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Do You Believe in (Gretzky) Miracles? YES!

shagrotn77shagrotn77 Posts: 5,566 ✭✭✭✭
in PSA Set Registry Forum
Gretzky PSA 9

Fellow Boarders,

Just wanted to share the story of how I acquired a beautiful 1979 OPC Wayne Gretzky RC PSA 9 NQ for an absolute song. Before I go on, I need to say that this would not have been possible without the help of Yawie99 and Raym8, both of whom I now owe a kidney to. Anyway, I had been feverishly searching for this card for what seemed like forever until it finally popped up on eBay about 2 weeks ago. The auction, however, looked more than a little suspicious. There was no scan, the seller had low feedback and no transactions in well over a year and there was only a Buy it Now WELL below market value. Anyway, Raym8, who knew well of my burning desire to own this card, alerted me to the auction early in the morning after it was posted, and suggested that if I bought it, I contact Yawie99, who lives in the same area the card was being sold in. I won't go on forever (although I'd like to), so to make a long story short, Yawie99 picked the card up from the seller for me, about 30 minutes from his residence, and overnighted it. Raym8 and Yawie99, two people I have neither met or even conversed with over the phone, went way out of their way for me. Ray by passing on buying the card for himself and Steve by picking it up, packaging it so carefully and shipping it off to me. So this story has two happy endings:

1. This is proof positive that there are some phenomenal people in this hobby
2. I got the deal of the century

Thanks for letting me share guys. Happy collecting.

Shag
"My father would womanize, he would drink. He would make outrageous claims like he invented the question mark. Sometimes he would accuse chestnuts of being lazy. The sort of general malaise that only the genius possess and the insane lament. Our childhood was typical. Summers in Rangoon, luge lessons. In the spring we'd make meat helmets. When we were insolent we were placed in a burlap bag and beaten with reeds - pretty standard really."

Comments

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    goodriddance189goodriddance189 Posts: 2,388 ✭✭
    wow, it just goes to show that with as much paranoia as there is around here, there are actually some honest (albeit clueless) sellers. Ray and Steve are both great guys.

    congrats.
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    rw2winrw2win Posts: 557 ✭
    Yeah, Steve is one of the good ones. He once mailed me a card before my payment even arrived! Great story!

    Put a scan up if you can.
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    BasiloneBasilone Posts: 2,492 ✭✭

    Very cool story...I know youve been looking for that card for quite awhile. Kudos to Raym8 and Yawie !!

    image
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    yawie99yawie99 Posts: 2,575 ✭✭✭
    That's awesome, Andy. I was just looking at the the USPS receipt and tried checking their website to see if the card made it. Guess that number on the overnight slip wasn't a tracking number after all because I couldn't get any info that way. Lo and behold, I come here a few minutes later and see that all is well. Very well.

    I have to say, though, that it's a bit of miracle the card made it to you. Not that I thought of absconding with it and fleeing to Europe or anything, but I couldn't take my eyes off of it on my drive back home. Seriously, I might as well have been in a drunken stupor. Driving with a beautiful, highly coveted sportscard is about that hazardous.
    imageimageimageimageimageimage
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    shagrotn77shagrotn77 Posts: 5,566 ✭✭✭✭
    Well Steve, needless to say, I'm very happy you didn't veer off the road! Any guesses as to how much the Gretzky 9 on eBay ending Tuesday night will end up at???
    "My father would womanize, he would drink. He would make outrageous claims like he invented the question mark. Sometimes he would accuse chestnuts of being lazy. The sort of general malaise that only the genius possess and the insane lament. Our childhood was typical. Summers in Rangoon, luge lessons. In the spring we'd make meat helmets. When we were insolent we were placed in a burlap bag and beaten with reeds - pretty standard really."
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    magellanmagellan Posts: 2,099 ✭✭✭
    Great collecting story there, the board has a bunch of them tonight. I salute you Steve & Ray for going out of your way for fellow collectors.

    Dave
    Topps Heritage

    Now collecting:
    Topps Heritage

    1957 Topps BB Ex+-NM
    All Yaz Items 7+
    Various Red Sox
    Did I leave anything out?
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    yawie99yawie99 Posts: 2,575 ✭✭✭
    Boy, I'm not even sure what the last one sold for prior to your great purchase, Andy. I would guess that it's still at least a $3,500 card under normal circumstances.
    imageimageimageimageimageimage
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    goodriddance189goodriddance189 Posts: 2,388 ✭✭
    never seen one sell for under $5500 or $6000
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    onegauchoonegaucho Posts: 650 ✭
    yawie99... who was the seller of the card? Did he/she seem to know of its true value at all? Or were they selling on someone else's behalf and had no clue?

    Great, great story by the way.
    Reminds me of a time I sold a T206 Huggins Portrait PSA 8 to a buyer in NYC. I was actually heading out there on business/vacation the next week and hand delivered the card (I was staying about 10 blocks away and figured it'd be cheaper than paying for all the insurance, etc.) The buyer was quite impressed and it was cool to actually hand deliver a card to someone 3000 miles away from my house.

    Anyways, if anyone ever needs courier services in San Diego, let me know!
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    Hockeybonkers99Hockeybonkers99 Posts: 115
    nice!!
    hockeybonkers@yahoo.ca
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    VintageVikesVintageVikes Posts: 63
    Great story. Awesome to see how a deal was completed with people trusting each other. Glad it worked out for everyone.
    Wanted:
    1961 Topps FB PSA 8
    1970 Topps FB PSA 9
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    raym8raym8 Posts: 150 ✭✭✭
    Andy,

    Great to hear that you now have the card in your possession and everything worked out perfectly.

