1972 topps baseball question

zsz70

So what is the best thing to do in building a 1972 topps baseball set in PSA 8 or higher ?

Buy graded singles off of ebay ?
Buy raw cards at shows ?
Buy a whole set off of mastro/lelands/ebay and upgrade ?

Also, is the PSA 8 and 9 market "hot" right now in this year.
Forgive me, I know little about the baseball market.

thanks, marc

NickM

Many PSA 8s are going for less than the cost of grading. It would make no sense not to buy those on eBay when you find them.

Oh wait. Stay out of 1972 Topps entirely. I don't want to lose my bargains.

Nick

mcastaldi

Well. . .I can tell you the way I went about it and maybe you'll find something you can use.

My current set is the second attempt at a graded 72 set. The first go around, I got to 94% with a GPA of around 7.95. Then I sold off everything. But I just couldn't stay away, so in March 2003 I decided to do the 72 set again; starting from scratch. I really didn't have any graded cards or raw, but I did have the experience of having done the set once. Here's how I went about building the set the second time.

- Prices had gone down since the first time I'd built the set. So there were a lot of cards I could just bottom-feed and pick up in the $6-$8 range for PSA8s. The first time I built the set, these typically ran $10-$15. I have also been buying PSA9s when they make sense. In my mind, for the 72 set the best bang-for-the-buck in terms of the set registry high# PSA9s. They have a weight of 3.00 - so when you can pay $55 for a high# 9 it makes more sense than paying $75+ for three low# PSA9s.

- I was VERY aggressive on the low-pop cards. Having built the set once, I had the benefit of knowing which were the tough cards as well as which were the low pop cards - and the two aren't necessarily the same thing. I was very fortunate with this approach because at the time some VERY tough cards came to eBay, there was little or no competition for them. Cards I was expecting to go for $150+, I was winning in the $30-$40 range. By the time some of the other set builders had entered the fray and become more aware of these cards, I no longer needed them.

- While every card should be a PSA8 NQ or better, the card had to meet MY standards for that grade. The surest way to end up with a card you're happy with is to submit it yourself. So definitely beat the bushes for stuff to submit on your own. This REALLY pays off if you can find worthy examples of the low-pop cards and submit them yourself. This also helps you determine which cards are tough (no matter what the pop report says).

- I would also say you should make friends with the other builders of the set. These are the people who will be your trading partners and moral support when you get frustrated - and don't kid yourself, you will get frustrated.

If I can help, let me know and I'll do what I can.

Mike

Vargha

Geez . . . if you've got the money, then buy one when it comes up for sale.

highend

having recently started a 72 set i can say from experience that mike is correct on all of his points, i have even taken the same advice . one thing that can be tough is finding worthy raw submissions, this holds especially true for PSA 9 material. i had the benefit of having ALOT of raw material on hand before starting my PSA set. from nearly 2000 raw cards only one of ten was WORTH submitting. by being "worth submitting" i mean the cards were a lock for an eight and could have been a 9. unless it's a low-pop , a tough card or a major star it's not worth submitting unless your sure it will get at least an 8. alot of psa 8's can be had for less then a standard grading fee.
you'll see that you can make serious progress early on without going broke, but to reiterate what mike said; if you come across a low pop or a tough card be aggressive and try to win it.
i have tried to become familiar with the players in the 72 registry and the cards they need. for example: if you know that collector "A" needs 3 cards to complete the set and they come up on ebay it doesn't make alot of sense to get into a bidding war for two reasons, some guys especially when dealing with PSA 9's will NOT be denied and you will only drive up the price, piss the guy off and potentially lose an ally in your quest to finish the set and if you happen to win chances are that you will have grossly overpaid and wasted money that you could have used to get 20-30 cards you need at the same price of the one. however, this is not meant to say that if a psa 8 schall IA comes up you shouldn't be willing to throw some serious cash at it because it is probably the toughest card to come by. the same goes for the barton IA. make no mistake you will be at the point when you have to drop some serious cash.
i have found the 72 guys to be the some of the best and most helpful guys on this board. they can be the best of trading partners and will offer invaluable advice. i have dealt with alot of them and have yet to be disappointed. good luck

FB

zsz70,

Welcome to the boards and welcome to the 72 Registry!

There really isn't much for me to add after Mike and Jim have pretty much covered all of the bases. I would only add that you should probably start slowly - simply for education purposes.

If you're buying on eBay - to start:

* Don't buy in onesies and twoseies unless you have to... the shipping cost will kill you.
* Wait for dealers to post 15, 20, 30, 50 - 1972's in PSA 8 or 9 at the same time and then lowball bid them.
* Don't be afraid to email other 72 collectors and ask questions - we're generally not shy and will usually answer any question you have (unless of course it conflicts with something that we're doing...)
* Find a nice sniping software (I like Justsnipe at $5 per month) and put lowball snipes in. Don't let people know that you're bidding until you've won it!
* Keep an eye out for PSA lots from 72. Its usually cheaper to buy 25 PSA 8's in bulk than it is one at a time.

This card is a monster because of its size... We've had more than our share of folks who start off like a house on fire only to find out that they've spent a small fortune and are at 35%. So, good luck and again - don't hesitate to ask those questions!

SUPERPUNK813

SPAM ALERT....SPAM ALERT!!!

Sorry for the spam but i have a few 1972 Topps Yankees in PSA 8 NQ for sale. If anyone is interested then just send me a PM for a list.


Paul.