Michael Phelps Autograph - Part 1

I've been wanting to write this post for a long time, but it's just been a bit daunting. However, it's time to bite the bullet and tell the story about how this valuable Michael Phelps autographed card came into my possession.

Over the summer, you may recall, I made two different social media marketplace purchases. I had some time between jobs, and these were 100% to flip. The first lot was for $40, which I sorted through and then sold the next day for $80. It was far more about volume than quality.

The second lot, which also cost $40, was a little better. It still had a lot of commons, but also some really nice cards that could be broken up into smaller lots. I ended up making about $250 from that $40 purchase. Pretty good.

Once the job started, I didn't have any intention of doing this anymore. It's too time consuming to sort through cards in bulk like that. But from time-to-time I'd still check Facebook, Craigsist, and LetGo to see if anything interesting was available.

In late November, right before Thanksgiving, this popped up on one of those sites. It was in NYC, just 8 blocks from my office:

Now, that is the only photo and description that was included, in this exact format. Immediately I was intrigued. The price for everything pictured was $25. Off the bat, I saw the Kris Bryant RC, plus two autographs, and the case of Teenymates, which my son really likes. I figured for $25 it was worth it, plus it was only two small boxes of cards, which I could manage on my public transit commute.

The only problem was, I contacted the seller on a Saturday. I wouldn't be in the office until Monday. Still, he responded and said it was available and that a Monday post-work pickup would work. I was still nervous, mostly because I started studying the photo, trying to get a better glimpse of what was there. I found that the one A&G framed autograph was Daniel Hudson. Pretty common card. But I couldn't quite figure out the other.

Zooming in, it looked like a non-baseball autograph. Maybe a swimmer? Immediately, my mind went to Mark Spitz. But when I checked eBay, it didn't look like one of his. Then I thought of maybe Ryan Lochte, but that wasn't it. Then I thought...Michael Phelps? No. Could it be?

I checked eBay, and lo and behold, the autographed card matched Michael Phelps signed Allen & Ginter cards from 2016. One had just sold on eBay, in fact. For $199.99!

Mind you, the entire lot was $25. Was I going to score a Michael Phelps autograph for $25?

I was a pile of nerves that Monday, but I messaged the seller and we arranged a 6:30 pick up. He brought the two boxes of cards down from his building, as shown, and I gave him the $25. I said, "this was everything pictured, right?" And he said, "yep!" He opened the one shoe box and there it was on top, this card:

I couldn't believe it. I was expecting the worst, but the transaction worked out flawlessly. The autographs were there. The Bryant RC was there, and I couldn't wait to go through more.

I said goodbye and walked about a half a block before adjusting the canvas shopping bag I brought. I stopped on a stoop to put the Phelps in between a few cards to protect it, as it was only in a soft penny sleeve (dummy me didn't bring a top loader). During the transfer, I took a sneak peek in the box, and I saw a lot of shinny cards. While one might assume the rest of the cards were junk wax, which I would have been totally fine with given the circumstances, it was obvious to me there were going to be some newer cards in there.

More on that soon. Because it got better. Much better.