PSA Submission Advice for Newbie

FrankDeMariaNY

Hello,
I collected football cards (and some baseball and basketball) casually in the late 80's and 90's. I wouldn't say that I have anything to write home about with regards to any cards of "real" value. Recently I've gone through some of them and noticed that if they were to get graded that coveted PSA 10 or BGS 9.5, then I could make some $$$ off of them.

With that said (and again I'm really new here), I'm noticing that if they were to come back a 9 then the value is basically peanuts. For fun, I want to go through all the boxes and at least get a short stack of them to send to PSA or BGS to see what comes back. At the very least it will keep me engaged.

My question is the following. What should I look for when going through these in their cases. I know centering and the corners are the biggies. What else would you recommend that I see on these cards before I make a final stack of ones that I feel have a 10 or 9.5 potential?

Thank you for the help.

1951WheatiesPremium

@FrankDeMariaNY

First, I’d identify cards you have where 9 might still ok - rookies of HOF caliber players in basketball and baseball being the best place to start.

Second, I’d really look the cards over well. Corners, centering, edges and surface. If you think you see a flaw, it’s there and discard. This includes flaws in the printing.

Third, I’d take the cards with the best combination of upside and condition and ‘rank them’ from 1 to 15.

Fourth, post them here and ask others. Listen to feedback.

Fifth, pay to join collectors club at Platinum level and send in the BEST 5 (you get 15 total) as one sub. See how they do and go from there.

From your described wheelhouse, rookies of Rice, Favre, Sanders, Emmitt Smith in football, Griffey and Jeter in baseball and Shaq and Kobe would be some good places to start for late 80s-early 90s based on some recent auction prices. Probably high end Jordan base cards as well. I’m sure others could add names and specific cards to this as well.

Lastly, temper expectations as best as you can for the entire process and treat it all as a learning experience. The process takes a long time but it’s fun when stuff pops and you have a great community here with which to share in you successes, failures, joys and sorrows.

Good luck!

JRR300

Good advice above. The only thing I would add is to see if you can find a 10 for the card you're thinking of submitting (check EBAY, etc) and give it a visual look and compare.

FrankDeMariaNY

@1951WheatiesPremium said:
@FrankDeMariaNY

First, I’d identify cards you have where 9 might still ok - rookies of HOF caliber players in basketball and baseball being the best place to start.

Second, I’d really look the cards over well. Corners, centering, edges and surface. If you think you see a flaw, it’s there and discard. This includes flaws in the printing.

Third, I’d take the cards with the best combination of upside and condition and ‘rank them’ from 1 to 15.

Fourth, post them here and ask others. Listen to feedback.

Fifth, pay to join collectors club at Platinum level and send in the BEST 5 (you get 15 total) as one sub. See how they do and go from there.

From your described wheelhouse, rookies of Rice, Favre, Sanders, Emmitt Smith in football, Griffey and Jeter in baseball and Shaq and Kobe would be some good places to start for late 80s-early 90s based on some recent auction prices. Probably high end Jordan base cards as well. I’m sure others could add names and specific cards to this as well.

Lastly, temper expectations as best as you can for the entire process and treat it all as a learning experience. The process takes a long time but it’s fun when stuff pops and you have a great community here with which to share in you successes, failures, joys and sorrows.

Good luck!

Thank you so much for the reply. I really appreciate it!!!

I'm starting the ranking process now and I will be more than happy to post them here for recommendations etc.

MCMLVTopps

Follow the advice above and you can't go wrong.

Understand that the process is a lengthy adventure! My last sub took just over 6 months. I have another 100 cards at PSA that I mailed on May 19th, and they logged in on June 19th...it took a month, not to get from GA to CA, but for my sub to finally get to the log in stage. I'm hopeful that I get them back by Christmas.

You can follow the progress of your sub at the very bottom of this page. Find Customer Service, then click "order status"...you will see your sub progress through the several stages of processing. Expect it to be stuck in the Research and ID area for a while. However, if you get the Platinum membership and get the 15 free deal, I think they expedite your order. I haven't done that in a long time, so not quite sure about that. IF you send in a bunch, you can plan on 6 months.

GL with your sub!

LarkinCollector

This was all good advice through yesterday. Today ...
Collectors Club vouchers are currently sold out. With massive growth in Gold and Platinum Collectors Club memberships, we have oversold our anticipated supply of vouchers. Therefore, we are temporarily suspending the issuance of any new vouchers. There is no restriction on the usage of existing unused vouchers.

