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Analyzing the Peaks and Valleys of Collecting

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mouschi

Featured Contributor, Bridging the Gap, Senior Mem
May 18, 2012
3,105
170
If you are a player or team collector, it is my hope you can identify with this. Heck, you could probably copy/paste this in Word and do a find/replace of my guy with yours and it would still be applicable.

I wanted to take little time this evening and muse about the peaks and valleys of collecting. It has so many highs and lows. It consists of friends, enemies and frenemies. You win a new "trophy" card, and show it off for all to see, or you can spend the rest of the evening pining about the card you missed out on that may never be seen again. And then another card comes along ...

A while back, I posted a goofy graphic I made of me holding the sign below ...

Cxk0lUTUQAAFpk2.jpg


People kept showing me cards, yet all of them that I was shown, I already had. One guy made this graphic:

CxpU_HvUsAEiWjd.jpg%20large.jpg


I got a huge kick out of that. It's a LIE, people - don't believe it! :) While it is true that adding things to my collection is getting harder and harder, there is a TON of stuff out there I don't yet have.

Take, this past month for instance. In roughly a month, I have added over 100 new items to my collection! These aren't just cards i clicked from ebay. Some have their own personal side stories that go back several months. Some have come from a former die-hard collector, one from a trade with a forum moderator. Heck, one was even pulled from a pack on camera at the MLB Network Studio with Lauren Shehadi. Thanks again, Anthony! (Anthony is the guy who pulled it.)

lauren.jpg


(Here is a link to the video: https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10154086445751695&id=57166781694 )

01261790.jpg


Each piece has its own origin / backstory.

The 92 Topps A.S. buyback shown above wouldn't mean NEARLY as much to me had it not been shown on camera, and given to me by Anthony for free. It just may prove to be my favorite 2017 Topps buyback card because of it!

Perhaps it is the origin / backstory that we have created which cause many collectors to say they wouldn't accept $100 for a card in their collection, yet would not have paid nearly that for one if it weren't already in their possession. As irrational as it sounds, I am one of those people.

Here are the rest of the 100+ additions that are on my desk, awaiting their fate to be archived on my website and integrated into my collection.

20170218_165433.jpg


Included in this lot are fun / obscure / controversial items, as well as things that other people probably wouldn't even care about. Here are a few:

1993 Upper Deck Triple Crown card from a 1993 Mead notebook

01261706.jpg


The original acetate proof used in the making of the card shown below

01261766.jpg


Severely mis-cut cards from uncut sheets - Origin/backstory: Someone was selling sheets of 1986 Star with blank backs. I wanted to add a blank back set to my collection, so I purchased a sheet perhaps a year ago or so. I had to return it, because the sheet was bent like crazy. I ended up purchasing another, and guess what? It too, was bent like crazy. The seller had another sheet and sent it to me. Yup. Bent. A lot. Recently, I took a bent Studio Heritage sheet and got some crazy mis-cut cards out of it. A lot of people LOVED them as much as I did, so I figured why not do that to the Star sheets? One with Jose on top and bottom; one with Mattingly on top and one with Joyner on top.

miscuts.jpg


Some hard to find beautiful autographed & patch cards:

2016 Tek Red Storm #/5 Autograph

01261705.jpg


2017 Topps Wood Autograph Parallel #/10

01261719.jpg


2016 Topps Archives Signature Series Buyback #/2

01261765.jpg


2004 SP Game Used World Series Patch #/50 (with Devil Rays patch) - Origin/Backstory: I pestered a poor guy for a LONG time for this card who ended up ignoring me, so I backed off. Then it showed up in someone else's collection who was selling. Had this not happened, the card wouldn't mean nearly as much as it does.

01261784.jpg


2016 Topps Pressed Into Service - Origin/Backstory: When a picture of this card first surfaced in 2015 I believe, someone on the forums said Topps probably made this just for me. I LOVE the card. I have the base, the gu/auto #/10 and the auto #/25. For some reason, this card has alluded me for about a year now, in spite of it being #/50. I literally could have had this card 2-3 times already, and finally have been able to land it.

01261718.jpg


Adding over 100 items in a month is quite frankly something far beyond what I thought I would ever be able to add to my collection in such a short amount of time at this stage of the game. It will likely never happen again. You'd think this would be a mountain-top experience, yet what am I focused on?

The cards that got away, or are lingering.

