1st transaction with BBCE - WOW - I feel like a kid - With Pics

Volver

No, no I did not buy the 52 Topps wax pack, but did spend my first 75 bucks at BBCE on mid-80's rack packs and they arrived today. Much to my surprise as I was going through the packs three of the packs had stars on the very top. 1984 Topps has a Mattingly on the front, one has Strawberry and another has Nolan Ryan. Also received two seperate 1986 Topps rack packs with Roger Clemens showing on the front.

I know hardly a Ruth or Mantle, but I felt like a kid again and my joy reminded me why I collect. Not to mention BBCE did not have to ship said packs, but they did, so chalk it up to another BBCE success story.

Just thought I would share a small bit of good.

MR

flatfoot816

that's just to whet your appetite. go back for more!

envoy98

Rip em and show us some scans!

grote15

Like all good dealers, Steve knows how to hook you and keep coming back for more.

HeritageAddict

Show us some scans. I know exactly how you feel, I just placed my first order with him yesterday. I was going to wait until those came in before I ordered anything else, but I just couldn't wait and ended up placing another order today.

XanaduNow

Steve is definitely the real deal. I've bought many unopened rack boxes and I've always gotten racks with stars/RCs/HOFers on top.

Arthur

stevek

I haven't checked out his website for awhile. I've been saving up my lunch money - if he's got a 62 Topps Baseball PSA slabbed pack maybe I'll take a shot at it. I could always use a PSA 10 Mantle - LOL

Wondo

Steve is great. After I bought a few unopened off of him, he wrote letters saying that he submitted them to GAI - gotta cover all the bases.

HeritageAddict

Funny you say that, I was just looking at all the slabbed packs, he has several 62's. I really like those two 52's he has, of course I don't think I could ever buy any of those older packs and leave them slabbed up.

stevek

<< <i>Funny you say that, I was just looking at all the slabbed packs, he has several 62's. I really like those two 52's he has, of course I don't think I could ever buy any of those older packs and leave them slabbed up. >>




Why did you have to mention that! Now you're probably gonna make me spend my money!!!


Thanks - I'll take a look!

Volver

I do not have a scanner so I did the best I could. Most of the 86 Topps were OC and have printing problems. Suprisingly the 87 Topps had OC problems too. The 1984 were centered, but again noticed the printing issues. 87 Fleer and 87 Donruss came out the best with 85 Donruss and 86 Topps the worst. Here are a few pics.

stevek

<< <i>

<< <i>Funny you say that, I was just looking at all the slabbed packs, he has several 62's. I really like those two 52's he has, of course I don't think I could ever buy any of those older packs and leave them slabbed up. >>




Why did you have to mention that! Now you're probably gonna make me spend my money!!!


Thanks - I'll take a look! >>




Took a look - no PSA slabbed packs. Nothing but garbage from GAI that in my opinion is most likely resealed - I'm not wasting money on that crap.

stevek

<< <i>

<< <i>

<< <i>Funny you say that, I was just looking at all the slabbed packs, he has several 62's. I really like those two 52's he has, of course I don't think I could ever buy any of those older packs and leave them slabbed up. >>




Why did you have to mention that! Now you're probably gonna make me spend my money!!!


Thanks - I'll take a look! >>




Took a look - no PSA slabbed packs. Nothing but garbage from GAI that in my opinion is most likely resealed - I'm not wasting money on that crap. >>




Interesting also - I'm not up to speed on value differences between PSA slabbed packs and GAI slabbed packs. I would have to imagine there is a difference in value, and possibly a big difference in value. So why wouldn't a dealer who has confidence in his GAI slabbed packs being genuine, not resubmit them to PSA to get a better price in the marketplace?

I'll give you an example - For a 62 Topps Baseball PSA slabbed pack - I'd pay more than the prices on that website, but I ain't paying nothing for a GAI pack. So why not bust those stinkin' GAI slabs and submit to PSA to get more money?

Knocking certain dealers on this board is now taboo, but you know what...I'm gonna continue to call 'em the way I see 'em. I'm staying away from any GAI vintage slabbed pack offered by a major dealer who knows what he's doing.

Would it be an interesting "gamble" to buy these GAI packs from a major dealer and get them PSA slabbed for an immediate quick profit? I'd say the chances of losing money on that could be close to 100%, if not 100%.

Steve

BBCE

Hello!
I'm sure many people have wondered why my website is still filled with all GAI packs. Well, I have a simple answer, but not a simple solution.
Had I switched all my inventory of GAI packs over to PSA slabs right away, I'm sure the "conflict of interest" speeches would have began. Again, I'm doing this for PSA with the best of my ability and what I thought was best for the company. Am I leaving money on the table? Probably. Could I sell stuff quicker in a PSA slab? Probably. However, I still have not decided what is the best way to handle this. I assume that I am going to have to switch over my packs eventually.
Also, 90% of the stuff on my website we submitted ourselves through GAI before PSA started. Therefore, I looked at each pack myself before it went in. In addition, when I buy collections now that include GAI packs, I take a look at them and view my opinion also.

