Small review of this weekend's Philly show
BaltimoreYankee
Posts: 2,994 ✭✭✭✭✭
I went to the Philly show yesterday and spent about 3 hours there.
The Valley Forge Casino and Convention Center is definitely a nicer location and a little closer to home for me but the show itself was good. Lots of vintage cards and plenty of dealers with the usual big show pricing. I was mainly looking for high quality 1966 high numbers as well as 1970's OPC baseball. I almost pulled the trigger on 1966 Topps tigers Team and Gaylord Perry but ultimately kept my cash in my pocket as both were just a hair under the quality that I was looking for. I ended up buying some supplies and just one pack of 1992 Pinnacle for $1 (no good cards but worth the dollar for a 30 year old rip).
One dealer had a group of probably a few hundred raw Goudey's that he said he had just purchased (several Ruths included). BBCE had very little in unopened.
Only 2 pic's to share:
1952 Topps PSA 7 pack that was to be auctioned:
1968 Topps 3D Clemente with a $100K price sticker on it:
Comments
Thanks for posting this - nice to hear what is happening.
Bosox1976
What were the Ruth’s going for?
HOF SIGNED FOOTBALL RCS
They didn't have any prices showing and I didn't ask - way too rich for my blood! It was very cool seeing such a large group together though.
There are more rare Venezuela Topps Clemente’s with much lower POPs. I can’t understand why the 3-D sells for what it does, considering it’s not a low POP card.
Kind of reminds me of the old phrase: "If you have to ask the price, you probably can't afford it".
Supply and DEMAND.
For those of us of a certain age, the Clemente 3D was in the color photos of the annual Beckett price guide (before the Beckett monthly days) included as a card from the Barry Halper collection. If I recall there were just two pages of color photos (lots of cards on each page) and many of us looked at those pictures over and over. All of those cards were cemented as the best of the best when we were kids.
Also how many of those Venezuelans are you going to find in a Mint 9. Not sure they wouldn’t be right up there in that condition.
You don’t understand or appreciate how difficult it is to find any Venezuela Topps star in a PSA 5 or PSA 6. That is the equivalent of a 9 or 10. They are graded at a fraction of a Topps card. I know rare doesn’t mean much unless there is demand. That’s obvious. The 3-D is overrated and over priced.
First of all that Clemente will not sell for $100K - last few have sold for just under $30K in a 9 and I don’t think the next one gets higher than $50K and more likely goes for under $40K. All out of my price range and it is a card I will never have. But I do hope to get the Perez someday.
I do understand how tough the Venezuelans are. I am working on the Venezuelans and OPCs for Ernie Banks to go along with my Topps run. So far I only have the 1966 in both. If he had a 1968 3-D it would be above the Venezuelans on my want list - the Venezuelans are inferior looking to the Topps and OPCs due to the cheaper card stock and bad coloring. However, they are really cool due to the rarity and how hard it is to find any without paper loss on the back.
I am a fan of the Venezuelans, but to me the ‘68 3-D is one of the better test sets that Topps ever produced. If Banks had a ‘68 3-D, it would be a new photograph presented in a unique way. In a 9 it would cost more than my 3 ‘66s combined and could be something I would never afford. But I could probably get an 8. Look at what the Tony Perez’s go for, think Banks would go for higher. I would also be able to buy in high grade vs. getting 4s to 6s like I will have to do to complete the Banks run of Venezuelans and some of the OPCs. The one knock for me against the 3-Ds is they have a plain white back.
I do think ALL OPCs and Venezuelas are underpriced - but I would still pay more for the 3-D. The 1968 3-Ds are helped by the fact that there are only 12 in the set and only 2 HOFers. Type collectors don’t have a lot of choices to get one for their collection. Also people like to have the best - getting the Clemente is getting the best card in the set. while this is true for Mantle in most cases there is some debate with rookies from the various sets.
I hope that I can find my Banks Venezuelans and OPCs and bid enough to win them before prices go out of my range. So far I have been the underbidder often but only the high bidder on the two above. Starting to understand the market better and what it might take to win the next ones - as I am newer to buying these. Because they come up so rarely it is hard to know what to bid. However in the case of OPC they just don’t carry a premium to Topps for the most part. I hope it stays this way for a good long time as I really like OPC and am starting to collect more and more on them and want to get the Banks Venezuelans.
I guess I am arguing the 3-Ds are priced about right, the Venezuelans are underpriced but the Venezuelans should be less than the 3-D.
I do respect your opinion though and think many share it. Keep enjoying and adding to your Venezuelan collection. It is something to be proud of even if price never reflects the scarcity.