Mastro - Anyone win??

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Posted By: Hal Lewis

What time did it end?

I woke up this morning and saw that I won an item for LESS than my max bid...

so I guess that proves the honesty at MASTRO!

And even if you didn't win some of those awesome vintage lots ... tell us if you know who did!!!

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Posted By: Hal Lewis

I won two lots:

one was an SGC 30 card ...

and the other an SGC 40 card.

So who says I love PSA?

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Posted By: scott brockelman

i won the E107's and 1 of the Plowboy lots.

wish i had Hal's luck, i got my bid raised after 3:30 am when i had been the high bidder and no other bidding since 10:30 pm. however there were 16 bids on the lot and since i had only bid once, there were obviously several interested parties and the west coast people have it much easier in terms of waiting til the last minute. i went to bed finally at 3:30. damn good thing for max bidding! as i have woke up to find that i was outbid before on lots in the 3:30 to 4:30 am time frame.

still quite happy with the win, just a little sad that is cost me $3,800 more in the wee hours of the morning.

overall the prices were staggering for some of the group lots. the obaks and the old mill cabinets went for huge money plus many of the hodge podge lots. some of these lots had 25-35 bids

i also was quite happy on the selling end, my 52 topps master set far exceeded what several people thought it might bring.

hope others were winners as well.

scott

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Posted By: David Seaborn

I lost out on almost all of the lots I wanted, I hung in there with the Obaks and some of the Old Judge lots until surrendering very late. I did manage to win the N300 Mayo near set (#1005) and a nice lot of high grade Turkey Reds (#1122). I'm sure I overpaid for the Mayos, but it's similar to Scott B. and the E107's (BTW- Congrats Scott, I knew you would get that one), sometimes it's worth paying a little extra for an accumulation of cards you don't see to often.

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Posted By: Hal Lewis

Do you need the Mayo Nichols to COMPLETE that set?

If you can find out who won the OLD JUDGE Nichols card and get it from them...

then I can swap you my PSA 2 Mayo Nichols.

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Posted By: Hal Lewis

You got me so excited with your

Ty Cobb back "King of the Smoking World" card ...

that I had to go out and buy one!

I also way overpaid for the E90-1 Shoeless Joe rookie card in SGC 40.

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Posted By: scott brockelman

david,

i think that was a fair deal on the mayo's i was still interested in them til the end. your right where else are you going to get them all at once, individually you would have paid much more, and the nichols will come along.

again, much better to pay too much and get it than be dissapointed and end up empty handed. plus, in this skyrocketing market, the prices will quickly surpass what you think was "all the money"

scott

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Posted By: Hal Lewis

I have a PSA 2 Mayo Nichols and would love to see him reunited with his family...

especially since I collect ROOKIE cards and really should have his Old Judge card.

David: If you can find me a nice Old Judge version, the Nichols can be yours for the good of the hobby!!!

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Posted By: leon

I got the N526 Diamond S Cigars with the overprint...and for less than my max (I just found out, yea!). And....drum roll.....the most unbelievable skyrocketed price of a lot, imo.....the T208 Baker....which I would have thought would be a 3k card at most.......over 12k PLUS the juice...wow....and cograts to others that paid more for lot's and won.....till tonight....later

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Posted By: The Other One (Julie)

I Think I'll Sit This One Out.

My bank account knows I will!

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Posted By: Andy Baran

Hal,

You could easily argue that the Mayo IS Nichols ROOKIE card. The Old Judge card lists him as a minor leaguer. For this reason, I have the Mayo rather than the Old Judge as well.

I know lots of you non-rookie card collectors think these conversations are silly, be we love these debates.

P.S. Wait till I show you what Rookie Card I am purchasing privately

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Posted By: Hal Lewis

I am an idiot!!

I am the one who has argued for years that minor league cards (like the awesome 1914 Baltimore News Babe Ruth card) do NOT count as rookie cards ...

so I guess I will KEEP the MAYO after all !!

Thanks Andy!!

OK - I posted my e-mail address, so let me know what card!!!!