Thanks for listening! Steve

stevek

<< <i>Hello!
I'm sure many people have wondered why my website is still filled with all GAI packs. Well, I have a simple answer, but not a simple solution.
Had I switched all my inventory of GAI packs over to PSA slabs right away, I'm sure the "conflict of interest" speeches would have began. Again, I'm doing this for PSA with the best of my ability and what I thought was best for the company. Am I leaving money on the table? Probably. Could I sell stuff quicker in a PSA slab? Probably. However, I still have not decided what is the best way to handle this. I assume that I am going to have to switch over my packs eventually.
Also, 90% of the stuff on my website we submitted ourselves through GAI before PSA started. Therefore, I looked at each pack myself before it went in. In addition, when I buy collections now that include GAI packs, I take a look at them and view my opinion also.

Thanks for listening! Steve >>




Steve - Thanks for the reply. I hadn't contemplated the "conflict of interest" and that does make sense. Now you've got me thinking maybe I should take a shot at one of those Topps 62 Baseball wax packs of yours, which happens to be my favorite collectable year. I think one of those packs might be calling me to bust it. LOL

If it turns out it's a resealed pack, I'm not going to complain about it publicly or privately, I guess that's the chance someone takes with any slabbed pack. But I'm wouldn't be willing to take that chance with a GAI pack from any other dealer I know except for you.

Admittedly, I've got the itch to do it - I'll probably compare PSA slabbed 62 packs on other websites, if they exist yet, to your pricing of the GAI packs and make my executive decision on this - LOL

Thanks again Steve!

gregmo32

What did I miss with GAI? I remember hearing stories about some cello packs getting by them, and a few other stories like that that I can't recall. But it always seemed like the bulk of the evidence was pretty solid. Aside from PSA now entering the ballgame, has something changed with their reputation?

SidePocket

SteveK - you gotta do it. Buy a 62 pack and bust it. Just once. It would be an immortal post.

CDsNuts

The GAI slab means very little to a lot of the guys on these boards, however, a random vintage pack that is in a GAI slab has a much better chance (I would say around 90%) of being untampered with as opposed to a random raw pack which has about a 50% or less chance. While buying a pack in a GAI slab will not guarantee it's authenticity, the buyer is paying a premium for a higher probability that it is legit. For some people that's still too risky, but my advice to them would be if risk is something they don't handle well, ripping unopened vintage material probably isn't the way to go.

By the way, getting packs with stars showing from Steve is not uncommon. I'm pretty sure he doesn't cherry-pick the packs out of his rack boxes, as every box I've bought from him has yielded packs with stars on top, even high end packs. Examples would be '75 Topps FB with Mel Blount RC, 1978 Topps with various stars showing, and many others.

Lee

Estil

Of course, until PSA got around to grading packs, GAI was your only choice.

stevek

<< <i>What did I miss with GAI? I remember hearing stories about some cello packs getting by them, and a few other stories like that that I can't recall. But it always seemed like the bulk of the evidence was pretty solid. Aside from PSA now entering the ballgame, has something changed with their reputation? >>



There's been a number of comments on this forum about GAI busted packs showing wear on the cards and things such as wax stains in the center of the packs. But what killed GAI for me is their lead authenticator awhile back came on this forum, right here, and admitted that he was authenticating his own packs! If that isn't an obvious "conflict of interest" than I'm not sure what is.

Anyone, especially the "know it alls" over at Network 54 can knock PSA all they want, and it seems everytime PSA makes a little error there is a thread over there about it as if after grading around 10 million cards there shouldn't ever be any errors? - LOL.....But I never see anyone questioning the honesty and integrity of PSA and that for sure is one reason why their slabs get a higher price in the marketplace and also why I would trust their slabbed packs.

Frankly, I don't always read as much about cards as other good members here, and wasn't aware that Steve Hart was an authenticator at PSA, but I never edit my finished comments - it's more fun that way and I learn from it. So Steve's comments were instantly completely understood and knowing that, actually gives me even more confidence in PSA and in him.

Steve

stevek

<< <i>SteveK - you gotta do it. Buy a 62 pack and bust it. Just once. It would be an immortal post. >>




If I pulled a #200 Mantle I think I'd have a heart attack - and it would be worth it - LOL

HeritageAddict

Steve, you better do it. You know if you don't somebody else will be posting that picture of mantle from their 62 GAI pack pull....could be me....

stevek

<< <i>Steve, you better do it. You know if you don't somebody else will be posting that picture of mantle from their 62 GAI pack pull....could be me.... >>



I know what you're saying. We maybe helped Steve sell some 60's GAI wax packs with this thread and if we did, that would be a good thing - Steve deserves it.

I'll admit - I would get ticked off at myself if someone buys that pack and there's a beautiful 8 or 9 Mantle sitting in there. Of course that's the dream isn't it?

HeritageAddict

That is the dream, but you don't have to worry about me pulling it, I've been thinking about some of those 1970's wax boxes he has. Of course if I were to win the lottery tonight it would be an entirely different story.