How can this be? The stuff I've picked up is great - I absolutely love what I've added, yet it is so hard to get over the card that I JUST missed because I wasn't there are the right time, or because I couldn't convince the owner to deal it away, no matter the cost.

I think I have found the reason why the cards that I miss out on tend to mean more to me than the cards I land. This may be the same to you as well, I don't know - If you are like me, when you win a card you *really* want, it feels AWESOME. It is an absolute rush!

graph.jpg


Can you connect with this? I'd like to expand on the last part of this graph. It isn't that I am indifferent about the card that had me on cloud nine a few days earlier; it is more that the excitement has turned into satisfaction, and the excitement is immediately transferred into finding the next deal. I liken it to watching James Harden dunking on Lebron. Awesome? Yeah, but there is no time to celebrate like there is when Trout hits a game winning home run.

The thrill of finding a card is huge. Waiting it out / negotiating for it can possibly take some of the wind out of your sails, as it could either take one conversation for 18 months. Striking the deal is such a massive rush, quickly followed by impatience for the card to be delivered. For me, I take a pic of it & write about it, show it off and display it on my desk. After a while, I add it to my website and guess where it goes? In one of the white boxes I have.

We are now back at the level of wanting to get the next deal done. It is like going harrrrrrd for a piece of gold, and when you finally have gotten that gold nugget, you hold it up for all to see.

Then like Scrooge McDuck, you toss it into a sea of other gold you have accumulated. Here is my sea of gold ....

afteroffice.jpg


While the appreciation remains, the excitement level is lost. It is just another piece of cardboard in one of the white boxes. This is human nature, of course. I mean, we can't maintain a high level of excitement about virtually anything forever.

So where does that leave us with the gold nuggets that we just couldn't get our hands on? It lingers in our heads as something that is untouchable, so if another pops up, it becomes an obsession. I think there is a well known quote out there that says just as much. Something along the lines of "rejection breeds obsession". Sometimes it doesn't work out like that, but many times it does.

On another interesting note, I find that the MORE pieces I get in bulk, the harder it is to get excited. I've picked up some huge cards over the past three years for my collection. I've nearly bought out about four collections, and there were some great pieces, but it was almost like getting an absolute overkill of goodness in too short of a time. These pieces were collected by their previous owners over the period of up to decades. Some may have been on a checklist for years, and finally picked up 10 years later after tough negotiations with a dealer at the table of a card show. The origin / backstory is somewhat lost when dealing in bulk.

One of the first big collections I picked up had a 1986 Donruss Highlights white letter variation in it. After nearly three years, I am just now able to fully appreciate how big of a card it is. My appreciation level for it probably would have been much higher had I picked it up if one had ever hit ebay. It would have cost me a lot more, but the appreciation would have been much more prevalent.

Can you connect with any of this? Part of the reason I write is to document the enjoyment I have gotten out of these cards before I archive them on the website and file them away in my collection. I am constantly on the hunt for ways to achieve contentment and appreciation for what I have while continually trying to add more. I think that is very important for all of us, in anything we do.

Who all feels the same way, or has more to add?
 

RStadlerASU22

Active member
Jan 2, 2013
8,881
11
There is no question that I spend more time worrying about what I don't have vs what I do have. I live in the past too much and to be honest this week, I have spent way to much time regretting not restructuring 2 deals I've done for collections in the last 6 months. I also have spent a ton of time wondering how to land another collection that I am not sure I will ever be able to and being upset I don't have the funds to do a few other business deals. Long story short, I unfortunately spend too much time worrying about what hasn't happened or what I wish I could change vs appreciating what I have.


Ryan
Will Clark / Mike Brown Collector
 
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mouschi

Featured Contributor, Bridging the Gap, Senior Mem
May 18, 2012
3,105
170
There is no question that I spend more time worrying about what I don't have vs what I do have. I live in the past too much and to be honest this week, I have spent way to much time regretting not restructuring 2 deals I've done for collections in the last 6 months. I also have spent a ton of time wondering how to land another collection that I am not sure I will ever be able to and being upset I don't have the funds to do a few other business deals. Long story short, I unfortunately spend too much time worrying about what hasn't happened or what I wish I could change vs appreciating what I have.

Ryan

Ryan
Will Clark / Mike Brown Collector

If anyone out there is on the same wavelength as me about this stuff, I figured it would be you! I can definitely appreciate how it goes thinking about the past and the future, etc.
 
