Friendly competition + unemployment = lots of cards

Some weeks ago I cultivated a relationship with someone else in this world that collects Hank Greenberg cards.

You might be thinking, "what, someone else collects this stuff?"  In fact, yes. they do.

While speaking with him and comparing our collections, I think it fueled a bit of a fire in me to best his collection. He has a ton of high end cut autographs, low numbered cards, bat cards and some vintage.  Nothing short of a great collection.

I really enjoy talking with him (almost daily) and asking for advice on purchases, prices etc. If you don't know someone who collects the same way you do, I highly recommend you reach out to them for their friendship, guidance and knowledge.

So I've been buying.  Also probably aided by my being unemployed since early January. With time comes opportunity.  And with opportunity, comes a hot streak.

Everything below is what I've acquired since early January, with two more cards coming this and next week:

2013 National Recap

So, it being my third ever national (2010 bmore, 2012 bmore and 2013 chi), and having a job allowed me the opportunity to travel to the national, as well as spend, what I want, on the cards that I want.

Going into the show I think everyone has the list of cards in their head (or paper) that they'd pay nearly anything for to acquire. For me, those were the 1937 O Pee Chee and the 1936 World Wide Gum.

I flew in Thursday morning from New Jersey and get to the show at about noon. Much like Eric, I wasn't blown away by the size and energy by the show this year, maybe the correct term was overwhelmed.

It took me a bit of time to get started on Thursday with my purchases, but I eventually stumbled upon a clean 1934 Goudey that seemed suitable for the upgrade I desired.

I bought it raw, bargained the seller down considerably, and made the purchase. After which I ran right to SGC to have graded :) the attached image is from my phone before the card was graded, it got a fair. A bit disappointed with the grading, but understood it. I didn't care though, the card has such incredible color and eye appeal and for the price I really couldn't complain.

I then ran into a seller I am familiar with that I know constantly stocks Greenberg. Along with that comes the same story he always tells me, about how 15 years ago he would sell all the Hank Greenberg stuff he had to his daughter, blah blah blah. I did find this interesting piece that I knew existed, but knew very little about. The attached pennant is what I bought. The designation is BF3, produced in 1937 and distribute alongside gum packs. When I got back to the hotel room I researched the pennant and found some great information about it. There are a ton of different colors that these come in, and Greenberg is in three more variations of this issue. A unique buy, for sure!

My last purchase for Sunday came as I would like to say, at the buzzer. I found this with less than 15 minutes to go in the day before the floor closed, and managed to again negotiate the price. The attached pin is from 1938, and I had been wanting one for a very long time. Needless to say, I ended Thursday on cloud nine, easily the best day I ever had at a single show.

Friday came with more expectations, and they were met. I knew the sellers stuff, at the prices I didn't want to pay. I did however, make a really cool purchase this day.

I will be playing in a wooden bat league starting after Labor Day, so knowing I needed a bat, I thought to myself that it'd be awesome to buy a game used bat and use it in the league. So Friday I started this thought with a vendor, and he informed me that they sell bats for people to use them all the time. So I became tickled. I spent the next hour holding and swinging three bats, and chose to buy a black Louisville slugger Jerry Hairston Jr. bat for $50 shipped. Pics to be added upon arrival. I picked up some T206 commons for my brother, then headed, once again, into the final half hour of the day.

I had previously seen the last attached item and remembered it was there, so I simply went and bought it! It's a 1936
Sporting Life record book, accounting for many stories about records and past World Series' played. I began to read the book last night, but decided against it because the book is a bit brittle.

So there it is! My recap. Written in 22 minutes while commuting home on the bus from New York. A great national to be had!

Thanks for reading peeps.

Brian

SGC Poppage!

I love screenshots. The only reason the Play Ball is graded 0 is that I asked for same or better grading, and I am guessing it did not reach that minimum. No matter, I'll resubmit it and have it changed into the SGC holder at a lower grade.

What I was REALLY concerned about was the dimensions of the 1938 Goudey card.  It measured about 1/8'' smaller than the verified dimensions of 2-3/8''x2-7/8''. I was truly, truly scared, but seeing that it came back at the PERFECT grade, I became ELATED. Probably made my week. Definitely made my week.

I'll post more pictures when the cards arrive.

Thanks for tuning in!

