Joy and eBay heartbreak

Oh Ebay, how I love thee, let me count the ways.

One, any old card you want can be found on there, just about. Two, sometimes you get a deal.

But sometimes the deal gets you. Witness my shiny new Jim Rice rookie, a classic 1975 Topps. I noticed crisp corners when I put in a bid of 2 bucks on it a while back.

Sure, it is a bit off center, but that is fine. The corners look good though. Not thinking too much about it, I put in a bid of 2 bucks.

And I won. Five bucks and a week or so later, I had my Jim Rice card. I pulled it out, and gave it a look. Man, that is a clean card. No gum on the back, the front is smooth, besides the off centerness... wait, what is that fuzz on the side?

I brought it in to work to scan so I could write a triumphant post about it, and when I put it down it rested against another card.

Hmmm. Double hmmm. My card, the triumphant cornerstone of my Jim Rice collection, was trimmed.

1995 Donruss Steve Kieffer vs. 1975 Topps Jim Rice. Visibly thinner below. Miscut on the press/trimmer, or trimmed by an eBay seller? Really, I don't know. Something scared off the other bidders, I guess. I couldn't tell from the scan that it was a bit thin, honestly, the off-centered-ness didn't bother me. But the idea that it might be trimmed drives me crazy, which doesn't make sense either.

Could it be a production mistake? For some reason that makes it a little easier to swallow. I don't know why, but collecting doesn't have to make sense, I guess.