Thursday, May 25, 2023

Ever Miss Out On A White Whale?

I feel like this is a universal theme of collecting anything at any point in history. I would love to hear your stories of missing out on those collection essentials that you may never see again. Here are two recent ones I am still despondent over.


I created a Zack Wheat themed Instagram page to showcase my collection of cards and ephemera from the Brooklyn legend. I was hopeful a side effect of this would be getting presented with items to purchase/trade for and almost immediately my hope turned to reality with a DM about a Wheat. For some reason I decided to not respond until the next night, and my slow/lazy approach cost me dearly. I could not say "YES" fast enough to wanting the item presented to me but unfortunately the person had taken the card to a show in that 24-hour lag and sold it.

I don't think I've ever seen one available before and I certainly have not seen one in the 7 or so months since missing out on this beautiful S74 Silk from somewhere in the 1909-1911 range. The person who bought it is at least a Brooklyn collector so it has a great home. That home, though, should have been mine.


This next one hurts in a couple of ways as it has reappeared in the wild. Not another copy, but the exact copy that sold on Net54 in February that I totally missed and did not see until April. I used to go on Net54 every day but that has changed over the last year. Oh, if only I had continued that trend....it would have yielded a magnificent and tough 1916 D381 Ferguson Bakery in a spiffy SGC 2 slab. The price on this one was right as with the Silk and while it is back up and now at an auction house, the price has already exceeded what the Net54 user was asking.

So, anyone have similar stories of missed gold?

8 comments:

  1. Bummer. Sorry to hear about that.

    I'm sure I have missed out on a white whale... but can't think of any off the top of my head. I think it probably has to do with a couple of things:
    1. I don't chase white whales very often.
    2. My memory sucks.

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    1. My memory is equally as crappy since the pandemic hit lol.

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  2. 2004 Topps Retired Alan Trammell refractor auto. Last one I need for the ref set (a set that has been my main collecting goal since returning to the hobby as an adult). Once found it on eBay moments after someone else clicked the cheap buy-it-now. The only other time I saw it for sale was among a full set break.. I won all the other needs I had left, but was outbid on the Tram. That was a couple years ago. Nothing since, though I check multiple times per day (bookmarked search for EVERY Alan Trammell auto that hits eBay just in case of a mislisting, along with common typos for his name).

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    1. Ugh, that's rough -- I hope it appears sooner than later. I have come to hate checking eBay sold as I've had a couple of items that I have never seen before or after and never will. It's just depressing when it pops up there and you didn't see it in time.

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  3. that wheat is fantastic looking. wow. sorry you missed out on it.
    not really a white whale but i passed on a steve garvey gold relic from an itg release about 12 years ago. it was in a lot of a few other relics and the price was ok but not compelling (or so i thought). later found out that the gold was a 1/1 (unnumbered print run). that sort of sucked.

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    1. I've always operated on the premise that if it's a good deal, just grab it as I will never regret grabbing it as a good deal. But like you, I've passed on a few things I later very much regret having passed on. Not sure how a seller doesn't note a 1/1 though.

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  4. I missed out on a particular press photo about 5-6 years ago, and not a month has gone by since where I haven't thought about it at least a few times. Knowing that it'll never come up for sale again, I really do wish that I could just forget about it.

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    1. I'm the same way when I miss out on a great item, even if it's not a whale. Definitely takes some time for me to move on, and a few never leave my mind at all.

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