How do you determine what cards to send to PSA? (Scans added)

Bunker

I have 2 vending boxes of 1982 Topps and was wondering how you guys determine what cards to send in to be graded. I would assume that if you thought it was a 10 no matter if it was a common or a star card or if the population was low, that you would send those in.

Are there any other factors?

Boopotts

If you are submitting for the purposes of resale then there probably isn't a single card in the 1982 Topps set that you can make anything more than 'burger flipping' money by having graded. If you're submitting for your own collection then of course you should just submit anything that you think will receive a grade that makes the card worth 6$ to you.

cravetopps

if you knew you had a bonafide 10 for a few key cards, it would be well worth the $6. There's an Orioles Future Stars card#21, that is a $500 card if you have a 10. Guerrero and Ryan are great cards at PSA 9 or 10 as well. Seems like there are a few cards that would merit consideration if they were 9s or 10s.

Bunker

I was considering for resale. There are a few obvious cards, but I wasn't sure if there were others that are hard to find in 9 or 10....I guess that is why they have a pop report.

Boopotts

<< <i>I was considering for resale. There are a few obvious cards, but I wasn't sure if there were others that are hard to find in 9 or 10....I guess that is why they have a pop report.



<< <i>there probably isn't a single card in the 1982 Topps set that you can make anything more than 'burger flipping' money by having graded. >>



Boo you must eat some expensive hamburgers:

No Description NMMT8 MT9 GEMMT10
4 Pete Rose HL 4 12 200
5 Nolan Ryan HL (HOF) 4 10 130
21 Cal Ripken (R) 36 65 575
90 Nolan Ryan (HOF) 8 20 225
95 Ozzie Smith (HOF) 5 12 140
100 Mike Schmidt (HOF) 5 12 135
200 George Brett (HOF) 5 12 135
300 Reggie Jackson (HOF) 5 12 150
337 Pete Rose AS 4 9 110
452 Lee Smith (R) 8 15 115
610 Rickey Henderson 5 12 85
780 Pete Rose 6 15 200
781 Pete Rose IA 4 12 125 >>





Calculate:

a) The time you spend sorting the cards.
b) The money you lose by not selling the boxes intact.
c) The grading fees.
d) The chances that the card will come back a 10
e) The time you spend getting the sub together and selling the cards.

If you do all this I bet it's very unlikely that you'll make more than $8.00 an hour through the whole process. This isn't meant as a bring down, or to be smug and condescending. But it's very easy to fall into the trap of thinking 'Wow, a Ryan in PSA 10 would sell for $150, I better break these open'. For one thing, the dollar value of the boxes as they stand right now (i.e., unsearched) equals more than the expected dollar value of the cards (as is the case with all unopened stuff). So you're going to lose money by breaking them. Then, if you're lucky enough to beat the odds and pull some marquee names in PSA 10 quality, you still have to get the cards in PSA 10 holders-- which is no guarantee, even if they're Gem Mint-- and go through the motions of selling them.

There's two ways to approach grading. One way is to see it as another enjoyable way of selling stuff on Ebay, and to accept the fact that once you factor in your time into the equation you'll make little, if nothing, in the way of financial gain by participating. You figure the entertainment of anticipating your grades, etc. is worth something, and chalk up your losses to an entertainment cost. IMO the 'buy boxes from Steve Hart, break them and grade the cards' M.O. falls safely into this catagory, as does the breaking of boxes and factory sets in general. The other way is to approach it as a legitimate money making venture, but this involves a lot of time and work. There's nothing wrong with route 'A', but you'll be disappointed if you don't recognize that this is what you're doing. And of course there's nothing wrong with route 'B' either, but it does involve (I think) a lot of bleary-eyed hours studying pop reports and trying to find decent high grade material.

In any case, good luck with whatever you decide to do. If you're going to break them anyway then of course it makes sense to submit any top-tier HOFer that looks gem mint. But if you're not planning to break the boxes unless it makes 'cents' to do so then hopefully I've presented a different perspective to the matter.

basestealer

<< <i>I have 2 vending boxes of 1982 Topps and was wondering how you guys determine what cards to send in to be graded. I would assume that if you thought it was a 10 no matter if it was a common or a star card or if the population was low, that you would send those in.

Are there any other factors? >>


I have a system for rummaging through large lots to cherrypick gradeable candidates. The very first thing I look for on the first round is centering. With a little practice you can flip through them pretty quickly--pick out only the dead centered cards. 50/50 top/bottom and 50/50 left/right. From that pile, I look for razor sharp corners, and reject those that have any signs of wear. From that pile (which should be greatly reduced from the starting lot) you comb over the cards more carefully. Reject cards with gum or wax stains (or any stain for that matter). Reject cards with print spots or "bubbles", and reject cards with poor or faded registration. Finally I turn them over and make sure the reverse is centered well (doesn't need to be 50/50 but anything miscut or heavily off center must go) Late 70's and early 80's issues are notoriously off-center, so my guess is from a 500 card vending pack you might find 5 (if you're lucky) that meet grading criteria (at least my criteria). If you wind up with Gem Mint 10's, grading some otherwise "cheap cards" can be profitable, especially if you hook them up with someone putting together a registry set. I haven't had any commons graded pre 1980, but I think most 70's issues, if found in gem mint, are exceedingly scarce and probably worth having graded.

