What card did you never think you'd own, but now you do?

[Exhibitman]

Great stuff guys! I really appreciate the stories.

For me it is more about cards I never thought I would find rather than price per se. sometimes I get the perfect one and it is the end of that subject in my collection.

First one like that for me is my signed Bowman Groucho Marx card. I wanted a Groucho autograph since I was a little boy because my favorite uncle is an entertainment lawyer and met Groucho and got a signed photo that I saw every time I visited him. When I saw the Bowman cards I thought how perfect would it be to have a signed one. I have insomnia and I often surf eBay in the wee hours of the morning. One day I was online searching and the signed Bowman Marx I’d long sought popped up with a BIN.



Another card that comes to mind is my 1951 Topps Ringside salesman sample panel with Rocky Marciano’s rookie card. Sample panels are tough to begin with and having one is ambitious but to get The Rock’s RC is fantasyland stuff.




Finally, a family heirloom item. My avatar is Ray Miller, a former #1 contender in the lightweight division and well known boxing referee. Ray is a first cousin of my grandfather. I never got to meet him; my father never even mentioned him until after he died in 1987. I actively collect his memorabilia and have several signed items. Ray is one of two refs in the Topps Ringside set. I have seen a signed card once. I bought it and would never sell it. But that’s not even the best part: when Topps liquidated its Ringside contracts through the Topps Vault program I was able to buy Ray’s signed contract.