Poll: Where will PSA 8 Complete 52 Topps set end up?

Buckwheat

Presently it is at $240,000 plus 15% buyers fee. November SMR is $268,000. Where do you think it will end up?

crazysc

307 + vig.

waitilltheytrytosell

$449,575 - includes buyers premium.

mikeschmidt

waittil-

That's the most aggressive estimate I've heard yet -- perhaps you know of one or two uber-collectors that think this will be the easiest way to enter the 1952 Topps foray? We shall see

Buckwheat

The auction is still at $240,000, but I expect the action to be on the last day, as usual. It is interesting that with an SMR of $267, the price is already above SMR, and most of the votes say it will go significantly higher. I know this is a naive question, but I don't follow this set: Do PSA 8 cards from this set usually go for a lot more than SMR?

jaxxr

Buckwheat,

It is hard to "rationalize" any money spent on impractical items like sportscards. We all must be a bit nuts when buying this material, although there are some who make nice profits.

The ease of getting this full set might be worth several hundreds of hours of one's time versus individual purchases. There are many low-pop cards which almost always go for more than the SMR guide. The status of winning this particular auction, with its corresponding hoopla, is no doubt worth something. Normal inflation should make the set more costly in the future. Rarely are any deep-discounted 52s available on the net. Dealer listing are almost always at book or over on 8s. There are certainly more reasons why it could be okay to pay something over book price on this set.

I must believe that one who desires a complete 52 set in high grade does not have the financial restraints that most of us do. In some cases I would gladly pay $ 15-25 over book for some nice singles I am collecting. This of course is not comparable to tens of thousands additional which may be the case here. Unfortunately, if somehow I even won a quarter million bucks, I could not allocate more than 10 or 20 percent towards the hobby. While all board members have differing backgrounds the majority probably could not consider a reasonable bid on the 52 set. I do have a Topps reprint set of the 52s, that will have to suffice for now.

mikeschmidt

Buckwheat: There are many low population commons from the set that sell for mega bucks.

Del Crandell is a good example. So is Smoky Burgess. A common, the last PSA 8 I saw for sale had a $2,200 price tag on it. There are at least a few dozen cards from the set that will typically sell for multiples of SMR.

MS

interchanges

I doubt if we'll ever have a chance like that again. Too bad only a few people have the jack required to afford the whole shebang all in one lot.

Incredible sets like that should be sold induvidually for full appreciation, I think. Like the Harris T206 sale.
Makes each part of it available to a whole lot more people in the long run. Oh well, I wonder what the consigner bought with the dough?

crazysc

<< <i>Incredible sets like that should be sold induvidually for full appreciation, I think. Like the Harris T206 sale.
Makes each part of it available to a whole lot more people in the long run. Oh well, I wonder what the consigner bought with the dough? >>



An interesting point. Just about any auction besides Mastro would have sold it individually, maybe even in 407 lots. Mastro's advertising is "we can get that last bid for your item", but I think here someone would have done better giving it to a smaller seller to break up...maybe even on ebay...

acowa

This might be a golden opportunity for a dealer to take advantage of the opportunity to buy it from Mastro then sell the set "correctly". By selling as a set, you are undoubtedly limiting your prospective buyers.


Regards,


Alan

waitilltheytrytosell

Breaking it and selling it individually would have realized the consignor a significant amount more money. The individual sales would fall in three categories - below SMR, SMR, and above SMR. The downside of the cards selling below SMR is minimal. There is enough interest from collectors and dealers to keep the "loss" on the easiest cards to a minimum. Most of the cards will sell for around SMR. The upside of the cards that are going to sell for over SMR to many multiples of SMR is why you break a set like this and sell individually. I think we were all hoping that a new bidder with unlimited funds would be pulled from a distant planet. The search continues.

Bingo33

I've got to think that the consignor of this lot had to be bummed. I heard thru the grapevine that he was led to believe that he would net 350-400K. If they hit him for 15% vig, he just got to 200K.

I completely agree that breaking the set on ebay would have generated much more money. I think in general Mastro's PSA multiple card lots seem to bring below SMR prices. I don't think any of the owners ever get to 70% of SMR on their lots. Great for us or the dealers who purchase the lots.

mikeschmidt

Well -- just to play devil's advocate here -- is there any thought that there might have been a hidden reserve on the lot, and thus it may not have ultimately sold?