Market for 1991 Topps Desert Shield Baseball??? Any info?

jasonjames1979

A dealer friend came across boxes of Desert Shield baseball boxes.

Any ideas what a 36 pack box would go for?

I don't know if there is a market for them.

Do people buy raw or graded singles?

Any info advice is appreciated.

Thanks.

CDsNuts

First, are you positive they're the Desert Shield Baseball (1991 Topps Baseball cards with a small gold stamp on the top right) and not the "Desert Shield" war set with cards picturing photos from the war?

If they are the baseball, the going rate for packs is aroung $30-50 each. The singles were very hot about a year ago, especially when the PSA pops were very low for most cards in hi grade, and have settled down a little bit as the cards have become a little more available. Still, clean unopened product commands a nice premium.

If he wants to sell them, I might be interested.

Lee

cravetopps

Matt (lawnmowerman) gave me a bunch of packs (not baseball) free.

jasonjames1979

thanks.

how do you know the packs go for $30-50 each?

any reference? thanks.

CDsNuts

They don't show up often on ebay, but that's what they sell for when they do. They should look like the regular Topps Baseball packs from that year:




Lee

jasonjames1979

happen to have any ebay ref #?

CDsNuts

There weren't any in the completed auctions search. Sorry.

Lee

Brian48

Graded packs will sell for well above $50. PSA 10 samples are still extremely pricey for the stars. PSA 9 sell extremely well also.

The fact that so many boxes and packs are available these days pretty much confirms my suspicion that most of these cards never made it to troops in the field. Speaking for myself, I spent 9 months over there and never saw any of these until I got back to the states.

Stone193

<< <i>Graded packs will sell for well above $50. PSA 10 samples are still extremely pricey for the stars. PSA 9 sell extremely well also.

The fact that so many boxes and packs are available these days pretty much confirms my suspicion that most of these cards never made it to troops in the field. Speaking for myself, I spent 9 months over there and never saw any of these until I got back to the states. >>

I agree Brian.

We got them - but not in the quantity that I saw when I returned to the states!!!!

Makes ya think - don't it?

mike

CDsNuts

Come on guys, what's more important: Giving our overseas troops who are risking their lives a little enjoyment, or some backdooring schmuck making a few bucks?

Lee

jeffcbay

I messed with these cards a couple years ago, I can confirm that these packs can sell for $40 to $55 bucks, easily. The problem is I don't think the box or packs themselves have any special markings, you have to open the pack to confirm you actually have Desert Shield packs. I bought four packs once, graded 25 of them, ended up with one 10, a couple 9s and the rest were 8s. They're hard to find in good condition. Between the troops using them as fire starters, and big time dealers selling their soul for them, they're pretty hard to find.

XanaduNow

I bought a PSA 9 Mike Greenwell for my set registry for $9.99. That was the opening bid and there were no thoer takers. Not sure if that helps at all.

Arthur

CDsNuts

I ripped 8 packs about a year ago and made money by grading and selling. The only card I wanted to pull for myself was a Ripken and I got it in the last pack.

Lee

jeffcbay

I was looking for one of those too, no dice...

jasonjames1979

thanks for the info.

clayshooter22

I have a registry set of these and buy/sell them often, at least weekly.

Agreed, good condition packs are in the $40-45 range but they can be search and or resealed, so you have to know they are solid product to get $40. I've seen a few dumbass dealers try to pull the, "only a few cards per pack have the logo" game....searched and resealed. Also, centering is very hit or miss and collation can be cause for concern from pack searchers trying to pull Chippers and Ryans out of boxes. I've never seen a whole box so not sure if they came sealed in any way. For guaranteed unsearched I would guess $1000 would be a market price.

I've sent in about 150 singles to PSA since November in the modern bulk specials 50 more at PSA in the Spring Training special now.

10's are very rare as the cards are very condition sensitive. I get about 1/25 out of packs returned as PSA 10 so don't hold out for any great finds in wax. The only cards that are really going to make ya money are the occasional PSA 10 (commons $40-100 depending on if 1/1 pop) and the Ryan #1 ($250 in PSA 9) and Chipper's RC ($300 in PSA 9).

Common PSA 8 = $5
Common PSA 9 = $10

Stars about 2-3X common, and superstars (Ripken, Clemens, Thomas, Griffey and the like) or condition sensitive can be $50+.

