Hobby regret undone after 26 years

[towerymt]

Have you ever sold a card and regretted it later? I don't mean because a card went up in value after you sold it. That's not what this is about....

I mean the card you bought with your own money and then later you sold it for no good reason. Needed the money? Weren't interested in cards anymore? Wanted something else more than a baseball card? Probably all of the above.

One of those reasons may have applied, but I've forgotten exactly why I sold this one.

When I was a kid I got $50 for my birthday one year from a grandparent, and I wasn't told I had to put it in the bank. I could actually spend it! Baseball cards were by far the number one interest at the time, and I was fascinated by the history of the game and the all-time greats. Sandy Koufax and Ted Williams were two of my favorites to read about.

My choice of card would be heavily influenced by my budget. I wanted an old card and I wanted to get the most out of my $50. I don't think there was a Koufax or Ted Williams within budget at the LCS, so I picked out a nice 1961 Topps Yogi Berra that was priced just under my limit. It was priced at about $45 because I remember it being either $47 or $48 with sales tax. Yogi was a great player and very well known, but I still don't know why (other than price) I picked that card. But it was mine and it was my most valuable card for several more years until I bought a Jerry Rice rookie for $55.

In early '97 I was still collecting, but I must have had my eye on something else and the '61 Berra was worth something. I don't recall the details, but I think I probably flipped past an ad in SCD for Howard's Sports Collectibles with a list of prices they were paying for stars from the '50s/'60s/'70s. I also think their pricing was for NM condition, and I felt mine was just that. So I called and asked if I just mail them the card and they said yes so that's what I did. A week later I got a phone call and they told me the condition and the price they were offering, which was less than I had hoped for, but I said yes anyway and they mailed me a check. That's how it worked back then. I saved the correspondence...



It only graded 'EM' (ex-mt) with 80/20 centering and I only got $20 for my card. I recall having some regret...not just over selling it...but over the price. For $20, I wish I had just kept it. But it was done and so I moved on.

I came across this envelope recently, among some other hobby related mail from the same era, and it got me thinking about looking for a replacement '61 Berra. I hadn't ever forgotten about the card, but I had not seen this note for close to 20 years.

A few weeks ago I set a saved search on ebay for auctions-only and I removed a few terms and key words to drop some low condition examples. I found a card I wanted, so I bid to win. It arrived today...



Looks pretty good! It was listed as "near mint or better" and it grades a strong EX-MT, possibly even NM by SGC/PSA standards. None of the corners are dinged or dented, they're just barely touched at the tip and still look sharp. Surfaces look good and color is pretty decent, too.



After all these years, this '61 Berra #425 in NM condition only cost $55, or $63.55 including shipping and tax.


Compare with an SGC-7 that auctioned tonight for $191.37: https://ebay.com/itm/195731855424

Or a PSA-7 (that might look worse) that auctioned tonight for $222.50: https://ebay.com/itm/235119779373
https://www.psacard.com/cert/69796114

I'm very pleased with my new card. I don't think I'll be selling this one.

[hxcmilkshake]

My Dad got me a 75 baseball set from SCD probably Renata Galasso or Larry Fritsch as a high school graduation present. Sold years later to fund my 1st wedding, which was regrettable as she turned out to be a pit viper. Repurchased years later, and sold again last week.

I don't currently have any cards I would NEVER sell , until I get my 52 Mantle.



Sent from my SM-G996U using Tapatalk

[oplum29]

we all have card regrets, and hopefully we learned our lessons from it. nice finish to the story.

and that's why these flippers will honestly never understand, for those of us that got into the hobby, because that's what it is, it's a hobby, we got into it for the fun of collecting players, teams, or position players. not to flip for money.

congrats on you finally bringing your card back home, where it belongs.

[rats60]

In 1987 I had the chance to buy a nice Plank and Magie for my t206 set, but I had to pass because I had recently got married. In 2015 I saw one that looked really undergraded and I finally got my Plank. It looks like a 5 or 6 but received a harsh grade because of a white print streak. It will always be one of my favorite cards in my collection.

[pawpawdiv9]

Originally Posted by rats60

In 1987 I had the chance to buy a nice Plank and Magie for my t206 set, but I had to pass because I had recently got married. In 2015 I saw one that looked really undergraded and I finally got my Plank. It looks like a 5 or 6 but received a harsh grade because of a white print streak. It will always be one of my favorite cards in my collection.

