I just bought a lot of 8 1959 topps cards in pretty decent condition
nj1980
Posts: 13 ✭
I was wondering what some of you guys thought of this buy? With shipping I paid about 180. They are in nice shape just massive centering issues, which apparently are very common for this set. Any thoughts are more than welcome!
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Correction I paid $173.88
Always risky buying raw cards. Have you measured size of cards (2 1/2 x 3 1/2) to check if cards are trimmed? I hope it works out for you…
Its a 173 dollar investment, not the end of the world either way but no I bought them on ebay so no measuring as of yet. Seller had perfect feedback which is always good.
Always liked the Fence Busters card and your copy plus the Roberts are both nice (if not trimmed).
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Also collecting Andre Tippett, Patriots Greats' RCs, Dwight Evans, 1964 Venezuelan Topps, 1974 Topps Red Sox
What are the best grades a vintage card can get from PSA with such centering issues? Assuming its otherwise perfect and off centered like that would an 8 be out of the question?
Clearly you went into this with your eyes open and knowing what you were getting. To my mind, you got about what you paid for and ended up with some rather handsome cards, ones that most of us would be proud to own. I love that Mathews and I think that's Snider's second coolest Topps card.
None of those would grade as 8 NQ. If you make the assumption that they were worthy of an 8 based on corners, surface and edges, then you're still looking at four of your eight definitely with a miscut (MC) qualifier and two with an off-center (OC) qualifer (Roberts/Fence Busters), and two that might either be MC or OC (Drysdale/Killebrew) depending on the grader
If I can get a 7 on 3 of these I should be able to profit. Im no expert grader and I havent even seen them in person so its all speculation at this point.
Would you guys send these to PSA or Beckett?
I would not unless you are getting them graded to keep in your collection. Most are Mis cut so you are not getting more than a 3-4 on them which will leave you in the red if you are looking to flip. Also those screw down holders may have damaged them.
Kiss me twice.....let's party.
Il just get the fence busters and the roberts graded I think. Perhaps one other
My guess would be PSA seeing as we are on the PSA message boards.
If you bought them to grade and flip, I think it would be hard to make a profit on them. You would have to clear over $300 to break even after you factor in your price you paid, the grading fees (8x$15), ebay/paypal fees, shipping to grade and shipping to buyer. Remember that if a card is mc/oc, a psa 7mc would equal the price of a 5, 2 grades lower. Plus, being that mc/oc, is a turn off to a lot of buyers, so your buyer pool is smaller.
Calculating out my best guess approx final sales amount if they were sold after being graded by PSA, based on what is visible by zooming, considering subtracting for raw acquisition, grading fees, shipping/insurance, ebay fees, paypal fees, etc., I think you could come in reasonably close to break-even, but I'm not seeing profit that is worth the time.
If they were mine, I'd include the Mantle #461 in with another order if I needed to add a card to meet a minimum quantity, but I'd skip grading the others.
If grading for profit you will most likely just be spinning your wheels and most likely be on the losing end after fees of grading and re-selling.
If you can sell them raw in person and piece them out that way then maybe make a little profit.
In the future, consider purchasing well-centered cards above everything else. Grade-for-grade, a well-centered card will always outperform the hammer price of off-center ones.
But even if they were graded an overall 4 or 5 wouldnt that be enough to make a profit after the grading fees? I would have thought I could sell each one at an average of about $70, maybe even more for the Mantle and Roberts.
On the Roberts? A quick search of recently sold items shows this PSA 7 at only $20 and its centering is better than yours. With all assoc. fees, you'd still lose money with this one as a comp, and that's before you factor in the purchase price.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/185727598934?hash=item2b3e3a4156:g:dAQAAOSwXgJjskME&amdata=enc:AQAHAAAAsAzHSDZKk9z5EeOlHEmTvguvtnAlmW/G55feI7qmfut5c/mV5/xiJE5lLVJpHsuvAq9se3+RF8p/EcifeWmHeX8kh/OxgHeKDE9gMaT/ZcTCUk4wcbXWYvCWp1a5i3o2d7cWiBKKK7Fu3PEYaOdMgXYC/De+5Ei8/aMQXsE5sK6Ill1whEuEE4QHN1OlVq8V0vVxxgi5fTxRw3/AHNeVdKjXxDUpPvf1t4C71Sae/Xun|tkp:Bk9SR8K4lIbFYQ&nma=true&si=b%2FKPKEbycqqAhek%2Fo7FSimgWm40%3D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557
Your Ed Mathews is MC, not OC. Even a Mint 9 OC only gets $30, and yours would not grade that highly.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/275554702385?hash=item4028571431:g:afgAAOSwejhjgUZv&amdata=enc:AQAHAAAAsKl7btv7wpa7VB0g6Mpl3A2/KCxAH34RaAoiiXmIYJm4wBKhuXE2iMdSdllWLN+h1UluI3TGwdcn/v8JJotziP1FemOvn56i/TBqSfbPXreougOBFhg4BtjFCdUxzzdZTCzm4zfS8qlBtsBwkBqsHkusb5evSE2FB4IRv6Dob8r3f422XBYkf0L30mCpjzF3j8YglGocrYU82/qvFuxcvQy67eDq/G26CGnX2Tjw+nF4|tkp:Bk9SR-y42obFYQ&nma=true&si=b%2FKPKEbycqqAhek%2Fo7FSimgWm40%3D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557
When comparing with recently sold items (sold, not comparing with items listed as BIN but haven't been sold yet)
The Mantle probably gets $75 - $80 (a Miscut MC qualifier is a tougher sell than an OC is), and that is an ebay sale price estimate, before subtracting all fees, cost of acquisition, etc.
Roberts might get you in the range of $15-25
Fence Busters $45-55
Snider maybe $30 to 35 at best with that MC
same range for Drysdale, $30-35
$35-40 on Killebrew
$25 on the Ashburn
$25 for Matthews
I'm guessing $280 is the optimistic high end of what you'd get on bids if auctioned on ebay today. Subtract all associated costs and fees and you'd be in the negative from that figure.
You'd have to keep in mind that it does take several months to wait for a grading order to be processed. It also would be harder to find a buyer for cards with that level of OC/MC; I believe the majority of buyers would prefer a nicely centered card with a little more wear compared with one with sharper corners but bad centering, if spending an otherwise same amount of money on them.
I would keep them raw- grading more likely than not will just frame the miscut question that has been answered with the outcome which creates doubt in terms of those that are seeking graded cards. I suspect there might be enough collectors seeking a raw set of '59 topps that would be pleased to own these.
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Understood, thanks everyone for your input I really appreciate it!