Cards you regret letting go...
 

My two are easy....1953 Topps Mantle SGC 92 (Canadian find, card was off centered) , and 1915 CJ Joe Jackson PSA 8oc. I'll get sick to my stomach if I say how much I paid for these cards in 1998-2000.....

My D380 Mathewson. Thanks for the reminder.

Great topic - wish it didn't make me want to throw up.

For me, by far it's the Mino Wagner. I bought it back in the days when you could find real bargains on ebay, and it was so beat-up that no one took a chance on it but me. It presented well and SGC holdered it for me. Very cool card I should have kept.

Right after I joined this board I traded a Seymour/Drum. I really needed a Merkle for my back-run. A week later I found out that Jaime was doing a Seymour back-run.

So I am literally the reason that Jaime never finished his run. :(

My Avatar is a cropped image of the beautifully centered T206 Addie Joss I let go while funding another purchase. Regret set in almost immediately.

Fortunately, the card came up for sale a few months later and I was able to reaquire it. I now intend to keep it until my time on this Earth has come and gone.

Separated once and then reunited. If you love something, set it free...

Best regards to all. Have a wonderful Independence Day weekend.

Eric

In 1999, I donated my 1928 Harrington Ice Cream Babe Ruth to The Hall of Fame and got a Lifetime Donor's Pass in return.

I was able to get there for the Induction Weekend in 1999, but it will be very difficult to get back. It's not really the same since they no longer have the HOF game on the same weekend. I did get to see Greg Zahn call his shot (REALLY!).

...and, while I do have three nice Ruth cards, I have never replaced the one I donated.

I had 2 Clemente RC's in 8 2 years ago at the national (and bought+flipped one). I took under $8k for each. Aaron 7 and 8 multiples of each as well.

N167 common
 

negotiated with Terry Sr. for about 2 1/2 years before he succumbed and I was able to add it to my type collection. Sold in the dismantling of said endeavor and I haven't been able to replace it in the past 15 years.....
Mint S81 Cole large silk with backing - went to the Utah hotel guy (CRS) - still need it for my silk type collection.
Too many painful memories for me to continue - I try not to look back.

PSA 8.9 Orr rookie.

Seems to be lots of remorse in this thread regarding TPG grades and what we could have gotten for it later on. My Mom bought me my first prewar in the 60's (hi Goldfadden) - T206 Cobb b/on, $5. First thing I sold, in a batch I consigned to an AH just a couple of years ago. That's when I knew I could sell anything, when I surrendered the sentimental value.

I my biggest regret isn't a card I sold but one I passed on. A little over a year ago a seller on ebay offered me an SGC 3 52 Mantle for 9k. It looked nice and was centered decent for the grade. Now that I'm ready to buy one I will probably end up spending more than that to get one with a lot less eye appeal.

My 1987 Topps Roger Clemens. I got it signed in person when I was 8. It was crumpled to hell, but man, did I love that card. I sold it, along with my entire childhood collection, when I was in college for the cost of a keg of beer. I'll never let myself live that one down.

There are several of my 19th century cards I would love to have back....but they would be quite costly.

I regret offing my rarest back t206's years ago...as the values jest kept going and going!!!!

I also miss my e90-1 cy young, boston card...and my e90-2 wagner.

Sold my Old Judge Tug Wilson to help fund the rebuild of our house damaged by Superstorm Sandy. The house looks great, but I'll likely never see, let alone buy, that card again.

From the late 90s to around 2004 I Had all 4 T206 Cobb's in PSA 6. While I wish I still had all 4 I really regret letting the green background go..:(

Although post-war - I miss my '49 Bowman set in EXMT condition. Needed the cash for a down payment on my house. The house is nice, but Jackie, Satch, Campy - :(

For financial reasons, I had to sell my 119/120 E90-1 years ago. Wish I had them all back. But the one I miss the most:

Stahl

Where to start? 1916 M101 Sisler rookie in Ex+; '62 Maris, PSA 8; '59 Bazooka Mantle, (SGC or PSA--don't recall) graded NrMt; 1913 Fatima Cleveland Indians (with Jackson and Lajoie); '65 Mantle PSA 8 I had purchased for $450 at the '92 National; '55 Topps Mays (PSA 7); Aaron (PSA 7), Kaline (PSA 7) and Banks (PSA or SGC 8.5); '38 Goudey DiMag and Feller (#288--last card in the set), each graded "7," '38 Goudey Foxx, ExMt 6; 1925 Exhibit Gehrig rookie; '65 Mays, PSA 8 (last real big year for Willie--52 HRs; 112 RBI, .317); '69 Brock (PSA 8 and well-centered); '75 Mini George Brett rookie (PSA 9); '34 Goudey Greenberg (PSA 8); '41 Play Ball Ted Williams--the .406 year (PSA 7); and perhaps most of all, Frank Thomas game-used and autographed cleats.