(dang it - I just looked and thought that maybe my MAYO Amos Rusie card was also a rookie ... because the Old Judge shows him in an "Indianapolis" shirt ... but I now see that Indianapolis was a MAJOR league team from 1887-1889. Drats)

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Posted By: ockday

I won the OJ Browns Champions lot and the 2 OJ spotted tie lots last night . I was also bidding on the T207 set and lost it sometime after 3am when I conked out.Also was hoping to land one of the 2 big OJ lots but dropped out when prices got too high for me. On the selling side..I have a bunch of stuff in the auction highlighted by the T206 fully graded set which is doing pretty nicely and will hopefully pay for my winnings after the it all ends tonight.
Good luck all,
Alan

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Posted By: Hal Lewis

Now I am glad that I did NOT continue bidding on the spotted ties ... so that someone from our little circle of friends could win it for LESS!!

I had an early bid on them ... and was close to pulling the trigger last night ...

but I was leading on the Ty Cobb "King of the Smoking World" back card and couldn't take the chance of winning both.

Now everyone is happy!

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Posted By: ockday

I appreciate it...I am hoping it was a board member that outbid me on the T207 set at 5:09am. Boy ..what time did this end?

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Posted By: JC

I picked up the Wright CDV's #1099, N338-2 Titcomb, KC Joesph Hall Team Cabinet, and a Players league 1890 guide. I thought I would win the Ewing SF Hess since I was high on it at 5:00AM as I went to bed. Then I see I got out bid at 5:08am today? I was the under bidder on the Old Mill Cabinets and the Police Gazette O'neil as well. I agree with Leon that the T-208 was a shocker of a price.
Can't believe my opening bid did not hold up on the California league OJ's... LOL

If anyone won the Boston Store near set, I need a couple of cards to complete my set. Please e-mail me (was it you Bruce/Connor)?

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Posted By: Hal Lewis

This reaffirms my belief that those of us on this board NEED to communicate in private and AGREE to "give up" on certain lots in return for our friend "giving up" on our lots!!!

I see nothing wrong with "bidder collusion" ... since it certainly would take place at a LIVE AUCTION where I could clearly see who I was bidding against and stop bidding if it was a friend of mine.

Am I wrong here?

Or have you guys been doing this all along and just NOT telling ME about it?

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Posted By: JC

Hal, that would be fine... No one ever e-mails or calls me on Auction night other than leon. It's hard to post which lots you want to go high on as that would encourage other bidders to take a closer look at them. Many times people go on a lot because others are hot on it, and they might be missing out. We'll call those people new hobbiest with deep pockets that learn what they are buying after they bought it. I think you and I locked up on the Boston's Cabinet last year that went for 18K? See Ya JC

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Posted By: scott brockelman

obviously a new strategy is required, in the old days it was stay up real late and ride it out til the end, recently it was better to just go to bed and set the alarm for 3:30 am. now it appears you just go to bed the night before and get up early, say 5:00am and place your final bids!!

scott

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Posted By: Hal Lewis

The "Husband of Tammy" cost me a pretty penny on that 1873 Boston team cabinet last year!!

I would have GLADLY stopped bidding on any other lots and maybe even thrown in a "player to be named later" if I could have gotten you to STOP BIDDING!!

I will add you to my list of people to contact!

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Posted By: Elliot

What time did it end at? I went to bed at 5:30 and was outbid after 6:00 a.m.

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Posted By: Hal Lewis

I woke up at 7:00 EST and it was over.

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Posted By: jay behrens

Seeing what the t208 Baker went for really makes me regret selling off Firesides. Mine were all in very similar shape to that one and almost makes me wonder if it isn't the card I once owned. Although I got a handsome price for mine when I sold them.

If I ever had any dreams of reassembling the group I had (Baker, Barry, Bender, Collins, Plank and Mack) I have zero hope now.

Jay

I like to sit outside, drink beer and yell at people. If I did this at home I would be arrested, so I go to baseball games and fit right in.

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Posted By: GDP

I'm jealous listening to your successes. I went to bed at 1am (I need more sleep than you guys) wondering how I was going to pay for the eight different lots on which I was high bidder. I woke up to find that I had won nothing at all - every one of my bids was topped by one "notch" sometime after 3am.

The good news is that I can now afford my winnings - the bad news is that my winnings were naught.

Congrats to the rest of you.

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Posted By: Aaron M.

Last night's auction ended around 3:15 AM PST. Needless to say I am a little tired at work today...

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Posted By: Hal Lewis

Finally ... the mojo is swinging the direction of us EAST Coast guys!!

We can just go to bed and set our alarms for a very reasonable 6:00 am wake-up call and do our final bidding!!

