THE SAD CONCLUSION: So going into Thursday night my personal budget for the card was $50.00. There are copies graded at a "2" that go for $60-$75 so it would have been crazy to go any higher than that. Throughout the day the card has risen to the mid-$40s and I was going to give it a last minute bid of $50 and we would see where we would end up. So I let the clock tick down. There had been 14 bids on the card so I knew there would be some watchers so I waited...and waited...and waited. I had the page up in my browser for a good hour and half as I was killing time and scanning cards. Well, as the clock was under a minute I put in my $50 bid and hit the "Place Bid" button. Instead of placing the bid, it brought me to the log in screen to enter my user name and password...and my heart fell to my feet.
I'd been timed out of my session sitting there watching the auction so long...logging back in was something I hadn't really budgeted into my time. Neither was mis-typing my password. Long story short, this idiot never got his bid in and the auction ended at $47.00. Who knows if my $50 bid would have been good enough to win as the winning bidder could have had a bid in for higher than that...
I was so pissed that night that I'm only now really able to write about it a few days later...lesson learned I guess.
EVEN MORE UPDATED: We're under 24 hours and it's still sitting at $21.50...it's going to be an interesting day tomorrow!
UPDATED: It's been a day and the card is currently sitting at $21.50. It is t-minus 2 days and 22 hours so we have an eternity to go still.
ORIGINAL POST: A rough looking 1952 Topps #1 Andy Pafko is on eBay currently, taped corners and all, and I think I'm going to make a run at it. This card has been my White Whale for years and I realize that the logic of these sort of things is to keep my mouth shut and head down and let you know when I successfully win the auction, but I say forget that. The auction has three days left and the card is currently at about $16...It's possible that the auction could reach three figures even with the horrible condition but, who knows, with the holiday and the auction ending at 5pm my time on Tuesday it could end up being a deal.
Here are all the Pafko #1s on eBay currently and they range from $2500 to this action at $16.
Comments
I have a Gibson in my '59 collection in pretty rough shape but my thought is that if I win the lottery some day I'll upgrade but meanwhile I have the card.
Good luck if you choose to jump in.