Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Card of the Day - 2013 Topps Five Star : Clayton Kershaw Base (67/75)


The...longest...project...with...the...least...amount...of...cards......

Man alive, this took forever to complete.
The 2013 Topps Five Star issue is a high premium brand with only 100 cards total in the set. The Dodgers were represented by 5 players (Koufax, Kemp, Gonzalez, Puig and Kershaw). Even with the cards numbered to only 75 I assumed I would finish the set off in a few months tops. Yeah, I was wrong.

Kemp and Gonzalez were acquired cheaply enough. Puig was had on a deal but plenty were available at time of purchase. Koufax while pricier still wasn't outrageous. Kershaw on the other hand was the elusive one. I actually won one card from a seller in Korea and he stated he mailed it to me 4 separate times but each time it was returned. Uh huh. Sure. The hunt would continue for Kershaw.

Months and months went by and only a couple, literally a couple, ever surfaced on eBay and each time I was out bid by a wide margin as one even sold for over $52. A day before this one showed up another one sold for over $45. Well this one went live on a BIN auction for $30 but a best offer attached to it. Decisions. Do I just pull the trigger and acquire it or try to get a lower price and hopefully no one would buy it from underneath me. Went with the latter and surprisingly enough the negotiation only took 10 minutes and I finally won my Kershaw card.

A week later it was in hand and now my project is complete for this set. I can move on after almost a year of trying to acquire just 5 Dodger cards.


67 of 75

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