30 Day Baseball Card Challenge

Thursday, March 14, 2019

Dollar COMC Club

The older I get... the more I forget.  Thankfully over at COMC you have the ability to see your entire purchase historyTwo weeks ago, I focused on some of my worst purchases.  Today, I figured... let's check out some of my favorite dollar (or less) acquisitions.

Although the first card I show off is probably my favorite purchase, the rest are in no particular order.

#11970 Topps #21 Vida Blue/Gene Tenace RC

 (4/22/12)  $1

A vintage rookie card featuring two Oakland A's fan favorites for under a buck is a no-brainer in my book.  Neither of these guys are hall of famers, but they're both MVP's.


#2:  2009-10 Panini #307 Steph Curry


(1/21/12) 70¢

Anyone who doesn't believe you can make money investing in sports cards hasn't heard about Steph Curry.  This rookie card easily sells for twenty to thirty times what I purchased it for.  The same can almost be applied to the these other two Curry rookie cards I picked up on COMC too:

2009-10 Panini Prestige #157 Steph Curry  (1/21/12) 75¢
2009-10 Panini Prestige #230 Steph Curry (7/21/11) 62¢


#3:  1970 Topps #247 Fred Dryer RC


(9/22/12) $1

This guy is in the College Football Hall of Fame, holds the NFL record for most safeties in a single game (2), married a Playboy model, and was a badass 80's TV cop.  I'd buy that for a dollar.


#4:  2007 Topps Santa Claus Relic #SCR-SC


(12/5/10) $1

It's not as cheesy as the Machado table cloth card.  But then again... that card isn't selling for a buck either.  Well... not yet at least.


#5:  1978 Topps #703 Jack Morris RC


(6/22/12) 27¢


Okay.  So back in 2012, I didn't think that Morris would be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.  But he was and that makes this 27¢ purchase that much cooler.


#6:  1997-98 SP Authentic #165 Tim Duncan RC


(5/9/10) 52¢

Technically this is a subset card from Duncan's rookie year, but it's a great looking card... especially for the price.


#7:  1969 Topps Deckle Edge #31 Willie McCovey


(6/22/1279¢

This card is beat up, off-centered, and diamond-cut... but it's also a forty-something year old insert of a hall of famer that set me back three quarters and four pennies.


#8:  1990 Classic WWF #22 Mr. Fuji


(12/29/09) 10¢

You don't see too many 10¢ COMC purchases these days.  According to my records, I've only have two.  The other dime card was a Kurt Suzuki base card.  Both of these cards represent my cheapest COMC purchases of all-time.


#9:  1997 Bowman's Best International Preview Refractor #BBI-14 Vladimir Guerrero


(2/1/18) 75¢

Are you attracted to affordable, shiny parallels from the 90's?  If so, then this card might be for you.




#10:  1995 Select Certified Mirror Gold #103 Reggie White


(11/25/1179¢

If you collected back in the mid 90's, then you're probably familiar with the 1995 Select Certified Mirror Golds.  They were fairly easy to pull, but back in the day... they sold for a decent dime.  Doesn't look like Reggie held his value.


#111992 Classic Best Autographs #NNO Brien Taylor (#'d 676/3100)


(5/26/10) $1

Taylor is one of baseball's most famous draft busts and the 1992 Topps Gold is probably his most popular autograph.  However... for a dollar, this card is an excellent placeholder that offers up a great photograph and a bold blue signature.


#12:  1979 Topps #310 James Lofton RC


(6/24/11$1

Steve Largent is my favorite wide receiver of all-timeJames Lofton is a very close second.  I couldn't pass up the opportunity to pick up his rookie card for a buck.


#131996 Studio Stained Glass Stars #4 Greg Maddux


(6/14/1184¢

AcetateColorfulCheap.  A new era of trifectas.


#14:  2008 Allen and Ginter Framed Relic #AGR-DO1 David Ortiz


(4/24/11$1

During the second half of Big Papi's career, he was one of my favorite players.  And I'm one of the remaining collectors who appreciate the supposedly "game used" relics.  It was hard to pass this card up for the price.


#152007-08 Bowman Elevation Relics Blue #ER-DN Dirk Nowitzki (#'d 51/79)


(9/26/10) 99¢

Another low numbered relic.  Another superstar.


