Getting Card-Blocked

[Gallinator]

I was going to rant a little but as the red mist fades, I am left with asking the question: Have you ever found a grail card and NOT been able to procure it?

In my case I happened to come across a card I had been looking for on the DL for a number of years in someone's bucket, while originally looking for something else nowhere near as vital. However, the card owner has no interest in trading or selling. I'm not mad at him, of course, but am feeling a little frustrated to come so close yet remain so far. Since the card is a true 1-of-1 (well, probably 1-of-2 given a certain company's anal retentive replacement policy LOL), I'll have to make a note of it and move on, but

[Kessel_fan_87]

Yup and it sucks. The card I wanted was likely /5 and have only seen one copy of it and the guy would not sell it. He was gonna be in for a big pay day too lol.

[30ranfordfan]

A couple of "holy grail" or "white whale" types have surfaced over the years for me (Ranford stuff) but they were being help by other Ranford collectors who would not move them. Not much I could do.

[Zorro]

The silver lining in this situation is that you know where the card is and the seller now knows that he has a buyer.

[Sharky94]

I've told this story before, but it is relevant here. I am trying to make a custom nameplate for my wife using only Capitals' letters. Olaf Kolzig is her favorite player. I actually came across the "L" from his name at last Fall's Expo. I was surprised because I didn't even realize he had any lettered releases. The "L" is the only letter from his name that I can use, so this is probably the one and only card of Kolzig I can find for this gift. The dealer was asking $300, but said he would not go below $200. My wife is probably the #1 Kolzig fan in the world. We have three GU jerseys, GU stick, GU glove/blocker, a game model (not GU) helmet from the original artist (!), and even a GU water bottle. If she could afford the $30K for a GU helmet, we would have gotten it. But since we got one of the GU jerseys for less than $1K, $200 for one letter was a little ridiculous -- we DO have limits. My wife doesn't know I am working on the nameplate, so she wouldn't go more than $50 for the card. I offered the guy $100 when she wasn't looking, but I wouldn't go higher than that.

Now, Kolzig has been retired for over 5 years, and he is never going to make the HOF. His fan base is only shrinking, and it's not like GU stuff is super-rare, like a George Vezina or something like that. I can realistically say that nobody is ever going to offer this guy $200 for his card. There aren't a lot of Kolzig fans out there that are going to come along and offer him hundreds of dollars for cards that they don't see. The thing is, I could understand his keeping it if he was a collector or a Kolzig fan. But he was a dealer and had this card in a box under his table. It wasn't important enough for him to display! He actually had a customer ask him about it and offer him money and still wouldn't let it go. So, yes, it was very depressing. I guess all I can hope for now is his wife dumps his stupid ^ss and gets the card in the divorce and puts it up on EBay. Then I can pick it up for $30 or $40.

[Gallinator]

I've told this story before, but it is relevant here. I am trying to make a custom nameplate for my wife using only Capitals' letters. Olaf Kolzig is her favorite player. I actually came across the "L" from his name at last Fall's Expo. I was surprised because I didn't even realize he had any lettered releases. The "L" is the only letter from his name that I can use, so this is probably the one and only card of Kolzig I can find for this gift. The dealer was asking $300, but said he would not go below $200. My wife is probably the #1 Kolzig fan in the world. We have three GU jerseys, GU stick, GU glove/blocker, a game model (not GU) helmet from the original artist (!), and even a GU water bottle. If she could afford the $30K for a GU helmet, we would have gotten it. But since we got one of the GU jerseys for less than $1K, $200 for one letter was a little ridiculous -- we DO have limits. My wife doesn't know I am working on the nameplate, so she wouldn't go more than $50 for the card. I offered the guy $100 when she wasn't looking, but I wouldn't go higher than that.

Now, Kolzig has been retired for over 5 years, and he is never going to make the HOF. His fan base is only shrinking, and it's not like GU stuff is super-rare, like a George Vezina or something like that. I can realistically say that nobody is ever going to offer this guy $200 for his card. There aren't a lot of Kolzig fans out there that are going to come along and offer him hundreds of dollars for cards that they don't see. The thing is, I could understand his keeping it if he was a collector or a Kolzig fan. But he was a dealer and had this card in a box under his table. It wasn't important enough for him to display! He actually had a customer ask him about it and offer him money and still wouldn't let it go. So, yes, it was very depressing. I guess all I can hope for now is his wife dumps his stupid ^ss and gets the card in the divorce and puts it up on EBay. Then I can pick it up for $30 or $40.

