Tuesday, March 26, 2013

The Right Place @ The Right Time


Back in the late 80's, a magazine called Legends Sports Memorabilia entered our hobby.  In short, it was another price guide that included uncut sheets of sports cards and postcards.  However, the paper stock used for this magazine was of much higher quality compared to Beckett, Tuff Stuff, Baseball Cards, and Sports Collectors Digest.  I guess you could call it a highend price guide.

I was able to acquire several issues of this magazine during a recent flea market find and in one of the issues I stumbled across this offer:



I thought it was pretty cool, because you could buy a special anniversary issue that was autographed by Tony Gwynn for only $15 postage paid.

Well... Tony Gwynn just happens to be my favorite baseball player, so that got me thinking...  I wonder how much these magazines sell for on eBay?  

Unfortunately, there weren't any completed listings.  However, there just happened to be an auction for one ending later on that afternoon.  I couldn't believe my luck.  Had I not skimmed through these magazines that afternoon, I would have never started this search.

And that wasn't the best news.  At the time, the auction was under $6 with less than four hours remaining.  Of course, I waited until the very end of the auction and entered a maximum bid of $20.

Here's how the auction ended:



Final price:  $12.16 + $5 shipping = $17.16

I know what you're thinking... it's $2.16 more than collectors had to pay back in the early 90's.  But c'mon guys... there's something called inflation.  I currently have myself on a very tight spending budget, but there was no way that I was going to let this Gwynn slip away without a fight.

Happy Tuesday and sayonara!

12 comments:

shoeboxlegends said...

Nice, great find! I love it when timing of something really comes together like that. Actually happened to me after I read a post of yours recently, and I just posted about it now!

The Lost Collector said...

Very cool item!

Spiegel83 said...

Do you think a monthly publication featuring sports card articles can be successful in today's market? A magazine without a price guide but, just interviews, reviews, and opinions about sports cards.

Stealing Home said...

great discovery, and way to successfully follow up on your hunch. Under budget as well! NICE!

Anonymous said...

sometimes you gotta bid what you want to get what you want, good job and nice find.

The Big Kahuna said...

I have the one with Ken Griffey Jr. on the front. My mother had picked it up for me somewhere when they first came out.

Greg Zakwin said...

eBay steals are always enjoyable!

Fuji said...

Yeah... that Dufex Dawson is awesome! Congratulations.

Fuji said...

I can't speak for the hobby... but I'd subscribe to it as long as it was reasonably priced. I love reading about cardboard... it's the reason I continue to buy old sports card magazines at the flea market.

cynicalbuddha said...

That's cool. I've got my eye on the issue with Robin Yount. There are actually two covers with one being I guess pretty rare, although there seem to be enough of them on ebay.

jamicfin said...

Boom! I also look at it as you "saved" $2.84. There are so many silver linings when you wind up winning an auction, haha!
Congrats on scoring a sweet auto of one of your favorite players!

Community Gum said...

Very nice! It amazes me how affordable Gwynn's autos are. I know he signs a ton, but still..
--Jon