Aug 16, 2016
120
1
Central Florida
Great story Tanner! I can definitely relate to the roller coaster having a person you PC can have. The thrill of landing a card that you haven't seen in 4 years and the helpless feeling checking eBay sold items just to see that a card you've been looking for was sold and you totally missed it! One of the reasons I like it is that a person could PC a guy and never have all of the rare cards or more desired cards. I truly believe that even if money wasn't an issue they would always have a wanted list of cards that they're looking for. I go through the same routine of scanning the cards and putting them in folders to be posted on my website which has been a blast to do and a great way to organize my collection even more. Going through my collection makes me very content and back to being a kid. With everyday life and bumps along the way it really sets me at ease!!!
 

jszczech

Well-known member
Dec 27, 2010
2,315
243
Minnesota
Is there a 1986 Highlights blank back of Canseco too? I have a blank back Puckett from that set and have always just assumed there is an entire set available.
 

tonsofcommons

Active member
Aug 20, 2008
6,102
13
Iowa
Tanner, thank you for the post. I love the graph and it seriously made me chuckle.

As a set collector of a defunct company, I also go through the same emotions as player/team collectors go through. The one thing that is both a curse and a blessing is that there are finite number of cards that I need. The sets will never be printed again and I don't have a player that could be included in future sets.

So as I get closer to completion (or as close to completion as humanly possible), each new card will be bittersweet. Happy to add another card to the collection and to cross it off the list; sad that I am one step closer to the end of my journey.

There is no plan for an additional collecting goal after the Pacific Collection.
 

joey12508

Well-known member
Aug 7, 2008
38,465
16,123
Winterfell
I have spent to much time and worry on cards i should have gotten or dont have. I am in the process of moving in the next week, it has given me a chance to really go through and see what i do have while packing everything up. As much as i hate moving, had fun just check out my collection.
 

MatthewN

Active member
Sep 30, 2015
257
47
Coralville, IA
This is a great analysis Tanner, and through the years I have realized some of the same things about peaks and valleys in my own collecting, but I've never thought about it this formally and enjoyed reading your assessment.

Two lines stood out to me...

...I find that the MORE pieces I get in bulk, the harder it is to get excited.

Completely agree. I prefer they trickle in, too much at once is less enjoyable and things get lost in the bombardment. I had a recent drought, and I think it made me better appreciate subsequent additions that slowly came in.

So where does that leave us with the gold nuggets that we just couldn't get our hands on? It lingers in our heads as something that is untouchable, so if another pops up, it becomes an obsession.

Picked up a card last week I really didn't think I'd realistically ever get based on my own collecting parameters. Still pretty excited about it.

On the very same day a big card got away. Thought about it, hesitated, missed out. Stupid, stupid, stupid. The one that got away has become the obsession over the last week and has shot up in priority on my wanted list, only because I'm kicking myself for just missing out.
 

mouschi

Featured Contributor, Bridging the Gap, Senior Mem
May 18, 2012
3,105
170
Great story Tanner! I can definitely relate to the roller coaster having a person you PC can have. The thrill of landing a card that you haven't seen in 4 years and the helpless feeling checking eBay sold items just to see that a card you've been looking for was sold and you totally missed it! One of the reasons I like it is that a person could PC a guy and never have all of the rare cards or more desired cards. I truly believe that even if money wasn't an issue they would always have a wanted list of cards that they're looking for. I go through the same routine of scanning the cards and putting them in folders to be posted on my website which has been a blast to do and a great way to organize my collection even more. Going through my collection makes me very content and back to being a kid. With everyday life and bumps along the way it really sets me at ease!!!

Oh yeah, one of the worst feelings in collecting is seeing in the sold listings that you missed something big - I hate that!

I agree about the money part. I think the vast majority of the appeal to me personally, is that it is a hunt. It doesn't matter about money for a lot of these cards as much as it does them actually being found / available.

Is there a 1986 Highlights blank back of Canseco too? I have a blank back Puckett from that set and have always just assumed there is an entire set available.

Surely there is somewhere - I just haven't found one yet! :)

Tanner, thank you for the post. I love the graph and it seriously made me chuckle.

As a set collector of a defunct company, I also go through the same emotions as player/team collectors go through. The one thing that is both a curse and a blessing is that there are finite number of cards that I need. The sets will never be printed again and I don't have a player that could be included in future sets.

