Childhood or adulthood rip off stories

[zljones]

When I was a kid during the Baseball card bubble, I had tons of friends to trade with and talk cards with. Trading was a regular thing, and also frequent trips to the local card shop. One thing that sticks out in my mind are the bad trades or bad buys I made that made me so mad as a kid but now I laugh about it. Some of my cards got stolen too when I was a kid, including entire binders full of them. I am going to open this thread to share stories of being ripped off as a child or as an adult, if you want to share. Also anyone that wants to share about themselves ripping someone else off as a child. I for one victimized my younger brother by trading him beat up commons for his Ken Griffey Jr cards. I would also tell him that certain cards he had were actually mine (even though they were not) and that he stole them, and I would beat him up if he didn't give them back. I was a bad brother but now we have a great relationship.

When I was 11 years old I traded my buddy a 1991 Sergei Federov Hockey card for his 1980 Topps Willie Mccovey card. I thought the signature was real and he told me it was, boy did I feel stupid when I found out it was a feature of some 1980 Topps cards. But we both ended up loosing in the long run both cards are worth $1 or less today.

When I was 10, I really wanted a Hank Aaron rookie card. I saved up $35 and peddled by bike to the local card shop hoping I had enough money. When I got there the young card shop owner said I did not have nearly enough, but they talked me into buying a 1962 Topps Warren Sphann. I did not know who Warren Sphann was at the time but I like that it was from 1962. I didn't really want to buy it but the grown men that worked there told me I would like it. Needless to say I had buyers remorse. My mom was furious about my purchase, but she was not mad at me, she drove down to that card shop and told those men to give me my money back for pressuring a 10 year old to buy something he didn't really want. The men laughed at her and said no.

When I was 16 I had some friends over and suddenly an entire binder of my best cards were gone. The collection turned up a few weeks later laying in someone's front yard. One of my friends who was at my place the day the cards were stolen was the one who miraculously discovered the collection . Of course there were cards missing like a 1979 Topps Walter Payton or that 1962 Topps Sphann. I also had another binder stolen by the same friend but did not discover that until a few years later, because the cards were nothing special.

Let's hear some of your childhood ripoff or adulthood rip off stories. I know we must have tons from our childhood.

[carrigansghost]

Bought a shoebox full of cards at 16 for $20 from a friend that needed beer money. sold a few in 1992 to pay for my failed wedding. still have all of the 57's but sold the 56's last year for a tidy sum. Will be sending the 57's off to A forum member soon to liquidate. 30 years I've held onto them. Perhaps the Post cereal cards next.

Rawn

[7nohitter]

Zach,

I can totally relate to your story...As a 13 yr old in 1990 I was excited to go to the local card shop with my $50 or so, thinking that i had a ton of money. Will never forget how 'little' I felt when the rube behind the counter was bothered that I asked to see a '70 Nolan Ryan, nor have I forgotten the tone in his voice when I asked how much it was and he snickered, "more than you probably have." What an ass. As I got older I was happy that his store closed....

[seablaster]

As a teenager, my friend and I worked out a trade where I was going to receive his 1960 Leaf Duke Snider card for my prized 1991 Upper Deck Dikembe Mutombo rookie card, which I had pulled from a pack, and 10 M-80 firecrackers.

The Mutombo rookie is a cool looking card with the Denver skyline in the background and at the time he had some serious potential. The Duke Snider card was in VG condition at best, but I thought, what the hell? He's a hall of famer.

I come to learn that the Snider card was trimmed and trimmed quite poorly too. I still have it. Man, I wish I had those M-80s back.

[packs]

I wasn't ripped off, but I got low balled pretty badly at the San Leandro show last weekend. I wanted to trade for a guy's Obak premium. I offered him an SGC 40 T206 Cobb Bat Off and a really nice PSA 1 1933 Goudey of Gehrig for his Obak. The guy told me he'd give me $1,000 in trade for my cards. Needless to say I was pretty annoyed.

[tiger8mush]

Back in the late 80s I was around 10 yrs old and saved up $20 from selling newspapers (standing in the roads in St. Augustine, FL on the weekends) and went into the local card shop. The owner, a sleezeball who saw that I had $20 to spend, told me he had a "NM" Bo Jackson football rookie card. SUPER HOT! How much? $20! I didn't really even want it, but he talked me into it. Its closer in condition to "VG" by todays standards.