#16:  2008 UD Goudey Mini Green Back #260 Ichiro Suzuki (#'d 57/88)


(4/24/11) $1

Low #'d serial number cards aren't nearly as cool as they used to be, but I'd still be willing to add any Ichiro card #'d to 88 to my collection for a dollar... unless it's one of those silly Topps Moments and Milestones cards.


#17:  2005 Topps Bazooka #190 Aaron Rodgers RC


(12/29/09$1

It's a low-end rookie card of Mr. Rodgers, but it's a rookie card.


#18:  1964 Topps The Story of John F. Kennedy #15


(1/30/1893¢

Love this cardWrote about it a few months ago.


#19:  1997 Pinnacle Zenith V2 #V-17 Jerry Rice


(6/21/1785¢

One of the great things about 90's inserts is they're innovative and interestingPinnacle took lenticular technology to the next level by including two seconds worth of action on each of these inserts.


#20:  2009 Topps Chrome Copper Refractor #TC75 Aaron Rodgers (#'d 242/649)


(11/30/09) 65¢

I'll wrap up this post with this Aaron Rodgers.  This card was part of an Aaron Rodgers refractor shopping spree I went on back in the day.  I really love the action shot and the shine.

Well there you have it.  Twenty-two cards for under $20 ($17.55 to be exact).  A quick glance reveals that the majority of these purchases were made between 2010 and 2012.  Part of that probably has to do with people cleaning out their collections, but that's also during the bargain hunter phase of my life.  I still enjoy a good bargain or two, but the days of scouring COMC for deals on a regular basis are long gone.

Okay... it's your turn.

What are some of your favorite sports card dollar deals (COMC or otherwise)?


Looking forward to reading your responses.

Happy Thursday and sayonara!



Extra Innings

Thanks again to all of you who have left me and my family kind and supportive comments.  I wanted to let you know that my presence on the blogosphere may not be at 100% for the next month or so.  Long posts like these probably won't pop up very often.  In fact, 90% of this post was written over a week ago.  I'm looking forward to getting back out there and reading your blog posts.  Hopefully as soon as this evening.  Well... just wanted to get everyone caught up.

14 comments:

Dennis said...

You should pretty much forget about any "bad" purchases you ever made with a list like this. Almost nothing here should have been remotely that cheap! Nice deals, dude.

Johnnys Trading Spot said...

That Maddux is sweet, and at .84 super sweet.

Jon said...

Before you even mentioned it at the end, I had noticed how old a lot of these purchases were, I don't think that the prices are reflective of people trying to get rid of stuff, as much as it was that the sellers fees were considerably lower back then - sellers didn't have to jack up the prices in order to try and make a small profit.

Commishbob said...

That JFK card is sweet. I missed your first post on that one, I need to go check it out.

Collecting Cutch said...

Damn. There is a bunch of steals here. Awesome stuff.

Chris P said...

Great stuff Fuji!

SumoMenkoMan said...

Dang, you snagged some deals there for sure!

Jafronius said...

Excellent pickups! Continued good thoughts for an eventual return to normalcy.

Matt said...

Need that V2 for my set! So much great stuff in this post!

The Lost Collector said...

Wow, a dollar for a Curry RC?? That’s excellent.

kirk said...

that's a cool ichiro card.

Henry Blanchette said...

Those stained glass cards are awesome. I have one of Manny Ramirez. Love the McCovey Deckle Edge as well.

Peter K Steinberg said...

Oh, that McCovey is miraculous and beautiful.

Fuji said...

dennis - keeping track of 99% of my card purchases over the past 10 years have been a blessing and a curse. this time around, it's a blessing.

john miller - yeah, love that set and all of the beautiful colors

jon - that totally makes sense. i guess i should feel grateful that i was able to take advantage of a lot of good deals on that site

commishbob - as crazy as this sounds... i'd say there was a 50/50 chance one of your posts inspired that kennedy purchase

collecting cutch - thanks cc!

chris p - thanks cp!

sumomenkoman - thanks smm!

jafronius - thank you. i don't think normalcy will come until after the service... which isn't for another month or so.

parts of my past - you're building the v2 set? it's good to know that there are other collectors out there who appreciate fine acetate

the lost collector - yeah. crazy, right? i bought a bunch... but sure wish i bought even more

kirk - i just couldn't pass up such a low #'d ichiro. well... at least to me it's low #'d

henry blanchette - yeah. pretty sure that set inspired the beautiful topps gallery inserts that came out later in the decade

peter k steinberg - couldn't agree more! thanks.