1957 Topps Raymond Berry RC "WOW"

alohaet

The bidding got a little out of hand on this card.

Auction

I new this card was in demand and hard to find, but I never thought it would go this high. SMR is $300 and the final hammer on this was $1426!

Congratulations to Fabfrank, you are one heck of a bidder.



Ed

packCollector

Nice pick up Frank, i know you have been looking for this one. sometimes you just have to throw smr out the window when it comes to scarcity and popular players

JasP24

WOW is right...I was prepared to go 750-800 on this card, and i thought I had a good shot at that price. No way I could have envisioned it going for over $1,400...Now i'm just hoping this will bring a few more of these out of the closet so I can get one for 750-800.

Its almost a crazy as the PSA 9 1977 Mike Haynes that ended at $510.00. The SMR of that card is $45!!

Congrats to Frank though...Adding the Berry 8 makes his All-Time WR set near perfect.

Jason

sixdart

Everyone who collects football HOF RCs knows that the PSA SMR is way off.

I sold (3) '79 Topps football James Lofton PSA 9s from $160 - $172, and I also sold to (2) '79 Topps football Ozzie Newsome PSA 9s at $90 and $100. All sold well above SMR.

Fabfrank

I new this card was in demand and hard to find, but I never thought it would go this high. SMR is $300 and the final hammer on this was $1426!

Ed, you are right. The closing price was just under my top bid. SMR is no way reflective of how difficult this card is to find. Even nice 7's are difficult. I think I paid close to SMR PSA 8 for my PSA 7. The card looked strong for an 8 and I haven't seen one in over a year (Jason has been looking for 2 years), so I couldn't let it go.

WOW is right...I was prepared to go 750-800 on this card

I knew that wasn't going to be enough for this card. I felt it would close at $1100. Than I realized I would need to sell my PSA 7 if I won the 8. That gave me another $300 in buying power. Throw in $77 for cushion and I came up with my top snipe bid of $1477.

Jason, I hope this brings more 8's out to the market. I'll tell you one thing, if it looks like it's going to go for $700-$800, I'll make sure it doesn't.
I gotta lower my average cost

JasP24

SMR is definitely about 2 years behind in football pricing...But, even knowing that, the Berry and the Haynes went MUCH, MUCH higher than I would expect. I don't consider myself an expert in many area of card collecting, but NFL HOF RCs is my specialty. I've been tracking realized prices on thse cards for over 5 years now. Overall auction prices are about 20-25% higher than they were at just the beginning of the 2003 season in September. And that's without taking into account the low pop cards that rare go for less than 200-300% of SMR. Seems like football prices are RARELY if ever updated in the SMR. I just sent an updated grade weight spreadsheet to PSA for the HOF RC set. In the past year, less than 20 cards in the entire set had a change in value. Look at year old SMRs and the prices are the same as the current SMR. PSA really needs to get more proactive when it comes to the SMR. Cards that CONSISTENTLY sell for well above SMR should be a no brainer to make that adjustment in the pricing.

The off-season always seems to be hottest for HOF Rookie football cards. Not sure why that is, but it has been this way ever since i started collecting them...Just when you think it might cool off and be able to find some deals, it catapults to a new level. Im just glad i got in early. I dont have the bank account to keep up with some of the new buyers.

Sixdart, thanks for the PSA 9 Newsome by the way...lol...I wish I would have used the BIN on the Lofton too..

Jason

JasP24

Frank,

I'm sure i will have to raise expectations on any other PSA 8 Berry's that might appear. That will depend on the eye appeal though, and you are correct that your new Berry 8 is a SOLID 8++...In the long run, that $1,400 will be a SOUND investment on that card. I remember when I paid $150 for a 48 Leaf Van Buren PSA 7 about 5 years ago and thought "Wow, i just spent $150 on one card". That was one of my first 10 PSA purchases, and while it seemed like alot to me then, it is an absolute STEAL in todays market...As nice as the Berry is, the $1,400 will eventually look the same way, like a steal.

Congrats again, Im glad it went to a good home.

Jason

Fabfrank

Thanks Jason and congrats on that Van Buren. That was a steal!

Looking at your earlier post regarding the M. Haynes RC, I went and checked the pop report on the card. Only 18 cards have been graded with 8 PSA 8's and 1 PSA 9. That translate into 44.5% of the population of that card being PSA 8. The Berry RC has 153 cards graded with 19 PSA 8's (none higher) for 12.5% of the pop being PSA 8.
As more cards get submitted and the pop grows on the Haynes RC I'm sure the price will drop on the 9. The fact that it is the only 9 available at the moment is what explains the aggressive price.
I know it's like comparing apples and oranges, but I think it shows that it pays for dealers to submit many of these perceived low dollar, low pop modern cards.

AlanAllen

Amazing! My price estimate was close to Jason's and of course my snipe didn't even go off. I know it's a tough tough card, but can it really maintain a price above what Hornung, Starr, and Unitas sell for in the same set?

Joe

JasP24

Unitas, Hornung and Starr PSA 8's are all 3 very low in price compared to other vintage cards. But if you look at the POP, the Berry is the hardest of the 57 Topps RCs to find in PSA 8. Not only in total number (20), but % of cards graded 8 or higher out of the total number of Berry cards graded.(12.9%)

ALL of the 1957 Topps cards are very overlooked. Unitas and Starr are arguably the best QB's of the era. Getting either of those cards for under $1,000 in PSA 8 is a steal in my view.

Compare those to star cards from the 1957 Topps Baseball set and you will see what I mean. The PSA 8 POP's havent changed much in the past year or so either, so I don't know how many of these 57 RCs you can still find unaltered and ungraded in NM-MT condition.

Jason

sixdart

Jason,

Try AzVike83, he won my last Lofton PSA 9 RC and the other seller's buy-it-now Lofton PSA RC for $179. So, he will soon have two in his possession. My three had superior centering vs the 4th sold.

Mint State (Rick) has one on his website for $199 if you need one ... 1979 Topps Football #310 JAMES LOFTON PSA 9 $199 ... Image .

I passed on a Berry PSA 8 two years ago for $350 - ouch! Is football starting to catch some respect now??

Good luck!

Marcus
sixdart

goodriddance189

<< <i>I passed on a Berry PSA 8 two years ago for $350 - ouch! Is football starting to catch some respect now??

sixdart >>



the PSA Set Registry is a very powerful drug. thank god the collecting world hasnt quite caught on with hockey (yet)

JasP24

Sixdart,

I actually just picked up the Lofton 9 from Rick at MintState along with a PSA 9 Blount. Great guy who always has top notch cards, fast shipping and very fair prices.

If any of you football collector's have NOT visited Mint State's site, it is a must.

www.mintstateinc.com

Some of the nicest cards around.

Jason

Fabfrank

AllanAllen- I've seen many Unitas and Hornung PSA 8's in the last year (most were fugly ). Not many Starr's but not one Berry. Jason is right though. All these cards are undervalued and pops in 8 are not rising.

Anyone have a 62 Tarkenton PSA 8?

Fabfrank

Just wanted to update you guys. Got the card today and WOW!
I knew I was getting a solid PSA 8, but this one is hi end. Maybe even border line 9. I know many people thought I overpaid for this card, but now that I have it in hand, it was worth every penny.
Might even be worth a review

alohaet

Glad to hear it Fabfrank. We all over pay once in a while for the card we need. But in this case I think you did the right thing in pursuing this card.


Ed