It's been a long time comin'

(http://www.deanscards.com/images/actual_images/1938/Goudey/277/283052f.jpg)

After 5 years, one slightly trimmed card, an argument and a meltdown, I have finally landed one of my whales.  Part of the "high numbers" (#277) series, this card features a similar card to this, but a you can see has some additional cartoons where the "low number" (#253) lacks the cartoons.  These cards are often identified by either their lack of or feature of these cartoons.

I actually paid less than what I did for the card I bought at the National Sports Collectors Convention in August, (link to the story here) and from what I can tell from the eBay pictures the card is in far better condition, so I'm a happy camper!

I actually don't have the card in hand yet, should be here Wednesday when I get home from work! Color me excited.

Happy New Year everyone,

Brian

A Frustrating Situation

It was 11am.

At the National Sports Collectors Convention two weeks ago in Baltimore, Maryland, I happened upon a card I needed; a 1938 Goudey Heads Up. It looks identical to this card, but it has cartoons around it:

Reference this link (not my card). That is what the card looked like, but it was not graded. I knew this deal had the card for a very long time, about 4 years, which is a long time to sit on a card. The starting price for the card was $395, which was WAY more than I wanted to spend on it.  For that day, it was marked 20% off, which brought it down to $320, still much more than I wanted to spend on it.

With much help from my friend, I negotiated the price down to $200, which I was comfortable paying. I was on top of the world. I could not have been happier, spending the day with a best friend and picking up a card I needed for a price I wasn't upset with.  I brought the card right over to SGC to be graded.

It was 12pm.

We perused the show for the next 2 hours waiting for the card to be graded. Coming back to the SGC booth I'm thinking to myself how I could not wait to finally have the card in hand.  I was elated, excited, anxious, all of the above.

My day was about to be ruined.  It wasn't the worst news I could have possibly gotten, but it's pretty close.  Under heavy examination, the top border of the card came back slightly trimmed, making the card grade 'authentic' instead of a number grade, which would have designated the card was original and untampered with.  In a frenzy, cursing the world, and in somewhat disbelief, I walk back to the dealer who sold me the card.

This would happen to me.

It was 2:15pm.

My strategy going into this conversation with the dealer was to not be hostile, and ask what we could do to remedy the situation. They did not fight with me at all, instead they were very understanding of the situation and refunded my money completely, and even paid for half of the grading fee, which was a considerate gesture.  

At this point, I was without-card, and lost 3 hours of valuable time looking for a card to replace the one I lost.  

Luckily I find this to replace it, but the feeling of the day ending like this is shitty, and on the 1 1/2  hour drive back to Fairfax, VA I was mad at the world, and still in disbelief.  

I didn't think at the time to offer a price on the trimmed card to fill the collection spot for now, then in the future upgrade to a better copy. I was just too flustered.

Fast-forward to today.  I make a call to the dealer, asking for a price on the very same card, hoping I could get it for significantly less than $200.  To my utter surprise, they offer $180, only $20 less than what I originally bought the card for.  Doesn't surprise me at all actually, their original price for the card was WAY above what anyone wanted to pay for it, thus it sitting for 4+ years in their display case.

I explain to him that the card is trimmed, and the legitimacy is compromised.  He argues that the card is still in G-VG condition. "No, sir, it isn't. It says right on the label that it is authentic."  He then goes on to say that they will resell the card as G-VG, but trimmed, and set the price at $190.  Seriously? Sorry bro, but that card will NEVER sell. 

Have fun letting it sit for another 4 years.

/rant

The Rookie Card

As a young up-and-coming kid from Brooklyn, Greenberg garnered a lot of attention from the New York Yankees, looking for a first basemen to replace Lou Gehrig. Greenberg remembers an account of Gehrig, describing him as a "man amongst boys". A 20 year old being the successor to Lou Gehrig? Hank didn't have that in mind for himself. 

Instead, he signed a contract with the Detroit Tigers, a team with a solid core of veterans that were one year away from winning a World Series championship. 

Now to the card. I bought this card in the Fall of my first semester of college in 2008, a time where I had a lot of disposable income and chose to buy a lot of vintage instead of boozing.  It cost me about $45 on eBay, and I haven't found a card go for that low since.  Although it is pretty beat up, it still retains that nice vintage look and smell, if you're into that kind of kinky shit.

I am looking to upgrade it to maybe a SGC 40 (VG condition) but I would not part with this card simply because of the importance of it to my collection.