What's Your Top 5 Best Ebay Finds?

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Posted By: Trevor Hocking 

I'm just curious to see what treasures and great bargains everyone on this board has found. Now I don't want any bragging or competiton here kids. I just want to see how many great deals have been found on ebay. I'm sure you can brake this Top 5 list into many categories like Top 5 BIN's, Top 5 Snipes, and so on. I just want your top five over all. Monetary value dosn't necessarily play a hugh roll here, but it's always a nice bonus. Well I'll start it off.

5. An original 1914 Cracker Jack box

4. Five 1910 Baseball Stars Notebooks (Joe
Jackson,Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Christy
Mathewson, and Mordica Brown.)

3. A complete run of Sporting News Supplments
form 1909-1913.

2. Two 1888 studio cabinets of Tom McCarthy
(HOF) and William "Kid" Gleason. These
happen to be the photo's used in the N172 card
set. Some think these are the studio proofs
given to Goodwin & Co. before the final Glass
Negatives were shipped.

1. My number one all time best find was a 20" x 16"
1888 Champion Des Moines team composite. I
know that there really isn't any big name players
on the team but my Father was born in Des
Moines and I have spent my whole life collecting
cards with my Father. I plan to give this to him
on Fathers day.

Ok lets hear your best ebay finds.

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Posted By: runscott

My biggest one got away!
1. Christy Mathewson cabinet from the 1890's - as far as I know, it's the oldest known photo of him in a baseball uni. I found it with a $5.99 opening bid in the "Antique photos" area and offered the seller $700 off-line. If I had offered less, I might own it now! She promptly sent it to my buddy at Cycleback for analysis and I never heard of it again!
2. Sorry James - 3 BL460's of which I only bought 2.
3. 1892 Binghamton Bingos cabinet with Willie Keeler. I guess it's the oldest photo of Keeler in a baseball uni, since it was his first pro season.
4. three Cap Anson cabinets and studio photos
5. T205 Reulbach printer scrap card - everyone knew about it, but no one wanted to send big $$$ to England, so I got it cheap - my favorite card!

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Posted By: Julie Vognar

5. T202 "Birmingham gets to Third" with Johnson at one end. SGC 80, beautiful, very tough card to find, bidding very competitive. $595 (ejn09)

4. 5 groups of Israeli Mark Chagall stamps, copied from his stained glass windows in a temple in Jeruselem.
(there is another design as well; seller didn't have it). $30.00. For a friend, a present. (gashek2)

3. Second cutting of a Danny Kaye children's record, "Mommy, Gimmie a drinka Water!." Canadian seller did NOT try to pass it off as first cutting, very carefully described unopened record and jacket.
$48.00 For my doctor. (Torglenn[888])

2. 1880s small cabinet of Caruthers. Simple vignette. Lovely sepia picture, beautiful deep red-brown back with gold lettering. Only bidder. $495.
(19thcenturyONLY.org)

1. 1882 Harper's woodcut of Providence Grays, with Wrights, Radbourn, a very young Ward with ball. Back ads almost as interesting as front! $14.95 (gal964)

Scrapps Getzien ($438) and Mayo Anson ($4525) close behind.

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Posted By: Brian Weisner

5. 3 T205's with Broadleaf backs 20.00 each, offered the seller 30.00 a piece offline he never answered the email on all the rest of the back collectors failed to read the entire description.

4. Unopened Sweet Caporal pack, 1909 tax stamp factory 25 dist 2 va. 25.00

3. 2 T206 Piedmont Factory 42 commons 28.00 total

2. Psa 6 soon to be 7 Elberfeld Wash Portrait 1100.00

1. T206 Red Kleinow Boston SGC 86 with Piedmont Factory 42 4th District Nc. 700.00

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Posted By: rmacpa

perhaps a bit off topic, but the five most amazing items i have seen posted to ebay were in no particular order:

1. 1870 autographed warren cabinet of harry wright won by josh leland. according to a reliable source, the ebay seller had stolen the card and the authorities subsequently had to confiscate it from josh.