So as I get closer to completion (or as close to completion as humanly possible), each new card will be bittersweet. Happy to add another card to the collection and to cross it off the list; sad that I am one step closer to the end of my journey.

There is no plan for an additional collecting goal after the Pacific Collection.

Are you going after ALL Pacific cards? If so, HOLY and might I say SMOKES, if that is the case. There are a handful of Canseco I don't have still!

I have spent to much time and worry on cards i should have gotten or dont have. I am in the process of moving in the next week, it has given me a chance to really go through and see what i do have while packing everything up. As much as i hate moving, had fun just check out my collection.

Going through collections is a great stress reliever, especially if they have good memories attached to them! I JUST added the latest 100 or so acquisitions into my website. Now it is time to file them away. Sigh ... it has been fun having these piles of cards in arm's reach during the work day to pick them up and look at them from time to time.

This is a great analysis Tanner, and through the years I have realized some of the same things about peaks and valleys in my own collecting, but I've never thought about it this formally and enjoyed reading your assessment.

Two lines stood out to me...



Completely agree. I prefer they trickle in, too much at once is less enjoyable and things get lost in the bombardment. I had a recent drought, and I think it made me better appreciate subsequent additions that slowly came in.



Picked up a card last week I really didn't think I'd realistically ever get based on my own collecting parameters. Still pretty excited about it.

On the very same day a big card got away. Thought about it, hesitated, missed out. Stupid, stupid, stupid. The one that got away has become the obsession over the last week and has shot up in priority on my wanted list, only because I'm kicking myself for just missing out.

I think you completely get where I'm coming from! It is funny when you miss out on a card, how it can quickly become a MOST WANTED card!
 

tonsofcommons

Active member
Aug 20, 2008
6,102
13
Iowa
[MENTION=7453]mouschi[/MENTION]

I started out the "Pacific" collection as going for EVERY Pacific card ever made in baseball and football. Then realized I would be a moron to even try it (took 2- 5,000 boxes full of unsorted stuff to come to this realization).

So I refocused to just 2000-2002 Pacific Football Game Used and Autographs.

https://www.facebook.com/PacificGameUsedandAutos/
 

jszczech

Well-known member
Dec 27, 2010
2,315
243
Minnesota
This is a great analysis Tanner, and through the years I have realized some of the same things about peaks and valleys in my own collecting, but I've never thought about it this formally and enjoyed reading your assessment.

Two lines stood out to me...



Completely agree. I prefer they trickle in, too much at once is less enjoyable and things get lost in the bombardment. I had a recent drought, and I think it made me better appreciate subsequent additions that slowly came in.



Picked up a card last week I really didn't think I'd realistically ever get based on my own collecting parameters. Still pretty excited about it.

On the very same day a big card got away. Thought about it, hesitated, missed out. Stupid, stupid, stupid. The one that got away has become the obsession over the last week and has shot up in priority on my wanted list, only because I'm kicking myself for just missing out.

Since we collect the same guy what we're your pick ups and misses?
 

mouschi

Featured Contributor, Bridging the Gap, Senior Mem
May 18, 2012
3,105
170
[MENTION=7453]mouschi[/MENTION]

I started out the "Pacific" collection as going for EVERY Pacific card ever made in baseball and football. Then realized I would be a moron to even try it (took 2- 5,000 boxes full of unsorted stuff to come to this realization).

So I refocused to just 2000-2002 Pacific Football Game Used and Autographs.

https://www.facebook.com/PacificGameUsedandAutos/

AHHHH okay - that seems much more doable. I'd say it would be easier to put together a T206 set than all the Pacific sets!
 

predatorkj

Active member
Aug 7, 2008
11,871
2
Tanner, thank you for the post. I love the graph and it seriously made me chuckle.

As a set collector of a defunct company, I also go through the same emotions as player/team collectors go through. The one thing that is both a curse and a blessing is that there are finite number of cards that I need. The sets will never be printed again and I don't have a player that could be included in future sets.

So as I get closer to completion (or as close to completion as humanly possible), each new card will be bittersweet. Happy to add another card to the collection and to cross it off the list; sad that I am one step closer to the end of my journey.

There is no plan for an additional collecting goal after the Pacific Collection.

There has to be! I demand an encore!!!

Seriously though, your last post I totally agree with. I've been collecting Bagwell for over a decade now and I still have ton of pacific cards I need that I've never even seen. Makes me wonder where they all are. Problem is, I think a lot of it never got opened. I still don't think Pacific gets it's due respect.



