fellow for about $10, he saw the crease and was pleased with the affordable card. Me, I was money ahead and still had one good card, which I still have. Success without slabbing. Ted managed to do that, too. Why must the success culminate in a plastic slab?

Frank, pal, I think you need to tone down the level of sanctimony. The call of the question as originally posed was a fun thread on a positive subject rather than a busted deal or a cheating auctioneer: getting a great deal on a raw card. Didn't define parameters for measuring the greatness of the deal. One metric of a great deal and the example used in the original post is getting a card that unexpectedly grades very highly with a TPG, whether sold or not. Another metric is getting a card on the cheap and selling it raw for a lot more than you paid. Apparently, you like the second metric and not the first. I don't think either way of characterizing a great deal is intrinsically better than the other. Every card in my example except the 1971 PSA 9 I kept. Am I more of a collector than someone who sold their great deal because I kept the cards I got the great deal on instead of selling them? Am I less of a collector because I had the cards slabbed--I like the way they look in SGC holders--even though I didn't sell them and don't plan to? The debate itself is silly. Some people like slabbed cards. Some don't. Some people flip cards, some don't. There is no correct answer, other than it is not necessary to elevate on one group over the other on what was supposed to be a fun thread.