Sports cards

[BleedBlueGold]

I did end up digging out some of my cards.

Collected the 1980 set by hand. I was probably down to 20 cards that I was missing. My Dad's friend owned a small drug store and one night he let me come in and open up all of his wax packs and take the cards that I was missing (yes only the cards that I was missing) and then tape the back of the wax pack back up. LMAO. I wonder if anyone noticed. I was just a little kid, but looking back at that I'm imagining someone opening up a crappy pack and then going back and screaming at the manager "no wonder I didn't get any good cards, you opened them up, took them out, taped them back together".

Obviously there are tons of beautiful sets out there now, but looking back at the "old school" sets, my favorite by a country mile was the 83 Topps set. Part of it was probably the fact that I was a huge Sandberg fan and that was his rookie card. Besides that, I just loved the way the cards looked.

Regarding autographs, I do have a Lebron James UDA basketball that I picked up 15 years ago. I haven't looked at prices in a long time, but I just checked some listings and couldn't believe the prices. Contemplating selling it.

I'm on the hunt for a handful of those cards as well but will probably just end up paying the premium price for the mint ones. 1980 Rickey Henderson RC, 1983 Sandberg RC, Gwynn RC, and Boggs RC. I love all of those cards. Plus any old Nolan Ryan I can get my hands on. Currently tracking '77 and '78 Topps raw cards just to have.

I still kick myself for being a broke college kid back in 97 and selling the bulk of my collection. I had a 86 Fleer Jordan sticker and a 86 Fleer Barkley rookie that came from the same pack. I think I got maybe $500 for everything I had. Looking back, worst decision I made selling all that hard earned yard mowing money I spent on all those for some damn beer money

Wow!

 

[IRISHDODGER]

I still kick myself for being a broke college kid back in 97 and selling the bulk of my collection. I had a 86 Fleer Jordan sticker and a 86 Fleer Barkley rookie that came from the same pack. I think I got maybe $500 for everything I had. Looking back, worst decision I made selling all that hard earned yard mowing money I spent on all those for some damn beer money

LOL! I did the same exact thing my freshman year in college in ‘89. This was when LCS were still popping up everywhere before the Junk Wax Era was realized. My collection included a 1960 Willie Mays, 1976 Payton rookie in excellent to NM condition, an early Dr J card when he was in the ABA (his 2nd year IIRC) and a ton of early 1980s rookies from all sports. Got a job soon after and realized I should’ve held onto the cards.

 

[BleedBlueGold]

I sent 15 cards in for PSA grades this week. Not sure what the time line will be on their return. I've set my expectations low. I think a couple could have a 9 or even potential 10 grade, but most should be 7s or 8s, I would expect. I have some 1971 Topps baseball cards that I'm hoping for a 5 minimum.

The question I'll run into is this: Should I try and sell them if there is potential for high returns? As much fun as it's been reliving this old hobby of mine, I'm not entirely sure I want to keep these cards IF there is potential to make a couple grand off of them. I don't "need" the money, but I have been wanting a new fishing kayak (and those things aren't cheap). Is trading my childhood cards (that sit in a box) worth it for a new kayak (that I will undoubtedly use constantly)?*

*I'm a pretty financially responsible person. All of my life, if there is something I've wanted to buy that I didn't need, I would try and find the most cost effective way to get it --> coupons, demo deals, passive income, etc.

I'll keep you posted on the grades. Should be a fun unboxing (assuming I don't get a bunch of terrible grades).

 

[Tejas]

I'm interested to know what cards you sent in. I hear a couple months to get cards back but not sure.

You could always sell high grade cards and if you want the card again just pick up an ungraded one.

I'm wondering what the best way to sell a high graded card would be. If you try to sell it yourself on ebay you might not get the views a bigger seller like Greg Morris Cards would get. Maybe consignment? I don't know, just curious.

I haven't really gotten in on the card grading thing yet. But I collect what I want and by that I guess I will keep them forever until I don't. If it's not worth it to just have cards around, sell them for the kayak.

 

[IRISHDODGER]

I sent 15 cards in for PSA grades this week. Not sure what the time line will be on their return. I've set my expectations low. I think a couple could have a 9 or even potential 10 grade, but most should be 7s or 8s, I would expect. I have some 1971 Topps baseball cards that I'm hoping for a 5 minimum.

