Alpha_Investments says hello to fellow Vintage MTG Magic PSA collectors

AlphaInvestments

Hello everyone. I see there is finally magic conversation on here so i thought i would hop on board. I defintly recognize some of these names on here.

When i first started buying PSA 10's i wanted to do alpha betas but i cant believe how insane it is to find alpha 10's.

I literally spent thousands on 3 sealed alpha starters and sent them directly to PSA. and most came back 8 and 9's. Barely any 10's. I couldnt belive it.

Anyways just venting my frustration. I have since sold most of the 8's and 9's and kept only the 10's.

Anyways just saying hey to everyone.

-Rudy
Alpha_Investments

Thulnanth

Hey Rudy,

I am pleased that I finally decided to post and get the ball rolling on MTG discussions on these boards - people seem to be responding . Hopefully we can get even more people to hop in and add to the mix, especially as the popularity of graded Magic continues to grow.

I am interested to hear more about your experince with grading sealed product. I know Jacob (Absolute_Alphas) did some of that when he started out. Did anyone else out there? What were your results? If you don't mind Rudy, I would love to hear a breakdown on your grades out of your sealed decks (# of 10's, 9's, 8's, rare vs uncommon vs common, etc). I know centering is a major deal with Alphas, but what was the condition of the cards otherwise? Did they hold up well in the starters or was there damage to the edges/borders? When I joined PSA I had lots of raw Alphas, but out of all of those cards I only had THREE worth sending in (a 10 and 2 9's). Of course, I played with my cards back in the day...

Of all the vintage MTG cards out there Alphas are my favorite, but 10's are nearly impossible to get - it does make it tough. In addition, even if you do find some the cost often is prohibitive. I see you grabbed The Hive from www.highgrademagic.com - I looked at it too, but $150 for an average rare was just too steep for my blood. You should try to get their Emerald; I know its out of my price range !!! Best of luck to you on your quest for Alpha 10's. I will most likely just have to sit on the sidelines and watch all of you duke it out for those beautiful cards - if only I could hit that Powerball...

Please keep posting - it is fun to hear from other people who DON'T think I'm crazy (unlike my wife - :LOL.

Take it easy,
Jared

Osguard

Welcome to the boards Rudy!

I am already amazed at how many 9s and even 8s that I see in Alpha that are being sold on ebay. Finding a 10 is truly amazing and congrats to you guys who have some pretty sweet Alpha sets going.

I think I'll just have to stick with Beta myself; I'm just way to far behind to start an Alpha set. I had an opportunity or two to buy a set in the mid 90s but I thought no one would ever want to collect them because they weren't tournament legal... They sold for quite a bit less than Betas back then. DOH!

I'll just have to watch you guys put together your great Alpha sets from the sidelines! Good luck everyone and keep up the excellent set building!

Tap4black

Hey Folks,

Figure that since I just found these boards and PSA "finally..." sent me a password I should pop in and introduce myself as everyone else has.

I have been doing the PSA grading of Magic through Cardhaus.com for quite some time and finally decided to plunge in and get some of my Alpha graded that had been in my personal stash for years. Seeing now how Alpha, over the last 2 years has gone from being Beta's stepchild to the rightful place at the top of the Magic foodchain has made me happy that I kelt these put away. I know I have dealt with several of you through either the online shop or recently through my ebay account VintageMTG (thanks for bidding!). I recognize a couple names of people that bought a few cards and I hope they all arrive safe.

I'll second Rudy's thoughts on how hard it is to get Alpha cards graded at the Gem Mint level, even 9's can be very hard to come by due to very poor initial quality control and the method Carta Mundi used to produce the corners on the cards that left them with those annoying little rolled edge that ALWAYS seems to chip of you look at them funny. I still have a stash of 10 sealed Alpha decks in my vault at home that I constantly debate about opening but I too have sent in pack fresh cards only to see 98% of them come back less than 10's.

Hopefully the day will come where I can meet a few more of you face to face, I deal with Steven (Spacebaby) on an almost weekly basis and I see that Joe lives just up the road from me in BC Canada.

