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The Biggest($ Value) Graded Sportscard Trade in History
Davalillo
Posts: 1,846 ✭✭
I have been asked a couple of times to summarize a deal I did with Don Louchios earlier this year where I traded to him a large number of low pop T206s for 16 33 Goudey Sports Kings I needed(15 in psa 8) with a bit of background.
Don Louchios has by far the finest T206 card collection in the world. In fact, he may have the finest card collection period. Don approached me earlier this year and said he had a near duplicate set of 1933 Goudey Sport Kings in psa 8(!!!!!) and he would trade me 16 of the 18 cards I needed to complete the set(including the Cobb, Ruth and Bobby Jones) for 25 T206s I had that he needed. As I had put my quest to do a T206 set in psa 8 on hold and I consider the 1933 Goudey Sport Kings set to be the most desirable pre-war set out there, it was a deal I was anxious to do.. However given the value of the cards(probably the cards had a value when the trade was done of close to $100K on each side) this was not easy to do.
I talked to 3 leading national dealers about value. Determining the value based on recent transactions for the Sport Kings was not difficult as most had been sold at auctionn recently. However since many of the T206s were pop1 or pop 2, this was more challenging. I came up with values based on pop that had the cards I was trading to Don somewhat higher than what I was getting. To close the deal, Don "threw in"a few Batter Ups in psa 8, a 52 Topps high number psa 9, 51 Berk Ross Snider and Mays in psa 8 and a number of 58 Topps cards I needed in 8.
I flew out to Beverly Hills to deliver the crads to him in person and also had the opportunity to meet his lovely wife. Don is as passionate about vintage card collecting as one can be. It was a great experience.
Don and I subsequently completed a trade for one of the two remaining cards in the set in exchange for some M116s and a 39 Play Ball he needed.
Anyway, here are the majority of the cards in the deal. I should add that I think that the deal was fair and noone got the better of it(as it should be). Here are most of the cards in the deal as I remembe:
Jim trades 21 psa 8s including 5 pop 1s, 7 pop 2s and 9 pop 3 or higher including the Lajoie portrait, Marquard portrait and Crawford throwing and 4 psa 9s including a Tinker(bat off) pop 1--I hated to lose this--
Don trades 15 Sport Kings in psa 8 including Cobb, Ruth and Bobby Jones and the Holman in psa 7 plus the above mentioned cards.
Jim
Don Louchios has by far the finest T206 card collection in the world. In fact, he may have the finest card collection period. Don approached me earlier this year and said he had a near duplicate set of 1933 Goudey Sport Kings in psa 8(!!!!!) and he would trade me 16 of the 18 cards I needed to complete the set(including the Cobb, Ruth and Bobby Jones) for 25 T206s I had that he needed. As I had put my quest to do a T206 set in psa 8 on hold and I consider the 1933 Goudey Sport Kings set to be the most desirable pre-war set out there, it was a deal I was anxious to do.. However given the value of the cards(probably the cards had a value when the trade was done of close to $100K on each side) this was not easy to do.
I talked to 3 leading national dealers about value. Determining the value based on recent transactions for the Sport Kings was not difficult as most had been sold at auctionn recently. However since many of the T206s were pop1 or pop 2, this was more challenging. I came up with values based on pop that had the cards I was trading to Don somewhat higher than what I was getting. To close the deal, Don "threw in"a few Batter Ups in psa 8, a 52 Topps high number psa 9, 51 Berk Ross Snider and Mays in psa 8 and a number of 58 Topps cards I needed in 8.
I flew out to Beverly Hills to deliver the crads to him in person and also had the opportunity to meet his lovely wife. Don is as passionate about vintage card collecting as one can be. It was a great experience.
Don and I subsequently completed a trade for one of the two remaining cards in the set in exchange for some M116s and a 39 Play Ball he needed.