FrankDeMariaNY

Thank you!

FrankDeMariaNY

Would anyone mind here if I posted some pics of the cards that I think might have potential for PSA?

Thanks in advance.

Robby

Post away ..................lots of sharp eyes and experience on this Board !
Robbie

FrankDeMariaNY

@Robby said:
Post away ..................lots of sharp eyes and experience on this Board !
Robbie

Thanks Robbie! These are a few of them and I have more than seem to have potential. I honestly am new to looking at these with regards to potential grading so any advice/help is welcomed!

Robby

Always hard to tell from a scan ....but here are my opinions on possible grades
Howie Long - looks like a solid Psa 8 .....possible 9 .......great centering

Eddie George - Psa 9

Marshall Faulk - Psa 10

Garbage Pail Kids Roy Bot - Psa 7 .............lower left corner looks soft

Hulk Hogan - Psa 8 ....... tilt and small printer spots might bring it down to a Psa 7

Again , just my opinion !
Robbie

MCMLVTopps

Here's the thing...what may look perfect to you, even with a loupe, can be seen differently by the graders. I say that as long as you see no obvious dings, corners or marks and reasonable centering, send them in. Your Roy Bot card is totally screwed with that obvious mark, it'll kill the grade.

Try to get the best bang for buck in terms of submissions, go with the one that best fits your needs. The worst part is the length of time it takes to get the cards back. Recall Raiders of the lost Ark...the last scene where they are taking the Ark into a warehouse with bajillions of other crates...well, maybe not that bad, but not too far from it. My last sub went in in May, logged in in June, I'll be lucky to get them by Christmas.

Keep in mind that the grading process is subjective, NOT objective. And there is a thing called "eye appeal", whatever that can be defined as that the graders take into account when the final grade is assigned. Maintain low expectations.

LarkinCollector

I'm not up to date on value of these cards, but might want to check what they sell for in the grades Robby mentioned. Those align with my best guess also.

FrankDeMariaNY

Awesome advice everyone. I cannot thank you enough. I have more that I wouldn't mind posting in here and it's great learning for me so I know what to potentially look for. Would anyone be opposed to looking at more of what I have?

Thanks!

LarkinCollector

Post away If anyone is opposed, they can just not open the thread.

FWIW, it's much easier to assess cards via scan/pic if they're in a non-rigid holder like the Hulk up above. The hard cases with the inlay make it hard to determine how sharp the corners are from the slightest bit of an angle.

FrankDeMariaNY

@LarkinCollector said:
Post away If anyone is opposed, they can just not open the thread.

FWIW, it's much easier to assess cards via scan/pic if they're in a non-rigid holder like the Hulk up above. The hard cases with the inlay make it hard to determine how sharp the corners are from the slightest bit of an angle.

Thank you! Yes I was thinking of putting them in something like the Hulk but I am paranoid that I will mess them up..lol

Here are some more from my collection when younger and some more recent pick ups. The line on the Herro is from the sleeve.

Thanks again for the awesome help!

LarkinCollector

Tua' and Burrow are hot right now and all those look nice, so I'd definitely include them. Just check the gloss on the front for scratches (might still be worth subbing, just won't get a 10) or a missing line of gloss (8 max).

Deion RC - Couldn't find the front pic, back looks clean.

Anfernee - right one is centered too low, but looks sharper. left one looks like it has a soft lower left corner capping it at an 8 (unless its' just the angle through the soft sleeve). I'm not sure if those are worth submitting in 8/9 condition.

Keyshawn - likely a 9, but probably not worth submitting.

Sir Charles - possible 10, more likely 9. Love the card, but don't think it has much value, likely even in top grade.

Elway diecut - Looks really clean, the backs of those were so easy to see the slightest chipping on with the black border. Definite candidate for submission.

FrankDeMariaNY

Thank you! Yeah the Tua's and The Burrow's I think are good ones to submit for sure.

I've included the front so you can see it as well!

The Elway has a pop report of 7 PSA 10's out there. I think this is one for submission for sure.

Is there an online tool out there to look gage centering?

Thanks again!