I'm sure more will come to mind, and the previous poster was right--it does make you want to vomit. I do, however, intend to get a substantial portion of the above back in the future, albeit not all of them.

Here's hoping you never have to less than willingly part with anything like the above,

Larry

Re: Cards you regret letting go...
 

I, like Jesse posted earlier, have a doozie. This will probably be the biggest
mistake anyone could EVER pass on.

After Barry Halper auctioned his collection in 1999, I had the chance to purchase
a 1916 Famous-Barr Babe Ruth rookie card for, get this, $3500.00. I also had
the chance to get the Famous-Barr Joe Jackson at the same time. (The wife
told me no, so I bought the Famous-Barr Jim Thorpe for $1500 instead.)

Man, when I think about this it makes me regret listening to her. Dammit!!

ErikV

Many.

However, the one that hurts the most, and I mean HURTS, is the 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle I consigned to a Mr. Mint auction, in order to raise money for a down payment on a house. It would grade EX-MT+, and perhaps NEAR MINT, based on its extremely clean appearance. Even The Mint Man remarked about that pivotal characteristic in his brief, but meaningful write-up in SCD back in the fall of 1995.

I miss it not because it's worth a lot more money now, but because I truly loved that card, and you better believe I never got tired of looking at it!

Be that as it may, I truly loved my family a whole lot more, and while I regret the staggering loss as a card collector, I know a deeper regret would await me as a husband and dad had I not taken the step.

---Brian Powell

I'm one of the few lucky ones who has no selling regrets, yet...

Easy for me. A 1940 Playball # 1 Joe DiMaggio. Raw but would have graded a 7 or higher.

On a side note, back in the early 1980's I had the opportunity to purchase a T3 Cobb for $1,500.00. I was young and did not have the cash so I never bought it. That card EASILY would have graded an 8. Yes an EASY 8 and maybe a 9. It had only the slightest show of white in the upper right corner. It was a real beauty.

Thanks for making me feel horrible.

Robert

T206 Hal Chase Pink Portrait PSA 6. I sold it when SGC wouldn't cross it over because of a corner wrinkle. I should've just held on to it. The image and color and registration were just exquisite!

This is taking me back a good 30+ years ago. I picked up a 57 Ted Williams, Hank Aaron, 69 Reggie Jackson, and 71 Nolan Ryan. I also had Clemente's cards from each Topps year. Bought them all for what now seems next to nothing. Centered, and sharp corners. But I was young and dumb, and wanted to get married. Sold those cards and others to buy the ring. Marriage lasted all of 4 years...I wish I had those cards .

When I regret what I let go I focus on current collecting niches.... Isn't the chase a lot of the fun?

Plus '55 Topps Killebrew rookie, PSA 8; '55 Topps Jackie Robionson, PSA 8; '55 Bowman Mantle, PSA 7; '54 Topps Aaron rookie, PSA 7!

Killer thread; bad vibes.

Larry

I had a really nice T213-2 Frank Chance NY Amer. that I sold for some stupid reason. Haven't seen another since.

You made the right choice Brian. You sound like a good man/husband/father. Kudos to you and that you only regret it a little for what you were able to do for your family !

N173 DogsHead Stovey
N173 Jack Glasscock
1888 Philadelphia Team Cabinet w/ Harry Wright
1888 Columbus Salons Cabinet

Those are pretty much the irreplaceable ones for me now.

A near complete run of the 52 Topps semi-high series. These cards were like pack fresh. I'm still kicking myself about that.

There are others but hey, nothing I can do about it now....

I could have sold my 1952 Topps Mantle (PSA 1) and Goudey Ruth #144 (PSA 5) for quite a bit more than what I got 10-12 years ago if I had held onto them a few more years, but I needed the money for other things at the time, so those don't hurt too much.

It hurts more when I sell a rare card. In that respect, I guess the (unique) Mino Bridwell stings more than the other cards I've sold. What I decide to sell is largely a function of the price/rarity ratio. If I ever acquired a T206 Wagner I'd probably divest myself of that one pretty quickly.

I STILL have my cards from when I was a kid. Mom NEVER threw 'em out. SHe threw them down the stairs when I talked back, but NEVER threw them out.

But I gotta agree with Leon - unless you have limitless funds, there is NOTHING LIKE THE CHASE!

Exactly....not a lot that I regret, the things I truly cherish collecting I still have and since filling a hole in my baseball memorabilia collection rarely comes along anymore I started collecting just regular postcards of my hometown...I'm up to probably 3,000 different postcards and I still find at least one per week that I don't have. 90% or more I pay less than 10 bucks each and occasionally have to shell out $100-$200 just because a local guy who also collects doesn't have it yet.