[esd10]

i remember this one time in 1990 or 91 i went to a card show at my local mall and i had saved like a $100 to buy my favorite players rookie card the 79 topps ozzie smith and of course i found 1 for around $75 and was so excited. I had the card for about 2 weeks and took it to school with my mother of course telling me not to and did anyway and showed some of my friends at lunch who where intersted and put it back into my bookbag and finished the day and when i got home and was going to take it out of my bag and it was gone. lets just say i was heart broken to find that my prized card was gone someone had taken from my bag during recess and never seen it again. This off subject but when i was young i always thought the 33 goudey ruth was the penicle of all cards and now it makes me laugh to know what is really out there.

[steve B]

Originally Posted by 7nohitter

Zach,

I can totally relate to your story...As a 13 yr old in 1990 I was excited to go to the local card shop with my $50 or so, thinking that i had a ton of money. Will never forget how 'little' I felt when the rube behind the counter was bothered that I asked to see a '70 Nolan Ryan, nor have I forgotten the tone in his voice when I asked how much it was and he snickered, "more than you probably have." What an ass. As I got older I was happy that his store closed....

I saw one of those guys get taken by a kid who was about 8 at the flea market. He asked about a card and got the same response, "probably more than you have" The kid replied that he'd bet that he had more than the dealer, the card to him if he had more, the contents of his pocket to the dealer if he had less. ----The Kid had about $1500 on him! And a dad who was about 10 feet away, probably a setup, but nobody liked that dealer.

The same dealer would always try to push the latest "hot" set at me, iron ons, minis, big cards....My usual response was that I already had them. So one time I mention that I'm thinking of selling some stuff the next week. He has me come around the back of the van, and hands me two boxes of cards and says "don't come to sell next week, those are on the house" Whenever I was wanting cards and had no money I'd tell him I was going to setup and always got something free.

Steve B

[Buythatcard]

We've all been ripped off one time or another. I was ripped off by my best friend's father.

I started collecting cards in the mid 50's when I was a young kid and stopped around the late 70's. I only collected Topps and had several thousand cards. I was a big Yankee fan back then until the Met's came along. I collected everything that had Maris or Mantle on it. I also had every Yankee yearbook from the late 50's to late 60's. In addition I had every Met Yearbook from their first until the early 70's. So, I amassed a huge collection.

Then one day in the late 70's my best friend told me that her father buys sports cards and memorabilia. Since I was a teenager and needed money badly, I said "Great". Her dad came to my apartment and took everything I owned and told me that it was only worth $500. I took the money thinking that I got a great deal.

It wasn't until I was shopping at a mall several months down the road where there was a card show going on at the same time that I knew the scumbag ripped me off. He was selling my yearbooks for $50 to $100 a shot. I don't have to tell you the value of those Mantle cards.

Here I was trusting a friends Dad and he took me for a ride. It's over 35 years ago but I still get pissed off.

[judsonhamlin]

When I was 12 (1980) or so, I got jobbed by a flea market guy who convinced me that the 1951 and 1952 Bowmans that some kid had cut down to the size of the '50's were worth money. I think it was only about 20.00 for three of them, but still...
2/3 of a Ford rookie, anyone?

[bh3443]

Originally Posted by 7nohitter

Zach,

I can totally relate to your story...As a 13 yr old in 1990 I was excited to go to the local card shop with my $50 or so, thinking that i had a ton of money. Will never forget how 'little' I felt when the rube behind the counter was bothered that I asked to see a '70 Nolan Ryan, nor have I forgotten the tone in his voice when I asked how much it was and he snickered, "more than you probably have." What an ass. As I got older I was happy that his store closed....

Hello my friend/neighbor! Interesting story, anyone er know locally?
Thanks,
Bill

[7nohitter]

Originally Posted by bh3443

Hello my friend/neighbor! Interesting story, anyone er know locally?
Thanks,
Bill

Hey Bill...

It was a place on Rt.9, by Tropic Isle....a two level building and the store was down stairs....for the life of me cannot remember the name of it.