2. the 3 hancock cards sold by browncreeper to jay miller

3. 1912 boston garter walter johnson (only 1 known to exist) sold by miller antiques to terry knouse who subsequently traded it for 2 just so tobacco commons.

4. joe jackson in batting stance wearing greenville uniform real photo postcard captioned "joe jackson, greenville boy now with philadelphia" postmarked in greenville, sc in 1908.

5. walter johnson wearing weiser idaho uniform real photo postcard captioned "walter johnson, weiser wonder"

i would be curious to know what similar items others have come across.

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Posted By: Jay Miller

Thanks Roger for mentioning my number one

1-3 Hancock Clothing cards--the first minor league set and the first photo set of players of the Syracuse Stars (1885).
2-Tim Keefe Old Judge Player's League card.
3-Large red Old Judge tobacco box--same one pictured on an Old Judge ad poster I have.
4-Large Kalamazoo Bats box that held the little cigars.
5-.........................(I'm hoping the best is yet to come)

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Posted By: David

My off the top of my head picks for great eBay 'finds', where the seller had no clue to what he/she had include the Mathewson photo Scott mentioned (which, despite Scott's suspisions, I do not own). Also a N338-2 SF Hess Curt Welch. The seller was consigning it for an elderly neighbor, and the elderly neighbor was hoping to get $10 for it.

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Posted By: ty_cobb

1. T206 Broadleaf 460 Stahl
2. T206 Red Hindu Johnny Evers
3. T215 Red Cross Nap Lajoie
4. T206 Lenox PSA Chase w. cup
5. Nice group of ATC rare backs
including Red Robin, Natural Leaf,
T59 Derby, T60 Red Cross, and a
near set of T80's with 3 Uzit backs.

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Posted By: Paul

David,

I also bought a Seaver St. Patrick's Day jersey, signed in green ink, on ebay. I bought mine from a guy named Leon Lutje. Did you? I hope we weren't both taken for a ride!

Paul

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Posted By: fkw707

My best finds ever on eBay were couple years back, and all were between $40-$300.
Only known example of the previously unknown/uncataloged 1926 "Holland Ice Cream" Roger Peckinpaugh #16 VG (just resold for $2,500 in VG). Only known examples of the previously unknown/uncataloged 1906 "Ullman Postcard" Christy Mathewson, Iron Arm McGinnity, Leon "Red" Ames and one other, all EX ($40 ea.). Only known example of the previously unknown/uncataloged pose 1933 "Blue Bird Soda" Babe Ruth (side view). Only known example of the previously unknown/uncataloged 1926 "Schapira Big Show Candy" Ty Cobb, and Ray Schalk. T214 Joe Tinker advertised/auctioned as a T206 (strangely the exact same card pictured in Lipsets Encyclopedia). Previously unknown/undiscovered ca.1913 "Base Ball Stars" Notebook/pad with E95/E96 cards (blank backed) printed on cover (Wagner, Lajoie etc.), quite possibly where most if not all of the E95/E96 so called "proofs" came from.
Wish I could find more of these Great Finds nowadays, but they are few and far between lately. I still do find them, but so do a dozen other bidders with bigger wallets than I Frank

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Posted By: David

Paul, Seaver pitched in Cincinnati for six St. Patrick Days, so I wouldn't be surprised if there were more than one. I no longer own the jersey (1981 I think was), so maybe you own the same one.

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Posted By: Kevin Cummings

Not many can compete with Frank's finds.

Because of the price I paid, I wouldn't qualify my N300 Mayo Hamilton as a bargain, but I did get it for less than I expected and I consider mine to be in better condition than some I saw sell in other auctions for more money. Based on best bang for the buck, though, my top 5 finds were:

#5 - N172 Old Judge Brown's Champ Comiskey (EXMT) $430
#4 - WG2 Fan Craze Ban Johnson (NRMT) $200
#3 - T207 Max Carey (NRMT) $100
#2 - E135 Collins McCarthy Sam Crawford (EXMT) $70
#1 - N172 Old Judge Roger Connor (VG-) $87

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Posted By: leon

Most of these were from a guy that had an auction I won recently that I posted about but nevertheless would not have attained them without ebay.

