Factory Sets

FastWillie

I'm new and have a dumb question? when you buy factory sets of older cards 1980 on - what are your chances of psa 10's , whats average?


thanks


fastwillie

colebear

Your chances are better than a hand collated, but you still have to deal with print defects and centering issues. An example, I have busted about 25 1985 Donruss factory sets and have only received two gem mint Clemens rookies. With factory sets also, everybody is thinking the same as you and I, so there are a lot of factory set submissions going in.

Issues that you do not see in factory set form as ofter hold more than ones that were. Hence a PSA 10 85 Topps Clemens gathers more $$$$ than a 85 Donruss Clemens. 82 topps Ripken over 82 donruss. This not always true, just sometimes. Some issues like 84 donruss mattingly garners more $$$ than an 84 topps mattingly.

Estil

I was concerned that PSA might count Donruss factory set cards as "evidence of trim" because for factory set cards, Donruss "shaved" the edges to make them look better. This especially would be a problem for the 1985 Donruss Tom Seaver COR, as you can only get the COR version in factory sets.

Of course, as someone who's probably opened anywhere from 50-100 factory sets overall, I've found they typically are made better and have better centering than the wax box cards, but there's no guarantees. BE SURE to stay away from any that have the corners or any other part of the box smashed in anyway, as it is virtually inevitable that the cards at that smashed corner will have smashed corners too. This is especially true with the Score factory sets. The important thing to remember is while overall factory sets turn out better quality sets, there are certainly no guarantees.

And colebear, how were you able to afford twenty-five 1985 Donruss factory sets? I mean, they're fairly scarce and don't come cheap, you know.

jmbkb4

<< <i>And colebear, how were you able to afford twenty-five 1985 Donruss factory sets? I mean, they're fairly scarce and don't come cheap, you know. >>



It's not like you have to sell the farm!!!

colebear

<< <i> And colebear, how were you able to afford twenty-five 1985 Donruss factory sets? I mean, they're fairly scarce and don't come cheap, you know. >>



That is probaly over a period of 1-2 years and I do not think I would call them scarce. They usually cost around $40-50 each and there are probaly over 30 of them overall of ebay right now. The 1984 donruss pops up less often.

Estil

<< <i>

<< <i> And colebear, how were you able to afford twenty-five 1985 Donruss factory sets? I mean, they're fairly scarce and don't come cheap, you know. >>



That is probaly over a period of 1-2 years and I do not think I would call them scarce. They usually cost around $40-50 each and there are probaly over 30 of them overall of ebay right now. The 1984 donruss pops up less often. >>



I mean compared to other Donruss sets, the 1985 are second only to 1984 in terms of scarcity.

tennesseebanker

I just submitted about 20 86 Donruss from factory sets. I got a lot of 9 and 10's, but also received several 8's and two came back as evid of trimming.
I usually find that centeriing is better on most but not all factory sets, The factory sets that are off are usually waay off.
If the corners are two rounded from the cello's being too tight, it doesnt matter how well the centering is you wont get much better than an 8.
I think it depends on the graders sometimes too, Some of the graders seem to "know" the look of factory cut cards and grade accordingly, while others will drop them a few grades if the corners arent at right angles like they came out of racks or wax packs.
The best factory set I ever opened was an 85 Topps, it was centered almost perfectly throughout. One thing I didnt know about the 85 Topps Factory sets until I opened this one was that they are not in numerical order.

Estil

<< <i>The best factory set I ever opened was an 85 Topps, it was centered almost perfectly throughout. One thing I didnt know about the 85 Topps Factory sets until I opened this one was that they are not in numerical order. >>



That's true for ALL Topps factory sets, even up to this day, along with the Fleer/Score factory sets (although they are sorta semi in order) Donruss factory sets are in numerical order; don't know about Upper Deck.

basestealer

Older donruss sets aren't in order, or in celophane bricks. They are just tossed together with puzzle pieces all willy nilly.

The 83 through 85 Topps factory sets are pretty good if the key cards are in the middle of the box, but they seem to get beat up a lot like vending boxes. Better centering, though, and I never figured out why.

Estil

<< <i>Older donruss sets aren't in order, or in celophane bricks. They are just tossed together with puzzle pieces all willy nilly.

The 83 through 85 Topps factory sets are pretty good if the key cards are in the middle of the box, but they seem to get beat up a lot like vending boxes. Better centering, though, and I never figured out why. >>



Only the 1982 Donruss set is like that. 1983 on uses the bricks.