It came & went with very little hoopla: the 2nd 1969 Topps Mike Shannon PSA 9

dude

I'm surprised nobody made a big deal about it, but a 1969 Topps Mike Shannon PSA 9 closed last night on eBay for $366.11

A couple of thoughts:

1. The '69 Shannon was always hyped as being the toughest card in the set. It isn't, but then again, Shannon is a minor star, so the demand is extraordinary compared to other low pop commons.

2. "Americanfolk" seems to have come out of nowhere and has become a serious '69 player. Anyone know who he is?

3. This was offered by DSL. To me, it's utterly amazing with the amount of cards they come up with. When you think about it, they either have a very huge inventory, or they are constantly buying or they are taking on consignments.

But stop and think about this. If they are selling strictly from what's in their inventory, it must be so utterly huge that even after nearly 5 years of eBay they are still frequently selling just graded vintage 10's and rare cards like the Shannon. Common human nature and smart business would dictate that you pull your highest quality and rarest stuff first and sell it while the market is relatively hot. If this is the case, then is their inventory (either opened material and/or unopened material) that enormous that they haven't even really had the time to go through it all yet?

If they are constantly buying or taking on consignments, then they seem rather invisible to the hobby at large.

Anyone know what's their story? Their "well of cards" doesn't show any signs of running dry soon.

BTW, that was a pretty nice Shannon too!

ZodiacMindwarp

Dan,

The last receorded sale I have prior to this one was for $444 in May of last year. It is not uncommon for the low pops to not command a considerable premium in 9 over 8. I think many people pony up the bucks for 8s because the registry has created an imaginary line in the sand for many collectors. They set a minimum grade of 8 for themselves and have to battle it out with everyone else when a tough card appears. Many 7s sell for about 1/8th of the price of an 8 because of this. Last May you picked up a tougher card than Shannon in 9 for less than an 8 sold for in August probably because the PSA 8 set builders thought the 9 would go off too high.

By the way, good luck with the last 44 cards. If I can be of any assistance, please let me know.

Take care,
Michael

WinPitcher

Dan from what I hear "americanfolk" is also bidding hi on 67 topps too.

mikeschmidt

Dan:

I thought that Darrel pretty much frequented the show circuit out West, and bought up a lot of collections/bulk from people coming in the door. The vast majority of their business is modern - and they are one of the few players who seem to be willing to buy raw bulk to purchase up commons that will 7 and 8. Yes, they do get 9s - but they'll take the more marginal product, too, and use their grading prices to make the economics work.

Heck - even look at 4SC's model, which is almost exclusively modern: they make such high margins on some of their stuff, and combined with grading fees that are roughly half of what everyone else pays, they have significant leverage to a) space out their submissions and b) buy up truckloads of modern 'junk', throwing 90% of it out.

magellan

I didn't even notice that auction Dan, thanks for posting it.

I just won a Grote from DSL last night , $21.50 for an 8 wasn't too bad for that card. I've often wondered where he got so much inventory from also.

Dave S.

dude

MS -- Thanks for the analysis. Modern is a very tough market. I can certainly see that with competent prescreening and high volume submissions, it can pay off in the long haul.

Winpitcher -- Thanks for the info. The playing field is pretty touch in '67's right now. There are at least 4 people including myself that will shell out decent money for high grade cards.

Zodiacmindwarp -- I agree with your viewpoint regarding the registry. I have the Shannon in a very nice 8 and paid over $300 for it last year. I couldn't justify going another $100+ for just a tiny improvement in card quality.

Wabittwax

I'm pretty sure that DSL gets it's stuff from purchases and not from their inventory. Darrel will spend mad money at shows to get what he wants. Money is really no object to him. I've sold to him a few times and he likes to buy in quantity at a decent price but I doubt any collection is too big for him. Strange thing is that he always pulls around that little black suitcase yet he buys a ton of stuff. I'm not sure where he puts it all. He must make several trips to the car if he has a lot of good buys. I figured maybe the suitcase is full of cash (like the old days at the National) but he pays for everything with a check. What a life though. Traveling around the country buying cards at shows. Where did I screw up? I need a job like that.

fsjeter

Is there somethin' about Topps and Mike Shannon I don't know about. His '67 Topps is a tough and sought after issue as well.

Scott

qualitycards

DUDE - Thanks for the Shannon update.
I frequently check the DSL listings and didin't notice it...jay

ZodiacMindwarp

Scott,

The Shannon is notorious for terrible centering. The current population in PSA 8 is 12 with 2 PSA 9s (or maybe three with the DSL one).