Wish i had bought one a couple yrs ago, when there was a few Auth's out there to be had. Now they are shot thru the moon.

Nice Plank you got there, rats
my best bet is to go for a Briesh Williams, but i seen other examples of that portrait thats liking to my interest.

[jaisonline]

In 2002 (or so) , I attend a big regional sports card show for the first time in 13 years excluding the 1996 FanFest. Sold a 1967 Tom Seaver to Al “Mr. Mint” Rosen after going back and forth w/ PSA about grading. They refused to grade it during the show & wanted to take weeks with it (at the time, i never had a card graded). I forget the reason but was mad enough to walk away from them. Also included a 1980 Rickey Henderson & 1984 Fleer Update Clemens to Rosen. All 3 cards were at least “near mint to mint” & were purchased at the 1988 National. Rosen saw me from a thousand miles away. Pulled out a roll of hundreds and did his shtick. I fell for it; it wasn’t a fair deal. Oh well. Lesson learnt and it wasn’t like I used the money to buy Apple and Amazon stock.

Finally ended up starting to replace all 3 cards after getting very slowly back into the hobby (1998)

[mintacular]

Here's a list of cards that I have sold in the last few years that I now want back and it will cost me x2 or more. The worst thing is that all of these were very nice for the grade and are exactly what I would want to buy now conditon-wise.

1. 1968 Topps SGC 5 Nolan Ryan Centered F/B bought for $225 sold for around $335.
2. 1958 Yellow Team SGC 7 Clemente Bought for around $400 sold for just a little more?
3. 1970 OPC Clemente PSA 7 Bought for around $100-$125, sold for just a little more?
4. 1980 Bird/Magic PSA 7 (was BGS 7.5) sharp/centered. Bought for $200? Sold for $400 pre-pandemic
5. Mid-Grade Sanella Ruth bought for $300, sold for a little more?
6. SGC 5 Bob Gibson bought for $200 sold for $400, $500?

A few more I don't want to think about

So many I passed on, early Mays/ Jackie/ Ruth/ cards used to be really cheap compared to now...

[towerymt]

Originally Posted by towerymt

Looks pretty good! It was listed as "near mint or better" and it grades a strong EX-MT, possibly even NM by SGC/PSA standards. None of the corners are dinged or dented, they're just barely touched at the tip and still look sharp. Surfaces look good and color is pretty decent, too.

I wasn't planning to grade it...but glad I sent it

https://www.psacard.com/cert/88719729

[Above the Rim]

Great story ... and result with the '61 Berra, congrats !

[Cardsandcoffee]

Thanks for sharing Tower! Good read

[discodanman45]

Please don't share stories like this, I hate it when I get more competition for raw cards.

Card was well deserving of a slab. I need some more Berra cards, only have two.

[fattymacs]

Bought some cards from Howard's back in the 1980's at their old location on a side street in Findlay and in Leipsic later in that decade. They are mostly just selling coins now I would imagine.

[sec249]

In high school I bought a '57 Unitas PSA 8 on ebay for maybe $500-$550. No qualifiers but as I recall it was a pretty O/C for an 8. Still, not a bad price.

I sold it a few years later in college for around $800 to fund whatever I needed at the time. Not cards, and something silly I am sure. Needless to say, that decision has not aged well.

In finding a replacement years later I held out for better centering. A pretty costly round trip all told, but the centering is better. And I still have an eye out for the original I never should've sold in the first place.

[VanLingoMungo46]

Whoa. That Unitas is gorgeous. And the Berra is a great grab. It’s always cool when you snare a raw card and send it in for grading and it gets the type of grade that validates the intelligence of your purchase. Also the centering is terrific. Great snare!

[golakers32]

Whoah. Late to this thread, but saw the Howard's letterhead and took me back 35+ years. As a SoCal kid who read Beckett and called every card shop that offered a mail order catalog, I remember this store and learning where Leipsic, Ohio existed!

[estang]

I remember selling a 57 Mantle & Mantle/Berra with pin holes that I had picked up for $20 so I could buy new cards in the 80s. Doh!

BTW, the Berra you picked up is extremely nice for the price - congrats!