Great story! Yeah, it is weird when a dealer, with no personal desire for the card, refuses to see anywhere near the market rate for a card. I run into that a lot in the comics world, too, where there are usually a lot more copies out there but condition becomes king.

Yup and it sucks. The card I wanted was likely /5 and have only seen one copy of it and the guy would not sell it. He was gonna be in for a big pay day too lol.

Some sort of Panini show card, Eric? You just know half of those or more are sitting in unopened packs or got ripped by people with no clue. Gah!

Thanks for the comments, makes me feel better LOL. And, yes, this card's owner did say he'd let me know first if he ever decided to move it. :::crickets:::

[Chance .:Dohboi:.]

Wow, some interesting stories here.

I have a similar story, I randomly came across a 1/1 of player I collect on Photocucket. I had purchased the same 1/1 produced of the player the year before but it was lost in the mail and has never resurfaced.

I contact the person on Photobucket and they said they were not interested to sell. Sigh.... It would mean a lot to me to be able to acquire it. Partly because I bought the first one and it was lost, so this is kinda my second chance. Also at the time it was the biggest purchase I had ever made and I remember waiting every day for the card. When I saw the mailman and they handed me an empty envelope my heart just sank...that memory and feeling haunts me to this day almost 9 years later.

Also cause I am a super dedicated player collector and have only maybe 10 cards left needed. So, 1 lost and 1 that I cant buy. So I guess I need about 8 cards..lol

Oh wells..its taught me to accept things I suppose..

[tapouttazz9]

yea there is one collector who i cant stand and he has every big kariya out there... he prob has doubles of many of the big ones as well. he will not trade or sell i would give up my entire collection for a kariya shield or a kariya property of card.

[geschrocks33]

I could honestly list example after example after example of this happening to me, and it actually recently has. I will not include details of that out of respect for the member on here, I will just say I was unable to acquire something I've needed since 05-06.

It typically happens that people end up with rare cards that I need and price them astronomically somewhere. My favorite example is a Clutterbuck 1/1 got listed at I think $500 on ebay. BIN. No best offer option, wouldn't respond to messages.

I understand Clutterbuck has gained some popularity and is a "fan favorite" some people say, but no way in heck are one of his cards going for $500. There's also a Game Used stick that's been sitting on ebay for about 2 years now at $450. I purchased mine for $80, but seller won't go any lower.

Sometimes you just gotta accept it and move on.

yea there is one collector who i cant stand and he has every big kariya out there... he prob has doubles of many of the big ones as well. he will not trade or sell i would give up my entire collection for a kariya shield or a kariya property of card.

I'm honestly really not a fan of this but I suppose I understand how some people get. Myself personally have learned that it's much easier to become friends with the other collectors who chase your players like you do, rather than try and battle them every time a card comes up. Steffen (canucksfan007) is my prime example of this. Any Stempniak card from his rookie year that I don't have, is most likely sitting in his PC. Whenever something comes up and I know he needs it, I back off and don't bid, or give him 1st shot at it. Because if we both battle it out, the only thing that is going to come out of that is one of us wasting way more money than we should have. And with that, he has helped me out more than you could imagine with cards for my PC. It's way easier if you work together and in agreement on things than battling.

Also, if I have doubles of rare things, I'm always willing to dish them out to someone in need. I have a few Stempniak's that are /10 that I have doubles of, which I would ideally like to give to the Stempniak family, but haven't had luck contacting his parents as of yet. For those that don't know, I live within 5 minutes of his youth hockey rink, and his parents house, and I reside in his hometown. So I'm always willing to move doubles if it helps out someone elses collection. No point in hoarding them all for myself, but that's just my opinion

[Gallinator]

^^^ Absolutely, geschrocks33 - as much as I would LOVE to own every copy of something from a PC player /10 (or /25, etc.), partly because of the exclusivity of it (no one else can have one) and the achievement of tracking them all down, we must be able to recognize that as juvenile in attitude and completely selfish. As much as we get from the hobby, we need to give back by learning to share (not applying this to my OP, as the card in question is a 1/1 and fair game for whoever wants to own it and keep it). Things like your Clutterbuck example make me despair for the hobby, as that exemplifies the greedy side of it. Clutterbuck ain't no Crosby and will never fetch Crosby prices, so it's just plain greedy for a dealer - who some could argue has a duty to keep product moving, economically speaking (another topic for discussion, LOL) - to insist on it.