Ever Overpaid?

[SMPEP]

I overpaid very significantly for many of my w572 commons. (Some members of this board got great deals).

But you can find another PSA 5 1960 Topps Mantle every single day of the year on Ebay, and it took me 20 years to find a W572 Frank Parkinson. (I passed on a heavily trimmed one early on before I knew how tough he was. Ugh!)

So when I go to resell, will I lose a lot of money on my W572 set? Absolutely. No possible way I can even break even.

But if I find the last 4 cards I need, I will have completed a set no one else ever has. And if I do, I won't care in the least that I made "bad deals" and lost money to do it.

Cheers,
Patrick

[Exhibitman]

Oh sure. If a card has certain attributes I am going to pay more than 'book' for it. Like this one:



At the time I bought it the card was in a 6 holder. I saw it on the last day of the National a few years ago and had to have it. Probably paid $50 more than a 6 was going for at the time.

This one too:



I had a really beautiful example of this card when I was a kid. I sold it a long time ago. I spent a while looking for a replacement but finding one with nice registration, centering and no print flaws is a real challenge. I paid a bit too much for it but haven't had any regrets; in fact I turned down an offer to buy it for more. This one is similar:




Ashburn is notorious for printing problems.

Paid up for these too, relative to other 6's:






I think it is self-evident why.

For a card like this, I don't even think of it as overpaying:



Rare issue, condition sensitive, top tier HOFer. I'm happy to own it.

I overpaid for this one but the story is nice:



When my daughter was little she wanted to play baseball with her cousin. He was part of a fancy little league where there was so much money sloshing around that they brought in pro coaches to tutor the kids (one year they had Reggie Smith tutoring on hitting, for example). We were park and rec league. I decided to teach her to hit. In researching and watching kids I realized that their biggest problem was bat control: they can't coordinate their swings. Power really isn't relevant to the little ones: they need control. So I trained her with a Charlie Lau-style open stance to get a better two-eyed look at the pitch, and split her grip so she could lever the bat at the last minute. We went to tryouts for the league and the coaches immediately started trying to 'correct' her stance and swing. I stopped them and said "just pitch to her." After she ripped a dozen shots into the deep outfield (sweet leftie swing), the coaches were silenced. She ended up leading her team in hitting (over .600 by my tally). So, when I saw this card I had to win the auction for it: validation.

[Exhibitman]

On the flip side, the underpaid side:

I bought all of these raw and paid substantially below market even with the grading fees:

[1963Topps Set]

Why not ask this question to the person who is buying up all of the Tony Bartirome 1952 Topps cards. Or those who over pay for the overhyped "rookie" 1952 Topps Mantle. Or my favorite, the genius who paid 40K for a Mint 9 1961 Topps Koufax. I could go on...

[SMPEP]

$40K for a 1961 Koufax?

I got one that is perfectly fine for $15 (including shipping).

I do not understand my hobby at times.

[jchcollins]

Originally Posted by SMPEP

$40K for a 1961 Koufax?

I got one that is perfectly fine for $15 (including shipping).

I do not understand my hobby at times.

If I had that much schwag to spend on a baseball card - er, it would not be a '61 Topps card. I don't hate that set like some others, but totally agree with you that you can get nice, even high grade stars - for well less than "registry bait" dollars. Oy.

[Leon]

kewl story

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

Oh sure. If a card has certain attributes I am going to pay more than 'book' for it. Like this one:



At the time I bought it the card was in a 6 holder. I saw it on the last day of the National a few years ago and had to have it. Probably paid $50 more than a 6 was going for at the time.

This one too:



I had a really beautiful example of this card when I was a kid. I sold it a long time ago. I spent a while looking for a replacement but finding one with nice registration, centering and no print flaws is a real challenge. I paid a bit too much for it but haven't had any regrets; in fact I turned down an offer to buy it for more. This one is similar:




Ashburn is notorious for printing problems.

Paid up for these too, relative to other 6's:






I think it is self-evident why.

For a card like this, I don't even think of it as overpaying:



Rare issue, condition sensitive, top tier HOFer. I'm happy to own it.

I overpaid for this one but the story is nice:



When my daughter was little she wanted to play baseball with her cousin. He was part of a fancy little league where there was so much money sloshing around that they brought in pro coaches to tutor the kids (one year they had Reggie Smith tutoring on hitting, for example). We were park and rec league. I decided to teach her to hit. In researching and watching kids I realized that their biggest problem was bat control: they can't coordinate their swings. Power really isn't relevant to the little ones: they need control. So I trained her with a Charlie Lau-style open stance to get a better two-eyed look at the pitch, and split her grip so she could lever the bat at the last minute. We went to tryouts for the league and the coaches immediately started trying to 'correct' her stance and swing. I stopped them and said "just pitch to her." After she ripped a dozen shots into the deep outfield (sweet leftie swing), the coaches were silenced. She ended up leading her team in hitting (over .600 by my tally). So, when I saw this card I had to win the auction for it: validation.

[jchcollins]

Nice cards, Adam - and I love the Combs story.

For me, PSA 6 - 6.5 is a sweet spot range for mostly affordable, high-mid grade vintage. You can get a lot of great looking cards in that range.