Changing Registry Landscape

FB

I was talking to a couple other graded card collectors last weekend and as usually happens - the registry comes up. It didn't take long until the topic turned to how the "landscape" is continually changing. It wasn't that long ago where Sky led the 67 registry, Gaspipe the 69 and Carlos the 74. The 72 Fab Five were Erik, Frank, Mike, Neil and Carlos - now we're just the Three Amigos... Seems like only last week that Revere's Finest set appeared on the board and shot up like a rocket! We eagerly waited to see who's sets would be posted and weighted next and then watched to see who would post the 1000th set.

What have been the biggest changes (good and bad) in your opinions?

thegemmintman

The '72 FAB FIVE was a force to be reckoned with in their day, and contributed mightely to the Registry's success.


The remaining '72 Topps Three Amigos as they are today:

Basilone

One of the biggest changes Ive seen over the past year is the realization that the market is not as strong as first anticipated for completely graded sets. In the beginning many were buying cards at ANY cost to complete the best set money could buy and complete it as quickly as possible. The only problem is that some found out that, yes... they had the best money could buy...but they were the only ones willing to buy it!

As the registry has matured...Ive noticed more collectors bidding with their heads rather than with their hearts.

Two points that were made this past year that I will forever remember:

The Bobs saying that "your profit/loss is made on the buy side of the transaction...not when you sell"

FB saying to the effect "Yes...I could of bid twice my high bid to win the 1972 PSA 10...but when the time comes to sell the card...who would I sell it to?" (or something to that effect).

John Basilone

yawie99

i don't know if it's a good thing, a bad one or just a simple fact, but i've been pretty surprised by the number of top sets that have been sold - either piece by piece or as a whole - by those who assembled them. right now, i can't imagine doing that, but i suppose it's possible that when i do finish, i'll see that the thrill is indeed in the chase.

JasP24

On the flipside of what Basilone is saying, I think the Registry bears some responsibility (good and bad) for the bidding wars for Vintage PSA graded cards. I can't speak for baseball PSAs, but I began buying PSA vintage graded football back in 1998 on ebay. Back then it was rare to pay over 50% of SMR. Now its virtually impossible to get ANYTHING at 50% book, and tough to get most at even 100% book.

While I certainly do not think the Set Registry is the lone or even the majority contributer, I think it has played a part in it. Personally, I am fine with it. I enjoy the competition for cards on ebay, and it helps me to keep my spending in check because many cards just go out of my price range.

I hope that even more people start finding the Registry as I recently did. I enjoy seeing where my collection stacks up as well as being able to take a look at some of the rare cards that you wouldn't see anywhere else. I wonder if there is a way to get the Registry some face time/banner ads on the ebay Trading Card pages.

JasP24

gemint

One thing I've noticed is that although there are many sets registered online, there are many more collectors that are not registering their collections. I go up against bidders all the time that are not among the active builders of a particular set. Another thing I've noticed is that many collectors are holding their cards for a long time, even though some of the completed sets have been sold off. I used to see alot of PSA 9 1969 Brooks Robinsons, Willie Stargells, Pete Roses, and Ernie Banks. Though they still appear occassionally (there are two PSA 9 Stargells that have listed on eBay recently), it's not nearly the same frequency as it was a few years ago. The % of stars vs commons has also changed. It used to be only star cards that were getting graded. Since the registry was started, there are now more commons than stars graded. The submissions of star cards has definitely trailed off. Most likely because the high grade raw material has started to dry up. The population for PSA 9 1969 Clemente's exploded a few years ago reaching 50+. But the population has barely moved in the past year. The prices have gone from a peak of $1700 down to under $750 now. If the market (collectors, not dealers) absorbs the 53 9s, I think the prices will recover to the mid $1000 range.

toppsgun

People who bought early to rocket to the top of the Registry overpaid dearly for cards. For example, Skylaneflyer would overpay by a few hundred dollars for a 1967 1 of 1 PSA 9. Then when the 2nd copy of that card got graded and went up on ebay, he would bid it up to (nearly) his buy price on the first one, as if to justify it. That had the secondary effect of driving the #2 collector to a price higher than he would have liked to pay. In the world of stocks, that is blatant market manipulation.

Of course, he reaped the whirlwind to that strategy when he sold his set on Superior. He realized less than SMR and less than half what he had in the thing.

What's really funny is this: Cards that sold on Superior from his set are popping up on ebay and selling for a whole lot more.

Vargha

Speaking from personal experience, breaking up my set was an excellent way to go.

calleocho

i think set collectors are a limited bunch though...it takes a lot of money and patience to build a psa 8 1963 topps set.

what i see the registry changing is the possibilities of what people can consider a set

when it first started there was only talk about player sets ...now there are hof sets, 50's yankees and dodgers

i think thats where the real growth will be.

most set collectors already know about psa and the registry ..but there are many hundreds of advanced collectors who only collect in themes ...like team sets, cy youngs mvp's player born in colorado etc....

these collectors have a more focused collection , usually smaller and they can be more emotional than a set collector who needs 500 cards. spending more per card than a set collector

it could make things interesting in an auction.