Blunders and Wonders in Collecting

[njdunkin1]

Blunder - I first began to collect about 5 or 8 years ago, then took a 2 year break in the middle. I'm just getting back into the swing of things now and I realize how much Trout rookies go for - I probably opened up a few and threw them away as commons

Wonder - nothing major, I just try to soak up as much knowledge as I can about cards, so I can get good deals when I go to shops or garage sales and whatnot. I went to a shop owned by two older gentleman outside Minneapolis a few months back. Happening to look through the .25 pile, I found a Dirk Nowitzki Bowman's Best rookie refractor /400. Raw that card sells for about 50 bucks. Profit margin = 19,900%

[xplainer]

Blunder - Dean Palmer. Bought in quantity. They now sit in my moms attic.

Wonder - Still waiting on it.

[GregMitch34]

Blunder: One of my first big ticket card purchases ever, more than 20 years ago, was an ungraded Hugh Duffy Mayo Cut Plug, which turned out to be a reprint.

Wonder: The dealer, Alex's in Manhattan, took it back without question, and gave me a t206 Matty PSA 4 Cycle, which I still have.

[judsonhamlin]

My biggest blunder was not buying all the Broadleaf 460 cards that I found at Ft. Washington in an older dealer's case. I bought two (Snodgrass and O'Leary) and consigned the O'Leary to Barry Sloate. I left at least 4 behind, with some 350's as well.

[bmattioli]

I will always regret not buying more '86 Fleer basketball. I could have had all I wanted.. Also, trading away my signed in person Mickey Mantle 8x10 for comic books was a blunder..

[irv]

Wonder: Receiving my current collection of 52 Topps from my Father.

Blunder(s): Likely not offering enough for some cards from a member on here(?), and not acting fast enough to purchase a 56 Clemente from another member on here just recently.

[ajquigs]

Biggest blunder is willfully ignoring the value difference between PSA and SGC. Even though I knew better, I was able to justify some good sized SGC BIN purchases based on the market for PSAs in the same grade. I'm happy with the SGCs I have in my collection and it doesn't keep me up at night, but there were a couple of definite overpays (20% or more). I still like buying SGCs, but I'm more rational about it now.

Wonders are limited. I had some good luck pulling singles from sets that I had since I was a kid ... a 1978 Murray rookie (PSA 8.5) and a 1979 Rose (PSA 9) each sold in the $150 range. Those plus some PSA 9 Ripken and PSA 8 Rickey rookies gave me a chance to have some fun on COMC picking up ungraded 50's and 60's cards that I like way more than the cards I sold. Backfilling the sets with a decent looking card cost only a few bucks each, so I was happy with that deal all the way around.

[ooo-ribay]

Who the hell is (was) Marc Newfield???!??

No out and out blunders.

Maybe my Bonds GU LS H238 will someday be a wonder when the sanctimonious a**holes pull their heads out and recognize greatness.

[Bill77]

Biggest blunders: Not selling my Prince Fielder autograph rookies when they were worth more than $150, as well as my Francisco Liriano autographed rookie when it topped out at $210. Other blunder trading a topps traded Pujols rookie for a 1987 Topps Barry bonds rookie.

Wonders: Will I ever sell anything?

[pokerplyr80]

For blunders, similar to what others have listed, purchases I regret not making on cards that have exploded in price over the last couple of years, especially the Mantles. And not focusing on vintage as a kid. They seemed too expensive at the time, late 80s and 90s, but obviously I would have been much better off buying a card or two here and there than all the packs and boxes I opened that are basically worthless now.

The only wonder that comes to mind is picking up a 51 Bowman Mantle and Mays together off ebay a few months ago. The price I paid seemed like a good deal at the time, and they've been going up ever since. If I ever decide to sell either I'm sure I'd do ok.