The question I'll run into is this: Should I try and sell them if there is potential for high returns? As much fun as it's been reliving this old hobby of mine, I'm not entirely sure I want to keep these cards IF there is potential to make a couple grand off of them. I don't "need" the money, but I have been wanting a new fishing kayak (and those things aren't cheap). Is trading my childhood cards (that sit in a box) worth it for a new kayak (that I will undoubtedly use constantly)?*

*I'm a pretty financially responsible person. All of my life, if there is something I've wanted to buy that I didn't need, I would try and find the most cost effective way to get it --> coupons, demo deals, passive income, etc.

I'll keep you posted on the grades. Should be a fun unboxing (assuming I don't get a bunch of terrible grades).

If you want a kayak, sell the cards (assuming they fetch a high amount). Like Tejas said, you can always buy the raw version of a card you particularly like. I’m not into graded but I suspect a vintage ‘71 topps w/ a 5 would be very enticing for a collector.

 

[FU BK]

Wish I'd of kept my cards....I just priced a new Phoenix 20XE bass boat....yikes. Could of at least helped a little

 

[BleedBlueGold]

I'm interested to know what cards you sent in. I hear a couple months to get cards back but not sure.

You could always sell high grade cards and if you want the card again just pick up an ungraded one.

I'm wondering what the best way to sell a high graded card would be. If you try to sell it yourself on ebay you might not get the views a bigger seller like Greg Morris Cards would get. Maybe consignment? I don't know, just curious.

I haven't really gotten in on the card grading thing yet. But I collect what I want and by that I guess I will keep them forever until I don't. If it's not worth it to just have cards around, sell them for the kayak.

If you want a kayak, sell the cards (assuming they fetch a high amount). Like Tejas said, you can always buy the raw version of a card you particularly like. I’m not into graded but I suspect a vintage ‘71 topps w/ a 5 would be very enticing for a collector.

Some examples per 130pt.com's recent sales data:

Don Baylor/Dusty Baker RC: psa4 - $170, psa6 - $215 (I don't anticipate getting anything above a 5)
Rich Allen: psa5 - $96, psa6 - $147.50, psa7 - $230, psa8 - $898 (I'm guessing this will be a 6 or 7, praying for an 8)
Barry Bonds RC: psa10 $150-$200. (I don't think mine is a 10 though. Card will break even at $20 if it's a 9 unfortunately)
Jordan Hologram: might be a psa10 - $430
Shaq RC: might be a psa10 - $50
Kemp Big Men on the Court "Z-Peat": I have no idea how to value this. It's such a rare card. The Shaq z-peat in this set at psa8 sold for $565. The raw form of this Kemp card has an estimated value of about $125 based on recent data. I think mine might grade around a 6 unfortunately. It got damaged when I first opened the pack of cards. These particular die cuts had very weak edges apparently.
Kobe RC: this might be a psa10, but I can't possibly be that lucky. psa8 - $50, psa9 - $133, psa10 - $1025
Iverson Golden Touch RC: psa8 - $168, psa9 - $300, psa10 - $1259. Guessing mine will be an 8 or 9.
Jordan Predictor: psa9 - $150. Breaks even at $20 with a psa8 grade. Mine is pretty clean.

I expect all the other cards to basically break even as they have scratches or chipped edges etc. I wanted them graded for my own collection but with some luck, certain grades will return value, so it's worth checking. The cards I listed above are the ones that could potentially get sold and return a decent profit. I'd try selling on ebay first. If they don't sell, I'd look into alternatives. Taking them to a local shop would probably be out of consideration, as they'd most likely low-ball me. If I can get around $1,000 for these 15 cards, I'd probably do it (assuming my estimated grades are accurate).

 

[BleedBlueGold]

PSA Told me 3-6 months for grades.

Unrelated: I swore to myself that I wouldn't get roped back into this hobby, but I've been drawn to the modern era football cards. Specifically of ND players --> Kyle Hamilton rookie card prizms, for example. Am I nuts to spend money on cards again? Haha. They look amazing. Some Hamilton RC Autograph cards are around $100 graded 9 or 10. Seems like a reasonable investment if he stays on track to a HoF career and hopefully a SB ring.

 

[Ndaccountant]

PSA Told me 3-6 months for grades.