1. Kalamazoo Boston Team- 700 ebay hits and no bids......the ole grandma story, fuzzy photo, starting bid was $3499.00...I got it for 3k and it is a great photo in an sgc 30 holder (it was a crappy scan)

2. AWH caramel E222- recently paid $200.00

3. Mall Theatre m101- $35.00

4. D380 Clements Bros- $150.00

5. E221 -Bishop PCL team card previously talked about- $2500....not a great price but only darn one I have ever seen for sale....

6. Four Base Hit- Kelly....well not from ebay but had to throw it in because I still love that pose, a cherished item........thanks Jay.....

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Posted By: HalleyGator

This thread confirms that I suck at finding any E-Bay bargains.

The only good deal I can ever remember getting was a 1908 E102 Set of 25 Sam Crawford card in PSA 8 condition for something like $400 Buy-It-Now.

Can anyone confirm the approximate value of this card to at least help me believe that I got ONE good deal??

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Posted By: Keith O'Leary

5. N28 ungraded Anson for 700, ended up grading SGC 50.

4. A NM A42 Kimballs N184 champions album for 800.

3. A group of N184s that were cut from a scrapbook including 2 baseball players for ?, not quite sure how much any more, but cheap. Got the 2 baseball players for under 200 I think, they all ended up SGC graded.

4. A group of 16 HOF T3s in EX or better condition including Cobb, Johnsom, Matty, Young for 8500. Upgraded many in my set with them, got the last one I needed (Chance), ended up selling mine for just under the 8500 I paid.

5. Have been an ebay member since 1998. It has given me the opportunity to meet fellow collectors with like interests that I normally would have no chance of meeting. Because of this, I've been able to trade, buy, and glean valuable knowledge and friendships.

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Posted By: john

best buy i had on ebay was a rare error back t206 HOF'er (1 of 4 known).i was told by a few reliable expert/sources that its worth 100 times what i paid.
once got 3 old judges for $60 because it was listed wrong,and one was a larry corcoran pose/variation ive never seen anywhere else in 3+ years of looking. paid $100 for a good condition tim keefe old judge which i thought was a real good deal. but my best find had to be 200+ san diego chicken rookies(82 donruss) real cheap and then found someone to buy 1/4 of them for more than double what i paid for all of them. my biggest purchase was a graded t206 demmitt,st louis($1100). thats 5 right?

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Posted By: Andy Baran

1.) 1869 Peck & Snyder Cincinnati Red Stockings CDV - Seller had a starting bid of $20K. When no one bid on it, I was able to get it for much, much less. It has one of the nicest images in the hobby.

2.) 1903 E107 Breisch Williams Honus Wagner - bought it from a guy who originally purchased it in 1979 in an estate sale for $15 bucks.

3.) 1920's Aguilitas (Cuban) Biz Mackey (future HOF?)

4.) 1909 E90-1 Tris Speaker

5.) 1904 Fan Craze Ban Johnson

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Posted By: David

I'm not an avid eBay buyer, but the neatest thing I ever bought on eBay was Tom Seaver's Cincinnati Reds Green St. Patricks Day Jersey, signed in green by Seaver.

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Posted By: petecld

Halley,

You won a E102 Crawford in a PSA 8 tomb for $400 and you're not sure you got a deal?

Hellllllooooo. He** yes, you got a deal.

It's in a PSA tomb so you never know if it has "problems" but if it isn't questionable - Geeze, YES! You got a deal.