[tbob]

When I first got back in to collecting cards in 1981, I went to the local card shop and saw a Killebrew rookie card from 1955. It was in very nice shape but it had a corner crease. Probably today would be graded VG. The owner of the shop, a well known card collector of pre and post war cards, told me you just don't ever find the Killebrew card without any creases. i bought it. After going to a couple of shows, reading a lot about vintage cards and the market in general, I learned I had been duped. Well, we all learn in life.
The post script is I bought a 1968 Nolany Ryan rookie card from the same dealer in 1982 before the "craze" began. It was NRMT and I bought it from him for $15. At the height of the Nolan rookie craze I sold it on ebay for $900. I made sure and tell him about it. I have never seen a guy whose face turned so pale while he listened.

[glchen]

I must hold grudges because the story that I am still sore about is when I was a kid, and I saved my allowance for a long time to buy a NM 1987 Fleer complete set from this baseball card store in my local mall for something around $80 which was a fortune for a kid during that time. When I opened the box up, the corners of all of the cards were dented like they had been dropped.

For the flip side, I also remember when I was a kid and inviting friends over to my house, and then for games, I would offer as prizes all of these 80s commons cards that I didn't want (and which even back then weren't worth much). Geez, I was a cheapskate!

[Deertick]

The year: 1987. The place: The MacDade Mall Glenolden, PA. The mood: Happy

It was Sunday afternoon and I had had a very good show. Over $900 in profit, not including some smokin' trades! All of a sudden, there was a commotion three tables down from me. A guy was yelling and trying to push past a dealer and get into 'the middle'. As security was responding to that, two guys apparently started to fight right in front of me. They knocked into my table and my partners table next to me, scattering some of our items. Quickly they were subdued and escorted out. As we were straightening up, I noticed a GEM Schmidt rookie, along with a NM Ashburn rookie, were gone. (Later I found that a stack of '55 Bowman stars were taken also). My buddy lost a stack of '85 Topps rookies. As ham-handed as it seemed at the time, the whole thing took less than a minute, and it was more than the three principals that pulled it off. It took me a long time to not eye everyone who came near my table like a potential perp.

[GasHouseGang]

There used to be a dealer in Riverside, CA that would let me put cards on consignment in his shop. His shop had always done good business and I sold several cards there with him taking a cut. I put a 1956 Mantle on consignment and went back a few weeks later to find his shop closed and he had gone out of business. No idea where he went and my card was gone.

[Ronnie73]

It was 1990 and i was 17. I went to the local baseball card shop and saw a nice pile of 1989 upperdeck ken griffey jr rookies. They were $15 each and i had $50 so i bought 3. The store owner took the whole pile out, which was about 40 of then each in a ridged card holder and sleeve. I picked out the best centered ones. After i got outside with them, i noticed all 3 cards had the same crease in them. I went back in the store and wanted a refund and was told i must have creased them myself or switched the cards with ones i already had. I asked to see the pile of cards in the case again and was told no. A few years later, i was able to sell the three cards with the creases for $25 each since mint cards were going for over a hundred. I never went back to that store and they eventually closed down a few years later.

[Jcfowler6]

When I was away at college some of my "old friends" broke into my house and stole a few thousand of my cards.

'59 Clemente
'53 Reese
'75 Brett
'79 O. Smith
Couple Hank Aarons
Any thing I had old really.

Several other HOFers I had collected over the years. There was a ton of evidence and I know who they were. And one of the guys admitted it to me and gave me his cut back and apologized. It was a sad event in many ways for me. But you live and learn and hold no grudges and forgive with the same grace I am afforded.

I have since picked up another '59 Clemente and would like to get some of these again.

[ullmandds]

As a young child I was sold a fake mayo...I wasn't knowledgable back then to know if the back wasn't black...it was fake!

I bought a fake fro joy babe ruth sheet from a local store while in college in the late eighties...again...a result of my naivete!

As an adult at the 95' national I bought a 71 thurmon munson from a bargain box that turned out to have the edges colored with a black marker.

As recently as 7 yrs ago I bought a t3 off ebay that turned out to be a color xerox...as it was only a few bucks I never complained.

There have been too many instances of dealers "trying" to screw me over the years I won't even mention those.

I still have all of these fakes to this day.