LarkinCollector

Here's a good guide for visuals of centering: https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/897961/a-guide-to-centering

I'm not sure if this Excel is still active: https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/897453/centering-wizard-excel

Jruler is the tool I use to measure from scans (you can get a pixel count on each edge): https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/897453/centering-wizard-excel

Or there's this available for purchase to quickly lay over the card and get the measurements: https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/955970/sale-new-grademaster-card-centering-tool-for-sale-update-now-includes-ebay-listings/

Deion has enough chipping or rough cut on the front, especially apparent on the left edge, that I wouldn't submit.

FrankDeMariaNY

On a side note, where are the best places online to get a box of this years cards? I don't have many card stores by me (if any) and every time I go into a wal-mart or target, they are always out.

LarkinCollector

@FrankDeMariaNY said:
On a side note, where are the best places online to get a box of this years cards? I don't have many card stores by me (if any) and every time I go into a wal-mart or target, they are always out.

For new stuff:
https://www.dacardworld.com/
https://www.blowoutcards.com/
For older stuff:
https://www.bbcexchange.com/
https://www.opcbaseball.com/

It's always worth checking prices on eBay or Amazon too.

FrankDeMariaNY

@LarkinCollector said:

@FrankDeMariaNY said:
On a side note, where are the best places online to get a box of this years cards? I don't have many card stores by me (if any) and every time I go into a wal-mart or target, they are always out.

For new stuff:
https://www.dacardworld.com/
https://www.blowoutcards.com/
For older stuff:
https://www.bbcexchange.com/
https://www.opcbaseball.com/

It's always worth checking prices on eBay or Amazon too.

Thank you. I've looked on eBay and Amazon as well before. I'll continue to keep looking.

Another question. When I go to the PSA pop report in my research, if I see the pop report for a ten (or 9) is low....does that scarcity equate to a higher worth?

Thank you!

LarkinCollector

It can or it can also mean low demand. In conjunction with total submitted, you can get a better idea. Say two cards each have three 10s, one has 100 submissions and the other has 4. A 3% hit rate and 100 subs shows demand and difficulty. A 75% hit rate on 4 subs shows it's pretty easy to get a 10 and there aren't that many interested in submitting (or perhaps it's just a brand new release and not many have made it through the grading process yet).

FrankDeMariaNY

@LarkinCollector said:
It can or it can also mean low demand. In conjunction with total submitted, you can get a better idea. Say two cards each have three 10s, one has 100 submissions and the other has 4. A 3% hit rate and 100 subs shows demand and difficulty. A 75% hit rate on 4 subs shows it's pretty easy to get a 10 and there aren't that many interested in submitting (or perhaps it's just a brand new release and not many have made it through the grading process yet).

Got it. Thank you as always. I'm sure I'll be posted more cards for review in here soon...lol.

FrankDeMariaNY

Does anyone have thoughts on a card like this? I never know if these "promo" cards have any real value or not.

Thanks again!

LarkinCollector

Some sample/promo cards have value, others not so much. The key to whether they can be graded or not is whether they are licensed by the league/players association/player and the one posted does not appear to be. I collect some of the unlicensed ones, either for the subject or just late 80s/early 90s card show nostalgia, but they're still pretty much worth about the buck we all picked them up for back then.

The magazine issued cards from that era have really picked up some steam recently when PSA started grading some from Baseball Cards Magazine, Tuff Stuff, Legends of Sports Mem, etc. 10s especially, but even some 9s are bringing pretty decent coin.

FrankDeMariaNY

Thanks for that. I've also seen the starting lineup cards graded and those selling for a decent price.

Would you suggest I send this in?

FrankDeMariaNY

The magazine issued cards from that era have really picked up some steam recently when PSA started grading some from Baseball Cards Magazine, Tuff Stuff, Legends of Sports Mem, etc. 10s especially, but even some 9s are bringing pretty decent coin.

I vaguely remember those magazines. Did each issue have cards in them?

LarkinCollector

I would not send the Shaq in, I don't believe it's a licensed card.

BCM didn't in the early issues, but sometime in 89 (?) started to and continued as far as I know until it ceased publication. Tuff Stuff was pretty hit or miss. I think LSM had cards in (nearly?) all issues.

FrankDeMariaNY

I've been looking at purchasing a football box just for fun but unsure which one to look at. I like the Donruss style but I know Prisims are sought after and expensive.

Any advice and feedback is appreciated!

Thanks!