Any Sports Cards Collectors Here?

[revo]

I'm sure like most of you guys, I collected as a kid, but stopped sometime in the mid-1980s. My oldest son is big into it, so he convinced me to sign up for an annual subscription to PSA for card grading, but even with being a subscriber, you still need to submit 10-20 cards per "era" to get their special rate of $15/card. So I asked a few friends if they wanted to send in cards, and a couple took me up on it. When I saw what they had (my son likes newer cards, I like the classics), I kind of got the bug again. So I started checking out eBay and found a few reputable sellers, and every so often I check out their stuff and I get sucked down the rabbit hole. One seller, Greg Morris Cards, is one of eBay's top sellers and runs, literally, 1000s of auctions every night. Because they combine shipping, I usually buy a handful every time I get lured in, lol.

GMC usually has older cards, so I've been buying a lot of 1950s-1970s cards of late. PSA has a good price guide, so I save a bunch of cards, check the prices out, then bid accordingly. It's definitely not a cheap hobby, lol, so to appease my wife, I've sold off a bunch of other collectibles I no longer had much interest in on eBay and pretty much use the proceeds there to spend away.

Any other collectors? Anyone have older cards they're looking to get rid of?

[Sour Masher]

I did as a kid, but I didn't have much money so I ended up with lots of worthless cards. I had a big crate full of them and gave nearly all of them away while in grad school to a kid who lived in the cheap apartment complex I lived in. I still have a few from back then I kept that I thought might have value, like a Jeter rookie, but because they are late 80s, early 90s cards, they never did get valuable, I don't think. I think the most valuable ones I have are a Clyde Drexler rookie card, ungraded, not in top shape, and a 1993 Derek Jeter Select, ungraded, unlikely a top grade. I doubt the pair would bring more than $50, and all the cards I kept are probably a lot I could get $100 for on ebay

As for really old cards, a guy in my league went to a Chicago card show, The National Sports Collectors Convention, and sent me a really old card because I said I always wanted a card over 100 years old. I forget his name. It wasn't in great shape, but it was well over 100 years old, and I was floored by the gesture. I have been tempted to get back into it, being smarter about it than when I was a kid and would spend every dime I had on stuff that had no real value, but I am too much of a collector by nature. I know I'd go too hard into it.

[In the Corn]

I started getting back into it in the last year. I've been purchasing via auctions on a couple sites. I'm not much into the newer stuff, but I like the Allen & Ginter collection as they seem to have some fun in it with some of the sub-sets. I'm in the midst of completing a 1976 set that my dad started years ago, and I feel the need to complete it in honor of him. I'm looking to put together the 1956 Topps set, as I think it is art in the production. The portrait with the action behind it is very cool. I'm not looking to build a high quality/graded set, just want to do the whole set in the coming years. I have gone to a few shows, and man, I feel like a kid again sorting through cards. I'll probably send in my first cards to get graded in the next few months.

[revo]

I started getting back into it in the last year. I've been purchasing via auctions on a couple sites. I'm not much into the newer stuff, but I like the Allen & Ginter collection as they seem to have some fun in it with some of the sub-sets. I'm in the midst of completing a 1976 set that my dad started years ago, and I feel the need to complete it in honor of him. I'm looking to put together the 1956 Topps set, as I think it is art in the production. The portrait with the action behind it is very cool. I'm not looking to build a high quality/graded set, just want to do the whole set in the coming years. I have gone to a few shows, and man, I feel like a kid again sorting through cards. I'll probably send in my first cards to get graded in the next few months.

I know, right? Except I feel like a kid with $$$$ now, LOL.

My son and I went to a huge flea market this weekend and I picked up a bunch of $1 bin cards from the 1950s-1970s. Nothing gradable, but just added to the collection.

And I'm actually gathering a bunch of cards to send in to get graded this week as PSA is running a deal on 1970s cards ($15/card, 10 cards minimum) until 11/29.

I've been buying a bunch every week (just got a NM 1974 Reggie Jackson, a NM 1974 Joe Morgan and a 1974 EX-MT Pistol Pete last night), but I think I want to target rookie cards from that era (1950s-1970s). In the last few weeks I picked up a 1973 Franco Harris and a 1960 Jim Kaat, and my new target is a 1972 Roger Staubach.

[onejayhawk]

I have a bunch in my closet.

