General Forum

I've never paid more than $10 for a single individual card, but I made a trade giving up an extremely valuable (at the time) card for a decent card that has now flipped in value.  Back in 1997, when it was becoming evident that Kobe Bryant would be the MJ of his generation, I traded a 1996 Scoreboard Rookies #1 Draft Picks Die-Cut card of his which at the time was valued at $80.  I traded it for an ungraded, slabbed Hakeem Olajuwon 1986-87 Fleer RC that is probably about a 7.5-8 if I were to send it in to be graded.  At the time the Olajuwon was only worth $30, so the guy I was trading with of course thought he was totally taking advantage of me (he even felt badly enough he threw in 2 hand signed Mark Bruener cards).  Of course, nowadays, I have the last laugh.  That Kobe, last time I checked had dropped to $5.  The Olajuwon RC however, is still going up, and would skyrocket if I ever get smart and send it in to get graded.

DeFoote that card is on ebay right now via comc.com. for .99 cents ???????? 

You're seeing the base card. That's not the Gold Signature/ Electric Gold version that he linked to.

Without question it was the $2,200.00 I paid for a 1979 Topps #18 Wayne Gretzky rookie graded by Beckett BVG 9 MINT a couple years ago. There are a POP of only 16 and only 4 graded higher with 9.5's. There are ZERO 10's! Figured I'd never get another chance at a Gretzky graded rookie 9 at that price. It was a BUY IT NOW on ebay. Thought of sending it to possibly get regraded by PSA but I would only have them regrade it if they gave it a 9 also. Or better! There are only 2 PSA 10's of this card and they start at $150,000.00! 

Honestly, you would be wasting your money to send that card to PSA for re-grading! Keep what you have and be happy with it. When it comes to vintage cards, BVG is the best for grading. PSA has been duped many times by reprints and cut-cards (meaning the edges were trimmed to make them look sharper and cleaner). Those PSA 10's may START at $150K, but they have to be SOLD to expect anywhere close to those numbers for your card. Seriously, keep what you have the way it is now!!!

This is off topic, but somewhat related. This is the most expensive card I destroyed! When I was a kid I was a huge Vikings fan. In 1975 the Vikings lost a playoff game to the Dallas Cowboys on a controversial pass from Roger Staubach to Drew Pearson (the Hail Mary). In retaliation I pulled one of the Staubach cards from my collection and proceed to burn several holes in his face with my newly acquired magnifying glass. It turns out the card I randomly grabbed was his '72 rookie (I had a couple other card of him in my collection at the time). The card remained in my collection for the next 15 years despite the 5 burn holes in Staubach's face. When I left home for the Army, I gave my collection to my younger brother. Years past and I forgot all about it. Last year while visiting my brother, we took a look at my old collection and I came across the Staubach rookie. Other than the 5 burn holes in his face, the card is nearly perfect. Perfectly centered (rare for the '72 set), sharp corners, no wax, etc. Without the burn holes, I would value it between $125 - $150. Now its pretty much worthless to anyone but me. My brother gave it back to me and it now has a place of honor in my collection. A vivid reminder of why I hate the Cowboys. (no offense intended sportzcommish)

I don't care about the Cowboys much anymore and yet I have a fairly impressive Cowboy collection. But I didn't put it together... my grandmother did.
Back in '89, I wanted a Troy Aikman Score RC for Christmas and so my 74 year old grandmother started going to card shops in town looking for one. She found one but in the process became so enamored with card collecting that she started a collection of Cowboy cards herself. She managed to put together a pretty impressive set of all the major releases from the beginning of the Cowboys until about 1995. It was funny because my grandmother and I would go to card shops in her town and everybody knew her. She'd go to conventions with her handwritten lists of the cards she needed.
I inherited her collection a few years back and even though I'm not much of a Cowboy fan and even though there are RCs of people like Staubach, Meredith, Lilly, and others, I wouldn't sell them just because they have more sentimental value to me than monetary value (and besides, I need those Bob Lilly cards for my TCU collection).

To answer the original thread question, I'm not sure, but I think I (stupidly) spent about $400 on an 2011 Leaf Ultimate Draft Chrome Andy Dalton Autographed Gold Superfractor 1/1. It was one of those eBay bidding wars were you just lose all control becuase of the competition of the damn thing.

I'd say about $50 - not totally sure.

I never feel bad about winning an eBay auction if it wasn't a buy-it-now. It just means I'm not alone in thinking the card is worth whatever I end up paying for it, or maybe a dollar less. I like the validation.

I love your grandmother story, by the way. I know my local card shop knows my wife and starting daughter better than they know me, because they go in and buy stuff for me twice a year. I wonder if they came close to spending the most for any card in my collection. The 1955 Feller they gave me a few years back is probably worth 100 bucks. But I bet they got it for a lot less.

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