26 June 2015

how about a blog bat around challenge? the subject: cards that i (you) used to own

i have been buying packs (and sometimes boxes) of baseball cards since 1978.  some years, i bought more than others, but it's been a constant thing in my life since i was handed my first pack in 1977.  throughout that time, i've traded some cards away, and sold others, to further my collection.  there is one card, however, that i regret having dismissed from my hands, and that is the subject of this post. the card that i used to own that i wish i still did.

the very first card i felt remorse over trading was a 1978 topps steve garvey.  i had a double, but i was planning to start my dodger team set collection.  however, i needed a mickey rivers card for the full set, and my neighbor offered to give me rivers for garvey.  i made the deal, and my regret didn't last too long as i was able to get another garvey card fairly easily not too long thereafter.  before i get too far along, i'll show some cards that i used to own that i am ok with having sold or traded.

first up is this 2003 upper deck legendary cuts bill dickey cut auto numbered 09/25
i bought a box of legendary cuts that year for $60 and found this card in one of the packs.  i have no regrets about putting this up on ebay and taking the $200-ish that it commanded. still, i kept a photo of it for posterity.

similarly, i pulled this 1/1 mickey mantle magenta printing plate from a box of 2006 topps chrome
and sold it on ebay.  no regrets.

i've owned some non-gimmick cards that were pretty cool, but for one reason or another didn't fit into my collection.  like this 1909-1911 t206 jack egan card
and this 1951 topps luke easter card
both are nice and were cool to have, but likely fit better in the collections of some random ohioans.

there have been some other, even less spectacular cards that i've traded away yet felt the need to scan first and show here now, like this 1960 topps mound magicians card
this 2011 topps josh hamilton commemorative patch card
this 2012 topps carl yastrzemski facsimile auto stitch card
2011 topps diamond dig contest kelly johnson diamond die-cut black #/60
why did that have to be a d-back instead of a dodger?  obviously, i had no problem ejecting that card from my collection.

but now we come to the card that i do regret letting go of.  almost.  first, another story.  back in 2000, a friend and i split a box of upper deck legends.  one of my packs contained a mickey mantle jersey card with a pinstripe.  i shortly thereafter put it on ebay with a pretty high reserve, and while it was sitting there, my friend questioned why i would want to sell that card - "isn't that why you collect?", he asked. "to have a card like that?"  he was right, of course, and i was secretly happy that the card did not reach the reserve (it came within $15, as i recall).  i still have that mantle card, plus a couple of ruth bat cards that i've pulled from tribute packs, and several other non-dodger, non-double play, non-any of my mini collections that are just cool cards to own.

now, seriously, on to the whole point of this post.  i used to own this card:
well, not exactly that card, but another of the only 30 versions of the 2001 topps tribute walter alston patch cards that exist.  i could not find a photo of the card (i know i took one), but it featured a portion of the 100th anniversary of the national league patch worn by teams in 1976 (and visible on the 1977 topps manny mota card), which means that the uniform it was taken from was worn by smokey in his final season as the dodgers' manager.

i found the card in a local card/comic store.  it was on the 'markdown' wall, and was listed on sale for $49.99.  that was about the cost of a pack of 2001 topps tribute, if i recall correctly, and i knew that it was worth more than that.  now, i was not fully entrenched in collecting at this time (i bought cards more so out of habit and tradition), and really hadn't thought about what my collection was beyond maintaining my yearly dodger team sets from the topps flagship and traded sets, as well as my run of complete sets of those releases (a habit i abandoned a few years ago).  so, i bought the card with the full intent to sell it for a profit.  let me repeat that.  i, a dodger fan and collector of dodger cards, bought a 2001 topps tribute walter alston patch card with the intent to sell it.  and i did.  i made about $160, which was great, but future gcrl would become very disappointed in that past gcrl.

so disappointed, in fact, that i have kept my eye out for another version (or the same one) ever since.  i did find one on ebay (hence the picture of the card above), but it was already gone by the time i saw it.  my card sold to someone in alabama or arkansas - i do not remember which - so folks down that way, please keep an eye out.

in the meantime, i have added a different dodger manager's 2001 topps tribute patch card to my collection
that's alston's successor, tom lasorda, and his card features the red number patch that i enjoy so much.  i also own another patch from this set, one i pulled from a pack from a box i purchased in 2004 or so.
it's been about 11 years, and it may not neatly fit in my collection, but i'm not sure that i'm ready to part with eddie mathews yet.

so, what do you say?  what cards have you owned that you regret are no longer in your collection?  i'd like to read about it - either in the comments or as a bat around - because i feel your pain.

21 comments:

P-town Tom said...

Great idea for a future post. I hope you find your Walter Alston card some day soon.

JediJeff said...

The subject begs for a Gotye parody song.

No - I wlll not write it (maybe).

I really don't regret any cards I have given or sold. Can't say that I have had any huge cards in my collection. About the only one (maybe) is the Bryce Harper SSP that came out of Archives a few years back. And only because maybe I could make a few more bucks on it now.

