I once bought a common T206 for my collection that turned out to be hard-to-find variation.

Success, I don't know. I haven't sold it yet & might not, but just finding it was enough for me.

I've had some success in the past with modern cards.


Jantz

As the starter of this thread, I'll tell you what I had in mind. Its a thread about getting a great deal on a raw card. Maybe you got it graded. Maybe not. Doesn't matter.

It ended up that many folks, including myself, talked about getting that raw card graded. I don't think this is because everyone who posted about getting a card graded thinks a raw card "success" story must result in a slabbed card. I think this is mainly because the value of graded cards is more established, and so its easier to communicate a story about how you bought a raw card for cheap that ended up grading high, it shows how the card was obviously under appreciated. In other words, a story about a cheap raw card that graded high communicates quickly how good of a deal that it actually was.

Now maybe you bought a raw card for cheap, and flipped it for a great price without getting it graded. That's a cool story too, that I want to hear. But it appears that many of the responders here thought that they could fetch more for a card at auction if its graded, so maybe that is another reason why more folks had a story about it being graded.

I'm just saying that this thread was sort of set up to gravitate towards graded cards, but it isn't at all limited to that. Whatever floats your boat. And at least in threads that I start, sarcasm, as well as strong opinions, are very welcome, this forum would be a little dull without either, in my humble opinion... ;)

Frank, pal, I think you need to tone down the level of sanctimony. The call of the question as originally posed was a fun thread on a positive subject rather than a busted deal or a cheating auctioneer: getting a great deal on a raw card. Didn't define parameters for measuring the greatness of the deal. One metric of a great deal and the example used in the original post is getting a card that unexpectedly grades very highly with a TPG, whether sold or not. Another metric is getting a card on the cheap and selling it raw for a lot more than you paid. Apparently, you like the second metric and not the first. I don't think either way of characterizing a great deal is intrinsically better than the other. Every card in my example except the 1971 PSA 9 I kept. Am I more of a collector than someone who sold their great deal because I kept the cards I got the great deal on instead of selling them? Am I less of a collector because I had the cards slabbed--I like the way they look in SGC holders--even though I didn't sell them and don't plan to? The debate itself is silly. Some people like slabbed cards. Some don't. Some people flip cards, some don't. There is no correct answer, other than it is not necessary to elevate on one group over the other on what was supposed to be a fun thread.

Your Best Raw Card Success Story
 

Frank thank you your kind words, and I enjoyed having that Connie Mack card, I have many of stories about collections and other items. I just remember that was one single card that I can always go back to, because it was the beginning of my journey with pre-war issues.

Jimmy

Raw Mantle
 

Hopefully I have some raw card success with these:

ebay item #: 220563650933

A year or two ago I picked up a raw Matty Pinkerton postcard on ebay for $2.00. Granted, it had a pinhole at the top and some writing on the back, but I still thought it was a steal.

The postcard dealer didn't seem to have a clue as to what she had. BTW, it is still raw - I like graded cards, but I didn't think it was necessary to have SGC tell me it was a 10 when I knew it already!

I also picked up a Canadian Goudey Gehringer on Ebay a few months ago. It just came back from SGC as an 80. It wasn't really a bargain, but it is pretty unusual for any wide pen to grade an 80.

I could not agree more with this post. In my example, yes I had the T207 Cicotte graded but I have no intention of selling and if it had not been graded, I would still consider it a successs. The grading was some icing on the cake. And for the record, I greatly admire the way Frank tells us he collects and his passion. This should be a fun thread and I love all of the stories.

I have picked up several raw cards on Ebay over the years but these stand out.

1956 Topps Mickey Mantle - bought for appx. $600 and graded a PSA 8 and later sold for around $3k.

1952 Topps Duke Snyder - bought from same seller as Mantle for apprx. $200 and graded a PSA 8 and sold for around $1600.

1953 Topps Pee Wee Reese - bought for $90 and later graded a PSA 8.5. Still have it in my collection.

1959 Topps Roberto Clemente - bought for around $120 and later graded a PSA 9. This one is still in my collection.

Around 2000 I bought a large lot of T206's, in there were a number of rare backs including Red Hindu, Hindu, and Broadleaf. I paid around $20/card for the lot, but was very pleased with the result.

I got lucky on a listing last year where an ebay seller listed this- 1974 Exhibit Card- Babe Ruth Reprint

I looked at the front and back scans and it looked real, the front looked awesome but almost too good to be true but had a lot of paper loss on the back and someone had written 1974 on it. I took a chance and purchased for $114.

Here is the card-
http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n...RuthPose20.jpg

Hey, Darren, about your raw good fortunes ....
 

I think there are still 8 "rare backs" in that group I hope to someday get my hands on.

Ed

Wow, buying a "reprint" that turned out to be authentic, cool story!