A fool and his money...

I know, it's a little bit rude to just post a picture of a card like that without any introduction, not a hello, not a drink or anything. But it's just to show what happens when you don't pay attention : you buy cards you absolutely do not need nor want nor can do anything with.

During my end of November Ebay shopping spree, I decided to bet on that real nice George Bell on-card auto. I'm really fond of those fan favorites autos, so it was fitting that I'd chase that particular one.

The seller offered reasonable international shipping charges, so I figured I'd bet on a few other cards he carried. I bet on a Spud Webb auto, advertised as SPUD WEBB HAWKS RARE SP. The card (that I won't show because it's really not very interesting) has him in a Kings uniform and is numbered out of 1 899. 100 times the amount of Spud Webb collectors in the world.

And the BJ Upton listing said BJ UPTON RARE SUPERSTAR ALLSTAR ATLANTA BRAVES. The card isn't numbered, so I don't know how rare it is, and, well, relativity does have its perks. For example, even if there are 20 000 such sticker autos out there, it's rarer than the number of unopened 90 Donruss cases left. I don't really care that the seller called it 'rare'. It makes me smile more than anything else, as if anybody would actually believe it's rare. No, what bugs me is that I didn't see he was in a Devil Rays (oops, sorry, Rays) uniform. For the simple reason that I got that card for a Braves collector (hi Wes, that card was meant for you ! ). And I bid, like an idiot, without even looking at the card. It's shiny, it's got an auto, it's a Braves All Star, let's go !

All those cards were fairly cheap, so I won't make a big fuss out of it, but I tend to get a little mad at myself when I spend even only a couple of dollars on some cards I don't need, considering all the other great cards out there I DO need. Desperately.

But from now on, I'll be paying attention. Watch out, Ebay, you won't fool me twice.