Post your best story! The Buy that got away

[effe]

Originally Posted by pingman59

It's the spring 1978 Chicagoland Sports Collectors Association show at the Hillside Holiday Inn. I'm in college and have $40 to spend. I got there right when they opened the doors and soon after I ran across an empty display box labeled 1941 Play Ball: $35. I thought it was the coolest thing and I deliberated over and over on spending almost all of my money, not realizing at the time the scarcity of such an item. I passed on it and walked away only to come back 5 minutes later, after coming to my senses, to buy it. IT WAS GONE.

Huge regret.

Was Burleigh Grimes an autograph guest at the show? If so I was there too. I picked up a 1933 Goudey Ruth at the show for $40 and 3/4 of a 1954 Topps for $20.

[Rich Falvo]

Lost out on a very low pop T206 on eBay yesterday. Saw it posted with what looked like a reasonable BIN, but went to do a quick check on VCP and the PSA/SGC pop reports. Within five minutes, the card was purchased by someone else. Should have just bought it right away. Sometimes, making the rash purchase is better than doing due diligence!

[pingman59]

Originally Posted by effe

Was Burleigh Grimes an autograph guest at the show? If so I was there too. I picked up a 1933 Goudey Ruth at the show for $40 and 3/4 of a 1954 Topps for $20.

I don't remember if Grimes was there or not. If Grimes was there, I probably ignored the idea of an autograph from him, as I got him at a Milwaukee show in August of 77. I remember thinking that I'll buy a 33 Goudey of Grimes to get autographed (like they would be available in quantity...HA!). I got the Milwaukee Show program signed instead.

[bnorth]

Recently I was looking at a website and seen a cool autographed card. After looking closer it was a cool error card. I am not much of a auto guy but the auto on a error card had me very interested. The price was a little high but within reason. We where about to leave for supper and it is a site that you have to be a member and have $ in your account with them. I looked and did not have enough $ in my account and the wife was in a hurry. I figured since it was just listed I would buy it when we got back home. When we got back home I looked and it was sold. Then a few days later another member here emailed me a picture of his new autographed error card.LOL

[steve B]

Over a long time without much budget, there are so many that got away.

Orr usa test rookie, in really nice shape. it was in my local dealers "special" binder, actually special stuff that they weren't actively selling sort of a maybe available collection. Anyway, it was $100, which at the time seemed crazy because hockey hadn't taken off, and a hundred would have bought pretty much an entire decades worth of sets, maybe more.

T206 Drum - maybe vg Saw it at the shriners, but it was at like the third table, and while I had the money it was all I'd brought. So buying it would have meant about a 10 minute stop at the show.

1950? Topps felt back football cards. A whole small boxful of them, maybe a couple hundred? I think $60. Again, before anything but baseball was all that expensive. But I didn't know anything about them, and they were interesting but tiny, and all college players, and being the dunce I am sometimes I passed.

Of course there's a boatload of stuff I could have tried to find back then and done really well with, 52 Mantles were under a thousand, and some other big money cards were no big deal.