Roberto Alomar played AA in my hometown. I grabbed every rookie card I could find. I have the original Skybox set less the Griffey # 1.

[revo]

I have a bunch in my closet.

Roberto Alomar played AA in my hometown. I grabbed every rookie card I could find. I have the original Skybox set less the Griffey # 1.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but that falls squarely in the "Junk Wax" era of sports cards, and by and large, most baseball cards from that period of 1986-1993 are totally worthless. I can't even find a Skybox baseball set on PSA's online price guide, so it's either so worthless not even a single card is worth anything, or it didn't actually exist. A raw 1988 Topps Traded Alomar in ungraded gem mint condition only goes for $1, if you're lucky. One is on eBay right now, ending today, for $0.01 with zero bids.

[In the Corn]

Revo - I'm interested in your experience sending cards to be graded. I'm interested in sending some of mine in for grading. It seems a little daunting, so I'm looking for someone who has experience to understand the process a little better.

[revo]

Revo - I'm interested in your experience sending cards to be graded. I'm interested in sending some of mine in for grading. It seems a little daunting, so I'm looking for someone who has experience to understand the process a little better.

Sure thing.

1 - While there are other graders, my son says use PSA only. CGC and Beckett are both out there and cheaper, but he says if you're going to resell your cards, it needs to be PSA.
2 - PSA has an annual subscription of $99-$150, and that gets you the discounted price of $15-$19/card (for 20+ card submissions only).
3 - Note the discounted club price only extends to different "eras" -- for the $15/card, it's 20+ cards 1992-present. For $19/card, it's 20+ cards either 1980-present or 1979-older. But they run monthly or weekly specials that usually drop the minimum amount of cards for that particular special submitted to 10. Last week, they ran a 1970s card special of $15/card with 10+ card minimum.
4 - If you're not planning on submitting 10-20+ cards at a clip, then you don't need to join and can use their standard $25/card service, which doesn't have a minimum # of cards to be submitted. Note that these costs don't include shipping there and back.
5 - if your cards are estimated to be worth $500+, then the grading costs rise to either $40-$75/card.
6 - there are particulars to sending in the cards -- they have to be in penny sleeves within a Card Saver (both available from your LCS or Amazon). The rest of their guidelines can be seen here:

https://www.psacard.com/submissions/shipguide

That's about it. It takes about 2-3 months to get your cards returned, and then you just hope for the best! They're tough graders!

You should really examine each of your cards you're considering and make sure the costs are worth it. Once I got the annual subscription, I found a couple of friends who wanted their cards graded because my son and I didn't have enough grade-worthy cards per era to send in to meet the 20 card minimum threshold, so they give me their cards and we share shipping costs. For cards you think are worth under $500, they really should likely be PSA 7s or better, so the corners should be sharp, the card should be centered, and there shouldn't be any real printing mishaps. Check eBay sold items to determine if the cards you want to send in are really worth the cost and hassle. PSA also has a price guide (not sure if it's for subscribers only) that you can check prices.

All the cards I had in my childhood collection turned out to be in terrible shape. My friend and I joked that while we had the right idea as kids as to which cards would likely become valuable, nobody told us back then those cards needed to be in pristine condition! You know, you showed them to friends, took them to school, didn't have them in plastic card holders, put rubber bands around them, etc. A terrible waste! What we really needed to do was buy the cards, then immediately put them in a box and never look at them until we were old and gray. My friend had 5 1980 Topps Rickey Henderson rookies that were probably PSA 1s or 2s, which made them cost-prohibitive. Had he just stashed them in a box immediately after opening, they would be worth $5,000+ apiece!!

All the cards I've been submitting to PSA have been bought on eBay or at card shows. I prefer eBay because I've found a few highly-rated card sellers who stand by the grade they estimate the card is, and you're not exactly walking around at card shows with a microscope or loupe to really see what's going on with a certain card. So you pay a bit of a premium because these sellers are popular and thus their auctions are popular, but that's worth it. You can get better prices at card shows because the sellers really want to get rid of their inventory, but the tradeoff is the card condition.

I find the whole thing pretty funny -- I stopped collecting cards in the mid-1980s, and didn't even get into it when my oldest son started collecting. But when my friend showed me his older cards he wanted to grade, that's when I got the itch again. Now I'll buy a bunch of older cards (1950s-1970s) every week! It's not a cheap hobby, LOL!

If you want any more advice, just ask. Note that I'm far from a pro, but I'll just give you my experiences.

