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Crossover to PSA for unopened vintage wax and cello packs
meilander
Posts: 1 ✭
Will PSA grade GAI unopened packs? I have several PSA graded cello packs, and 7 GAI graded packs and would like them all to be PSA. Can I send in the GAI packs as raw packs or do I have to break them out? Any advice is appreciated.
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If you send them as raw packs, then that means you already broke them out.... So I assume you are asking if you can send them in as GAI graded packs.... It appears that PSA does NOT offer crossover service for graded packs, so that would mean you would have to absolve PSA of damage liability if you let them crack them open, which I don't know if PSA offers such a waiver (for crossovers, PSA has liability for cracking). I'd say it would be a safer bet that you crack them out yourself. On the flip side, after you send them in, they could be determined to be "altered" (resealed), even if they are not, so then you are really screwed. Not sure if there is that much upside taking the risk. Might be better to just leave them be.
They just announced not too long ago that they were doing away with crossover pack service.
They no longer offer the crossover option on the submission form but my understanding is that you can submit a GAI graded pack with the regular sub option and they will cut the pack out of the GAI holder if Steve can make a determination on authenticity through the holder and they gain your permission to cut the pack out.
If you are confident that the packs are legit, I would just cut them out on your own and sub them, even though some risk is involved.
Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
That's practically a crossover (without the min grade option)... Who else grades/graded packs? If they have this option, they might as well have it on the order form, but then maybe it happens so rarely, they don't want it up there to confuse people doing normal subs.
I have a 1962 Topps Baseball Wax Pack GAI-7.5 1st Series w/"Manager's Dream" showing on the back of the pack w/serial #102xxxxx. PSA told me to write on the submission form in writing the consent to cut the pack out of the GAI holder, if necessary to authenticate.
I plan to submit this month.
PSA is the only option for pack grading. I'm not really sure why they removed it in the first place. That decision made no sense to me.
Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
Oh do show 😍
If it does not get authentic or wax pack comes back badly ripped…I will rip.
Here is the pack:
That pack is insanely cool. I say leave it be.
Yes...it'll be way more rare in the existing slab than a PSA slab over time I suspect. In 200 years the PSA slabs will still be everywhere but GAI likely will be hard to find.
Too bad people can't fix populations when cracking out so information is closer to being accurate. Obviously it'll never be 100% accurate.
Personally...I like how it appears the way it is and I honestly don't think anyone buying it would pay more for a PSA slab. The person who wants to buy it someday would likely be buying the pack, not the slab, and the existing holder looks fine to me. I enjoy seeing other holders in my collection with nice cards inside. The card/pack cannot control which grading company it is sent to and so I don't discriminate against it.
i would say that would indeed be more valuable in a PSA holder. There was some issues with GAI and having slabbed packs that weren't authentic. A certain run of serial numbers if memory serves me correct. I'm sure there is someone here that has more info on that aspect.
While most packs are most likely ok, I would be much more likely to buy a pack in a PSA slab over a GAI slab.
Beautiful pack!
Grote15 knows the GAI serial numbers that are considered safe and suspect - I’m sure he’ll chime in. I think the 102 series is generally considered to be slabbed around the time GAI started having issues with pack evaluations, but I don’t know.
Jim
I asked Grote before bidding…and he did not see any red flags.
Certs 100XXX-103XXX, essentially spanning the silver flip era, are generally reliable, but any pack should be evaluated based on its own merits and attributes. That particular pack looks clean and authentic to me at least from the pics.
One problem issue with the 102XXX certs were the early 70s "grocery" cellos, which were holdered in error. Such packs never existed and were never produced by Topps.
There is definitely greater value with the PSA holder. That said, there have been issues with packs being damaged within the PSA holders, especially with regard to wax packs, as the well within the holder is not wide enough to accommodate the wrapper in many cases. Cellos, which are usually more tightly wrapped to begin with, have not experienced those problems.
Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
Thanks Grote for the info!
Just be careful - if the pack is loosely wrapped, it could get damaged in the very tight PSA shell. I'd leave it in the GAI holder until there is a solution to this issue.
I would never buy a GAI slabbed pack unless it was dirt cheap. Especially for the price that vintage packs are selling for these days.
That being said, for the right price, I probably would take a chance and be willing to pay more for your particular pack. Considering that likely if it had been opened, they would have removed the Manager's Dream card which of course features Mantle and Mays.
Of course a clever re-sealing scammer might intentionally put in a card such as that where it can be seen, to increase the value of the pack, and likely the card has a print defect or something else wrong with it, lessening its value. So ya still gotta be careful. Again, at the right price for the added risk.
Considering all that, and considering the responses from knowledgeable members here, I'd take the chance and send it in to PSA. And look, if ya roll snake eyes, then it's bad luck, but at least you'll know.
All good points. The resealing with a good card on front or back that's been swapped is scaring to think about when considering this could be happening still. Know someone who wants to make $500 a crack for a few packs to get through the grading process. I'm not suspecting anything but it would be hard to catch if one person a big company did this once a month.
Sort of a similar scam strategy to the way they present those so-called "unsearched" paper wrapped coin rolls on Ebay. A nice coin will be placed on the end of each roll, and the remainder of the roll is basically garbage.
You'd think that folks wouldn't fall for these old tricks anymore. But the scammers know that there are new collectors coming into the hobby all the time. These newbies are vulnerable and could be unaware of these various scams, and it winds up costing them money. Sometimes it may even make them lose interest in the hobby.
It's really important before diving head first into any collectible venture, to educate yourself about it. Frankly, in my view, the hobbies of card collecting, coin collecting, etc. actually are more enjoyable when ya gain knowledge about all this and of course other things as well.
The old saying is knowledge is power, which is true. However knowing that you made a wise purchase not only adds enjoyment, but is also a sound tool for good investing.
Putting the money aside for a second, I've always enjoyed the collecting aspect of our hobby. But that being said, I think most collectors would agree that making a nice long term profit on your acquired items, adds to the fun. 😊
PSA packs don't exactly have a bulletproof history, either. As Tim said, more than the slab, each pack should be weighed based on its own characteristics and traits. If you're basing your entire decision on the slab, you probably shouldn't be collecting vintage wax.
Arthur
Which authentication area has had least amount of issues ?
1- Wax boxes
2- packs
3- cards
I think autographs and authentic game worn jerseys has had the most
problems where a lack of trust has surfaced among hobby participants.
This seems like an openended topic to hijack the thread into just bashing PSA. I don't know if that's what you intended but there's no need for it here. If you want to talk about game worn jerseys you should start a new thread.
Arthur
Sorry you interpreted it like that.
I’m trying to decide which part of the hobby to collect and my experience is not as good as others.
Stevek said that pack could be questionable. Ive got a lot to learn I guess.
Hijacking threads ?
Bashing PSA ?
No sir. Just someone trying to enjoy a hobby while spending his very hard earned money wisely.
Sorry, we get a lot of trolls here. Your concerns have merit I just think this thread isn't the place for them. You should start your own thread so you can get specific responses to your questions. There are a lot of great members here that would certainly help. I just didn't want this thread to turn into "What does PSA do worst of all?"
I'm not saying that's what you intended now, just saying it could have easily slipped right into it.
Arthur