Brian said...

I can't think of any that would make a good post, but I have two short anecdotes:

When I was probably 10 or 11 I had a couple Juan Gonzalez rookies in a side-by-side screw down case. I showed it off to some neighborhood friends and then it disappeared later that week, never to be seen again... I think I know what happened to it, but could never prove it. Anyway, they ended being re-purchased from quarter boxes in the last year or so.

The only time I regret giving up cards was late last year (before I started blogging and trading) and I cut bait on all the 2014 stuff I didn't want for myself. It was an 800 count box of Donruss, Topps, Topps heritage (including SPs), and a couple other odds and ends. I could have traded most if not all of it away with folks around here, but instead I used it for $10 off cards from a dealer.

JediJeff said...

Dammit - now I am working on the parody. Curse you GCRL.

Captain Canuck said...

some nice stuff. I've never seen the '01 patch cards before. Kind of an odd mix. But it works.

BobWalkthePlank said...

I've never gave up a Pirates card so no bad stories of trading a Mccutchen auto. Most of my regrets are for more monetary reasons like Jeff. I have had some high end cards like a Tom Brady auto, Jeter auto and Shoeless Joe bat card that I probably could have done much better with today.

Tony L. said...

That Eddie Mathews is just incredible.

I can't think of any cards that I regret getting rid of at this point either. Maybe my complete 1984 Donruss set, which I sold in 1989 ostensibly to fund a trip to Russia (which never actually happened for me). But even then I don't miss it that much.

Zippy Zappy said...

I made a post dedicated to this topic not too long ago. I made a bunch of idiotic trades for cards I really wanted (think George Steinbrenner with cards instead of players) and gave up more than an arm and a leg for stuff that ultimately wound up being $2-3 cards on COMC. Oy.

defgav said...

No cards spring to mind, but I regret getting rid of a Dick Allen baseball I got signed in person. I just included it with my big lot of baseball cards I didn't want to move out of state when I moved from San Diego to Portland. Dumb! But at least that was the only thing I regretted jettisoning once I got back into collecting a few years afterwards, as I had hung onto most of my favorites.

Need More Cardboard said...

I used to have a 2009 Topps Delmon Young Platinum parallel 1/1. It's the only 1/1 I've ever pulled myself. I traded it away in the first blogger trade I ever did. I regret not getting more for it than I did. Even though Young never was a big name player true 1/1's are not easy to come by. Especially since I pulled it from a retail pack against astronomical odds. While I do regret not getting more for it, I don't regret not having it anymore since I don't PC Young. I've pulled and bought tons of cards that have way more monetary and sentimental value since then.

Fuji said...

Love Blog Bat Arounds! It took awhile, but I'll post the card I most regret selling next week.

MrMopar said...

My biggest regrets are not bidding enough for certain cards on ebay, but the one (two actually) that I regret selling to this day is the Frank Thomas cards from a 1995 prototype Fleer Extra Bases set. I thought they were pretty unique, but apparently there are multiples floating around out there in card land, but I still wish I had mine back.

Ryan Cracknell said...

My BBA: http://www.tradercracks.com/blog-bat-around-regretful-trades

It started out straight forward enough but then stream of consciousness kicked in.

James B. Anama said...

Thank you for bringing back the Bat-Around. My article can be found here:

http://bdj610bbcblog.blogspot.com/2015/06/they-did-blog-bat-aroundwithout-me-my.html

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama
bdj610

Ryan G said...

I'm glad to be writing a Blog Bat Around again! The post goes live in a few minutes.

CaptKirk42 said...

I'm going to have to try to remember to make a dang post. I have a tale or two to tell that are longer than people are willing to read in comment form.

I will look for Jeff's Gotye Parody.

http://captkirk42.blogspot.com

Billy Kingsley said...

Interesting concept for a post series. I wrote one up for my own blog. It's only one card for me...kind of. (It's all explained in the post) http://cardboardhistory.blogspot.com/2015/06/blog-bat-round-cards-you-once-had-no.html

Anonymous said...

Thank you for reviving the Bat Around!

I didn't think I had anything to write about until I turned it to a slightly different angle...
https://shlabotnikreport.wordpress.com/2015/06/30/blog-bat-around-my-wacky-regret/

Jason Culley said...

Interesting concept. Before reading this today on The Shlabotnik Report and following the link to here, I had no idea what a Blog Bat Around was.

I decided to give it a try - https://jasonscustomtradingcards.wordpress.com/2015/06/30/blog-bat-around-cards-that-i-used-to-own/

I enjoyed reading the ones posted above. Thanks!

Jason

Fuji said...

Thanks for getting this started. Hope this Blog Bat Around catches on and we do this more often. Here's my submission:

http://sanjosefuji.blogspot.com/2015/06/blog-bat-around-once-upon-time.html

Unknown said...

I'm interested in the Mathews if you decide to move it. Thanks sarnold31@hotmail.com