$4 Cheevers?!?! Yup, $4 Cheevers

One of the saved eBay searches I have setup is for 1967-68 Topps hockey.  I don't expect that I'll ever complete this set, even though it's only 132 cards deep it's chock full of HOFers.  The second-year card of Bobby Orr alone is probably enough to keep me from ever finishing it off, but I keep half an eye out for any real bargains because I like the design.

Well, a real bargain is exactly what I have for you this evening.  Late last week, a reputable seller (99.9% positive feedback with over 21,000 ratings) listed a bunch of cards from the '67-68 set.  All of the singles were Buy-It-Now format, and most appeared to be in pretty great condition, certainly beyond what I expect for cards this old.  Just about every one of the cards listed was a common, and was in the $9-$12 range.  One card was inexplicably listed at just $4 though.

It seemed too good to be true.  I spent a couple of minutes looking over the scans to make sure I wasn't missing some obvious flaw, but I didn't want to wait forever either as I knew the card wouldn't stay up long at this price.  Besides, I wasn't exactly breaking the bank here anyway.  After a minute or two I took the bait, and today this card arrived in my mailbox:

Yes, I landed the beautiful Gerry Cheevers card you see here for $4.  Well, to be fair I paid shipping as well, so the total ended up between $7 and $8.  Even still, easily one of my better bargains of 2018 so far.  As I mentioned above I just love the design for this set, and you just don't come across singles for this little coin very often.  Certainly not when they feature guys that are enshrined!

With the card in hand now, the only thing I can think of that may explain why the seller discounted this one compared to the others is that there's a small surface scratch that goes upwards for about an inch beginning at the 'S' in Cheevers.  It's so light it's not even visible in the scan or when looking at the card straight on, but only when you tilt it in the right light.  Fine by me!  This card isn't so rare or valuable that I never thought I'd have a shot at owning a copy, but I certainly never thought I'd end up with one for less than the cost of a fast food value meal!

In the sub-$5 price range you might expect some paper loss on the back, but that's not the case here, nice and clean!

My very first 1960s card of the man I listened to calling Hartford Whalers games on local cable TV as a kid.  Combine that with a steal of a deal and the end result is a good day in the hobby for this collector!

Have you had any unreal $10-or-less bargain pick-ups recently?  If so I'd love to hear what you nabbed in the comments...