Show me your "steals"

[pete zouras]

Steals are few and far between in my collection, except for stuff I collected from when I was a kid. I picked this up for $10. Polar bear back.

[Kawika]

Won this baby for about $425 in 2004. I thought that was a steal even then (although any "gain" has been offset many times over by other items upon which I have seriously overpaid).

[jb217676]

I think these are two steals. The 1940's Mel Ott blotter was $20.00 and the 1970's Louisville Slugger bank (autographed bat version) was $30.00.

[timn1]

The most mind-boggling steal I got was late on Saturday at the first National I ever went to, I think in 2001. I walked by a booth manned by people I didn't know, who had had most of a T206 set for sale. I had glanced at some earlier but felt they were too high. This time as I walked past I saw a new sign: "T206 collection $995." Just out of idle curiosity I asked how many they were selling for that price, as I could see they still had a bunch. "All of them-- we want to get on home." My jaw hit the floor and I said "Sold." I left them what cash I had in my wallet but I had to rush off and borrow the rest from a dealer and good friend of mine, Ron Barrett. I was afraid they would be gone when I got back but the people and the cards were there.

For my $1000 (I didn't ask for the $5 back) I got 297 T206s including about 60 HOFers and Southern Leaguers. 1 Young, 1 Matty, 1 Lajoie, 1 Johnson, the Elberfeld and several other tougher cards. The fronts were mostly EX or so. Some had been pulled from an album and had a varying amounts of paper loss. Others had been cut from the album with the backing. Those I soaked off carefully over the next couple of weeks, and they came out beautifully. This is still the bulk of my T206 (near-)set. If I had gone past that table five minutes later, I'm sure they would have been gone-- For once my timing was perfect!

Since I can't show all of those, I'll add a pic of my other great steal: M101-5 Becker. Rare variation -- less than 10 copies known. Bought for $40 in a group of graded commons at the old Fort Washington.

Tim

[collectbaseball]

There's really nothing better than a good steal... I know I've had a bunch but this one sticks out in my memory -- it was on ebay listed as something like "American League signed ball" and I got it for $25 or so. Turned out to be a 1957 Orioles team signed ball featuring Hall of Famers Brooks Robinson in his first year and George Kell in his last.

[Jacklitsch]

Stevens Cabinet (on the left) picked up in a shop in Cooperstown maybe 20 years ago for $50

[wolfdogg]

Found an album in a shop back in early 90s that had T206s and various E cards, and a few Goudeys (probably 50-60 E90-1 that for some reason I didn't buy them all)......the dealer, obviously not knowing much about them (he knew the "big names") had them priced so I picked a few out including these-----for $50 E90 Speaker, T206 Marquard with Lenox back, T206 Herzog with Lenox back, '33 Goudey Berg and a T206 O'HARA ST.LOUIS!!!(it was trimmed all way around but oh well).........then the next week....same album....for $40 E90 Fromme, T206 Abbaticchio with EPDG back and T206 Duffy with Tolstoi back.....then for $25 E102 Miller fielding and E102 Zimmerman......he then told me there were 3 Old Judge cards in there that he had pulled out cause they were really old......he would only sell me one.....he said take your pick....$150 each......I looked....the 3rd card was GALVIN, PITTSBURG.....that one came home with me

One other steal was.....called a well-known dealer after he attended a large show.....said he had picked up about 25 Old Judges....he started calling them out.....about half way thru he said...."Hoy, Washington"....I said "STOP!!!!"....he told me the condition (which is VERY nice with stain) and said $80......guess where that one is now..........I later explained to him who Hoy was.....

[bbcard1]

Not Vintage, but at a recent Chantilly show, I found a 1983 Topps Traded set for $1. I absolutely didn't need it. I remembered paying probable $50 for mine, so I couldn't let it pass. A little later I'm standing by a table and a guy comes up to the dealer and says," I have been looking all over the room and I'd really like to have a Topps Traded Strawberry rookie, you wouldn't have one would you." The dealer said no, and he started to wander away when I put on my toughest negotiating hat and said,"I doubt you'll find a single, but I have a set. You are going to have to be satisfied with letting me double my money on it though. That will be $2." The guy was thrilled. The dealer didn't mind because having these high dollar transactions go on in front of his table is good for business. Funny thing was, the guy only had one $1 bill and a hundred and I didn't have change. I told him to go do something nice for somebody he doesn't know. Granted I may have gotten $20 off of it on ebay, but a good story is worth more than $20.

[Al C.risafulli]

Five hundred bucks, raw, on eBay. I watched it for a week, drooling.

It's not a Peck and Snyder, but I did all right, percentage-wise.

-Al

[Wite3]

A cautionary tale to dealers....and totally true (a few board members saw me within an hour of buying this and can attest to the purchase).

Was at a small mall show in Las Vegas about 10 years ago. Nothing really there...I think I was happy with buying a couple of Bell Brand Dodgers. I was gazing at a table that had a few mid '70s cards in a bargain box and a lot of shiny new stuff when an older gentleman walked up and asked the dealer a question. The dealer essentially told him to wait while he was talking with another dealer. When he finally asked the older man what he wanted the man said he had some cards to sell...he took out a binder with some 1992 Donruss Nolan Ryan cards in the front. The dealer took a look at the first page and told the guy, "I don't buy that junk," and turned around. The older man said that he had some old Pirates programs and some older cards but the dealer essentially ignored him. I didn't. I asked what programs...he said Pirates from the 40s and 50s. He then asked me if I wanted to see them. I told him yes and we went to a bench in the mall. We sat and looked at the programs and he told me about going to Forbes Field and making the "long" drive to Crosley one year to watch the Pirates and the Reds. He also had a local paper clipping from 1951 of him holding cards and talking about buying and trading baseball cards. I asked him if he had any of those old cards still...he said sure, right here at the back of this binder. I flipped to the back and he had a bunch of 1941 Playball cards. He told me he would sell me the Playball cards for whatever I had in my wallet. I had $12 but I told him I would go to the ATM. I took out $300 (all I was allowed) and handed it to him. He said it was worth it just to talk to someone who knew the game and could appreciate the cards.

I had just bought a vg+ originally collected, one owner 1941 Play Ball Set. I talked to Earl a few other times over the next couple of years and bought a few programs. He also owned an autograph book that contained 100s of signatures of Pirates from Wanger to Maz! I could not get him to sell this to me but that was okay. I love this set.

Joshua

[ChrisStufflestreet]

Picked this one up for about $12 in '92...



It's a W512 card from 1926. They normally have the player's complete name and team listed, but I'm fine with 80% of the card.

Not the prettiest card, but a Bambino from his playing days is sweet at that price.

[lharri3600]

paid $88 for it!!