Unrelated: I swore to myself that I wouldn't get roped back into this hobby, but I've been drawn to the modern era football cards. Specifically of ND players --> Kyle Hamilton rookie card prizms, for example. Am I nuts to spend money on cards again? Haha. They look amazing. Some Hamilton RC Autograph cards are around $100 graded 9 or 10. Seems like a reasonable investment if he stays on track to a HoF career and hopefully a SB ring.

My approach is that it's a hobby, not an investment. If it's within affordability for a hobby, do it If it makes you happy. Worse thing is you buy it, it collects dust and you sell it later for a loss. That's better than spending money on something you later regret and can't recoup anything.

 

[BleedBlueGold]

My approach is that it's a hobby, not an investment. If it's within affordability for a hobby, do it If it makes you happy. Worse thing is you buy it, it collects dust and you sell it later for a loss. That's better than spending money on something you later regret and can't recoup anything.

Fair point.

Mostly why I'd stick to ND players in the NFL. There's a double bonus there for me as a fan. I'm not really interested in collecting Mahomes or McCaffrey etc. Mostly because they're cost-prohibitive but also I don't have any emotional fandom attachment to them.

 

[BleedBlueGold]

Have gone down the rabbit hole of Kyle Hamilton rookie cards over the last couple of days. Have lost two ebay bidding wars for "1 of 1" insert cards. Devastated by one in particular which included a patch of jersey that included the Nike logo. It was a raw card so I was hesitant to get carried away with bidding. $225 was my max (knowing it was easily worth $300-$400). It sold for $280.

If I were to spend a couple hundred dollars on a rookie card, I'm struggling to decide on which one. --> A gem mint 10? An autograph? Autograph with jersey patch? Limited editions? etc. I'm very new to modern era cards. The junk wax era was pretty straight forward....tons of cards and some rare inserts. That's the gist. These new cards offer tons of variations and parallels, inserts, autos, patches, etc. It's hard to know what will hold value and what won't. I figure the limited series are my best bet at the moment. Cards in the /10, /25, /50 for example....1 of 1 being the obvious unicorn. Gem Mint 10 graded cards also seem like safe bets too.

Does anyone venture into modern era card collecting? Or are most of you all invested in vintage?

 

[KMac151993]

Bring back the University issued team sets.

 

[IRISHDODGER]

Have gone down the rabbit hole of Kyle Hamilton rookie cards over the last couple of days. Have lost two ebay bidding wars for "1 of 1" insert cards. Devastated by one in particular which included a patch of jersey that included the Nike logo. It was a raw card so I was hesitant to get carried away with bidding. $225 was my max (knowing it was easily worth $300-$400). It sold for $280.

If I were to spend a couple hundred dollars on a rookie card, I'm struggling to decide on which one. --> A gem mint 10? An autograph? Autograph with jersey patch? Limited editions? etc. I'm very new to modern era cards. The junk wax era was pretty straight forward....tons of cards and some rare inserts. That's the gist. These new cards offer tons of variations and parallels, inserts, autos, patches, etc. It's hard to know what will hold value and what won't. I figure the limited series are my best bet at the moment. Cards in the /10, /25, /50 for example....1 of 1 being the obvious unicorn. Gem Mint 10 graded cards also seem like safe bets too.

Does anyone venture into modern era card collecting? Or are most of you all invested in vintage?

I wouldn’t go all in on young superstars like Hamilton. I remember winning a trivia contest years ago and as a prize I had the choice of an Andruw Jones autograph card or a Willie Mays autograph card. This was the mid-90s and Andruw Jones was a hot name as a young up & coming superstar. I also knew he was no guarantee to stay that way. I took the ”bird in the hand” (Willie Mays auto) and never looked back. Jones still may get inducted into the HOF (I think he will) but he’ll never be to the level of Mays. That’s a long-winded way of saying Kyle Hamilton & other young stars look like “sure things” but one injury, one off-the-field problem, or just not maintaining success leads to those cards being in the $1 bin.

