What cards did you get for a steal, although you didn't realize it at the time?

Jay Wolt · #1 04-16-2023, 09:07 AM

As Raulus stated anything vintage bought pre-pandemic has appreciated nicely.
Modern, not so much. Imagine stockpiling on unopened cases of 1988 Donruss,
Fleer, Score & Topps?

15 years ago when I was working on my 1st set of T3 Turkey Red's
I won on ebay an ungraded Mathewson for a song, maybe $240. dlvd
My bid was much higher, so was curious why it went so low.
Then I noticed the seller was from England & back then there was no ebay protection
for lost or stolen packages.

It did arrive in the condition as advertised, worn & stained. Had it graded & it fit in nicely in my set.

kmac32 · #2 04-16-2023, 09:39 AM

All of my E121-120 Ruth Cards

icurnmedic · #3 04-16-2023, 10:51 AM

Bought a small "lot" at Hillsville Flea market for less than $20. I knew nothing of T206 at the time, just knew there were some older cards in the group. Brought home and it sat on my desk for 3 or more months, until one day I decided to look up what it was. Turns out it was a Broad Leaf Billy Purtell, sent it to PSA , now 2 of them are known, sold for $750, but really wish I had it back. But Alas , I am now hooked on the vintage!

metroac · #4 04-16-2023, 12:03 PM

Sometime in the '80's, a dealer/friend from who I'd bought many times, asked me "How'd you like a '52 Bowman Mantle for a dollar? It's beat up, but it's still a '52 Bowman Mantle." Of course I said, "Sure." Pix are below, but now it could be the single favorite card I own, just as a reminder of a more innocent time.

skil55voy · #5 04-16-2023, 12:05 PM

I went to a card show in Dearborn. Michigan in 1987. Gordie Howe was the autograph feature. My daughter wanted to get her Red Wings pennant signed and I had a jersey to be signed. We got there and bought autograph tickets. We numbers 407 and 408 for the line which had not started. Everyone was sitting in the bleachers waiting for Howe and no one was walking around the tables. My daughter and I started looking. She got a couple of grab bags and I got to the last table and saw a stack of 1962 Jello cards. There were 42 cards in the stack with 2 Willie Mays cards. The price was 120.00. I looked through the stack and there were decently cut. I had 100.00 in my wallet. I asked him his best price. He said he hadn't sold anything all day and would take 105.00. I told him I had a hundred in the wallet but, would like to have 20.00 to take my daughter to lunch, He said ok. We then sold our autograph tickets to someone else who had come in. (By then they were into the 700's) We went to lunch.

So, in the stack besides the 2 Mays, was a Koufax, Frank Robinson, Ernie Banks and three that I had no idea are the incredibly tough to find:

Bobby Richardson, Bill Stafford and Curt Simmons.

Yoda · #6 04-16-2023, 01:28 PM

In the late 1990's, I did a deal for most of Lew Lipset's Sporting News M101-5s that he had advertised for several months. These included Jackson, Cobb, Stengel etc., but the crown jewel was the Ruth RC. Lew wanted $5k for the Bambino but dropped to $4.5 since I was buying a large lot. I subsequently had it graded by Derrek Grady at SGC, where it received a grade of 5.5. It is long gone, of course, sold when I folded the Full Count tent.

TobaccoKing4 · #7 04-16-2023, 02:32 PM

My best would be when I picked up a raw Sanella Ruth in mid 2000s for around $30 and sold it at the peak in 2021 for over $2k. I still miss that card and wish I still had it but I needed the money at the time.