Email me a scan - petecld@earthlink.net

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Posted By: warshawlaw

I didn't get these cards, but my eyes popped when I saw them:

1914 E & S Publishing PC of Joe Jackson--only one I've ever seen offered. The same seller had an uncatalogued card too (can't remember who; think it was Chance)

N386 Spaulding & Merrick #7 Sullivan (f-g) and #8 Kilrain (p-f)--the only two cards known from the set. Went for $2,550

A big lot of Zeenuts glued into a magazine, including a Thorpe--I dropped out around $700

N332 SF Hess John L. Sullivan $2,031

Old Judge boxing cabinet of Frank Slavin--only one I've ever seen. I dropped out at $949+

And my favorite item of all time that I actually won: 1928 Exhibit boxing card of Ray Miller, who was a cousin of mine.

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Posted By: jay behrens

Almost all my great finds are non-sports related.

I jsut won an N-36 (the larger version of the Indian Chiefs I collect) Allen & Ginter Celebrated Indian Chiefs of Red Cloud for $10.

Monarch/Kickapoo Geronimo for $5

Banana Splits one-shot prototype rubber toys $100

Totem Candy dispenser (similar to Pez) of Bingo from the Banana Splits for $130. The guy that writes the book on Pez collecting is still bummed he missed this auction and still does not have one for his collection

Complete Voltron robot for $20

Jay

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Posted By: Trevor Hocking

This was a great topic. I knew that this board wouldn't let me down. Where would we be without ebay.

Trevor

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Posted By: Brian C Daniels

When you received the Chase Lenox back it was only about a PSA 2. You forgot that part Art.........plus you didn't actually buy it! You borrowed the money from Doug you have yet to pay back! ouch!!!

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Posted By: Brian C Daniels

I purchased a John Bond Francisco turn of the century painting that no one bid on because they were afraid it was fake! After talking to the owner of it about five times,I hit the reserve of $2200.00 seconds prior to the auction closing..........I sold the painting in a Butterfield's auction for $49,000.00 That was my best find on e-bay! I also purchased a group of 14 "raw" N-162's for $95.00 each. The worse one came back PSA -6 and the best one was SGC 92.I sold two of them to cover the cost and still have the remaining 12.Two are PSA-8 horizontals and one is a hall of famer.

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Posted By: Jeff Obermeyer

My top item was a copy of the 1939 United States Card Collectors Catalog, one of only 500 copies printed. I picked it up for $2.50 (plus $2.50 shipping) because it was listed in the wrong category and incorrectly described. When it arrived, I found that neatly tucked in the back was Vol. 2, No. 1 of Burdicks Card Collectors Bulletin newsletter... the seller never even mentioned it.

I also once won a Seattle Totems hockey program from a guy (Seattle hockey stuff is my primary collecting interest... vintage cards are something I do on the side). I emailed him and asked if he had more stuff... turns out he did, and he only lived about 30 miles away. I visited his house and walked away about $1,000 poorer, but I ended up with some amazing stuff!

I've also met two people through my web site that ended up selling me significant Seattle hockey items - a circa 1963 Seattle Totems jersey, and the 1944-45 Pacific Coast Hockey League championship presentation trophy (which had been holding up an ironing board in someones home for over 30 years!).

Jeff Obermeyer
Seattle Hockey Homepage - http://www.seattlehockey.net

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Posted By: TBob

My best baseball card finds have to include the proofs of Frank Chance NY AL and Johnny Kling Bos. As stated before, these two proofs appear to be E95/96s but have different later team names. The consensus is that they were proofs for a later caramel set which was never issued. The 3rd proof resides in the collection of Keith Olbermann and I believe it is a Davis, also purchased for a song on ebay.
My best latest pickup was a T207 Kling. Yes I got the Smokey Joe Wood and Rassmussen last month, both very rare, both very tough, both in EX, but the Kling is an absolute booger to find.