    As I told Steve earlier this week, the hockey card collecting communitiy is a fairly small group,
    and it is always a nice feeling to be able to help out another collector.

    And while I'm on the subject, I want to send a 'Thank you' to aro13. I was in the market for a OPC PSA 8
    Gilbert Perreault rookie. Albie alerted me to a seller who was selling a complete set with the Perreault
    already graded a PSA 8. I wasn't interested in the set, but I did e-mail the winning bidder after the auction,
    and ended up buying the card from him directly. The point being that if he did not alert me to this auction
    I never would have even known about it since the seller was auctioning the set and the individual card would
    not come up in your standard ebay search.

    Best,
    Ray



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    TeemuTeemu Posts: 59
    Shag,

    Congrats on the Gretzky PSA 9!!!! I too have dealt with Ray and Steve and both are class acts. I've dealt with many hockey collector on this board and have always had great results. Its always nice to help out fellow collectors.

    Cheers,

    Tom
    I collect Vintage Hockey cards in PSA 8 or better.
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    JrMacdaddyJrMacdaddy Posts: 506 ✭✭
    G-Man

    Steve, will you take a trip out to CA for me?

    JR
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    raym8raym8 Posts: 150 ✭✭✭
    That is the second time that seller has listed the card within the past week....don't you hate when your
    shill bidding id is the winner of your own auction......image
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    NickMNickM Posts: 4,896 ✭✭✭
    Think he would deliver the card to a courier who brings cash payment?
    I'm near L.A. and have a 6'4" 350 lb. (or so) heavily tattooed process server who is very reliable. image

    Nick
    image
    Reap the whirlwind.

    Need to buy something for the wife or girlfriend? Check out Vintage Designer Clothing.
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    shagrotn77shagrotn77 Posts: 5,566 ✭✭✭✭
    You guys up for a laugh? First of all, I e-mailed the 'seller' for the cert numbers twice when the auction ran the first time. No response. When I saw the card was re-listed, I asked why and asked for the cert numbers yet again. The why was never answered. As to my second question, here is the 'seller's' exact response:

    it is not a qualified 9 it is a straight 9. The card is in a package and I really dont feel like opening the package and re packing it.

    Need I say any more gentlemen???
    "My father would womanize, he would drink. He would make outrageous claims like he invented the question mark. Sometimes he would accuse chestnuts of being lazy. The sort of general malaise that only the genius possess and the insane lament. Our childhood was typical. Summers in Rangoon, luge lessons. In the spring we'd make meat helmets. When we were insolent we were placed in a burlap bag and beaten with reeds - pretty standard really."
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    NickMNickM Posts: 4,896 ✭✭✭
    Well, I bid, and I requested his contact info. I'm going to enjoy this.

    shagrotn - did you save that email message? If so, I'd like a copy forwarded to me (with complete headers). Please send it, if you can, to raiders@snooty.net.

    image

    Nick
    image
    Reap the whirlwind.

    Need to buy something for the wife or girlfriend? Check out Vintage Designer Clothing.
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    ranchranch Posts: 341 ✭
    Congrats!! image

    I own one graded KSA 7, it means a lot to me. image
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    WabittwaxWabittwax Posts: 1,984 ✭✭✭
    Ranch, great picture. I give it a couple more hours though before PSA pulls it.
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    shagrotn77shagrotn77 Posts: 5,566 ✭✭✭✭
    Nick,

    I forwarded that e-mail to you. I have zero confidence that this auction is legit, so I'd stay away if I were you.

    Shag
    "My father would womanize, he would drink. He would make outrageous claims like he invented the question mark. Sometimes he would accuse chestnuts of being lazy. The sort of general malaise that only the genius possess and the insane lament. Our childhood was typical. Summers in Rangoon, luge lessons. In the spring we'd make meat helmets. When we were insolent we were placed in a burlap bag and beaten with reeds - pretty standard really."
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    NickMNickM Posts: 4,896 ✭✭✭
    shagrotn - got it. I was hoping that you had it in a form where his email headers and footers were available.

    I'm confident that his auction is not legit. I want to make his life miserable. He is not getting any money from me unless I am getting the card at the same time (with a bodyguard). Unfortunately, ebay hasn't sent me his contact info yet.

    Nick
    image
    Reap the whirlwind.

    Need to buy something for the wife or girlfriend? Check out Vintage Designer Clothing.
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    mrc32mrc32 Posts: 604 ✭
    I know nothing about hockey cards, but saw this one in an auction I was checking out....it is a PSA 9 topps.....http://www.19thcenturyonly.org/
    I like my #1 Current Finest 1911 T-205 Gold Borders Set! image
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    JrMacdaddyJrMacdaddy Posts: 506 ✭✭
    In my best Jerry Seinfeld impersonation....

    And what's the deal with this one??????

    Gretzky
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    edmundfitzgeraldedmundfitzgerald Posts: 4,306 ✭✭
    This thread is very cool.
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    vettfanaticvettfanatic Posts: 643 ✭✭✭
    This thread is very old.
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    greencrowgreencrow Posts: 867
    Gretzky is old, 51 next month.
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