Fred · #8 04-16-2023, 02:50 PM

Beat up D304 Cobb for $75 back in the 80's. Graded at a "1" - beat to heck, but real. Picked up a second D304 Cobb about 10+ years ago on fleabay (BIN) for under $500 (I think it was $475). Although it graded out a "1", it's much nicer than the first one.

brian1961 · #9 04-16-2023, 06:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by skil55voy

I went to a card show in Dearborn. Michigan in 1987. Gordie Howe was the autograph feature. My daughter wanted to get her Red Wings pennant signed and I had a jersey to be signed. We got there and bought autograph tickets. We numbers 407 and 408 for the line which had not started. Everyone was sitting in the bleachers waiting for Howe and no one was walking around the tables. My daughter and I started looking. She got a couple of grab bags and I got to the last table and saw a stack of 1962 Jello cards. There were 42 cards in the stack with 2 Willie Mays cards. The price was 120.00. I looked through the stack and there were decently cut. I had 100.00 in my wallet. I asked him his best price. He said he hadn't sold anything all day and would take 105.00. I told him I had a hundred in the wallet but, would like to have 20.00 to take my daughter to lunch, He said ok. We then sold our autograph tickets to someone else who had come in. (By then they were into the 700's) We went to lunch.

So, in the stack besides the 2 Mays, was a Koufax, Frank Robinson, Ernie Banks and three that I had no idea are the incredibly tough to find:

Bobby Richardson, Bill Stafford and Curt Simmons.

WOW; simply WOW! Congratulations and way da go, Michael. --- Brian Powell

PS---Unless he already has the story for his 1962 JELL-O chapter, you must tell or send this story to Ken Marks. This is a beaut!

The Detroit Collector · #10 05-20-2023, 03:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by skil55voy

I went to a card show in Dearborn. Michigan in 1987. Gordie Howe was the autograph feature. My daughter wanted to get her Red Wings pennant signed and I had a jersey to be signed. We got there and bought autograph tickets. We numbers 407 and 408 for the line which had not started. Everyone was sitting in the bleachers waiting for Howe and no one was walking around the tables. My daughter and I started looking. She got a couple of grab bags and I got to the last table and saw a stack of 1962 Jello cards. There were 42 cards in the stack with 2 Willie Mays cards. The price was 120.00. I looked through the stack and there were decently cut. I had 100.00 in my wallet. I asked him his best price. He said he hadn't sold anything all day and would take 105.00. I told him I had a hundred in the wallet but, would like to have 20.00 to take my daughter to lunch, He said ok. We then sold our autograph tickets to someone else who had come in. (By then they were into the 700's) We went to lunch.

So, in the stack besides the 2 Mays, was a Koufax, Frank Robinson, Ernie Banks and three that I had no idea are the incredibly tough to find:

Bobby Richardson, Bill Stafford and Curt Simmons.

Do you remember where in Dearborn the show was?

55koufax · #11 05-20-2023, 04:50 PM

My greatest "steal of a deal" was fairly recently. About the start of Covid I bought a complete raw set of Topps 1959 Football from Touchdown Treasures. It was billed as about half NM and half Nm-Mt. I had the bulk of the set PSA graded. Many low pop 9's. Many star 9's including Jim Brown (RIP). One 10, and a multitude of 8's, 8.5's. Within a year I had a top ten set on the Registry. Completely graded at almost 8.50 GPA, and I really did not have to invest too much $$$ for upgrades. The set easily values at $35K+. Maybe even $40K.
I have less than $10K into it. Almost 4X in 3 years. One of my greatest hits in an entire lifetime of collecting. Lucky.

JollyElm · #12 05-20-2023, 05:38 PM

This is one of my all-time favorite cards, because it's a perfectly centered card from a set I adore, showing my beloved 'Tom Terrific' donning his monster-sized mitt, and the photograph makes you wonder, "What in high heck was going on at Shea the moment this picture was taken???????? I mean, he's doubled over in laughter, for cripe's sake!!!!!!"

I spent less than $3 on it and now Mr. Seaver sits ensconced in a PSA 9 slab.

1972seaverIA446PSA.jpg

Love it!!

skil55voy · #13 05-20-2023, 06:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Detroit Collector

Do you remember where in Dearborn the show was?

Eric, I believe the show was at Dearborn High.

The Detroit Collector · #14 05-21-2023, 08:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by skil55voy

Eric, I believe the show was at Dearborn High.

thank you, I am from the area so just curious.

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