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Posted By: David Seaborn

Hal- thanks for offering the Nichols, but I already have that card. This (finally) gives me a complete set. I'll be keeping about half of the set for upgrades and selling the rest (Probably through eBay).

Finding a way to communicate would be good. I defintely drove up the price of both spotted tie lots. At least they stayed with someone on the board.

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Posted By: Jason Smith

I didn't get the lot I bid on, the 29 t206s with some HOFers. I just gave up after figuring that the 15% + the fact that I'd have to grade the cards myself made the cards more expensive than if I bought them one at a time. Did anyone else have the thought that the cards might cost less one at a time on some of the lots?

I'm hoping to get some "scraps" though so if you won one of the high grade lots of T206 cards and are upgrading and selling your lower grade cards, then feel free to email me with sale prices on your lower grade cards.
Jason

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Posted By: Dan

If only I had hit that 286 million on the lotto a few months back... it would have been a treat to spend some of the winnings on this auction.

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Posted By: 823dek

Leon,

You dirty rat, I put the ceiling on it at 3076.00 and I knew I was competing somewhat w/ you as I tried to pluck the other Fireside that you had at the National !

Maybe the 4k for the common that you said that, if you sold it ,that's what you would wanted , so I guess that 12k wasn't out of the question for your resire to have another, anyway....Dan Koteles is jealous , LEON !!!!!!

Congatulations

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Posted By: leon

I didn't win the t208......I just thought it went through the roof, is all....All I won was the N526 which I had been looking for for years. It's the only one I can remember seeing that has the all important "C.S. White & Co." overprint. This completes these for me.....talk to ya later.....

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Posted By: Elliot

I can't figure out why Mastro doesn't move to a format where if a lot doesn't get a bid for 15 minutes that particular lot closes. Over the last 5 or so hours of the auction, i think the total take only increased by a couple hundred thousand, and it's hard to believe they wouldn't capture all (most or even more) by the above method. Using this everybody would just need to be around their computer/phone from 10-11 CST and then the auction would be over. It might even cause some bidding wars.

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Posted By: Judge Dred

Every $100,000 in sales translates into $30,000 pocket change for the auction house. At that rate I'd would keep my employees up for another 24 hours straight if I could - "Judge Dred the slave driver"

It would be nice to see those lots close faster because then it would make everyone put up or shut up sooner. The waiting game can be pretty cumbersome. They do offer call backs though. I do agree, I'd rather see a quick end to it with the fast and furious bidding wars.

I suppose that when you have to look at both sides. They probably let things go to allow the bidders to think about digging deeper to get what they want. I guess I can see both sides of this.

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Posted By: 823dek

Leon-I'm sorry that my Evelyn Woodhead speed reading course failed me on your message, i thought and hoped that you did win it . I won the Joss All- Star photo...lot 1281. Though it has some odd's and ends, I do hope it is unique as they may say.

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Posted By: jay behrens

In an auction, the last thing you want is bidders to think if they want to spend more or not. You want them caught up inthe bidding and NOT thinking about anything other than winning. That is why eBay works so well. You know the deadline and it's "put up or shut up" come closing time.

Jay

I like to sit outside, drink beer and yell at people. If I did this at home I would be arrested, so I go to baseball games and fit right in.

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Posted By: TBob

as usually happens, nada. I really thought I had a fighting chance on the E98 set and M131 Baltimore News lot but thinking about those college tuition payments for the kiddo and a zillion other bills prompted some re-thinking. Congrats to everyone who won. To those of us without the deep, deep pockets, well, we'll keep plugging along

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Posted By: Aaron M.

Call it! Day Two just ended a couple minutes before 4:00 AM PST. I'll post about my winnings later. Right now, I need lots and lots of sleep...

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Posted By: Will

I won the Butter Cream cards, but not sure if they are worth what I bid? Any ideas?

Thanks

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Posted By: Jay Miller

We haven't heard the most important piece of information: Hal--Did you get the Hammer?

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Posted By: gdp

The winner of the Butter Creams beat me out and one other bidder - so I guess they were worth it. If you decide to break the lot and want to part with the Kremer, please let me know.

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Posted By: Hal Lewis

I did NOT win Hank.

I was up at 6:00 am this morning ... thinking about bidding $82k ...

but the darned 15% juice would have made it $94k ...

and I just didn't think the price was worth it when I considered the odds of another such card showing up some day.

