Sets I would never consider grading...

mikeschmidt

Especially if I was planning on selling at a profit....

I mean -- it's a nice set and all, and one of the harder 1980s Traded/Update type sets. I am just surprised to see too many people embarking on an endeavour like this.

MS

Galveston

I'm assuming he sent the entire set in for grading and I'm surprised only three of the cards received a 10. That set, largely in PSA 9, is not going provide much of an investment. Shouldn't he have sent in 10-15 of the best conditioned cards to see what the grades were like before shipping the whole set?

mcastaldi

Galveston> I was surprised at only three PSA10s - but even more surprised by how many 8s are in there. On a set as new as 84, I think you have to look for at least 9s. Considering I'm working an 82F set with a target GPA of 9.5. . .now, I'm working it VERY SLOWLY, but when I find 10s for reasonable I buy them.

Mike

LuxuryWines

First rule of Building a Set to sell it:

Make sure you really like the set because you may end up being the Ultimate buyer or lose money on your investment....

Fabfrank

Luxury Wines is right. Whenever people ask me what to collect that will go up in price, I always say "Collect what you like. If it goes up in value, Great. If not, you'll always have the pleasure of ownership"

brucemo

I think that collectors would typically rather build sets themselves than buy them pre-built, so my feeling is that if I am putting together a set, there had better be a market for the individual cards in the set, if I expect to be able to get my money out.

I figure that the only way to get money back out is via a set break. If a set break is impossible, I am *spending* money rather than *investing* it. Since I am collecting for its own sake, I may choose to ignore this distinction, but I am not so well off that I can ignore this distinction very often.

Those who think that they can make money by assembling a collection of items that are worthless by themselves are in danger of making a serious mistake.

bruce

bengineno9

Got to admit those tackle box looking storage things are pretty tight!

Cubfan

I agree with Bengineno - If nothing else, the pictures used to advertise the set are as good as Ive seen with regards to making the set look attractive.

BugOnTheRug

I think that there are worse endeavors than this set constitutes. My guess is that there are folks who lose far more than this guy will on this graded set.

HOWEVER, as pointed out previously, the 8's and lower are of no 'real' value and are totally wasted money. 9's would be minimum. I see he has 5's, 6's, 7's, etc. That certainly doesn't work for an 80's set!

In any event, he has a very nice display and is presented very well.

BOTR

acowa

Frank,

<Luxury Wines is right. Whenever people ask me what to collect that will go up in price, I always say "Collect what you like. If it goes up in value, Great. If not, you'll always have the pleasure of ownership">


I have a funny story for you. About 10 years ago I was at a show with a friend who bought cards for "investment" purposes. He knew that I had been in the hobby for awhile and I started noticing that he was buying one of whatever I bought. After 2 tables, I asked him about it and explained that I was buying the cards to give to the sons of our other friends ... and that I thought they probably wouldn't appreciate much if at all. I gave him the same advice you just gave.

Regards,


Alan

Wabittwax

I think that set is really great but not a profitable venture. The person that sent those in should have used more than one set and tried to get as many 10's as possible. Overall I would love to own that set all graded but right now, I've got better things to spend my money on. Maybe if I was a Marshall Fogel type and had money to blow, I'd buy it.

PlayBall

The seller currently has the #1 set on the registry. It is not complete, but the GPA of 9.51 is impressive. The set he is selling is not all from one set. This set doesn't work that way. He is selling what didn't cut it for his registered set.

I have bought about a dozen of these sets, minus the Clemens & Puckett (to save money), and I am not 50% of the way complete with a GPA of under nine. Some sets don't have a single card worthy of grading. Like any other set that was only sold in tightly boxed sets, the corners tend to get "squeezed", and become almost rounded, even though there doesn't seem to be a ding. Also could be the way they were cut.

Anyway, I agree that the PSA 5-7's are a waste, but the difference between an 8 and 9, or 9 and 10, can be so close that sometimes its a crapshoot. Since these cards come in about 12 different shades of blue, it can make the determination that much tougher.

MickeyC

I think this is his second attempt at trying to sell this set, as I recall having it in my auction watch list.

I'm currently working on a PSA 8 and higher 84 Fleer Update set, and I'm jealous of some of his cards.

Mark

NeilDowney

Hey Mickey C, Do you buy high grade raw cards for your sets. Email me your wantlists at nbdowney@msn.com if interested. Neil