05 January 2010

$20 card my arse

so, i went to the local card show recently and spent some time looking through the vintage and oddball bargain bins.  i made some decent purchases, and then looked through another guy's box of cards from the 50's.  i am pretty sure that the cards i was looking at were priced at $1 each, and i found some 1957 topps that piqued my interest.  there was a roger craig card, which i already have, but it made me hopeful that there might be a clem labine in the box. a pretty reasonable hope, i thought, since that was one of the lowest numbered (#53) dodger 'commons' i need.

the guy asked me if i was looking for anything in particular, so i told him i was looking for clem labine.  he looked at me and said, somewhat incredulously, 'that's a $20 card'!  as in, why would i think it would be in a $1 box, even though there were other cards from the same series in the box, including craig, whom i deem to be a bigger 'name'.  anyway, i backed away from the table as the guy offered to show me his 57 binder which, i imagine, was filled with cards at 75% of book.

instead, i went home and bought this card on ebay. 

for about $4.

maybe i'll go to the next show and sell it to the guy for $10 and make a few bucks.
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4 comments:

  1. Carl Crawford CardsJanuary 5, 2010 at 7:51 AM

    That crap drives me nuts. You wonder how those guys arrive at who is/isn't worthy of being in the book.

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  2. SharpeJanuary 5, 2010 at 8:38 AM

    You know, I only have one shop available in the area, but have never really asked about singles, etc because I figure I can get everything I need cheaper on ebay. Somewhere there is someone who needs the card/money less than someone paying rent.

    It's sort of the sad reality of it all. I want to support the shop in town, since I believe it's the only one, but when you're talking 2x or 3x the price, you just can't do it.

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  3. Contrary GuyJanuary 5, 2010 at 9:19 AM

    Tell him you found it in the $4 box at ebay but thanks anyway.

    Great stuff!

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  4. M.BrownJanuary 5, 2010 at 11:52 PM

    I no longer go to local shows. Those guys want full book no matter what the condition. The Philly Card show is the only show I go to buy my cards anymore. The cards are always high quality and the dealers are pretty decent. They know they are competing with other dealers who have the same quality cards.

    ReplyDelete