Kit Young Cards?

ajw · October 31, 2005 9:50AM

Anyone deal with Kit Young on ebay?

I was looking at this card, which is described as being "NR-MT"

However, the image of the card is clearly of one in a graded card slab (likely PSA).

I emailed the seller to ask if the card was slabbed and what the grade was. Here is the seller's response:
"drew. no..these are typically cards we think are near mint...they may have come from slabbed cards we broke open or are just raw cards in some cases...what are you looking for? 7's? hope this helps a bit thanks kit"

This just makes me more confused. It almost sounds as if the card pictured is not the one for sale.

The seller has other auctions with similar pictures and descriptions Kaline, Mantle.

So, what's the deal here? I did email him another question, but I wonder if anyone here has experience with Young.

Thanks.

WinPitcher · October 31, 2005 9:54AM

SDSportsFan · October 31, 2005 10:08AM

Kit Young Cards has been around since the 1970's; he's one of the hobby's longest-standing dealers. Very reputable, but overgrades (like Larry Fritsch cards)...neither of them have caught on to the new grading standards.

Steve

WinPitcher · October 31, 2005 10:10AM

roastedcat · October 31, 2005 10:16AM

Kityoung is a jerk! I had problems with him in the past. He has a catalog and tried to buy items from it, which weren't as described.
He's even bought from me on ebay, and we had problems. I suggest
don't buy it!

Jery

SDSportsFan · October 31, 2005 10:20AM

<< <i>Just do not buy unopened wax cases from him. You may get a mixed batch of boxes. the case may not even be from the yr too.

very reputable.................

SD >>

WOW Steve, that's a shock to me!

Admittedly, I haven't dealt with them in a long time, but they've always been one of the most reputable dealers out there (at least I sure thought so!), although as I said, they still cling to the old "pre-slabbing days" grading standards. When I did deal with them, it was for single cards, and never for boxes or cases. Their prices have also always been on the high-side.

Anyway, I hope you get your situation resolved with them. If I may ask, have you been dealing with anyone specifically? I know Nacho Arredondo who works there and he's a good guy. I personally used to work with him in the early 1980s when he and his then-brother in law co-owned San Diego Sports Collectibles.

Steve

MorrellMan · October 31, 2005 10:30AM

Simply put, Kit is a fixture in the hobby. He feels his extensive history of dealing with cards qualifies him as one whose expertise should overshadow that of PSA, or any other 3rd party grader. He considers himself to be a non-certified 3rd party grader, which is probably true, except his perception is shaded by the fact that he is selling the cards as well. I remember in the 80's he would never grade a card better than ex/mt because he felt true mint didn't exist. He's changed his tune. Money talks, ethics walk.

Bottom line, don't expect his grade to translate to a PSA grade.

tkd7 · October 31, 2005 10:53AM

I recently purchased a couple of cards from him that he described as EX-MT.

One I had graded by PSA and came back a 5.

One I returned for a full prompt refund, no questions asked.

In both cases positive feedback was left once my payment was received.

Griffins · October 31, 2005 11:41AM

They tend to overgrade, but their customer service is great and when I haven't been happy they've taken the card back, no questions asked.
Keep in mind that grading standards were very different 20+ years ago- what was mint then would be PSA 5 now. He hasn't changed, nor have many other long established dealers. At least you know KY stands behind what they sell.

lostdart58 · October 31, 2005 11:43AM

I am a collector of 59 Topps raw...........KitYoung is selling this card as raw (nr-mint) although it graded as less from PSA. PSA 6?. I might pay $12 for it.....but someone will pay $17.50 for it.....a PSA 8 card is worth at least $45.00 or more.

BigKidAtHeart · October 31, 2005 12:35PM

I have only bought one card from him
and it was a PSA graded 1956 Yogi Berra
so I was happy with everything.

I do not think (based on what I read here)
that I would buy raw cards from him unless
they were really really cheap.

~jeff

ajw · October 31, 2005 12:44PM

Does anyone have a view of the specific case I mentioned in my initial post? The cards pictured are clearly in graded cases, but yet the seller claims they are raw. I can't imagine buying a card in such a situation, but I'll see if he responds to my query.

262Runner · October 31, 2005 1:11PM

Looks to me like he is breaking cards out of their slabs.... Then says NrMt, the card pictured is probably a PSA 5 or 6. If you are building a raw set and the price is right, BUY IT, if you want a PSA 7 or 8, then wait and buy a slabbed 7 or 8.

WinPitcher · October 31, 2005 9:51PM

bowdowntome · November 1, 2005 1:11AM

I've bought 1 card from him off ebay. It was raw and I knew it was probably overgraded with regards to PSA standards, so i wasn't really disapointed since I wasn't planning on submitting it. Then the catalogs started to arrive in the mail. First thing I noticed was that just about all the pictures of single cards were cropped close to, or inside the borders of the cards, preventing anyone from seeing what the edges or corners actually looked like. I haven't bought anything from him since.

On another note, back in the early 90's (I think), at a National in Anaheim, I had a shoebox full of 1951 and 52 Bowman baseball I took to see if I could sell, to get some extra spending cash. Everyone told me to go to Kit's table because he was a hobby biggy. Well, he scanned through the cards pretty quickly and nonchalantly tossed the box down on his table, looking away, as if he was pre-occupied, and said simply "Not my grade!". Mind you, they probably weren't NMT cards, but if I remember right, they'd probably equate to PSA 6 condition today. Not great, but not bad. I see he is perfectly willing to sell such cards now.

Stone193 · November 1, 2005 3:44AM

Kit Young is a "Big" man in the hobby.

mart · November 1, 2005 12:01PM

<< <i>Looks to me like he is breaking cards out of their slabs.... Then says NrMt, the card pictured is probably a PSA 5 or 6. If you are building a raw set and the price is right, BUY IT, if you want a PSA 7 or 8, then wait and buy a slabbed 7 or 8. >>

Sounds to me like he pretty much admitted that in his reply to ajw !!

dgbaseball · November 1, 2005 12:17PM

If he is breaking them out, why not break it out before scanning? I don't get it either, unless it's sitting in a PSA 4 or qualified holder and he leaves them in there as a contingency to relist if no one buys the NR-MT claim. Either way, as other's have said, I'm sure there's nothing fishy going on and they are usually great to deal with, but that is indeed an odd reply to your question..

Kit Young Cards?

Comments