 

[IRISHDODGER]

View attachment 3055359


Some examples per 130pt.com's recent sales data:

Don Baylor/Dusty Baker RC: psa4 - $170, psa6 - $215 (I don't anticipate getting anything above a 5)
Rich Allen: psa5 - $96, psa6 - $147.50, psa7 - $230, psa8 - $898 (I'm guessing this will be a 6 or 7, praying for an 8)
Barry Bonds RC: psa10 $150-$200. (I don't think mine is a 10 though. Card will break even at $20 if it's a 9 unfortunately)
Jordan Hologram: might be a psa10 - $430
Shaq RC: might be a psa10 - $50
Kemp Big Men on the Court "Z-Peat": I have no idea how to value this. It's such a rare card. The Shaq z-peat in this set at psa8 sold for $565. The raw form of this Kemp card has an estimated value of about $125 based on recent data. I think mine might grade around a 6 unfortunately. It got damaged when I first opened the pack of cards. These particular die cuts had very weak edges apparently.
Kobe RC: this might be a psa10, but I can't possibly be that lucky. psa8 - $50, psa9 - $133, psa10 - $1025
Iverson Golden Touch RC: psa8 - $168, psa9 - $300, psa10 - $1259. Guessing mine will be an 8 or 9.
Jordan Predictor: psa9 - $150. Breaks even at $20 with a psa8 grade. Mine is pretty clean.

I expect all the other cards to basically break even as they have scratches or chipped edges etc. I wanted them graded for my own collection but with some luck, certain grades will return value, so it's worth checking. The cards I listed above are the ones that could potentially get sold and return a decent profit. I'd try selling on ebay first. If they don't sell, I'd look into alternatives. Taking them to a local shop would probably be out of consideration, as they'd most likely low-ball me. If I can get around $1,000 for these 15 cards, I'd probably do it (assuming my estimated grades are accurate).

Love the Dick Allen card. It’s also a “high number” which adds value. Your guess is spot on IMO but you never know w/ PSA. Careful with that Bonds b/c w/o a good grade, it’s almost worthless as it’s from the junk wax era and is not considered his rookie card as he had a 1986 Topps Update card prior to that. Good luck!

 

[Armyirish47]

I wouldn’t go all in on young superstars like Hamilton. I remember winning a trivia contest years ago and as a prize I had the choice of an Andruw Jones autograph card or a Willie Mays autograph card. This was the mid-90s and Andruw Jones was a hot name as a young up & coming superstar. I also knew he was no guarantee to stay that way. I took the ”bird in the hand” (Willie Mays auto) and never looked back. Jones still may get inducted into the HOF (I think he will) but he’ll never be to the level of Mays. That’s a long-winded way of saying Kyle Hamilton & other young stars look like “sure things” but one injury, one off-the-field problem, or just not maintaining success leads to those cards being in the $1 bin.

Absolutely. And the number of 1 of 1s in today's cards is staggering for higher profile draft picks and players so it is waayyyyyyy too easy to burn up your collecting money. At least in my range I have to pick and choose so I grab a few rookies for the teams I follow, try to get at least one signed rookie card of every Notre Dame player in their Notre Dame uniform and then I'm chasing memorabilia or certain sets I want to collect.

Also if you really like someone like Hamilton I've had a lot of fun with lower tier brands chasing non-auto, or even sometimes auto rainbows. Not nearly as expensive and usually doable if you don't count printing plates and what not.

 

[BleedBlueGold]

I wouldn’t go all in on young superstars like Hamilton. I remember winning a trivia contest years ago and as a prize I had the choice of an Andruw Jones autograph card or a Willie Mays autograph card. This was the mid-90s and Andruw Jones was a hot name as a young up & coming superstar. I also knew he was no guarantee to stay that way. I took the ”bird in the hand” (Willie Mays auto) and never looked back. Jones still may get inducted into the HOF (I think he will) but he’ll never be to the level of Mays. That’s a long-winded way of saying Kyle Hamilton & other young stars look like “sure things” but one injury, one off-the-field problem, or just not maintaining success leads to those cards being in the $1 bin.

I agree with this sentiment and ultimately backed out of the Kyle Hamilton high end sweepstakes. I'm still bummed I didn't get the 1 of 1 "Blue Finite" patch card, but by not winning that auction, I just moved on to other cards last night and ended up with a Hamilton patch/auto silver prizm for half the price, and three Lebron James silver prizms. All four cards ended up costing me what that one Hamilton would have. In the end, I'll take the James cards all day (all three are PSA 10) and the Hamilton was a PSA 8 (which normally I'd only get 10s and 9s, but I just couldn't bring myself to spend that kind of money on, like you said, the young up and coming super stars than may or may not pan out. Even if he's from ND.

