Anyone go to the Reading, PA show over the weekend?

cardpool

Anyone go? How was it?

fergie23

Went to the Reading, PA show on Saturday (3/3) and bought some unopened material:

(10) 85 Topps hockey packs
(2) 79 Topps hockey packs (BBCE had sold their 79 Topps boxes earlier and I was seriously bummed had been planning on getting one)
(2) 91 Topps SC football
(1) 86 Fleer Basketball GAI 8 pack
(1) 82 Topps baseball vending box
(1) 74 Topps basketball pack
(1) 75 Topps football pack
(1) 80 OPC hockey pack
(1) 81 OPC hockey pack

First time I have been to a large card show (normally go to small shows in the DC area) and got to meet the BBCE folks for the first time. I buy a bunch of unopened mid 70s - mid 80s material (5-10k a year), all sports. I open most of what I buy hoping for some PSA 9s to add to my 70s & 80s PSA 9 rookie collection. I sell all PSA 10s I get on ebay to try and defray some of the costs my hobby.

I got the 86 Fleer pack from the BBCE booth, had 3 to choose from and just blindly went for the one in the middle. I decided to open the pack at the BBCE booth and the BBCE folks graciously cut the pack out of the GAI case...you guessed it a MINT Jordan rookie (the upper left corner has a miniscule amount of extra card stock which doesn't typically impact grade).

I walked over to the PSA booth and sent it in for express service. I should have the grade Monday or Tuesday...very exciting stuff. By far my best card show experience ever and an opportunity to meet the folks at BBCE and drool over the amazing amount of unopened material they have.

10 of the 12 cards in the 86 bsk pack are worthy of grading (sent 3 others in with the Jordan, all legit shots at PSA 10s). I will be submitting the other 6 when I get 25 cards worthy of sending off to PSA.

Also would like to thank Steve for telling me about this board. It is great to see so many other collectors and so many fellow pack rippers. I have some unopened material that I haven't ripped but it is a constant battle. I open about 90% of what I buy...

cardpool

Holy Moly! Congrats on the pull!!!

Please let us know (on this thread if possible) how the Jordan RC grades when you get it back...gotta flaunt it!

fergie23

Major, major bummer. The jordan came back as a 5 some how, must have been some crease or wrinkle that wasn't apparent upon initial review. Will be the nicest 5 in history though (at least I can get a couple hundred bucks for it off ebay) but still a real disappointment. Ohh well I did just buy a 61/62 Fleer basketball pack graded GAI 7, another 86 fleer basketball pack and 1980 basketball box from BBCE. So maybe I can pull Wilt, Jordan and Bird/Magic rookies all on the same day! I will post picks of my results.


The other 3 1986 Fleer cards I sent in came back as 10s. All from the same pack as the jordan and in the same shape at least to the naked eye.


Don't really understand the Bird/Magic non-graded card, was hoping at least one of them would be at least an 8. All 3 came from the same box I bought from DACW a couple months ago. Has anyone ever had PSA do this before, ie say a card was trimmed when it wasn't? I think I will just resubmit, I mean I know this card was not trimmed.

Cheers,

Robb

cardpool

I had that happen to me when I pulled some hockey rookie cards recently and submitted to BGS. Sent back that they were trimmed or something like that. Total BS

RonBurgundy

Sorry about the issue with your Jordan, but this thread should be the poster child for people who think they are going to pull riches from vintage packs. With the combination of bad quality control leading to card defects combined with much product being searched and resealed, your odds are probably better playing Mega-Millions.

I had a former grader for PSA once tell me that most cards probably averaged an 8 straight out of the pack. I think with some years, that may be high and it certainly is high for product that is over 20 years old.


Ron

baseballfan

great results and a lot of fun to see how you do.
thanks for the peek.
are you going to resubmit the jordan?

fergie23

I enjoy opening material for the thrill of the hunt. Sure it is great if I get a good grade from PSA but I will remember pulling that Jordan for as long as I collect. I get far more satisfaction opening a pack and getting a card than I do from buying a graded card off ebay. I can tell you every one of the PSA 9 rookie cards in my collection that I pulled (I collect PSA 9 rookies from the 70s & 80s).

I'll be opening that 61/62 fleer pack on my birthday and I can't think of any better present than that. If I pull all OC commons, so what, the anticipation of opening that pack is worth every dime I paid for it.

Could I save thousands of dollars if I just bought those cards I need to "complete" my set? Sure but what would be the fun of that? It is nice to own the cards but a story about getting the card is worth so much more. If that Jordan had graded out a 9, I would have had a card and story to enjoy forever. As it is I don't have room for non-psa 9 cards. That leaves ebay, which leaves me with a great story.

I think the folks that buy newer material are more in the lottery model. The card companies have artificially created scarcity. You can buy a case of some products and not pull the "hot" numbered rookie card. At least with vintage material (and I will be very liberal with vintage, say 80s and before) you know the odds of getting the card(s) you are looking for are based on the number of cards in the set (yes assuming you are opening unsearched material).

I believe you had a post where you railed against buying/selling unopened material. You must have really woken up on the wrong side of the bed that morning. It is unfortunate that you have such a pessimistic view of the unopened market but hey you are entitled to your opinion. Have I ever purchased resealed or searched material, sure I have. It happens. Does that make me suspicious of every unopened dealer or sale out there? Of course not. There are dealers I trust and those I don't. I buy from people I trust, if they lose my trust I stop buying from them.

I've pulled 95% of the key rookie cards across all 4 sports from 1970-89 from packs or vending boxes...everything from a 71 OPC Ken Dryden to a 79 OPC Gretzky to an 89 Upper Deck Griffey. If you buy from reputable dealers you get legit material.

Your PSA grader was right, most cards average an 8 out of the pack for 80s and 70s.

Depending on what I see on the returned Jordan I may resubmit or crossover. The centering on the card is the best I've ever seen. I have had PSA damage cards I've sent to them before. I mostly likely just missed whatever the flaw was that caused the Jordan to grade out as a 5 rather than it being damaged in transit or while in PSA's possession.

Have I ever hit the vintage lottery jackpot? Sure I have. I've attached a scan of a submission I sent to PSA in 2005. I ended up selling all the psa 10s on ebay. The 86 Checklist I sold for $4500, the 86 Worthy for $2100, the 86 Jabbar for $1300 and the 86 Erving for $800, all pulled from 3 GAI packs I bought off ebay for $600.

Do I count on that happening when I buy unopened material? Nope, I buy and open for my enjoyment. I put thousands of dollars into my hobby a year and I buy what I enjoy. Do I let unscrupulous people/dealers ruin my enjoyment of my hobby? Of course not. Is the way I collect cards good for everyone? Nope but it works for me and in the end that is the only thing that matters.


Robb