Saved Searches

Ebay saved searches are both a positive and a negative for me.

They are a negative for me because of how easy it's become for me to quickly find cards and spend money, especially on cards I don't need.

I should limit my searches, although some are more to monitor a market than to actually buy. For example, I set up a saved search for that Michael Phelps autograph A&G card that I got int hat crazy $25 online marketplace lot. I have no intentions of selling it, but the search helps me keep tabs on frequently they are listed and what they go for. (P.s. They still routinely for for $200.)

One area where saved searches are a huge benefit are for my player collections. With these saved searches comes a massive amount of patience. Given where I am with these collections, there is A LOT of sifting through cards I already have, or rolling my eyes at listings like this:

However, once in awhile, through all he clutter, a card like this pops up.

It's even more fun when I'm the only bidder on a low-priced auction with free shipping, as this was the case.

More often than not, this is the kind of card I buy from my saved searches. Nothing major, but parallels or smaller cards that somehow get missed or overlooked.

What about you? Do you have a lot of saved searches that you rely on?

Michael Phelps Autograph - Part 2

While Part 2 of this post won't feature any cards better than the Micael Phelps autograph, it's really all gravy from here on out. I mean, for $25 I got this:

And this:

Even if the remaining 1,000 or so cards were utter junk wax, I was still coming out well ahead.

Well, one of the first cards I came across was this:

Another Bryant RC. That makes two!

From there, there was a row of probably about 100 straight RCs. That makes me feel like this person knew even more what they were doing. They ranged from big stars to guys who you thought would be big stars, to some junk wax era RCs that are still great to have. Here's a sampling.

The Freeman and Baez are pretty good pulls alone, then you've got busy like Boegarts, Yelich, Didi, Votto, etc.

And while its not a RC, this card was a surprise.

There was actually a decent stack of Bowman Platinum, which shows this person was a fairly recent collector.

From there, I found a few more autographs that weren't pictured, as well as a couple of numbered cards. Still gravy.

I was surprised to find an old Pinnacle Epix! These were tough pulls, and I'm sure that the Belle would have fetched a few bucks back in the day. The condition of it was a bit rough, but cool to have!

Many cards were grouped by star player, as there were plenty of Bryants, Altuves, and around 30 Ichiros!

Yanks weren't overly plentiful, but still some decent ones, including some from 2018. Again, a recent collector!

And it was right after the James Paxton trade, so it was fun to find these included.

There were a few vintage cards, and nothing great, but again, any stack of vintage is gravy at this point.

Oh, and the shiny I mentioned from yesterday? These were in the form of a bunch of colorful 2014 Topps parallels. I was actually just a tad let down from these because when I peeked at them while still in NYC, they caught a weird light and looked orange. I thought I stumbled upon a rare Orange version!

I finished up the first box, which was the largest of the two, and then I started on the smaller box. The first 20 cards or so were junk wax, so I figured that's what I was in for from here on out. Then this card showed up:

Whoa! Followed by a massive run of Seaver cards, maybe 25-30 total, both vintage and modern.

Following the run of Seavers, was the run of game-used cards. THESE WERE NOT ADVERTISED. There were literally 30 right in a row, with guys like Ortiz, Teixeira, Sheffield, and Helton featured. Pretty cool!

Honestly, there were a lot more treasures not even pictured, but this is the best recap I can muster up.

Probably the best $25 I've spent on this hobby. And a feat I don't ever expect to replicate again.

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.