Love the Dick Allen card. It’s also a “high number” which adds value. Your guess is spot on IMO but you never know w/ PSA. Careful with that Bonds b/c w/o a good grade, it’s almost worthless as it’s from the junk wax era and is not considered his rookie card as he had a 1986 Topps Update card prior to that. Good luck!

RE: Dick Allen...I literally just randomly found that card in a binder. I have no idea how I got it. Very excited with it's potential grade.

Bummed about that Bonds card, tbh. I really thought it was his RC until just recently (after I already submitted for grading). It's likely worthless. Seems like a very scammy card. Is the Bo Jackson of that set the same? As in, late release 1986 is the true RC? I have so many of those 1987 Topps cards and used to think they were worth a fortune when I was younger. haha.

Absolutely. And the number of 1 of 1s in today's cards is staggering for higher profile draft picks and players so it is waayyyyyyy too easy to burn up your collecting money. At least in my range I have to pick and choose so I grab a few rookies for the teams I follow, try to get at least one signed rookie card of every Notre Dame player in their Notre Dame uniform and then I'm chasing memorabilia or certain sets I want to collect.

Also if you really like someone like Hamilton I've had a lot of fun with lower tier brands chasing non-auto, or even sometimes auto rainbows. Not nearly as expensive and usually doable if you don't count printing plates and what not.

What are considered lower tier brands?

I liked the idea of the rainbow collections, and all raw cards. I have about a dozen Hamilton raw prizms in my ebay Watch List for this very reason. However, I've noticed that certain colors are still very expensive.

 

[Armyirish47]

What are considered lower tier brands?

I liked the idea of the rainbow collections, and all raw cards. I have about a dozen Hamilton raw prizms in my ebay Watch List for this very reason. However, I've noticed that certain colors are still very expensive.

Typically anything that isn't licensed is looked at a bit lower than licensed products. So your stuff like Leaf, Wild Card, Sage, Pro Set etc. is quite a bit cheaper. For me I still like it for Notre Dame cards because it's not like the helmets have logos airbrushed out or anything, they look practically the same. I do feel different about pro cards.

And then within Panini you have higher end stuff that runs for thousands of dollars per box like a National Treasure or Flawless, and those cards of course are correspondingly very expensive. Or find something you like in say Score that runs a couple hundred bucks for a hobby box with lots of parallels and much easier and cheaper to work on.

The Panini stuff will still hold true when Fanatics/Topps gets the licenses as well.

Like for example I just did search for Kyle Hamilton score and one of the results had a 1/3 leaf auto card, plus a red Score and a Zenith card for $16.95 or best offer even, which is wild! But it can give you an idea how the different tiers are valued. Kyle Hamilton 1/3 Ebay

Hope that makes sense!

 

[BleedBlueGold]

Typically anything that isn't licensed is looked at a bit lower than licensed products. So your stuff like Leaf, Wild Card, Sage, Pro Set etc. is quite a bit cheaper. For me I still like it for Notre Dame cards because it's not like the helmets have logos airbrushed out or anything, they look practically the same. I do feel different about pro cards.

And then within Panini you have higher end stuff that runs for thousands of dollars per box like a National Treasure or Flawless, and those cards of course are correspondingly very expensive. Or find something you like in say Score that runs a couple hundred bucks for a hobby box with lots of parallels and much easier and cheaper to work on.

The Panini stuff will still hold true when Fanatics/Topps gets the licenses as well.

Like for example I just did search for Kyle Hamilton score and one of the results had a 1/3 leaf auto card, plus a red Score and a Zenith card for $16.95 or best offer even, which is wild! But it can give you an idea how the different tiers are valued. Kyle Hamilton 1/3 Ebay

Hope that makes sense!

Definitely does. Thanks!

 

[IRISHDODGER]

Bummed about that Bonds card, tbh. I really thought it was his RC until just recently (after I already submitted for grading). It's likely worthless. Seems like a very scammy card. Is the Bo Jackson of that set the same? As in, late release 1986 is the true RC? I have so many of those 1987 Topps cards and used to think they were worth a fortune when I was younger. haha.

Unfortunately you are correct on the Bo Jackson question. 1987 seemed like the first year of the Junk Wax era. 1986 wasn’t great but it really went downhill after that.

