Honus or Set Registry ?

jaxxr

Another post asks about the set registry, and if it "saved" PSA, which was already the top volume card grader prior to the registry.

I wonder what was more influential in getting graded cards accepted and popular. Thereby helping or saving PSA as well.

Would it not be the purchase of the PSA 8 Honus Wagner by Wayne Gretzky and friends ?? The unheard of price ( $ 454,000 ) of nearly a half million bucks for a piece of cardboard did more to legitimize and popularize the hobby, and the corresponding grading of sportscards, than any other occurance. The public's awareness of the famous buyer was very much a part of the tremendous press coverage.

The registry may have enhanced PSA's number one spot, and got many current collectors more involved with full set-building, low-pop commons and so on, however. I feel nothing got as many new collectors started, former collectors back in, casual collectors more intense, and plenty of new "investor" types involved, than THE Wagner card.

CDC4

I think the Wagner had impact on PSA but that was years before the registry. 1991 in fact.

I started my 57 set in 1997 before many were doing sets and before the registry. Commons were barely ever graded and were hard to find.
The registry came around and next thing you know .....commons are being graded left and right.

For example a common that was pop 4 in 2001.....is now pop 40 five years later. That means 4 8's in the first 10 years of PSA grading.....and 37 graded "8" in the last 5......kinda scary.

bobsbbcards

<< <i>Would it not be the purchase of the PSA 8 Honus Wagner by Wayne Gretzky and friends ?? >>


The Wagner wasn't graded when it was bought by Wayne in 1991. All of the cards in the Copeland collection were raw.

wolfbear

Don't really remember hearing about, or if I did hear,
I didn't pay any attention at the time to the Wagner card that was graded.

It was eBay that got me back into card collecting.
Finally one could buy nice cards and put nice sets together from the comfort of one's home.

Used to hate grading, but at some point came to the realization
that if you want to own really nice cards you're just going to have to pay a premium and go with graded cards.

theo934

<< <i>It was eBay that got me back into card collecting.
Finally one could buy nice cards and put nice sets together from the comfort of one's home.

Used to hate grading, but at some point came to the realization
that if you want to own really nice cards you're just going to have to pay a premium and go with graded cards. >>

DITTO!

I agree completely.
Ebay was the catalyst for me to enter again. and PSA was the way to get premium items with assurance that it was authentic/unaltered that you can not get with raw product.

Stingray

<< <i>Don't really remember hearing about, or if I did hear,
I didn't pay any attention at the time to the Wagner card that was graded.

It was eBay that got me back into card collecting.
Finally one could buy nice cards and put nice sets together from the comfort of one's home.

Used to hate grading, but at some point came to the realization
that if you want to own really nice cards you're just going to have to pay a premium and go with graded cards. >>




Same here, thought it was crazy to have a card stuck in a piece of plastic, never to be able to hold it again.


Stingray