A word of caution on 1980's issues. They are so mass produced, and currently considered "junk" by most, that pop reports are low because most people don't send them in for grading (we're talking commons here). I've seen PSA 10 commons and semi-stars from late 80's sets selling for $5.00 each (less than the cost to have them graded). So, just because it's gem mint doesn't mean it should be graded. Even if you don't wind up getting them graded, picking out the gem mint cards to assemble a top notch set is rewarding, and in a few years if these every appreciate in value, you've got a winner (and can get them graded later).

5STAT

I've seen PSA 10 commons and semi-stars from late 80's sets selling for $5.00 each (less than the cost to have them graded). So, just because it's gem mint doesn't mean it should be graded.

True enough......

This is why I have a box of 8500 cards (and growing)..that are all 10 candidates...just sitting on the shelf waiting to grade.

Yes, I'll grade the stars..but often wait until I move on to a new set, before I grade certain years in bulk.
I have 700- 1989 Fleer baseball cards that are all sweet....centered...no chipping..but why grade them until someone is working on the complete set.

As for the 82's.....it all depends on what you have into them. Out of a vending case..I usually get 400 gradable cards....out of 12,000. Of those less than 100 will come back as 10's....most 9's..and a few 8's will follow.

So you have to weigh the options...is the year in question marketable for resale??

I broke 84 Topps years ago and had alot of the 1st 10's on the market...I did quite well....especially buying rack case and vending cheaply.
I did the same with 84 Donruss....when you could still find wax boces at $65-$80 each..and factory sets were $70-$75.....now it's tough....the prices of unopened have doubled.
I broke 86 football rack cases at $1200 each.....they go for alot more now..but by the time I pulled for grading..made sets..moved the singles and stars...then got my grades back.....I did INCREDIBLE........the 10's paid for the cases and 3/4 of the grading fees......the dupe graded cards paid for the rest and then some...and it still left me with my set that was sold off recently.

My guess is if you've already opened it....grade what you think are solid shots at 10's and pray!!

markj111

Prices realized for 1982 PSA 10s:

736 1/29/07 eBay Jerry Turner $20.50


597 1/29/07 eBay Wayne Nordhagen $15.50


76 1/29/07 eBay Greg Pryor $10.51


44 1/29/07 eBay Britt Burns $15.49


681 1/29/07 eBay Dodgers Future Stars $22.03


255 1/29/07 eBay Tony Perez $21.55


490 1/29/07 eBay Dennis Eckersley $24.50


264 1/21/07 eBay Dan Quisenberry $19.07


619 1/21/07 eBay Bill Campbell $16.50


21 1/15/07 eBay Orioles Future Stars $510.00


176 1/14/07 eBay Dewey Robinson $535.00


213 1/12/07 eBay Dave Stewart $49.99


750 1/7/07 eBay Jim Rice $38.00


501 1/3/07 eBay Rod Carew (In Action) $31.51


20 1/3/07 eBay Garry Maddox $12.50


281 1/3/07 eBay John Verhoeven $9.99


230 1/3/07 eBay Willie Wilson $9.99


258 1/3/07 eBay Bo Diaz $10.49


610 1/2/07 eBay Rickey Henderson $55.84


608 12/17/06 eBay Jerry Royster $14.99


14 12/10/06 eBay Steve Howe $17.59


90 12/8/06 eBay Nolan Ryan $177.50


601 12/4/06 eBay Sid Monge $19.59


406 12/4/06 eBay Al Holland $17.99


330 12/4/06 eBay Rick Wise $17.99


165 11/19/06 eBay Victory Leaders $33.33


362 11/17/06 eBay Jim Wright $17.50


367 11/17/06 eBay Jim Kaat $10.01


518 11/17/06 eBay Garth Iorg $10.51


111 11/16/06 eBay Carlton Fisk (In Action) $42.27


352 11/6/06 eBay Dick Davis $12.95


124 11/5/06 eBay Reid Nichols $14.59


450 10/31/06 eBay Jack Morris $16.72


204 10/30/06 eBay Gary Roenicke $19.99


7 10/28/06 eBay Scott Sanderson $5.24


653 10/25/06 eBay Angels Future Stars $20.00


410 10/25/06 eBay Ron Cey $32.99


755 10/25/06 eBay Joe Morgan (In Action) $20.00


550 10/25/06 eBay Bucky Dent (All-Star) $22.72


208 10/25/06 eBay Bobby Murcer $20.00


780 10/24/06 eBay Pete Rose $78.00


401 10/23/06 eBay Johnny Bench (In Action) $13.49

julen23

nobody collects cardboard for profit making purposes, that's simply impossible

illogical captain kirk.