I’d love to find a source for wax to submit. If they are to be sold please pass my email along, clayshooter22@yahoo

Edit: market for these....kinda. There are three people actively buying these. If they already have your cards...no market (50% of the graded listings are closing unsold right now). If you have a PSA 9 or 10 that they need...yes. If two of them need your common PSA 10...that could bring close to $100.

onefasttalon

Of the '91 Topps Desert Storm variation... (All of Chris Sabo) I have (6) ungraded examples, (3) PSA 9's, (1) BCCG 10 and this beauty...






As soon as the first PSA 10 hits the market, I'll be quick to jump on it!!!

jeffcbay

Hey ClayShooter, there was one Desert Shield collector that I dealt a lot with who lived in New Orleans, but I lost contact with him after Katrina, any idea who I'm talking about, and if his collections survived the storm? He was ranked pretty high back then, if not #1 in the set registry.

NickM

4SC has lots of these in PSA 8. They will drop as low as $3 for a PSA 8 if no one bids on it at $5, and 9s have gone as low as $5. I've been bottomfeeding the market, mainly for 8s. If the population is high enough, even stars of the era (Hershiser, etc.) hit $3 in PSA 8.

Nick

clayshooter22

jeffcbay,

I've dealt with the top 3 guys on the registry a bit and I have a set...top 8 or something like that, only about 20% in PSA 9...I have mostly raw that I'm slowly getting graded and I have quite a bit in BGS that needs to be crossed over. The guys I deal with are not out of NO but there are a couple of eBay ID's that have been jumping on a few singles over the last 6 months that I don't recognize. The registry had about 12 sets last year and now have 17 with most all actively adding. The top 3-5 people (tealvalley and PTCrusier) are buying only PSA 10's last few months as 4 sharp corners must have unloaded 100 PSA 10's and 200 9's after the Nov/Dec modern bulk special. PSA 10's are quite rare and the flood of them kept prices reasonable at about $40-$60 unless a couple people really needed a 1/1. Then they closed closer to $100. 4 Corners are starting to blow out the 8's now as there have been about 100 a week listing this month. I think 25% to 50% are closing at the listing of $5 with at least 25% not even garnering a bid.

Like Nick, I've been bottom feeding and have 20% (770 cards!) at about $5-$11 in PSA 9. Stars such as Maddox, Schilling, Lee, and such in the $20 range. I try to nab commons at $5-$9 but since 4 sharp corners starts all their auctions at $10 I've trimmed my buying back a bit. Funny thing is when they were started lower I often paid more than $10 but for some reason I'm not in the hurry I was in before. Now I'm content to wait until Katie458 and bmo15 have their fill and I'll scoop up what's left at a greatly reduced price as pop reports fill in.

There just isn't the demand for these as 1000's are being graded a month. The pop report had less than 8000 graded last Nov and now there are 11,300....that's 40% increase in total subs!! SO the bottom should fall out on commons before too long. Today there are 25 PSA 9's closing and I think only 3 have bids. There are 75 PSA 8's over the next day and a half with bids on about 10% at $5...so it's happening already. When supply jumps 40% and demand increases only moderatly....price will come down.

AkbarClone

For you experienced collectors of the Desert Shield set: What is the best price you have seen on graded Nolan Ryan cards #1 and #6? I would like to get them eventually, but with all the counterfeit ones that were reported to have been made, I only want to buy them already graded. I'd be content with as low as PSA 6. I rarely look anymore on eBay--but when I do, I usually only see raw Ryan cards for sell with BINs of $199 or so, so I can't imgaine what the graded ones have been selling for when offered.
I don't remember seeing any graded Nolan Ryans recently (but could have easily have missed them as I don't look that often).
Any insight from the PSA collectors of this set?

Brian48

I recall seeing a #1 PSA 8 for about $75 and a PSA 9 for about $300+, but they do fluctuate. PTCruiser had a PSA 9 of both for sale a few months ago, but don't recall how much they went for.

clayshooter22

Ryan has two cards. The All Star card and the #1 card. The #1 card goes for about $250 in PSA 9 and $50-$100 in a 8. I would guess a 6 would bring at least $50 as people will just be looking to bust it and sell it raw for $100+ which is where raw trades. If you get a $200 raw sale it better grade 9 or better or someone's gonna be pissed. Sooo, buy it in PSA 8-9-10 cause you won't find it in PSA 7 or less.

a couple months ago a PSA 9 #1 closed at $157 and I just wasn't following it. The problem here is that demand is not consistant. Wait for a good deal as the pop report fills in. I would guess a patient person could get a #1 at $150-$175 and a #6 at $50 if they had all year to wait for a deal. If you want it now you're gonna pay $250 for the #1 and $100 for the All Star #6. Someone will list one on christmas or new years and you'll steal it.