Til then, may all your submissions come back higher than you ever dreamed they would!

Len
Tap4Black

Ebay - VintageMTG
Executive VP Cardhaus.com

GoblinOutpost

Hi to you all.

Looks like our little MTG discussion is holding steady this month. GREAT!

I plowed my life savings in this game recently and after updating my registry .... sheeesh .... I'm nowhere near completion. Give me even more admiration for you guys who are in the top few spots of each set. At least I have plenty un-slabbed betas (too beat up to get graded; that alone should put me at 70% completion).

Looks like for those of you building your Alpha set, Len is THE MAN to talk to (with his 10 fresh sealed decks). Now that's like a big mound of PSA 9/10 just waiting to be unleashed!!!

-- Joe

AlphaInvestments

Well yea having sealed alpha starters is amazing but from a grading standpoint its not that great being alpha.

Here are my stats:

2 sealed Alpha Starters purchased through DACardworld

total 2,000.00
grading cost around 500.00

deck 1
-----------
75% PSA 8
10% PSA 9
5% PSA 10

deck 2
-----------
50% PSA 8
40% PSA 9
10% PSA 10

The lack of quality and centering destroys the opportunites for PSA 10's. Also the corners on many alphas are slightly arched up which i believe affects grading.

But the main reason i think is the actual printing quality...this was a trial run...it was the initial launch of a product....so come on what do you expect...

But dont get me wrong i did score many 1 of 1's and some great 10's...



-Rudy

Tap4black

Hey Rudy

Your experience is right up there with mine for sending in fresh from the starter cards. Only getting 9 cards graded PSA 10 out of 120 submitted is not very good in my opinion but is to be expected with the poor QC of the original printing. I'd still like to open the decks just for the thrill of the chase but I'll likely either sell them off or just keep them locked up as their value rises.

Len
Tap4Black

Thulnanth

Hey All,

Len, great to see you jump in and join the discussion - a dealer in the mix will definitely help to add new perspective to the conversation. I got my beta Ancestral Recall from you, amongst other cards, and I've never had a problem with service - thanks .

Rudy - thank you for the breakdown !!! I guessed that might be the result of opening sealed decks; boosters are probably even worse. You and Len confirmed what I already figured - sealed will get you some nice cards, but probably not enough to justify the steep cost ($1000+ per deck). I too have a sealed Alpha starter that I most likely will leave sealed; perhaps PSA will grade them when they start doing sealed product next year. I know GAI will not do sealed decks - too big for their holders .

Like Joe, I too have lots of A/B/U/Arabian/Antiquities/Legends raw that aren't worth grading. Oh well, we can't all have stacks of 10's laying around like Tony, right? -

Take it easy,
Jared

AlphaInvestments

Just so everyone knows my entire PSA 10 Beta Set is gong to be sold.

It can be viewed at

http://www.psacard.com/set_registry/display_cards.chtml?rsetid=43363&alltime=no&rank=11&tied=0&requesttimeout=9999

I already have some holds on a view of the cards but most are still available, oviosuly the PSA 10 Ancestral Recall is already sold.

Just thought id give you guys a heads up if anyones interested.

-Rudy
Alpha_Investments

GoblinOutpost

Hi Rudy.

Will you take arms and legs as payment in lieu of $$$ for those 10s. They ache a little at times, but otherwise very functional and healthy.

I bought cards off from both Rudy and Len. Very happy with the experience. Soon I should be able to add Bastien to the list as he is doing his start of autumn sale now.

Just updated my set registry. Man, my set look sooooo scrappy. Maybe I should rename my sets to reflect that. All that effort and I am only passing the 10% mark. Looks like it is all uphill onward.

-- Joe

GoblinOutpost

About the fresh packs, I don't know about you guys. But those numbers looks mighty good to me. This is of course coming from a comic book background. To me, Near Mint and up are to die for.

-- Joe

AlphaInvestments

well heres the first batch on ebay

all the Beta commons are listed

CLICK ME