"Race card played in failure to sell Honus collectible"

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Posted By: Aaron

"Does anyone believe this guy paid $1800 for the card?
I would love to see the receipt for that purchase."

To me this is the best part of their story. The guy claims to know nothing about cards, yet knew enough to fork over $1,800 for it in the mid-80's (he doesn't remember the name of the dealer or the exact year of the transaction). The idea that he would spend $1,800 for ANY card when the rest of his collection appears to be a mish-mash of worthless junk form a myriad of collectibles fields strains credulity.

Then he claims to have held on to the card for several years (so apparently he knew enough to buy the card for $1,800, but not enough to know that the card was worth hundreds of thousands more or that he should bother trying to sell it for a huge profit) until he saw a TV piece on Gretzky & McNall and the big sale of the card for over $500k. (That's when he claims to have realized, "I have that card".)

Then things get really interesting: Once they realize they have such a valuable card, they sit on for almost a decade. A decade! Then, of course, we join our heroes in their fight to prove the validity of their card.

Now, compare that above to the scenario where the lawyer whose practice is about 5 miles from where the two guys live says there was a break-in at his practice where the same "novelty" Wagner card was stolen. And then just a few weeks later, these guys start trying to sell the card.

Which one sounds more plausible?

My speculation is this: Someone stole the card from the lawyer and promptly sold it to these guys for $1,800 -- and these guys knew about the card and figured they were the ones making out like bandits. When they went to sell it, they realized they may been ripped off and just can't come to terms with that (or the dashing of their "get-rich-quick" dreams).