As for the OP, I feel the same way. Sad thing is, I don't limit myself to Bagwell. So I end up with massive hordes of stuff. I'm still picky with what I buy now and if bust wax I keep only what I need for sets and get rid of the rest. But I think the problem is, we collect. It's what we do. It's been mentioned here before but the crux of the issue is the act of collecting and hunting down these cards are what excites us. I think I spend more time looking for new cards than looking at old ones I have. Eventually I'll probably quit and just focus only on Bags. To be honest, I just enjoy looking at cards, reading about them, acquiring knowledge, etc. I also love autographs and these days, with the real lackluster effort of manufacturers in regards to base cards, I have been keeping less and the ones I do have, I take them to get signed every chance I get. Sometimes I only get one signed. Sometimes I can get up to 10. But it makes feel a little better knowing I always have an item to get signed and it makes the base cards a little more worth having.
 

mouschi

Featured Contributor, Bridging the Gap, Senior Mem
May 18, 2012
3,105
170
There has to be! I demand an encore!!!

Seriously though, your last post I totally agree with. I've been collecting Bagwell for over a decade now and I still have ton of pacific cards I need that I've never even seen. Makes me wonder where they all are. Problem is, I think a lot of it never got opened. I still don't think Pacific gets it's due respect.



As for the OP, I feel the same way. Sad thing is, I don't limit myself to Bagwell. So I end up with massive hordes of stuff. I'm still picky with what I buy now and if bust wax I keep only what I need for sets and get rid of the rest. But I think the problem is, we collect. It's what we do. It's been mentioned here before but the crux of the issue is the act of collecting and hunting down these cards are what excites us. I think I spend more time looking for new cards than looking at old ones I have. Eventually I'll probably quit and just focus only on Bags. To be honest, I just enjoy looking at cards, reading about them, acquiring knowledge, etc. I also love autographs and these days, with the real lackluster effort of manufacturers in regards to base cards, I have been keeping less and the ones I do have, I take them to get signed every chance I get. Sometimes I only get one signed. Sometimes I can get up to 10. But it makes feel a little better knowing I always have an item to get signed and it makes the base cards a little more worth having.

Regarding the Pacifics - Ironically enough, I just landed a platinum blue invincible #/67 tonight for $10 and am happy as a clam! :)
 

jonebone

Member
Jan 3, 2011
391
0
MD
The saying goes, "The Thrill is in the Hunt", and your graph shows that. Owning items is just the means to an end of satisfying your collecting. The hobby is the collecting, the collection is the byproduct.

Once you realize this, you may find more enjoyment in the hobby. It also allows me to trim from my collections to fund new wants and keep my hobby self sustaining. Kind of an out with the old and in with the new type of thing.
 

mouschi

Featured Contributor, Bridging the Gap, Senior Mem
May 18, 2012
3,105
170
If that's just the card, I guess you still need an entire notebook? Like this?



Great story. I am not on your level, but enjoyed it nonetheless. It is about finding the oddball items after you have all the cards.

I am not sure if Jose has this type, but I do have this, which maybe is the only mead version he has?

061193.jpg


I don't really chase "items" like this, and many things like this come to me that were in previous collections already, but the more I am in this, the more I do find myself picking up promo sheets, kraft mac & cheese proof boxes, etc. More in my wheelhouse though, would be the oversized proofs and miscut cards. Anything to add variety to an otherwise boring rainbow :)

The saying goes, "The Thrill is in the Hunt", and your graph shows that. Owning items is just the means to an end of satisfying your collecting. The hobby is the collecting, the collection is the byproduct.

Once you realize this, you may find more enjoyment in the hobby. It also allows me to trim from my collections to fund new wants and keep my hobby self sustaining. Kind of an out with the old and in with the new type of thing.

I think that is a very good idea! I've let go of a few big cards in the past, and while it did sting, I think a good amount of my enjoyment can be retained from the memory of capturing them to begin with.
 

MatthewN

Active member
Sep 30, 2015
257
47
Coralville, IA
Since we collect the same guy what we're your pick ups and misses?

Long answer to a short question...

I guess spending is all relative to what one has available to spend, or what one is willing to spend. I generally don't spend a lot of dollars on my Puckett collection. For me, buying any single card for more than $20 is rare, more than $50 rarer still, and I think I've only spent more than $100 once, on a 1993 Finest Refractor.

