Cards you sold and wish you hadn't

[Johnny630]

None sell sell sell.

[Pat R]

I purchased a card from a woman on ebay twelve years ago and I sent
her a message to let her know that I had sent a money order. This
is the message that she sent back to me.
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After having the card for over ten years I sold it last year. If it came
up for sale again I would try to buy it back.

[Yoda]

There have been many, but two still give me severe angst: 1. A beautiful exmt Goudey #144 Ruth with the Babe's signature in beautiful bold black ink splashed across it. When getting it authenticated, Jim Spence said it was one of the nicest autographs of Ruth he had ever seen, 2. A T206 Griffith PSA 7 with, yes, a Drum back. I suspect it must be the choicest Drum reverse out there. I often wonder what David Hunt would have paid for it.

[53Browns]

PSA 5 1933 Goudey Gehrig
PSA 6 Aaron rookie
PSA 7 Koufax rookie

PAINFUL

[charlietheexterminator]

I have two cards that haunt me.

T206 Honus Wagner (#17 on T206 Resource)

T206 Ty Cobb, Bat Off, Brown Lenox

[usernamealreadytaken]

Biggest regret is letting go of a Gabby Street (catching) Drum. A little off-center, but the back was solid with no paper loss or issues. I've seen it around since, but now worth many multiples of what I let it go for ...

A story with a happy ending: Many who have been on the Board for awhile may recall ChicagoT206 (or some variation of that name). He came on the Board and ruffled some feathers with his "style." One of his (aggressive) pursuits was putting together a T206 back run. Well, at some point, in the face of criticism from fellow members, he posted a swan song thread wherein he sold all of his back-run cards and left the Board/hobby. His Broad Leaf exemplar was a Billy Purtell. This was one of his last to sell and it lingered for a few days until I decided to nab it - my first BL. I had for a bit and then traded it (for a very nice Shag Hindu as I recall), but soon regretted letting it go. Sometime later, I had a chance to reacquire (I think from a different Board member than who I dealt it to). Anyway, nothing special, but a card I really like, and glad to have back - it must have been meant to be.

[commishbob]

First and foremost I wish I hadn't given away most of my collection to my neighborhood friends when we moved from NJ to Texas in 1967. I'm not alone in wanting my cards back now.

I sold off a beautiful Johnny Unitas rookie about 20 years ago to pay for some audio equipment. I regretted it immediately and it bugged me until I bought another one a few years ago.

Not a card but...walking across campus forty+ years ago I found, propped up against a dumpster next to the school media building, a terrific matted 16x20 of Mickey Mantle. It was a B&W shot of him answering questions at a press conference, smiling and wearing a pinstriped suit. Most random thing ever. I had it on my dorm walls and later each apartment I lived in. When I got married and bought a house I tossed it. I hate that I don't have it now.

[Rhotchkiss]

Originally Posted by charlietheexterminator

I have two cards that haunt me.

T206 Honus Wagner (#17 on T206 Resource)

T206 Ty Cobb, Bat Off, Brown Lenox

Chuck, I am haunted too by that story....

[Exhibitman]

I more wish I'd bought than wish I hadn't sold. I thought of the following cards when they were readily affordable but just didn't want to bother:

--Babe Ruth RC
--1933 Goudey #144 Ruth
--1925 Exhibit Gehrig
--1952 Topps Mantle

In terms of sold and missed, the worst move I ever made financially was to sell my PSA 7 1954 Topps Aaron and Mays a few years before the price run-up. The cards had basically stagnated for years and when I got an offer I went for it. The worst move ever sentimentally was selling off my childhood run of early Mantles. They were lower grade but all had been picked from $1 or $2 boxes when I was a kid. The most I paid for one was $3.25 at auction in a local card show for a 1952 Bowman. I had 52-53-54 Bowman and 56-57-61-65-66 Topps, and I was probably into them for under $20. I also wish I'd hung on to my run of 1950s-1960s football, especially the 1957 and 1962 Topps cards. Family friends with older kids gave me a giant box of their kids' cards. They had amazing runs of late fifties to early 60s cards. Finally, I wish I'd not sold off the 1969 Topps basketball set I assembled as a kid. I kept the Chamberlain and still have it but had to reassemble the rest of it.