Anyway, here are the majority of the cards in the deal. I should add that I think that the deal was fair and noone got the better of it(as it should be). Here are most of the cards in the deal as I remembe:
Jim trades 21 psa 8s including 5 pop 1s, 7 pop 2s and 9 pop 3 or higher including the Lajoie portrait, Marquard portrait and Crawford throwing and 4 psa 9s including a Tinker(bat off) pop 1--I hated to lose this--
Don trades 15 Sport Kings in psa 8 including Cobb, Ruth and Bobby Jones and the Holman in psa 7 plus the above mentioned cards.
Jim
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Jim trades 21 psa 8s including 5 pop 1s, 7 pop 2s and 9 pop 3 or higher including the Lajoie portrait, Marquard portrait and Crawford throwing and 4 psa 9s including a Tinker(bat off) pop 1--I hated to lose this--
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Don Louchios got the far better deal if you are looking at value. The T206 cards that you traded are incredible. The important thing however is that you both received cards that you needed so congratulations to both of you if you are both happy.
Don't forget to mention the 1934 Batter up Dickey in a PSA 8. That was a pretty big card as well.
Shane
You really can't say that if you don't know what cards were involved. I know what the value of the 33G SKs are and they are around $100K based on prior sales. The way you would reach that number is if you valued the T206 pop1s at at least $6,000, pop 2s at $4,500 and Tinker at about $15,000--pretty aggressive numbers.
Anyway, neither one of us wanted to get the better of the deal--we each wanted what the other had and strove to make it as fair as possible.
Shane,
Absolutely.
What you guys are saying about Don is completely true. I have found him to be a real gentleman who I think prefers to stay out of the limelight as far as his collection is concerned--but in terms of overall quality, its right up there with Charlie and Marshall.
T206s in PSA 8 and PSA 9 are a different story altogether. Most of the T206s that were traded away are irreplaceable.
21 psa 8s including 5 pop 1s and 7 pop 2s
9 pop 3 or higher (including the Lajoie, Marquard and Crawford)
4 psa 9s (including a Tinker)
I would imagine Lajoie, Marquard and Crawford in PSA 8 would exceed $4500 to 6000 each. $15000 for a one of a kind PSA 9 Tinker seems conservative.
You are right in the I do not see every card in the trade, but at first glance it seems like you gave up a lot. In any event I am sure you gave it a lot of thought, so congratulations on pulling off a big trade.
Jim- I have some GMs available in really high grade if you want to do a large trade as well.
Shane
Both have passion for the sets they work on and the deal was good for both.
JIm hope you have a great 06!
Steve
Very cool stuff. It looks like you both got what you wanted. Thats what it is all about. Good luck with the rest of your sets and one day I will get the garden state to view it
Dave
Mostly valid poits--however some 33 Goudey Sports Kings in 8 are tougher than you think and there is a value on getting almost all of them at once. Also, 3 leading vintage dealers thought that it was roughly fair.
Jim
Thank you for being patient. Its a new year--I upped my card budget by 33% and would love to see what you have here.
Litigator,
Not much graded card knowledge on Network 54--this is in contrast to the incredible knowledge that exists overall there for prewar cards.
Steve,
Thanks and good luck on the 65s.
Dave,
I would try to plan my next dealer/collector/grader party around when you think you could come to NJ.
Jim
Congratulations!
In time it may come out that one "did better" then the other but that should never matter as like kenny states at the time both were happy and got what they felt was fair value.
JMO
Steve
So a card with a PSA pop of 3 in T206s may not be as rare as it is in 33SKs or other pre-war sets where PSA is dominant.
I would assume that Jim had no intention of completing an 8 or better set of t-206, my guess is that those cards were expendable.
Anyhow, a trade of that magnitude must have thrilling !
Always looking for 1957 Topps BB in PSA 9!
Its great having a complete PSA 8 set. For those that have seen my display room, I have all cards grouped together on the wall on the left as you walk in--it looks awesome to see all 48 cards together.
Jim
Happy New Year to everyone!
Ted
Be good my brothers.
Thanks for sharing the details on the trade. I think the story brings up a great point. Collecting is as much about "how" you obtain your cards as it is about what is in your collection.
Making friends, sharing stories and helping a fellow collector are the real benefits of collecting. I've always appreciated how you share many kind words about your fellow collectors, not just nuts and bolts details on your collection.
Happy New Year.
Jim