BugOnTheRug

I would assume via the cert# (304xxx...) that it was graded around 1.5 years ago. I wonder if he submitted it - and if so, why didn't he sell it then.

BOTR

kingraider75

I bought a lot of 1960 topps football raw off DSLsports. I assume that's the same seller. The cards were listed as EX , but more like VG-EX. They don't take Paypal, so that was annoying. They shipped at a decent speed, but nothing to write home about.

PS I need some low end 1960 Topps Football stars to fill my set. Thanks

gaspipe26

Actually I fell asleep, and since I dont snipe I missed out. Dan, I finally got a Santiago in 9. Wait til you see some of the others I submitted too. I came across 1500 real nice 1st and 2nd series commons. I might have the 1st Brock to get a 9, I'll keep you informed. Its dead on 50-50. If it doesnt get it nothing will.

dude

Bob -- That sounds great about the Brock. Keep us posted. BTW, I sent in some cards a while back and I just read grades and I got a '69 Hershberger and Radatz in 9 plus three tough 8s! So now I'm down to 39 for completing the Basic Set in 8 or higher.

SDavid

Well, if he's getting these nice vintage cards at shows, then I need to move to the west coast. Every time I go to a show, it's a bunch of ex+ cards at nm prices. I could see finding some gems here and there, but he's cranking them out every week. And, actually, DSL has been listing a lot less post '80 stuff (I consider 70's vintage) the last year or so.

But, then again, bauerfan - a former psa grader that used to post here - always has a nice selection of vintage cards as well, so there must be deals out there somewhere.

daywalker2029

DSL's inventory is amazing - ive bought many of my 1990 leafs off them and they keep coming up with more 9's and 10's - great company to deal with also - very fast service

DaBigHurt

This is why I love PSA so much and continue to support the company. If not for them, can you imagine the amount of unsellable junk there would be out there? How the hell else would you be able to move 1987-88 Topps or some obscure 1969 topps common card for 500x book?

Buccaneer

<< <i>This is why I love PSA so much and continue to support the company. If not for them, can you imagine the amount of unsellable junk there would be out there? How the hell else would you be able to move 1987-88 Topps or some obscure 1969 topps common card for 500x book? >>



But think of the SET REGISTRY! It is so critical to our collections to be able to have every card encased in plastic and to achieve the noble goal of having a long pe..., oops, better Set Rating than someone else. After all, sonically-sealed plastic is not cheap. Man, you are slipping - it's about buying the HOLDER, not that card, remember?

gemint

Bob - Good luck on the Brock. You'll have to post a scan when it comes back.

Dan - Congrats on the Radatz and Hershberger.

ZodiacMindwarp

Steve,

You have repeatedly made it clear that you do not agree with the slabbing of commons and that you refuse to buy graded commons. You do realize, however, that this is the "PSA Set Registry Forum" and, as such, is viewed in large part by PSA set builders who actual purchsae graded commons or submit commons for grading themselves. Your continued assertation that the process of slabbing commons is either silly or a way for those who participate to measure their manhood may be construed as insulting.

Michael

Coolidge

<< <i>But, then again, bauerfan - a former psa grader that used to post here - always has a nice selection of vintage cards as well, so there must be deals out there somewhere. >>



I'm not making any accusations because I do not have any proof of wrongdoing, but I was wondering what the members here think about the cards they've purchased from bauerfan. I've noticed that all of the cards I've purchased from bauerfan have very small borders in comparison to cards from the same sets which were purchased from other sellers.

Buccaneer

ZodiacMindwarp: I can't disagee with your remarks, perhaps it my small insignificant way to have true collectors here perhaps think about how such practices artificially drive up prices. However as much I understand your perception of what I post, I have to clarify one thing. I have bought graded commons. In fact, just as I am writing, my wife brought down a box of 22 graded 1957 cards (mostly commons) that came in today's mail. Am I being hypocritical? I don't think so because I paid about the same for these cards as I would for raws - it's not that often I can do that. I guess my beef is with the attitude that it is the best way to build sets and that such practices appear to drive up the price of commons. I know that this is a PSA Registry forum but I come here daily because I feel there are no other forums on the internet with such a collection of knowledgeable, experiences and enthusiastic sports cards collectors - even if they have to put up with curmudgeons like me.