How would you proceed?

The53Kid

Question, I have a lot of about 400 1968 Topps commons and minor stars that I bought way back in 1988 from a dealer who specialized in big lots of commons. They basically look like they came straight from a vending box(if they even had vending boxes in 68). Considering the results of some stars I had graded in 68, I would say the vast majority will get 8's with a sprinkling on 7's and 9's.

But I don't know what to do with these? Ok, Ok, I'll save you the time, "Send them to me!"

I'm not really interested in collecting the 68 set. I don't want to spend $2800 to get them all graded and sell each individually on ebay. Here are some thoughts I have, tell me your experiences.

1) Get them graded and sell them on Ebay(not my first choice, but is it the most profitable?)
2) See if I could consign then to someone like Superior. Maybe their grading fee discount would pay off.
3) Take them to the Philly show and shop them around.
4) Sell them ungraded. I don't like this option because I consider these extremely nice and selling them ungraded would short change their value.

Thoughts?
Bruce

dude

Bruce,

I collect and sell '68s and this intrigues me somewhat, but I would have to see them first hand before recommending any of your options.

acowa

Bruce,

Dan Markel (Dude) knows that set cold...a lot better than I do for sure.

I would take a look at the populations before I did anything. There are classic supply demand examples of cards that are perfect for grading and cards that even in a PSA 8 holder...won't be worth paying the grading fee on.

I would be willing to bet that you could check the 1968 set registry board to find out who needs what cards...and simply sell them ungraded...as long as you give the buyer a few day return priviledge to see the condition for themselves. The email addresses are out there for most of the set collectors.

Regards,



Alan

brucemo

Pick the twenty best and send them in. If you do okay, repeat.

Process:

1) Look at each card front and back, under a good light, and discard the ones with wrinkles or wax.
2) Discard anything with distinctly bad centering (one border more than twice as wide as the other side).
3) Put them in Card Saver I's.

Now you have well-centered cards with no wrinkles or wax, and they are protected.

4) Look at each card and back-burner anything that has *any* kind of corner wear visible to the naked eye.
5) Take another pass and separate out the cards that have *no* corner wear visible under a magnifying glass.

At this point you have mint candidates. If you only have a few, send them in. If you have a lot, send in the ones that look sharpest and are best centered.

PSA-9

PSA-8

There are some scans of PSA-graded corners. Don't try to wish a PSA-8 corner into a PSA-9 holder, it rarely works.

Worst case you blow one or two hundred bucks and have a hard time getting it back. Best case you make all of your grading fees back on one card.

If you do anything else, there may be less risk, but you might leave more money on the table.

bruce

LloydsBaseballCards

If I sent in that "8" corner, I would get a "6" for sure.........

bighurt2000

Bruce,
HI and welcome to the board I am currently working on the 68 Topps Set. I am also going to
be at the Philly show mostly be looking for graded or ungaded 68 Topps cards to add to my set
go ahead and send me an email maybe we can meet up in Philly

brucemo

That is not a PSA-6 corner. It's a tiny touch on the corner of a card that would have otherwise gotten a 9. The scan is at 1200 dpi, the width of the scan is maybe 3/8".

bruce

HockeyCardGuru

Great post Brucemo! It's so great to see collectors such as yourself really going the extra mile to help other board members get the information they're looking for. I agree with Lloyd though, that corner (despite the magnification) would still get someone with my grading luck a 6! ...Michael