What was your first "big money" card

scashaggy

Hello all, my first"big money" card was a 1984 Dan Marino RC. I don't remember how old I was but I saved up money from mowing lawns to purchase this card and still have it today. I call it "big money" because I had to save up for a while and I didn't pull it from a pack.

BunchOBull

I had never spent more than $250 on a card before February of 2010; though I had made large trades of 5 or 6 times that amount.

I "blew" the budget and paid $300 on this site for a PSA 2 Clemente RC and less than 2 weeks later, a card that I had been holding out on for years came available, a PSA 9 1990 Topps 414A NNOF Thomas RC. Thankfully, even though I had just spent $300 of the $1800 I had saved for a mint NNOF, I was able to cut a steal on the Thomas RC for $875 and had plenty of money left over.

So, as a more modern collector, that's still the most I've ever paid for a single card, and I'm completely okay with that.

bounce

86 canseco, and 89 upper deck griffey

i can remember both of those being $40-50 pretty early on, when most cards were selling more like $3-4 or even less

i also bought my first two jordan RCs for $50 and $35, and remember being REALLY nervous that i'd overpaid - AH, the good ole days!

MrNearMint

I returned to the hobby around 2009, my first big purchase was around 2010 when I bought a 67 topps mickey mantle psa 7 for around 127. It was my first mantle card and the first time I paid $100 or more on a card.

dgordo

I remember paying $100 for a montana rookie in the late 80's. I was so scared I over paid.

Probstein123

I got my first rose rookie in 1981, that was pretty exciting then

Doublestriker

My first big card was a Jordan rookie back in the early 90's that I bought at a local flea market. I think I paid $900.00. If grading was around then it might have been a psa 6 or 7. I sold it a few years later when I got married for $ 1,000.00

Doublestriker

Double Post.

BigRedMachine

I still don't think I've paid more than $150 for a card (although I'll need to do so to complete a project I'm working on).

By the time I got to a point in my life I could afford a card which cost more than that, I had picked up a different hobby to spend money on.

Shawn

schapko

In 1992, around the time he got his 3,000 hit, I remember saving up grass cutting money for the entire summer to buy a George Brett mini RC. That was by far my biggest card purchase as I was only 15 at the time and I think it cost about $250.

TNP777

I stupidly paid something like $150 for a Cey/Schmidt RC in the early 90s. No interwebs yet, at least not for me, so I was perusing my SCD and saw that Kit Young had one 'discounted' down to $150. "Score!", said me. "Mwah-ha-ha-ha!", said Kit Young.

FINESTKIND

In 1992 I started building my 1967 bb set. Of course it was the same year Tom Seaver was inducted into the HOF. His card cost me $600.00.

Littletweed

I bought, with the help from my Dad, a Jordan rookie at a card show for $200 around '88 or '89. I sold it for $800 a few years later to help buy my first car, '88 Jeep Wrangler. Ahh, the memories.

PasadenaMudSlide

Spent a couple grand on a bunch of Mantles about 12 years ago. Not one of my brightest moves.

RynoandBo

Mine was a 1986 Fleer Jordan Sticker, at a small card show in Berwyn, IL. around 1991. Paid $37.

lightningboy

My first big money card was purchased after I sold about 90 percent of my collection to focus on vintage HOF rookie cards. I purchased a 1948 Leaf Robinson SGC 86 for about $1800.back in 2007.

mtcards

1970 Topps Nolan Ryan.....paid $25 for it at a show in 1989...my dad thought I was nuts. Went up to about $300 or so in the Beckett for a while close to his retirement. I still own it!!

DanBessette

About 2 years ago I sold 20,000 commons on Craig's List for $300 and then spent $280 of it on a Yaz 1/1 card - printing plate, triple bat with auto.

Mapleleaf

$35 for a mint Gretzky rookie in 1987. Sold it in 97 to buy a fridge. Still have the fridge.

MrNearMint

What kind of fridge?

ashabby

1961 mantle don't remember what I paid

76collector

When I was a kid 20 was a big purchase - Frank Thomas Leaf rc
My first big purchase as an adult, and getting back into collecting was a psa 4 Aaron rc

Good question, and interesting to see everyone's responses.

slum22

When I was in 8th or 9th grade, I saved up money for months and went in with my older brother for a Jordan RC at the local card shop (F&F Sports Cards). It was a beauty and we paid $350 for it. I still own it. For years I wondered if it was authentic or not, with all the talk of reprints, fakes, etc. I got back into the hobby a few different times as an adult over the years. Back in 2008 I worked up the guts to send the card in for grading. It came back a BGS 9 (with all 9 subgrades)!

MULLINS5

1993 Marvel Universe Spiderman vs Venom H-IV 3D Hologram. Pulled it out of a pack and was ecstatic.

Shortly after that my dad bought me two 1979 Topps Gretzky cards. One subbed and graded a 6 and the other evidence of trimming. I remember the guy who sold us the trimmed card looked worried, like squirrel on the side of the road worried, when we were looking at it. Don't have the 6 anymore, but it's been in my eBay search for years in case it pops back up.

BIG money would be when I bought a 1979 Gretzky OPC RC PSA 9 around 2004ish. Another card I keep an eye out for.

psychump

I bought two Willie Mays cards a 1954 and '56 Topps for $100 when I was 16 in 1978. My mom thought I was nuts! Still got them today,no PSA no nothing,just sitting in my lawyer's cabinet.

ElToroLoco

1984 Topps John Elway RC full color proof from the Topps Vault. I set a high bid and got it for under $1K. I figure it'll be one my family will put on auction long after I am gone.