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Posted By: Keith O'Leary

I was looking through my tobacco album collection the other day and ran into an ebay find that I had forgotten about. I've collected tobacco albums for a while now and for several years, the only Allen & Ginter album I needed was the Floral Beauties album (which lists for $10 in the ACC). I've seen 2 or 3 for sale over the years (none in very good condition), but things just didn't work out for whatever reason. A couple of years ago I bought one on ebay described as being in excellent condition. If I remember right, he only had 1 grainy picture of it, and had it worded so strangely that I was lucky to run into it. Don't remember what I paid for it (it wasn't a steal, although I thought so when I got it, maybe $500, could have been a little more, really don't remember, but had a big bid in at the time on it). Well, when I got it I was flabberghasted (sp?), original mailing envelope and a mint condition very much oversized album. Super super nice. This has got to be my #2 best find. Can't believe I forgot about this one.
Also, replacing my #5 Anson find in my original post (and incidently, both these items are rarer then T206 Wagners). I was able to steal an Duke tobacco imperial cabinet poster card (10 X 14") picturing 24 actresses in uncut sheet form (4 rows of 6) with gold accented mount and script for "Duke's Cameo Cigarettes" for under $200. Since then, I've been able to acquire 2 of the N145-5s that are pitured on the card. Not baseball related, but items close to my chest and thought the non sports guys and girls out there would enjoy these 2 items. Keith

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Posted By: Eric

I have had good luck in winning cards on ebay over the last couple of years. Below are some of my faves:

1.) T226 card of Willie Lewis (pugilist) in excellent condition for a whopping $10.00

2.) T9 card of Jack Johnson in exmt condition for $300.00

3.) A group of 9 T220 silver border cards in ex and exmt condition for $350.00 - $400.00

4.) A complete set (including original box and instructions) of James Jeffries playing cards in nrmt to mint condition for $355.00

5.) A complete set of T73 Indian Life in the 60's in exmt to nrmt condition for $200.00

Although, I didn't bid on it I saw an e125 boxing card of James Jeffries sell for $300 - $500. I have never seen or heard of e125 boxing cards before. Anyone else ever seen any?

Eric

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Posted By: Keith O'Leary

As a side to my earlier post about the A & G Floral Beauties album, lot #287 in the auction is a page from the album, thats why I had occasion to get mine out. It also gives you an idea of its size, described in the catalog as a large 7 3/4 X 11' premium. Keith

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Posted By: Dan Mathewson

Well, those of you who know me, I only collect Christy Mathewson items...

My favorites and best deals on eBay are:

* A 1913 Fan for a Fan. pd $170. (Grade 6)
* A 1910 M116 Sporting Life Pastel. pd $575. (8)
* A t206 Dark Cap. pd $1050. (8)
* Two 1951 Connie Mack's All-Stars. Both cost me about $225 each, but are both Grade 5.
* A t200 Fatima - NY Natl's. Only cost me $185, (3).

These in particular just looked better on the scan; I was lucky in these cases and it ended up that my guess was right (in that they graded better than what the seller thought they would grade at).

I have several other great ones, but those are my faves.

Anyone selling Christy stuff, pls contact me. <grin>

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Posted By: John Spencer

Great topic,and I had to go back into the archives to check a few things.
1. The book is still out on what I believe is an advertising piece of Wagner, about the size of a beer coaster, for Freeman Cigars with the famous T206 pose. I think it is for real, definitely not a cigar label and shows a playing field with players in the background. I know there are similar labels and boxes for Wagner and Freeman but this is the first one of these I have seen.
2. A real nice ex Evers T216 with a Mino back
3. A e92 Nadja backed Wallace with incomplete color printing. You see this omission often on tobacco cards but rarely on e cards.
4. An advertising piece from a clothier showcasing the 1916 World series where the Boston Red Sox beat the Dodgers. It has 'fotos of all the players involved, including Ruth, who of course pitched and hit the Sox to victory, as well as batting leaders for the seasons for both leagues. Finally it showcases Wagner in a hitting pose. Great article.
5. A T205 Bobby Wallace no cap 1 line of 1910 stats. Lousy shape but still so tough to find. John