[revo]

I was doing the usual yesterday, perusing eBay while watching football, and did a search for 1963 Topps baseball. A seller had a 3-card "Rookie Stars" lot from that set in NM condition. It had one bid for $5 with about 10 minutes to go. While I knew many of the players on the cards, and most weren't stars (each card had 4 rookies), I checked the PSA price guide, and was stunned to see the 3rd card, which had Ed Kranepool and a player named "Pedro Oliva," was valued at $500 in NM condition. Turns out "Pedro Oliva" was in fact HOFer Tony Oliva. Not sure if the seller knew it, nor if anyone else out there knew it, besides the other bidder. I put a cautionary bid of $15 and was in the lead with a minute to go, but as with all eBay auctions, you have to have a higher bid ready with 10 seconds left, so I readied a $50.51 bid up. As expected, another bid came in with 5 seconds to go upping it to $25, (that buyer blew it, it wasn't close enough to the end) so I punched in my higher bid and won it for $27.

I told my son I was expecting the seller to issue an apology and cancel the sale, and sure enough, he sent a message just after I paid -- but it was to say thanks for paying so quickly and it would go out today.

I don't feel bad, the lot could have surged way past my higher bid in the final few seconds, and from what I understand from the Facebook baseball card groups I'm in that include many sellers, it's a buyer's market right now. I feel lucky to have landed it, now just have to hope it arrives in the condition the pics showed.

[madducks]

Just discovered this Youtube channel with lots of other videos on lesser finds. This video is about Al Rosen and the biggest baseball card find ever from 1986 and is every collector's dream.

The collection was from an opened case of the hard-to-find 1952 Topps high-number series and contained 18 complete runs. All in mint condition. There were 73 Mickey Mantle rookies which confirmed the longtime belief that his card was one of several double printed cards in the high-number series. And 42 of those were mint condition. Strangely, there were 187 Willie Mays rookie cards leading to the belief that his card was triple printed.

Al Rosen was a legendary baseball card dealer. Collectors say that Rosen would show up to card shows with bodyguards and a briefcase full of money handcuffed to his arm.

He kept the best Mickey Mantle card from this find for a few years and then sold it for $57,000 in 1991. In 2022 it was finally graded 9.5 by SGC and resold for $12.6 million through Heritage Auctions!

The "Mr. Mint" Al Rosen Attic Find of 1952 Topps baseball cards

[madducks]

Here's the complete story about the Al Rosen 1952 Topps find.

https://www.psacard.com/articles/articleview/7813/pulp-non-fiction-famous-1952-topps-baseball-find

[madducks]

Here is why PSA thinks that your "mint" condition cards actually suck. The difference between "naked eye" mint condition and "PSA magnified" mint condition.

[revo]

Here is why PSA thinks that your "mint" condition cards actually suck. The difference between "naked eye" mint condition and "PSA magnified" mint condition.

That's crazy

[revo]

Just got my latest batch back from PSA from their 1970s grading special. New batch goes out tomorrow.

All Topps
1974 Tom Seaver - expected 8, graded 7
1973 Hank Aaron - expected 7, graded 6
1974 Reggie Jackson - expected 7, graded 7
1975 Mike Schmidt - expected 7, graded 6
1974 Dave Winfield (RC) - expected 6, graded 7
1972 Hank Aaron In Action - expected 4, graded 5
1974 Hank Aaron HR King - expected 7.5-8, graded 5 (ugh)
1974 Mike Schmidt - expected 4, graded 5
1974 Bob Gibson - expected 7, graded 6
1973 Tom Seaver - expected 6, graded 5
1976 Dennis Eckersley (RC) - expected 7, graded 8
1974 Joe Morgan - expected 7, graded 8
1974 Johnny Bench - expected 7, graded 6
1974 Dave Parker (RC) - expected 6, graded 6
1973 Pete Rose - expected 7, graded 4 (ugh)
1972 Joe Namath - expected 6, graded 7
1971 Johnny Unitas - expected 7, graded 5 (ugh)

Also, they deemed my 1971 Thurman Munson as a miscut, so they did not grade it (ugh).

Three were badly misjudged, but two -- the Winfield & Eck rookies -- got higher than expected grades. Still a great experience. This month's PSA special is modern cards (1993-present), so we'll be sending in my son's cards, as well as two for a friend.

[heyelander]

Win on that winfield rookie card!