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Picked Up My Holy Grail - Ripken 1980 Charlotte O's Police Issue - Story Inside!

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jonebone

Member
Jan 3, 2011
391
0
MD
So I finally obtained the holy grail for Ripken collectors, the 1980 Charlotte O's Police Issue Orange version. It is also one of the rarest modern cards period, probably explaining why price got so nutty around 2013. Here's the story about how this all came to be...

I born in 1984 and have been a lifelong O's fan. I collected cards as a youth, probably from around 1990 to 1995. The earliest memory I have of buying my own pack was 1991 Fleer from a gas station, and I got boxes of cards every year at Xmas. Then as I got older I was more into video games, sports, chasing women, etc. Never got rid of my old cards but didn't actively collect either.

Fast forward to Winter 2011 where I wanted to casually collect Ripkens again, and stumbled upon the RITM website (http://www.ripkenintheminors.com/) I found someone selling a nice framed display of an a PSA signed Cal photo, all 4 1982 Rookies in PSA 8, the 1981 TCMA PSA 10 and the 1980 Charlotte O's Team Issue WBTV (Blue) in PSA 5. It had been listed at $2000 OBO a couple of times without selling, and he was willing to take $800 for it! I still have it on the wall and it ignited my desire to get all of his minor league cards.

The WTF PSA 9 wasn't too bad but boy, finding a Police Issue Orange card was impossible. It was truly the "holy grail", not available anywhere. The after a long drought, they did start appearing and that's when prices were absolutely insane. These were some of the sales I tracked:

12/14/13 PSA 5 - $15,000
03/12/14 PSA 2 - $6,100
03/25/14 PSA 5 - $12,300
05/04/14 PSA 4 - $11,721
10/30/14 PSA 5 - $11,600

At this point I had been writing it off, never willing to pay that much and figuring it basically unobtainable. Then the speculators and investors were finally shaken out, prices cooled and real collectors started buying them again.

07/13/15 PSA 4 - $5,002 (I was 3rd place, disheartening)
07/23/15 PSA 3 - $4,118 (This exact card was sold for $3000 the week before, I would have paid that and seller never messaged me back to counter my initial offer)
09/15/15 PSA 5 - $5,659 (Bid wasn't enough to register, but snipe wasn't too far off from close)

So I had my chances and struck out with 3 misses. I was sticking to my budget and apparently some people just wanted it more. Mentally I had written it off already so I wasn't as heartbroken as I could have been.

Fast forward to recently, a PSA 6 appeared on eBay, the best PSA graded copy I have seen publicly available since 2011 (there was a BVG 8 for $20k though). It took a lot of back and forth, but finally was able to reach and agreement for an in person deal. The seller drove down to meet me locally and I paid him via the Paypal app. We chatted about our Cal collecting memories and favorite cards, it was an enjoyable conversation.

Nonetheless, here it is in all of its beauty! Good things can come to those who wait. I'm happy with what I paid and wish others the best of luck if they ever want to track one of these down. Thanks for reading!

ripken_policefront_small_zpsckavfme9.jpg
 
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DaClyde

Well-known member
Jan 17, 2010
1,614
58
Huntsville, AL
Great story! This is another of those cases where the rest of that set seems to have become an afterthought, and as a result, other cards can be a lot harder to track down. I ran into that issue with the 1985 Chong Modesto A's set. Because of the McGwire card, it took me years to find a copy of the Steve Howard from the same set. Ditto for this set, I'm trying to find a copy of the Billy Presley, but it just never turns up. These sets have clearly been broken up due to all (not to say "all" is necessarily a lot) the graded Ripkens on the market, but what became of all the rest of the players' cards?
 

carrsallstars

Member
Sep 16, 2009
846
0
Great story- CONGRATULATIONS on adding the card to your collection! It amazes sometimes how much time, effort and thought can go into acquiring some of the cards at the top of our wantlists. It's pretty neat that your patience paid off and you ended up with a NICER one than you had had a chance before. It's cool you got to buy it in person too.
 

maddux69

Member
Nov 21, 2013
53
0
NC
I saw a BVG 5.5 Charlotte O's Orange Ripken at the Nationals last year and it looks eerily similar in condition to your PSA 6. Nice pickup!

image.jpg
 

jonebone

Member
Jan 3, 2011
391
0
MD
I saw a BVG 5.5 Charlotte O's Orange Ripken at the Nationals last year and it looks eerily similar in condition to your PSA 6. Nice pickup!

View attachment 67507


Neat, what was the ask price? It is not the same card if that's what you were getting at, that card has a very worn top right corner, and my card has a tiny lower left edge ding that card does not have.
 

bigalbert

Active member
Aug 7, 2008
1,324
3
Nice card, nice story
I just waited til they came down in price from the highs of 2013 and ended up with a psa 5
 

jonebone

Member
Jan 3, 2011
391
0
MD
Nice card, nice story
I just waited til they came down in price from the highs of 2013 and ended up with a psa 5

Yup, I was waiting it out just like you, and I was the underbidder on that PSA 5 that you won. Stung at the time but I got the PSA 6 for nearly what that PSA 5 sold for. Worked out to wait!
 

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