 

[BleedBlueGold]

Unfortunately you are correct on the Bo Jackson question. 1987 seemed like the first year of the Junk Wax era. 1986 wasn’t great but it really went downhill after that.

Do some people claim these 87 cards as rookies because they are that player's first full season? It's so strange to me that so many people claim '87 as the rookie card for Bonds and Bo Jackson. Yet there is clearly a late run '86 card for both players. I wouldn't have anticipated such "controversy" over which year was the true rookie. Seems pretty cut and dry.

 

[IRISHDODGER]

Do some people claim these 87 cards as rookies because they are that player's first full season? It's so strange to me that so many people claim '87 as the rookie card for Bonds and Bo Jackson. Yet there is clearly a late run '86 card for both players. I wouldn't have anticipated such "controversy" over which year was the true rookie. Seems pretty cut and dry.

Not sure. I think most claim the updated/traded rookies that come out the year prior (in this case ‘86).

Topps started the Update or Traded series in 1981 but it wasn’t until the 1983 Traded set that folks could get that “true“ rookie card. In ‘81 & ‘82 it was more of an individual card of a rookie who was already featured w/ two fellow rookies on ”rookies” card in the regular season set. So in ‘81 you had Fernando & Time Raines on their own card in the Traded series. In ‘82 you had Ripken & Hrbek (among others) who got their own card. The Ripken is the one to own for obvious reasons.

 

[BleedBlueGold]

Modern era cards came back from PSA 30 days sooner than projected. I still have 4 "vintage" cards pending.

The good news: I basically broke even at the very least. There are two cards that I'm pretty excited about having graded. Both are PSA8 and that's fine. The ROI will still be decent enough as they're rare inserts. They were the Kemp and Iverson cards as mentioned in my earlier post, for anyone who cares. (The Bonds was a 9)

The bad news: Half of the cards came back way less than I expected. Which was a huge fear of mine...even with lowered expectations. Four in particular have me legitimately stunned. Two cards at PSA 4, a PSA 6, and a PSA 7. The 7 is the Shaq RC that I would've bet money was a 9 or even a 10. I cannot find anything wrong with this card. One of the PSA 4 cards is a Garnett RC die-cut and it looks flawless to me. Since it's a die-cut, I pretty much expected anywhere from a 6-8 but a 4?!! Pretty disappointed in these four grades in particular. These cards are basically worthless now. Just goes to show that sometimes Raw is better.

Now that I know to expect even lower grades than originally anticipated, I'm a bit concerned for my vintage grades. I knew the Nolan Ryan would return a terrible grade, but I wanted it anyways for my personal collection. The other three '71 Topps cards though, I really hoped to sell and if they come back as 2s or 3s, I'll be really bummed.

 

[Wild Bill]

The modern trading card stuff is totally ridiculous to me but my six year old son likes to rip packs so I'll occasionally buy him some stuff that makes sense. Bought some upper deck hockey cards recently and he pulled three bedard cards. Not bad.

I graded 8 of his cards through PSA and got them back last night - five 10s, two 9s and one 7. The 7 was a die cut card so I assumed it was a risk. One of the 10s was a Panini Joe Montana in his ND uniform numbered /10. There are no sales on this card and I may have the only one that was graded. Does anyone have any idea how this card could be valued? I assume take the sale of another /10 Joe Montana but I can't even find that. If he wants to keep it that's fine with me but I would prefer selling it and using the money to buy Montana's rookie card, if I can get a decent amount for this one. I just prefer older cards and rookie cards.

 

[BleedBlueGold]

Wow nice grades!! Sounds like a much better experience than mine. lol

Are there any other players in the same parallel you could compare when trying to value the Montana card?

 

[Wild Bill]

Wow nice grades!! Sounds like a much better experience than mine. lol

Are there any other players in the same parallel you could compare when trying to value the Montana card?

My wife's cousin is a card nerd so he combs through stuff before I send it. Cleans them up and picks out what he believes will grade well. He's pretty good and that's probably helped my luck with grading.

Re Montana, not that I know. I think Montana is slightly higher than other guys in his era. Not eager to sell so I'll just hold for now.

 

[GATTACA!]

Modern era cards came back from PSA 30 days sooner than projected. I still have 4 "vintage" cards pending.

