incomplete Alpha / Unlimited sets - to grade or not to grade?

OldMTGPlayer

Howdy! I came on to this board in hopes of finding some help, or rather, direction.

I've been a player a long time ago. Built and sold a full beta set. Had a set of 40 beta dual lands. Full mint set of AN/AQ/etc...sold all of that. Sure I have some regets....but.

I still have an uncomplete Alpha set that is mostly autographed and in NM/M condition for the most part.

Also have a very nice NM/M UL uncomplete set that's missing 14 uncommons/rares plus the power 9. I wanted to know what I really should look for if I decide to finish this set and/or if I should get those cards graded? Can any other UL set builders throw some advice my way? Should I get the rares graded first before committing the rest of it? Or is it not worth the effort if I don't have any of the power 9 yet? Should I throw up some scans of what I have so you could tell me if I'm off the mark about them being NM/M?

I'm also awaiting eagerly my first PSA submission results - I sent in 4 Shivan Dragons to be graded - Alpha, Beta, Collector's Edition, Int'l Collector's Edition. It's always been my favorite card and I have almost all of the black bordered foreign editions of the Shivan Dragon (Benson artwork only) but have no idea what a full FBB checklist would be? So far I think I have Korea, Japanese, Chinese, French, Italian, German, Portguese, and Spanish. Am I missing any editions?

Thanks in advance
Barry

Tromagic

Hello,
I collect UL set. I think it s good to submit the rare that you beleve perfect .
PSA 10 UL realy worth to grade. PSA 9 worth to grade too but it don t sell much more...
No cards unlimited marked worth to be graded (it will be PSA 6-8 )
Tromagic

Tap4black

Welcome to the forum Barry, always nice to see a new face.

As to the grading issue, I would first stick with the rares in the Unl set at first. Graded 8 or higher power is actually fairly easy to acquire and it is the smaller rares that you will see your greatest return on investment should they grade out high. You also have the added benefit of being able to sell rares in 7/8 if they do not come back Mint or better and still recoup most of your grading fees should you elect to not persue the graded set, something you cannot do with random commons and uncommons.

Signed cards are in limbo at this time. I spoke with my contact there today and he told me that PSA is in the process of acquiring copies of artist signatures through Wizards at this time. He hopes that this will be taken care of in the next couple of months and they will then be able to authenticate and grade signed cards. As I am an authorized PSA submission dealer, look for me to post a notice in these forums with details as soon as they are finalized. I too have a large selection of signed Alpha cards that I plan on submitting when the service is ready. In speaking with Roy today, he mentioned that pricing for gaming submissions will be around half the cost of submitting sportscards since the autograph does not tend to increase the value of the card as would say a Mantle autograph on a baseball. They will streamline the process for our needs which will keep our costs down.

Good luck on your Shivans and welcome to the club!

Osguard

Welcome Barry!



-Tony

OldMTGPlayer

Thanks for everybody's advice. I will wait until my shivans come back *fingers crossed* - and see what direction I want to take. I took another look at the Alphas - they seem to be more of PSA 8-9's than anything, but I have no idea how much the chipping on the border will impact it (not all of the cards have that) which was quite common for alpha/beta cards back then, even unplayed. My UL set, for the most part, is much nicer, but I'm not as sentimental about this set so I need to decide if I want to pursue this or not. Being stuck in school again after 10+ years of working puts a crimp on a nice spending budget!

Again, thanks!
Barry

tmmoose

Barry,

You might like to check out this thread on another website about someone with a similar goal - trying to collect every version of the Shivan Dragon.

http://www.magiclibrary.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1493

There also some threads on Foreign Cards on that site you might find interesting.

Good luck!

Michael

Thulnanth

Hey Michael,

Cool website, although the traffic looks a little light

Take it easy,
Jared

tmmoose

I guess it is dealing in quite a specialised area of collecting, so you might expect discussion to be a bit thin on thin on the ground. Plus it is the holiday season!

There are loads and loads of MTG Forum websites out there, most of which are dedicated to more recent card sets.

There are some pretty interesting discussions on that one around some of the old sets. Someone was talking about some of the very early playtest versions of some of the cards they managed to get off ebay - they had some pictures as well which was great!

I have seen the odd discussion on PSA cards going on, but it's more people asking what it is, and why people pay such crazy prices for cards graded 9 or 10, than the quality of discussion that goes on here. :-) Of course, I think they are equally crazy haven't seen some of the mis-print cards they collect. Both are rare and so have an appeal, but each to his own I guess! :-)

Tap4black

You should actually look at the entire rarities website instead of just the forums. It is a wealth of knowledge for all things obscure that relate to Magic cards and should have something to offer any collector. I personally have given Bob and Ralph hundreds of scans of cards that most people will never see in their lifetime of collecting. I think sharing these images and the knowledge of how the specific items came to be with the community only help to make the game stronger and all our vintage collections more valuable!

Magic Rarities Website