Just my 2 cents from following these on Ebay for a year+

AkbarClone

Thanks Guys, I appreciate the insight into the Ryan prices.

I'll patiently wait for a future deal--I'm not in any hurry. Have thousands of other cards on my wantlists to keep me occupied until then.

jeffcbay

<< <i>A dealer friend came across boxes of Desert Shield baseball boxes.

Any ideas what a 36 pack box would go for?

I don't know if there is a market for them.

Do people buy raw or graded singles?

Any info advice is appreciated.

Thanks. >>



So what's your dealer friend doing with his boxes?

jasonjames1979

he has yet to email me back if he's gonna buy them.

he is out of state and time zone difference.

jasonjames1979

Well, I told my friend all the info I received here.

How do we know the packs contain the desert shield though since there is no special markings.

He could open one pack amongst the box and find out I guess?

Would PSA grade these packs? If so how would they know there is desert shield cards inside.

Plus, if he listed them on ebay. We would have a hard time convincing the buyer, right?

Questions, question. Thoughts...?

jasonjames1979

bump

CDsNuts

I've seen them GAI graded but not PSA graded. Grading each pack would cost $14 plus shipping, which is about a third of it's value. Not worth it to grade if he's looking to sell as he most definitely will not recoup that money. If I were him, I'd open a pack to make sure they're legit, then confidently sell on ebay and offer a money-back guarantee. Or he could sell them to me. Either way.

Lee

jasonjames1979

thanks.

I think he's going to buy them. But, firts he wants to get a money back guarantee from the seller. Buy 1 box first and open a few packs. Then buy the rest.

jeffcbay

Yeah, but tell him to open a pack from the middle, not just the top pack.

clayshooter22

To the point of grading the packs...

8's will sell about where raw sells $40, 9's sell about $10-20 premium, anything higher sells about 2X-3x raw. Maybe it makes sense if the box is in great shape.

Insofar as the packs being unopened and unsearched, you may have a difficult time determining if resealed. I have not opened any packs but two different people have given me first hand info on if the logo can be seen through the wrapper. If the packs cannot be identified by the outside how can any packs be certified as DS packs?

On the point of money back from original seller...you better flip it right away so if there are problems you can deal with it now.

I'm putting a registery set together and would be interested in any singles, packs, or graded singles in PSA 9-10. So let me know if you need a home for any cards that you needed rip to determine if box is legit.

Mike
Clayshooter22@yahoo

RangerRob

<< <i>A dealer friend came across boxes of Desert Shield baseball boxes.

Any ideas what a 36 pack box would go for?

I don't know if there is a market for them.

Do people buy raw or graded singles?

Any info advice is appreciated.

Thanks. >>



Please turn on your "PM".

Thanks

WinPitcher

Interesting................any word?

Steve

jasonjames1979

UPDATE:

my friend will be getting packs soon. i'll let you guys know when.

thanks
j

jjd1979@hotmail.com

jasonjames1979

how much would it cost to grade the packs by psa or gai?

would it be worth it?

thanks
j

stown

As Lee already said:

"I've seen them GAI graded but not PSA graded. Grading each pack would cost $14 plus shipping, which is about a third of it's value. Not worth it to grade if he's looking to sell as he most definitely will not recoup that money. If I were him, I'd open a pack to make sure they're legit, then confidently sell on ebay and offer a money-back guarantee. Or he could sell them to me. Either way.

Lee"

jasonjames1979

thanks.

hopefully, i can sell some to you guys.

Writer11

There's an interesting article in the April edition of Tuff Stuff that discusses five insert/parallet sets from the '90s that are still garnering significant interest. The sets discussed are:

1. 1991 Topps Desert Shield.
2. 1993 Pinnacle Cooperstown Dufex.
3. 1993 Finest Refractors
4. 1996 Leaf Signature Series Autographs.
5. 1996 Select Mirror Gold.

jasonjames1979

Hi Guys,

We have packs available for $40 each plus shipping. $5 for shipping up to 5 packs. We have enough packs to go around. Unfortunately we are working on tight margin. All packs are $40 no matter of quantity. There are 15 cards w/ shields per pack. He will be getting me a scan of the cards.

Please email me if interested. jjd1979@hotmail.com

THANKS!

jasonjames1979

hi guys,

pics are up in the buy sell area.

thanks
j

jasonjames1979

bump for the morning guys