That said I kind of wish I still had the Roy Ellam postcard that had the pose for his T206 card.

I collect mainly junk era error cards so for me it was a only known 1990 Score Randy Johnson/Rickey Henderson wrong back error pair. Don't really care for either player and let the pair go for $60 in the late 90's.

Now I have an amazing 89 Fleer Randy Johnson Marlboro error collection and that wrong back pair with Randy would sure look nice with it.

A really clean and sharp 1951 Bowman Willie Mays RC in PSA 6. At least it found a good home with Ian on the board.

I purchased a 33 Goudey Lajoie PSA 6 for $25k in 2001 and sold it 4 years later for $35k to help fund a new business. That business has long been out of business but that card lives on somewhere in someone's collection. That card has such a great story and prominence in the hobby. Wish I still had it!

* Anyone on here remember buying it?

Same here

i passed on a 1952 topps #311 Mantle PSA 4 for $10,000 about 2 years ago..ugh

as for sales, i sold a signed 1951 Gordie Howe rookie psa,dna. wish i still had it.

Had to sell a Ryan RC a few years ago for some quick cash. Not as lofty a card as what others have mentioned, but for me it was a tough one.

TG set #2
 

Regret selling my second Tomas Gutierrez set last year. Needed the money, but felt sick to my stomach when it only brought in $50k. Super painful.

too many to count.....

Cards I regret letting go
 

I am new to this board. Although I do collect pre war baseball, my regrets were from when I was about 11 or 12. I separately traded away a 1966 Topps Sandy Koufax and a 1975 Topps George Brett rookie, for recent cards at the time of trades in the early 1980s. Both cards were part of a collection my aunt gave me in the late 1970s. Glad to say that I have since acquired several of each of those cards and they are probably in better condition than the ones that I lost.

Some of my batter ups I got them in trades with my dad but they belonged to his dad. "Poppa Bobby" had a lot of HOF players in that set and my dad sold some to pay bills when we were young.

I got a Frankie Frisch off my dad that Poppa Bobby owned that and a Bobby Byrne and a couple others I sold with some T205s and T206s about 8 years ago to pay bills.

Though the Frisch was half a card I still regret it because it was Poppa Bobby's card.

It's definitely in a happy home Dan. Don't plan to ever part with it, but if I ever do, you'll be first I reach out to. Thanks again.

Sold these on BST earlier this year, all are missed... though can't say I fully regret, since I needed and used the money for other things.

I will add a short-sighted trade I made several years ago:

Now, understand that the two cards were actually listed at very close to the same value AT THE TIME of the trade.

I traded a clean T206 Walter Johnson portrait for a 1970 Topps Nolan Ryan which got graded EX-MT 6.

That T206 was one of the last that I had after selling off 268 different T206s and some American Caramels which I purchased for only $1,500. I more than doubled my investment, but could have made many thousands if I had held on to them.

Like Leon said the chase is the thing and I hope I never lose that feeling!

With that said, I have regretted everything I have sold and have never regretted a purchase!

What I regret is what I DID NOT buy. Back in the mid 1980's I was at a card show with my dad. There was a guy that had a bunch of Mickey Mantle cards, one of which was the 1952 Topps Card. He offered to sell us the card for $500, I can still remember what it looked like. It would have probably graded a 3-4. I passed on it and instead bought about 10 different Mantles that he had as opposed to buying just the one. I still have those Mantles we bought that day and as I don't really know prices on Mantles now as I collect pre war, I know they aren't worth anything compared to what that one would be today.

too many....
 

short list of cards I've owned and sadly sold is: (cards I never though I'd sale)
E90-1 Jackson, Mitchell and Speaker
M110 Cobb and the "Chief Myers" signed Chase card in Leons sale
'15 Cracker Jacks of Joe Jackson (SGC30) and a PSA8 Joe Wood
'17 D350-2 Joe Jackson
N172 Phenomenal Smith Script Portrait
N172 Mack and Ward portrait
N162 Anson
E102 Dots Miller fielding pose
'52 Topps set
'33 Goudey #144 Ruth in SGC50 w/great centering and well focused
E121 Ruth w/bird
E125 Wagner fielding
E95 Wagner (probably would have graded a 5)
T3 Cobb and Johnson
and more.......
and I regret not buying the T210-8 Joe Jackson that I had chance to buy for under $7K raw (probably a 2 if slabbed)

OK I'm stopping before I start crying.......

Ouch....
 

About a dozen or so M101-6's (1917-19 Felix Mendelsohn). Sold them about 20 yrs. ago for some 1st house money. Can't complain about the reason I sold them but they are now probably worth 50x what I sold them for. They were even tougher to find back then than they are now. I think Chris has some of them, maybe he will post some scans.