Your Best Deal Ever (Going Back All The Way!)

Vintagedeputy · #1 04-17-2022, 06:20 PM

I don't like discussing good deals on cards that I still own, but I'll tell you one that I got and that got away.

When I was 16, I found an absolutely gem mint 1957 Topps Mantle / Berra #407 Yankee Power Hitters card along with an Al Cicotte card from the same year. Bought them at a garage sale for $5.00.

Fast forward a year and I'm a big time (I thought) card dealer at a show in NJ and the Power Hitters card is booking for about $40 or so....and I sold it. Had it on the table and a guy bought it. Stupid, stupid kid.

bnorth · #2 04-17-2022, 06:57 PM

My best deal was a trade back in the real early 90s. I was young and broke at a gun show. I seen a older lady sell a dealer a older German made Walther PPK in the factory box with the target used for test firing in the box. It is the gun James Bond used in most of his movies.

Back then a somewhat local dealer was there that sold guns, fishing equipment, and vintage baseball cards. I traded a 1966 Topps Sandy Koufax in NrMint condition for a new Smith & Wesson 38. I then traded the S&W even up for the Walther PPK I wanted from the other gun dealer.

The dealer with the Walther didn't look close to see it was a German made gun and not the American version. In card terms I traded a common T206 even up for a T206 Red Cobb in the same condition.

sreader3 · #3 04-17-2022, 07:04 PM

Paid $30 for this beauty at the 1985 National in Anaheim when I was in my teens. Obviously ungraded at the time. From a "dealer." Imagine that!

(Also wow great Hindu group Pat!)

steve B · #4 04-17-2022, 08:24 PM

Most of the cards I have from hockey, football, and basketball from about 1968-72 came from one buy.
A flea market card dealer who did only baseball and generally over priced it had a shopping bag full of loose cards basically laying on the ground next to his table but not too close. When I asked how much he gruffly said "you don't want that stuff, it's not baseball" I had to press a bit for a price, which turned out to be $20 for the whole bag. About 3/4 of each football and hockey set, and a decent number of basketball, and no stars pulled out.

Another deal was a day I went early and as a guy set up he put out a plastic bag full of pennants, old sewn felt. Right on top was a "newer" 50's baseball pennant. picked up the whole stack and asked, $20 for everything. That one baseball one was the only one, but nearly all of them were sewn felt from roughly the late teens. And in great condition.

Since I was buying in the late 70's early 80's, most of my "good" cards were great bargains, even if they weren't at the time.

abothebear · #5 04-17-2022, 09:50 PM

In '89, I traded a 50 cent bag of popcorn to my friend for the doubles of his 86-87 and 87-88 fleer basketball cards - which included some stars and a Jordan sticker (not-great condition). I sold the Jordan last year for $400. Considering the 30+ years that passed, it isn't that exciting, but I like to bring it up to my friend whenever I can.

Michael B · #6 04-17-2022, 10:59 PM

I don't collect cards, but there are still a few sports collecting stories I can share.

Brimfield, Mass flea market mid 1990's. At that time I was mainly buying and selling Civil War related signatures, documents and the such. I collected the 4 main sports in person in and around Boston. I was at the Brimfield flea market during the July event. I walked up to a table manned by an older man and his wife. It was filled with postal covers and similar items. He had some items I wanted immediately so I put them aside. I was looking at his first day covers and spotted the 1939 baseball one. It was signed. I stared at it for a few minutes then it hit me: Johnny Evers. I asked how much? He said $5. I did not even try to bargain. You need to know when to keep your mouth shut, not one of my strongest qualities. I paid exactly what he wanted for everything and walked away. As I did his shrew wife started screeching "He ripped you off!" How can you rip someone off when you pay exactly what they ask? I got home, called a doctor I know who collected Civil War and Baseball and sold it for $350. Probably worth quite a bit more today, but I was happy with that.

My main collecting is Olympic photography. I also collect, buy and sell Olympic autographs. I am very fortunate as I am able to find quality signatures of rare Olympians that European collectors need. That is my main market. I saw this photo on ebay. It was of a U.S. fencer who competed in 1920, 1924 and 1928 and it was signed by him. I got it for about $20. When it arrived I noticed the writing below the photo. On the left '1928'. On the right, the signature of the photographer - Nickolas Muray. Muray was a world famous photographer in the 1920's and 1930's. He travelled the world photographing famous people including almost everyone in Hollywood, Claude Monet, Charlie Chaplin and others. The portrait of Babe Ruth sitting with the bat on his left shoulder was taken by him. The best known photos of Frida Kahlo (think the movie 'Frida' with Selma Hayek) are by him. He was also her lover. Not only was he a photographer, he was a fencer, competing for the U.S. at the 1928 and 1932 Olympics. He died while fencing at a club in New York City. You can find his photos on ebay. Some blind stamped, some stamped and some signed with a stylized version of his last name. They can range from hundreds to thousands. Not a bad pickup for something that will stay in my collection.

lyon-1.jpg

cardsfan73 · #7 04-18-2022, 12:28 AM

Picked up these three at a small antique mall for just over $100.

One of the three had a little bit of value!

z28jd · #8 04-18-2022, 07:11 AM

I collected T206 cards as a teenager and finished the set in 2003, so with current prices a lot of them would be great deals. One of the deals that really stands out now started off bad.

A board member here begged for a Carolina Brights Eddie Collins at least ten years ago and said they needed it for their collection. We had made previous deals, so I decided to let it go for a even trade to help them out. A month later it was in a graded holder and in an auction, where it got a good price. Definitely more than I would have sold it for, but much less than what it would go for now (I think it was just over $1,200 with the juice). Needless to say, I was furious and didn't do any more deals with that person and still wouldn't.

Cut to 2022 prices and I have a low grade Roger Bresnahan Carolina Brights back to replace the back in my collection, a mid-grade Hal Chase pink portrait (with a large crop mark on the back, which I collected) and a replacement Eddie Collins for my set that was in nicer shape than the original one (common back though). I paid $110 for the original Collins, so I'd say it worked out great for me in the long run (especially since I would have sold it for about $800 back then and just replaced the Collins with part of that money), but I definitely didn't like the middle part.

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