Am I better of grading these or keeping raw? Very rare cards

A761506

I recently acquired 6 of these... they are 1947 Bond Bread Jackie Robinson series, all are the Sliding variety (and are all authentic and unaltered). The nicest card of the bunch would be lucky to be a PSA 4 I think. There have been 27 total graded in the entire set, and it's a 13 card set, so not even one of each card has made it into a holder. Of the grades, they break down 2-PSA 7, 7-PSA 6, 7-PSA 5, 9-PSA 3/4, 2 PSA 1/2. If I graded these, they will be 2-3 for the most part. A raw one of the same variety that would probably be a PSA 3 recently sold on eBay for $187 that I had bid on and lost. Is it worth it to grade with the low grades or am I better off keeping them raw?

Gatorbait

Depends on what you're going to do with them. If you are going to sell, then you should probably grade. If not, personal preference. Honestly, I've never seen this card, but would love to own one graded or ungraded. Congrats on the purchase and let me know if you're selling!

Larry

goodriddance189

i think the Bond Bread issue is notorious for counterfeiting (no offense, not saying yours are) so grading them would probably be a good idea

calleocho

if there were two cards on ebay both in the same condition but one is graded and the other one is not, I would bid on the graded one much more agressively than the ungraded version.

Allen

I agree- you should grade them. How did you come across six of them? They all look nice on the sliding side, the back is not as nice but they should have nice eye appeal in a PSA case.

A761506

Thanks guys... I know they have counterfeited some of these cards before, however, the counterfeits that I know of from this set are only of the Jackie portrait with his signature, and those counterfeits have no corners, they were cut rounded instead. These cards were all printed using photo-engraving, which was near exinction in 1947. Photo-engraving was also used in the printing of the exhibit cards which were first printed in 1947, and ran through the 60's. After that, I don't know of any other card printed more recently than that using that printing process. It is easy to identify as authentic however, and it would be nearly impossible to copy using today's technology.

As far as how I managed to get 6 of them... the answer is the same way that you ever wound up getting something special... right person, right place, right time.

I would consider selling or trading one or two for the right offer. I would love to eventually put the entire set of these together, although, I only have 2 of the 13 so far, and they are so rare, they are almost never available anywhere. I saw one graded PSA 5 at National this summer, it was the portrait, which was printed in higher quantities than the other ones, and he had it marked $1800. I thought that is a bit high, although, I wouldn't be suprised if someone would pay that for it, considering the scarcity, especially in decent shape.

ajw

Are the cards really that different in size? The scans of the back show one being significantly smaller. Is this normal for the issue?

A761506

No, all the same size... just the scans were different sizes done very quickly. The cards all measure standard size of 2 1/4 x 3 1/2.

PotatoChip

I don't believe that they are real. Here's a few reasons why:

1. They are dirty but they are too white; there's absolutely no toning. It appears as if someone stepped on them with dirty shoes in order to give them a not-so-fresh appearance.

2. I'm pretty sure those cards were professionally cut somewhat recently. The centering is exactly the same on all of them (both directions -- front and back). Taking into consideration 1947 quality control, this is virtually impossible.

3. I realize that you occasionally find some decent cards (fairly nice Venezuelans, etc.) but the likelihood of you running into someone that has 6 authentic examples of this card is extremely slim -- especially considering that your source did not have any of the other cards from this set.

4. According to MW1 from the SGC message boards, the square cornered cards are the ones to be wary of. His exact words: "Buy the rounded corner short prints. Stay away from the others."

WinPitcher

.............and who by the way happens to show up in that thread? our old friend paoutdoorsman!

as for the bond breads i would be wary ........

dontippet

I agree. The square cornered cards are reprints founded in the 80's and the round cornered cards are originals.

Don

MorrellMan

Is this the set where a boatload of cards turned up in the 80s and dealers were selling partial mint sets for a tune? I think the partial set included Williams and a few others. Did those turn out to be counterfeit?

A761506

Ok... a Bond Bread lesson, since there seems to be some confusion on the issue.

In 1947, Bond Bread issued a 48 card set of black and white photo cards. The original issued cards were printed with rounded corners. In the 1980's, a ton of these cards were discovered, all with squared corners but the same print process as the originals, which is why there is still questions about their original authenticity. This set includes a card of Jackie Robinson, however, this is not the set in which the cards pictured above came from. Cards in this particular set are relatively cheap.

Also in 1947, Bond issued another set exclusively featuring Jackie Robinson, 13 cards total, which is the set these cards came from. These cards were also printed using the photo-engraving process, a printing process that could not possibly be confused with a modern reprint. They have significantly more value than the well-known issue of Bond Bread that I just mentioned. There was one card in the set, it is considered "portrait, facsimile autograph" that was printed in slightly higher quantities and thought to be used as a promo. That card is the one that has been reprinted, and the reprints of it have rounded corners.

Here are pictures of other cards. The PSA Robinson is a card I already own. And the other picture is a close up scan of a section of the back of the card, which reveals something that no modern reprint could ever reproduce (even a scanner has trouble showing the extreme details of photo-engraving), the transition from solid black ink, which has always been used in printing text and borders, to photo-engraving printing, which seems similar to half-tone, but is significantly different upon closer inspection, which was used to make up the graphic of Robinson's head.

WinPitcher

your original question was should these be graded.

YES

psa8myaz

Have seen about 20 of these in the past few weeks. Before then had not seen this pose ever. Think MW1/Potato Chip is right.