julen
tgif

RonBurgundy

Interesting thread. Your question is really several question rolled into one:

1) With regard to picking out which cards to grade based on condition, it really depends on the year of the card and its desirability. In 50's, I look for no less than 7's, 60's the same, 70's no less than 8's, and 80's they pretty much need to be 10's unless they're stars. There are a number of posts that speak to how to self grade.

2) You also have to decide whether you're going to use other grading companies besides PSA. I do, and I separate all of my vintage material based on where I'm submitting it to. For example, if I think a card is a super high end 8 and might be a half grade higher if graded by one of the companies using that grading system (NOT Beckett), AND the card will be worth more with that half grade in a non PSA holder, I'll send it to them. The card MUST meet both of those criteria. There is a market - albeit smaller - for those companies and I take that into account when reviewing cards.

3) WRT whether to grade certain issues such as 1980's Topps - or whether to grade to make money - I think Boo Potts pretty much nailed it. You can make money grading, but you have to be analytical and careful about it, and be prepared to spend plenty of time working on it. You can run the numbers for example, on the cost of buying a raw set, adding in the grading fees, and determining what grades you'd need to receive to break even or turn a profit, based on current market prices (i.e. Ebay, not SMR). And there are some issues that you will not make money on, no matter how many 10's you might have. On the other hand if you enjoy having your 1982 Topps in PSA holders, without regard to the "investment", by all means do it. Enjoyment of your stuff is what the hobby's all about. Just have your eyes wide open that financially you're not going to get rich.




Ron

Downtown1974

Bunker, I'll be anxiouslly awaitng for your 82 Gaylord Perry in 10.

Salinas

Bunker, you have a market here for PSA 10s of Oliver, Henderson, Whitaker, Harrah, Sundberg, and Buddy Bell.

Bunker

<< <i>Bunker, I'll be anxiouslly awaitng for your 82 Gaylord Perry in 10. >>



This is the best of the 2 Perry's that I pulled: (BTW, that white mark that looks like a scratch is from my scanner.)

Bunker

<< <i>Bunker, you have a market here for PSA 10s of Oliver, Henderson, Whitaker, Harrah, Sundberg, and Buddy Bell. >>



This is the best out of the cards that you mentioned. There were at least 2 of each with the exception of the Henderson (1):

ldferg

the perry, sundberg and whitaker look like potential gems. i think if you factor in your time, you will never come out ahead.

i enjoy looking at these cards. yes, my wife thinks i'm nuts because of all the time i put into it (i'm coming up on 3 years on this forum) and once in a blue moon i'll pull a high-end gem that pays for some of my modern/oddball graded items.

since i've gotten involved in the graded game my collection has grown exponentially due to the fact of buying unopened and submitting a handful of the highend stars (and commons depending on the demand of the set). i've also learned so much about this hobby in the last 3 years thanks to this forum.

boopotts makes very good points. i would like to add another point in regards to the posted question: you are pulling these from vending which tends to have fewer gradeable cards than rack or wax unless your box is flawless. it looks as though you may have a good box from the scans you have posted.

good luck.

RipublicaninMass

who the heck is Dewey Robinson?? 176 1/14/07 eBay Dewey Robinson $535.00

TNP777

<< <i>Bunker, you have a market here for PSA 10s of Oliver, Henderson, Whitaker, Harrah, Sundberg, and Buddy Bell. >>

Don't forget the market for a #502 Brett Butler RC. I've got a 9, but would love a 10.

Geordie

ldferg

there's an 'official 1982 topps' thread on the registry board. you may try there. and republicaninmass...i'm with you on the dewey...you had me rolling.

Bunker

<< <i>i think if you factor in your time, you will never come out ahead >>



You are probably right but I am in no hurry and I don't need the money. I like going through the cards and I just sent my first sub to PSA last month so the whole grading thing is new to me. I paid $65.00 each for the vending boxes so this is cheap entertainment.

Thank you all for your responses

Bunker

Here are some more pulls. I scanned the Foster's just to show that one of them is missing the auto.

basestealer

Look like you have possible 10's with the Sundberg, Perry, and one of the Ryans. I doubt the others will grade above a 9 due to centering. In fact, the Al Oliver is miscut IMO. The possible 10's show tiny touches of imperfections on one corner or an edge, but perhaps not enough to warrant a downgrade from a 10--that's judging by the scan.

Downtown1974

Bunker, That is a very nice Perry. LMK if you send it in. That has 10 potential.