Your Turn: What auction block steals or stories do you have?
As the holidays rapidly approach and the buying seasons intensify, more than a few people buying for collectors will turn to all the available venues to land a gift that they might not be able to find anywhere else.
That just might include buying off the auction block — whether its eBay or some other online option or a high-end buy from an auction house, there can be unusual and story-worthy things found.
And that’s where you come in. As part of the Beckett Sports Card Monthly Auction Issue this year, we’re curious to hear about your epic finds or your unbelievable steals via the auction circuit where you outbid everyone else for something you absolutely had to have.
Do you have any auction steals or stories you can share with collectors? Do you have any treasures you found almost by accident? (It could be eBay, auction house, league auction,whatever … any sport or non-sports.)
Tell us about them in a comment below.
If I am using Beckett prices as a reference every card I have picked up over the past few years has been a steal.
Slow economy
Picked up a neat BIN steal on ebay about 6 months ago. Lot of 3 Cam Newton “RC” cards: 1 Bowman Mini, 1 Adrenalyn XL, and 1 Score End Zone parallel. BIN $10. It would be an OK price for them even if it were a regular Score RC, but there are only 6 (!) End Zone parallels made! Couldn’t believe my luck!
Chris
In the last 2 months, I went crazy and bid/purchased the following off Ebay:
– 4 X Topps Heritage Minor 2012 Jurickson Profar Printing Plates 1/1 Cyan Yellow Black and Magenta 4 total 3 Short Print Variations and 1 regular
– Topps Heritage Minor 2012 Mike Olt Printing Plate 1/1 Yellow
– Topps Heritage Minor 2012 Rymer Liriano & Corey Spagenberg Printing Plate 1/1 Dual Auto Yellow
– Topps Heritage Minor 2012 Rymer Liriano Auto Plate 1/1 Black
– Topps Heritage Minor 2012 Rymer Liriano Blue Border Parralel 1/1
– Topps Heritage Minor 2012 Gerrit Cole Plate 1/1 Black
– Topps Heritage Minor 2012 Allen Webster Plate 1/1 Magenta
– Topps Heritage Minor 2012 Michael Choice Plate 1/1 Yellow
– Topps Heritage Minor 2012 Jameson Taillon Plate 1/1 Cyan
– Topps Heritage Minor 2012 Manny Machado Plate 1/1 Cyan
– Topps Heritage Minor 2012 George Springer Plate 1/1 Magenta
– 2 X Topps Heritage Minor 2012 Christain Yelich Plate 1/1 Cyan and Cyan ( 1 short print variation and 1 regular
– Topps Heritage Minor 2012 Corey Spagenberg Plate Cyan
– Topps Heritage Minor 2012 Matt Barnes Plate 1/1 Magenta
– Topps Heritage Minor 2012 Zach Wheeler Plate 1/1 Cyan
– Topps Heritage Minor 2012 Chelsor Cuthbert Auto Plate 1/1 Cyan
– Topps Heritage Minor 2012 Guillermo Pimentel Auto Plate 1/1 Cyan
– Bowman Chrome 2012 Adam Conley Auto Plate 1/1
– Leaf Originals Wrestling 2012 Pete Rose Auto Alternate Plate 1/1
– Leaf Legends of Sport 2011 Tommy Lasorda Auto Plate 1/1
– Bowman 2012 Gerrit Cole Bowmans Best Plate 1/1
– Topps Finest 2012 Jordany Valdesping Patch Auto Plate 1/1
– Topps Chrome 2012 Drew Hutchinson Auto Plate 1/1 Blue
– Topps Chrome 2012 Matt Moore Auto Plate Rookie 1/1 Black
– Leaf Draft 2012 Chris Beck Auto Plate 1/1
– Leaf Draft 2012 Victor Roache Auto Plate 1/1
– Leaf Draft 2012 Tanner Rahier Auto Plate 1/1
– Leaf Draft 2012 Paul Blackburn Auto Plate 1/1
– Topps Finest 2012 Will Middlebrooks Patch Auto Plate Redemption 1/1 ( Still waiting on Topps to Send )
– Topps Heritage Minor 2012 Johnathan Singleton Patch Auto
– Topps Heritage Minor 2012 Corey Spagenberg Patch Auto
– Topps Heritage Minor 2012 George Springer Patch Auto
– Topps Unique 2009 Yovoni Gallardo Jumbo 3 color patch
– Topps Prodigious Patch 2012 Jim Rice
I can send a pic
My one comment is the luck I’ve had with buying cards from overseas. It seems like most people shy away from buying things from europe, asia, or australia, but i’ve gotten some great deals. Yes, shipping can be a little more. Yes, you have to wait longer. But as a Michael Finley super collector, I picked up a lot of refractors valued over $100 for $7. It took about 3 weeks to receive them, but they’re mint and an unbelievable bargain.