The good news: I basically broke even at the very least. There are two cards that I'm pretty excited about having graded. Both are PSA8 and that's fine. The ROI will still be decent enough as they're rare inserts. They were the Kemp and Iverson cards as mentioned in my earlier post, for anyone who cares. (The Bonds was a 9)

The bad news: Half of the cards came back way less than I expected. Which was a huge fear of mine...even with lowered expectations. Four in particular have me legitimately stunned. Two cards at PSA 4, a PSA 6, and a PSA 7. The 7 is the Shaq RC that I would've bet money was a 9 or even a 10. I cannot find anything wrong with this card. One of the PSA 4 cards is a Garnett RC die-cut and it looks flawless to me. Since it's a die-cut, I pretty much expected anywhere from a 6-8 but a 4?!! Pretty disappointed in these four grades in particular. These cards are basically worthless now. Just goes to show that sometimes Raw is better.

Now that I know to expect even lower grades than originally anticipated, I'm a bit concerned for my vintage grades. I knew the Nolan Ryan would return a terrible grade, but I wanted it anyways for my personal collection. The other three '71 Topps cards though, I really hoped to sell and if they come back as 2s or 3s, I'll be really bummed.

Can always crack them open and send them in again. There's a chance you just got a cranky or picky grader if you believe they are way off.

 

[BleedBlueGold]

My wife's cousin is a card nerd so he combs through stuff before I send it. Cleans them up and picks out what he believes will grade well. He's pretty good and that's probably helped my luck with grading.

Re Montana, not that I know. I think Montana is slightly higher than other guys in his era. Not eager to sell so I'll just hold for now.

Nice asset to have access to. In hindsight, I should've done the grade consultation at the local shop prior to sending out. It's $2 per card. At the end of the day, though, I can't be too upset because I've had these since I was a kid and it was only until just recently that I toyed with the idea of selling them. At this point, I'll just keep them. Maybe my kids will want them some day.

Can always crack them open and send them in again. There's a chance you just got a cranky or picky grader if you believe they are way off.

I probably wouldn't go through the hassle. Even at Gem 10s, they aren't worth much. I got them graded for personal collection reasons. If they came back with great grades, I would've considered selling them. Hell, if I do crack them, I could make more money selling them raw. No point in re-grading.

 

[IRISHDODGER]

Can always crack them open and send them in again. There's a chance you just got a cranky or picky grader if you believe they are way off.

Which has led many collectors to reconsider grading now that it’s appeared to be way too subjective. I have zero insight but I recall that COVID led to the card market to explode & grading exploded as well. New grading companies came out of the woodwork as PSA, BGS, Beckett, etc had extremely long wait times & their prices had skyrocketed. Those aforementioned companies that were held in high esteem probably (not saying I know for sure…pure speculation) needed to hire more graders that were ill-equipped or too inexperienced to be as objective as those companies had the reputation of being. I’ve never had anything graded and in light of recent anecdotal feedback, I probably won’t anytime soon.

 

[GATTACA!]

Which has led many collectors to reconsider grading now that it’s appeared to be way too subjective. I have zero insight but I recall that COVID led to the card market to explode & grading exploded as well. New grading companies came out of the woodwork as PSA, BGS, Beckett, etc had extremely long wait times & their prices had skyrocketed. Those aforementioned companies that were held in high esteem probably (not saying I know for sure…pure speculation) needed to hire more graders that were ill-equipped or too inexperienced to be as objective as those companies had the reputation of being. I’ve never had anything graded and in light of recent anecdotal feedback, I probably won’t anytime soon.

Also working too fast and not taking their time to adequately inspect the cards they get. I've seen enough people send in cards multiple times and get wildly different grades to know that it's a crapshoot.

I never really considered getting stuff graded anyways because slabbed cards are too hard to store and display IMO, and also I'd never consider selling my old school Pokemon cards (ik ik nerd) anyways so what's the point?

 

[Armyirish47]

Seeing some new Irish players pop up in recent lower end releases with Jack Kiser, and Marist Liufau. Other stuff is pretty quiet but should get some Topps stuff flowing soon.

Also, anybody who wants to get in early CJ Carr autos are in the Leaf metal release from last week, it's not in a Notre Dame uni yet, but there are a fair number of options, including some dual autos with Angeli. Happy hunting!