In other words ...

the other darned thread about "grade rarity KILLED my confidence!!!

Thanks a lot, Gil!

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Posted By: Peter Thomas

you have $94,000 to shop around and I think there will be a lot of shoping to do. BTW did get the Ramly group with Scott B.

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Posted By: ockday

I won the OJ Keefe and Robinson lot but got outbid on the T207 lot of 47 rare back cards. If anyone here won the t207 set or the lot of rare backs and wants to part with a few cards..please email me. Thanks!
Alan

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Posted By: 823dek

Ramirez signed jersey-
Ruth and Newhouser at the bar- photos and autos
Joss allstar photo w/ slag and megma on the back of it ( nevermind )
Nothing that I really wanted, just uh....spending for sumpin...ugh !

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Posted By: hankron

Hal, give me that $94,000 and I'll take a 10 year vacation. A van filled with a decade's worth of ramen noodles.

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Posted By: jay behrens

LOL, I could live on $94k for 10 years too but I wouldn't need to live on ramen noodles.

Jay

I like to sit outside, drink beer and yell at people. If I did this at home I would be arrested, so I go to baseball games and fit right in.

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Posted By: Gilbert Maines

Sometimes it takes more brass to not bid, than to bid.

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Posted By: Hal Lewis

In that case, I still have all of my brass ...

but I don't have the 1954 Topps "Brass Hammer" card.

I will live to fight another day.

RAMEN NOODLES for everyone!!!!!!!!!!

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Posted By: Aaron M.

I was up until 3:30 and 4:00 AM, respectively, on the nights of the auction, but ended up getting both items I really wanted: the Lou Gehrig Memorial full ticket and the 1944 Cubs home jersey.

The Gehrig ticket was mistakenly labeled as a proof in the catalog, before Mastro corrected it as authentic on their website and bidding never really recovered. Too bad for the consigner, good for me. An example of the full ticket, in not as good condition (but without the VOID across its front) sold for more than $3,500 in last month's Leland all-star auction and another was priced at $5,000 by a notable dealer at the National. I feel like I got that rare Mastro occurance--a true steal.

The Cubs jersey was also mistakenly labeled as a salesman sample in the catalog, but was corrected as game worn on the website and this time the bidding followed suit. I probably went a few hundred dollars higher than I would have liked--but this item was my top priority for the Mastro/Hunt auctions, so I went for it.

My bidding strategy worked pretty well. (I don't think anyone around here bids on the things I'm interested in and I know I don't bid on the things most are interested in--besides it's not others aren't doing this as well.)

I bid (only once) on about 15-20 items I had even a passing interest in within the first day or two of the auction when the prices were all still ridiculously low as my "marker" bids so I could track in the "my bids" section and be eligible for extended time bidding if I was still interested when the auction was closing. Those items are then marked as "watched" items for easy organization and tracking.

I then bid on the final night of the auctions only once per item (on the two I won and a lot of press pins which I felt were another big bargain--but I was outbid and elected not to big again), well into the AM hours (when I figured I'd be safe from being outbid by more rational people who were long asleep by then). I then stayed up until the auction closed to make sure I wasn't outbid--for east coasters, it's better to just wake up the following morning around 5:30 AM or so.

It takes some nerve to wait 6 or 7 hours past the auction's initial closing time to bid on an item you want desperately, aren't currently leading for, and knowing the auction might end at any moment, but I think it's the only way to avoid getting into an all-night back and forth bidding war when dealing with some of these higher end items--there are always going to be many people with deeper pockets than you.

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Posted By: tbob

There are so many guys with deeper pockets than me, just on this board, that I wonder why I even try. That's why it is always sweet to find that "great card deal," or that "special find", or have friends in the hobby who still believe in trading and help a buddy along.
For those of you who are reading this and are realtively new to the hobby (the lurkers out there and the newbies, as we call 'em) don't lose heart in the wake of all the "gee I wish I had won that lot I only bid $15,000 talk." You can still build a great collection on a modest income set aside for cards. You might be endlessly upgrading and selling the upgraded cards, but the sheer pleasure of putting together, card by card, a vgex T207 set can not be surpassed by someone picking up the phone and buying a 19th Century card for $10k and not blinking an eye.
There's still room in the hobby for the little guy and the satisfaction of finally picking up the vg card to complete a set or for a type card.