I took about seven years off from collecting. When I got back in during the summer of 2015, I bought every Puckett I needed that I could find that was inexpensive. Those of course dried up, and I realized I needed and wanted to focus my collecting. I decided 1999 was the cut off, focusing on cards produced prior to that, and within the earlier stuff, specifically the Beckett checklisted items I didn't have. I still buy the newer Pucketts that are dirt cheap, really catch my eye, or that I view as a steal in terms of pricing and serial numbers, but it's pretty limited.

So, a couple of weeks ago, Dallas Cardboys starts putting a bunch of '90's parallel's I didn't have on COMC. Some of them were, and still are, overpriced in my opinion. That morning I won an eBay auction for about $30, I bought a 1995 Sportflix Artist's Proof on COMC for $21 (which was probably too much, but it was comparable to what had recently sold on eBay), I added money to my COMC balance and immediately picked up the 1997 Ultra Platinum Medallion for $75 when it appeared. So right there in a span of three hours I spent more than I do in a month.

And then the 1996 Studio Silver Press Proof popped up for $75. I thought about it, knew I needed to go and add more money to my COMC account, hesitated for a couple of minutes about whether I should, and then it was gone. I'm sure I had the time to add the money if I had done it immediately. I should've just done it. And now I'll always associate my Platinum Medallion pick-up with my failure to act as quickly on the Silver Press Proof.


1997 Fleer Ultra - [Base] - Platinum Medallion Edition #P93 - Kirby Puckett
Courtesy of COMC.com


1996 Leaf Studio - [Base] - Silver Press Proof #74 - Kirby Puckett /100
Courtesy of COMC.com
 

mrmopar

Member
Jan 19, 2010
6,188
4,100
I have been collecting for a long time, although the core of what I have assembled would have been mostly in the last 20 years, since ebay became popular. It is hard to believe that I have been a member of ebay for just under 19 years now!

I find the best approach is to just be patient. There have been competitors that have come and gone. My buying style has changed over the years as well. I have gone all in at times and I have backed off to almost abstinence on rare occasions, but mostly I find myself somewhere in the middle most of the time. I always want any new items that come up for sale, but I will not pay an unreasonable amount for most items. I have splurged a select few times and overpaid in my opinion, but mostly I try to keep my spending within a range. I have also missed a few items that way that I may never get another chance at, but I will never get everything and that helps me accept losses better.

As new competition pops up over the years, I find that I lose more items initially and then hope that these new people spending absurd amounts of money on items come to realize that they are overspending and settle down. I may even end up paying a little more myself for items as most of the new ones get scooped up faster with higher BINs than before. Now, I can see people saying that you can't "overspend" if sales occur and the buyers are happy with the price, but by this I mean the guys who come into a certain collecting area later and try to make up for lost time. Sometimes these people don't know the market that existed before them and their actions alone can adjust how everyone sees it, but eventually it will settle back to the old way. It almost always does, especially with a subject like Garvey that will not have a deep general collecting base like a HOFer. A perfect example is someone hitting BINs on anything new, regardless of how absurd the price may be. Think of the Vizquel or Galarraga markets for a time recently. Neither player is a general favorite in the sport. Soon after the prices got crazy, everyone thought their uncommon cards were worth a bundle because two buyers were fighting hard. I believe interest has slowed down a great deal now and we are probably approaching a much closer to realistic market for those cards before two big hitters started doing battle with each other and skewing it.

Relating to my specific collecting interest, I firmly believe that my Garvey collection is probably worth a fraction of what I paid for it, simply because without ME competing for many of the harder to find items should I ever put mine up for sale, the price will certainly go down if I am no longer a primary bidder. I am not the current top dollar buyer for Garvey, that I will admit. If there is a new Garvey item that a competitor of mine doesn't have and I need it as well, odds are he will be #1 and I will be under bidder. Often the next higher bidder is 50% or more below my bid though! However, I believe I am a big reason for some of the higher prices that have been seen in the last 20 years for unique Garvey items, as I have pretty much been a constant in the market for that whole time. When my competition was slow, I got great deals. When I had heavier competition, the prices went up. There just are not enough serious buyers for unique Garvey stuff beyond me now though, nor have there been for a sustained period of time. Sure, there have been times when 2-4 other buyers may have been battling hard, but that is past history. Without me as competition, the top dog could often get these items he freely pays $100+ for now for maybe half or less.
 

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