Top 10 Things I Saw at the National

The53Kid

10 - That crazy ferris wheel in the middle of the convention center that goes through the roof
9 - A beautiful 1954 Topps empty 5 cent wax box from Mark Murphy(in fact, it was really nice to see Mark with a good supply of material after his recent fire)
8 - A preview card for the new American Chopper cards coming in Sept. Maybe they will take the destroyed bumper of Paul's truck and randomly insert it in cards!
7 - The King's new crown for next year(the Babe Ruth HR crown in Mastro's auctions)
6 - The cards displayed at the PSA booth, Branca's 57 set, his Ted Williams cards, a bunch of Cobb cards and 3 or 4 awesome Ruth autographed balls.
5 - The cards at the SGC booth, all 1953 Topps, Mantle 96, Robinson 92, Mays 96 and Paige 96
4 - All those Wagners at the Mastro booth
3 - A freshly graded 1955 Topps Jackie Robinson GAI10...it was unbelieveable
2 - Tipem, Norty and all the other registry guys I got a chance to hang with
1 - A 1953 Topps Jackie Robinson PSA 8 that I bought at SMR....who says there aren't any good cards at book price!


It was a crazy two days in Cleveland but well worth it. 6 hours of driving Thursday morning to arrive at 9:30am and spend all day walking the HUGE IX center. Visiting with relatives that night(sorry I missed the game), and then up again early Friday for another full day, and the luncheon. Then 6 hours of driving, to arrive home at 1:30am Sat. Needless to say, my schedule was full.

Had a great time meeting members of the registry, talking to dealers and friends and looking at some great memorabilia. Though many prices are high, the material available was incredible. And I did find quite a few items, and had some great results from my on site grading. In terms of pricing, I thought it was consistent with the prices I see on websites everyday. And even though you and I might think these items will never move, I saw some big ticket items sell....including a 1952 Topps pack and a 1952 Topps Mantle. There are plenty of buyers with deep pockets, and the big ticket items definitely move, even at 2 and 3X SMR.

I also noticed a lot more GAI8.5 cards, that I'm sure were in PSA 8 holders. If customers are willing to pay the premium for these cards, why not take advantage of it?

It was a great time, and I will attempt to make it three in a row at Chicago.

jrdolan

That's a beautiful 53T Jackie. Worth every penny of SMR, if you have it to spend. Mine is only PSA 6, but you know, I think that card (and any 53T) would still be beautiflul even at PSA 3.

Interesting about GAI. I haven't seen all that much of a premium on half-pointers I've bought and sold, but I haven't in awhile. If GAI keeps making inroads with the dealers, I wonder if PSA will respond in some fashion (besides declining to cross GAI cards at par, which already seems to be an unofficial policy). Perhaps we will see half-points by PSA in the future. Once it occurs to them that a lot of cards already in PSA holders will be cracked and resubmitted!

mudflap02

From what I hear, Joe made it pretty clear at the luncheon that PSA will not go to a half point system, period. While there may be some benfit in the short term (as GAI is experiencing now), I agree with him that PSA should stick to their guns with the 10 point system. Abandoning what they have been using for the past 10 years would not only be viewed as weak by the market, but it would be suicide for PSA (IMO).

mudflap02

Great original post btw - sorry to hijack. That Robinson is amazing.

wolfbear

Ten is a good number :

10. King Kellogg being King Kellogg. PSA should pay him 50 K per year just for the good will he brings to the hobby.

9. Dealers with raw way off-centered EX cards priced at high Beckett busy chatting on their cell phones.

8. All the people at the PSA booth. They were professional, hard working, and a joy to deal with.

7. The people who spew message board venom being way more polite in person than when they're hiding behind their keyboards.

6. The happiness of knowing that the card you've looked for for years may be waiting for you at the very next booth.

5. General agreement that AC will never ever be the site of the National again.

4. Thousands of middle aged men having more fun than an equal amount of kids at Disneyland.

3. Lots of great dealers who truely enjoy the hobby.

2. Ability to pick up in 2 days what it would take 2 years to pick up off of eBay.

1. Is there some way to make this thing last a week so there'd be enough time to see and do everything ?

dude

The53Kid -- Nice card! Congrats!

Love the list Wolfbear. Gosh, I really wish I could have made it again this year!

RG58

In reply to GAI comments...

At the show, the GAI area was a ghost town (at least when I passed by each time)

I cannot remember one customer asking to look up close at a GAI graded card from later than 1950.

Finally, I overheard a similar question asked to 3 different dealers "Are the GAI cards selling". None seemed enthusiastic. One guy said, "they are doing alright" but when I looked down in his display, all he had was GAI graded cards (no PSA) and I doubt he wanted to admit that the PSA cards sell better.

Sure if you want to crack a PSA 8 out because you think you will get a GAI 8.5- go ahead but remember that when it comes time to sell, it may be difficult.

Final comment- I am putting together a 1958 set and look at these cards carefully. GAI has disappointed me now on two cards- a card graded 9.5 (gem mt) 1958 topps Koufax that was auctioned off in Robert Edwards - I mentioned before how the card would never be gem mt in PSA hands because of significant "snow" on the center of the card that detracts from the appearance significantly. I think I saw it at the National in a dealers display! Most people on this board agreed that the card was overgraded.

The second card I just saw that GAI graders disappointed me on is a 1958 topps Maris rookie graded 9.5 (gem mt). There is a picture of it on page 337 of the upcoming Mastro auction catalog. The card is not centered 50-50- it is centered a disturbing down and to the left making the card visually distorted.

As far as I am concerned GAI ruined the thrill of the Gem mt card of the 1958 topps set by giving status to two key cards now that clearly aren't "Gems"- I wonder if these cards were busted out of PSA 9 holders!

Ruthfan

RG58

You must have been walking by after the show had closed because I was there 4 days and everytime I was by there they had a steady stream of traffic. I do know that they had so many submissions they were running about 24 hours behind.

norty

RG58:

GAI was quite busy at the National. SGC, however, did not seem to me to have as much traffic.

The53Kid

RG58,

I'm sorry to hear of your disappointment with those GAI cards, and I will have to agree that I have seen similar issues with other GAI 9.5's. Some I have seen are unbelieveably beautiful cards, and others seem to puzzle me how they achieved the grade.

But I have seen dealers cross PSA 8's to GAI 8.5's and sell them at 2.5X SMR. Granted they don't fly off the shelves, but they do move. And I do agree this happens more with 50's material than 60's, and definitely pertains to star cards versus the commons.

Wolfbear,

I enjoyed your list, it was nice to have nothing but friendly conversations and good times. And some of the oddball items I saw were great, and they would probably never make it on EBAY, and if they did I'd probably never find them with my regular searches.

schr1st

I would have to agree. GAI seemed to be a a bit sparce when it came to customers, but that may have been more to do with their setup making it look worse than anything else. At least they had a few people at the table when I'd go by (heck, I even threw them $15 for pregrades on 3 cards that I was getting signed. I was worried that they might be trimmed). SGC, on the other hand, was a ghost town every time I walked by. I think I got a couple of pics of the booth at different times during the show, and I'll upload them if I did.