Did you get em for a steal?
I caught many of steal but if i say where i have got them then i would be telling where i got my steals . I got pics and no i did not go to ebay once. joe namath vintage doll, Broke but fixable. Vintage football lot mixed with rcs booking about a 500 dollars auctioned to me for 20 dollars in really good condition.. Had to sell those but just wait til tax season. Consigment shops are awesome i purchased a ryne sandberg, robin roberts, will clark and eddie matthews autograph baseballs for 5 bucks a pop without loa or coa or identity i just knew who signed them. Sold those but in consideration of buying back the matthews. My personal suggestion is to check out some LOW END auction houses you never know what you will find and how cheap you can get it.
Recently I found a full MLB authenticated Retro Blue Jays jersey of Dirk Hayhurst, who I player collect, on eBay for $120 at B.I.N.
Right when Mike Trout was getting hot I picked up a 2011 Bowman Sterling Black Refractor /25 for BIN $68 and a 2011 Bowman Sterling Gold Refractor /50 for $75. At the time I could not believe the low rates, so I picked them both up and had both graded. The Black was a BGS 9, so I kept since it was such a low number. The Gold was graded a Pristine 10 and I sold for $550! Seems like a great deal to me.
I picked up a nice Brandon Phillips lot it had the rookie traded auto from 2000 Topps a 2001 Bowman auto and a 2000 Bowman Chrome refractor card all for 10.00 on ebay. I think the economy sucks so bad everyone is trying to get the most for their dollar.
Bought a 2009 Trout Bowman Chrome Ref Auto for about $160 right before the season started this year. Graded it, came back a 9, .5 from 9.5. Sold it for over $600 a couple months ago.
A few years ago, I also bought a 1964 Mickey Mantle card graded GAI 8 for a little over $400. Another GAI 8 sold more recently for over $650. I have no plans to sell the card at the moment.
A little after the Mantle buy, I bought an UD USA Baseball Strasburg SP Auto /25 for a little over $500. After his first MLB start, I sold it for about $750.
Can’t beat the Trout card. Really wish I still had it, but I couldn’t fathom it holding that value, so I had to cash out. I’m hoping to get another similar card when the market cools down and he’s playing like a human again.
I am a huge fan of the 1888 Allen and Ginter sets, all of them, focusing primarily on fish and the American Indian Chiefs. I picked up an American Indian Chief for 12$ and change after shipping. This is for a 100+ year old car and decent condition for the era. I am always looking for those deals.
Well, my latest acquisition via a local auction I showed you last night on Twitter. I purchased 3 prints, one each of Frank Robinson, Duke Snider, and Vida Blue. Each print is autographed and comes with a COA. Total spent on the 3 prints: $3.00 I would say that is definately a steal :)
About 4 years ago I picked up a PSA 8 1968 Mantle for $50 off the bay. That would have to be the biggest steal I’ve had.
In 1987 I traded 10 Kevin Mass rookies for a box of Donruss that yielded 4 McGwire rookies. Pretty lucrative day at a card show at the time.
I’ve had a fantastic steal through eBay. Nothing on the scope & scale of Jeremy Lin before Linsanity hit the hobby, but I was still pretty happy with the results.
Shortly after the UD Montreal Canadiens Centennial set was released, I was collecting the Habs Inks autographs and I was able to pick up the Guy Lapointe SP for a paltry $35!!! This was just before people really started to understand just how short-printed those autographs were. A couple years later, as I realized I’d never be able to complete the set due to the scarcity of some of those cards, I decided to break it up and sell or trade most of them. I sold it for $600, nearly 20x my original buying price! WINNING!