[travrosty]

Originally Posted by Ronnie73

It was 1990 and i was 17. I went to the local baseball card shop and saw a nice pile of 1989 upperdeck ken griffey jr rookies. They were $15 each and i had $50 so i bought 3. The store owner took the whole pile out, which was about 40 of then each in a ridged card holder and sleeve. I picked out the best centered ones. After i got outside with them, i noticed all 3 cards had the same crease in them. I went back in the store and wanted a refund and was told i must have creased them myself or switched the cards with ones i already had. I asked to see the pile of cards in the case again and was told no. A few years later, i was able to sell the three cards with the creases for $25 each since mint cards were going for over a hundred. I never went back to that store and they eventually closed down a few years later.

card shop i used to go to would describe his cards as mint, but they would have a hidden or hard to see crease in the card, he would sell it to us, then later we would find the defect, and we knew that he knew it was there.

i learned to never trust someone when they describe the card under a holder, i either have to take it out and inspect it personally or i cant buy it.

one of the guys did pressure him to take a card back and he berated the guy and told him that a sale is a sale but he would take it back this one time but that the buyer should learn his lesson because the dealer didnt know if the buyer put that crease in there himself (even though he knew darn well it was there beforehand, he knew exactly what he was selling).

So i bought a leaf frank thomas RC back then for 50 bucks or whatever it was, and the crease made it worth a lot less. And I thought less of the guy from then on knowing that he knew that crease was in there but sold it to me for nm price anyway.

[scmavl]

In the early 90's, I had gotten out of collecting. A few other kids still did and one day when we were talking, I mentioned having an '89 UD Griffey rookie that I pulled from a pack (back when this card was HOT!!!). One friend said he'd trade me an Ozzie Smith rookie for it so I said "sure!" I dug up the card at home and made the trade the next day... then I found out that an '80 Topps was NOT Ozzie's rookie card.

[4k6]

Back around 7th grade I went over to a "friend"s house to trade cards. Afterwards at home I realized that several of my cards had disappeared, most notably my 1980 Dave Stieb and Rick Sutcliffe rookies. I guess he figured I wouldn't notice. I harassed him about it for weeks, maybe months before he finally fessed up and returned the Stieb and Sutcliffe (in lesser condition). Both worth about a dime each now, but he wasn't a friend after that. What a d**k.

Around the same time I remember working on trading my 78 Murray with another classmate for a 75 Brett. Somehow instead I wound up with a 78 Jack Morris, 77 Tony Armas, and four junk cards I can't remember. Bad negotiations on my part, my older brother told me I was an idiot.

Both good learning experiences.

[GrayGhost]

I got a few varied for ya, so grab a beer and some snacks and enjoy:

For me, I am VERY familiar w the man, now deceased, that Dave is referencing, who used to sell boxes of resealed wax and sequenced packs. Another friend of mine got stuck once on a rack box, the guy even took it outta the "case box" . Nary a star showing, and all sequenced.

BTW, at a series of local shows in CT, there is a dealer who sells the hot packs for like 10.00 or so a pack, this is TODAY. To me, he is a crook, tho he doesn't sell the "other packs" for full price. he only has hot ones. I picture these people going in and weighing the packs, so kids can't come and end up getting a good pack. Cousre, I had the 85 Rack Pack secrets too and used it for a short while, then realized I was just as bad as everyone else at that time..ugh.

I had three nice hockey RC's stolen from me at a show at a K of C in my hometown in the later 80s. The old "can I see that" and I had these cards in a box outside of a case, and his "buddy" lifted them. Roy, Yzerman and Brett Hull rookies.

The worst of course was in June 2005 I was helping my friend celebrate his 18th Birthday and we met and left my car in a commuter lot, NOT a really accessible one. I should have known better. Well, h ad my show inventory, not a lot of value, but most of what I had, covered in blankets. Came from the Lynrd Skynrd show. and found the car had been vandalized/damaged and they took ALL OF IT. really took me out of the hobby to the degree I was, esp to this day.

As a kid, I had a neighbor who had just got some money. a couple bucks. we were older and we went to the drug store and got some FB packs. They had the OJ 2000 yard card. We told him we'd give him all the good cards. Needless to say, we kept two OJ's we pulled.

Also, we used to have a top notch grocery in my town. this one is out there. I was a troubled kid in my mind. stold some packs once, and I NEVER STEAL. Anyways, it was 1976 and they had the Wonder Bread FB cards in bread. I recall seeing a Terry Bradshaw showing thru a wrapper and ripped the wrapper to get the card. My mom didn't want that brand of bread, so why not I thought? NOT NICE

Thankfully, Im honest now, but so many stories. GREAT thread indeed. Ive never gotten ripped off, save one trade of an Ott and a couple cards for a Cobb Caramel the black and white one, early 20s w paper loss. Lost my shirt there.