David Wright 2005 Fleer Authentic Autograph = Trifecta!

A while back, my local shop had a David Wright Auto up on its eBay store. I don't remember the exact make or model, but it was something relatively recent, say post-2008. I think. Anyways, I've wanted a Wright Auto for quite some time, as he's my favorite non-Dodger and third favorite player overall. So I was quite the determined eBayer, and had my mind set on winning that card - provided it stayed below $15. Which, I know, is chump change for a Wright signature.

However, I've been fortunate to often find great deals from my local shop's eBay store, and eBay in general often provides us collectors with wonderful deals that we can't believe we scored. So my hopes were higher than one might expect, given the situation and what I was after.

I placed a couple of bids on the item, and left it alone for a few days. I then proceeded to put in a higher bid, doing everything I could to protect against others swooping in and out-biding me. But, as so often happens, that's exactly what happened, and my high bid of fifteen bucks was topped.

I strongly considered throwing a couple more Washingtons on the board, not knowing if that would even be sufficient enough. Because I can pick my cards up locally, I avoid shipping costs, so I'm willing to go the extra dollar or two if I'm buying from my local's eBay store.

In the end, I chose discretion over valor (or whatever that phrase is) and let the Wright go. I was pretty much set on accepting the fact that I'd never get my hands on a Wright Auto that cheaply ever again - though of course I may not have had a winning bid with the 17 or 18 bucks I was willing to go to. There were a couple more Wrights I was watching at the time, but I doubted severely whether any of them would stay within my range.

Shockingly, one did.

For $10.60, plus $3 shipping, I was able to land this beauty.

275/300

The wonders of the internet.

This put me two-thirds of the way to a David Wright Trifecta.

One of my first eBay purchases after returning

to our glorious collecting guild.

And after a week or so of losing auction after auction for that elusive 2002 Bowman RC (one of which was slabbed and affordable, at least at the outset), I finally snagged one for $5.50 shipped, with a winning bid of $2.75. My Wright Trifecta is not my first trifecta, but it's the first one I've posted. And probably the first non-Dodger one I've completed.

So, for a little over $20, a beautiful David Wright Trifecta was born. Seems like a pretty good deal to me.