Who Is Resubmitting Cards From Their Registry Sets For Review Under The .5 Scale?

Mefer

Let me first state that I do not want this thread to turn into another debate about the new .5 scale; that has been discussed ad nauseum in other threads.

In this thread, I am just interested in thoughts as to why or why not you will be resubmitting some or all of your set registry cards for review under the new .5 scale. I am currently grappling with that decision myself in regards to both my 1971 Topps baseball set and my Donruss KISS set. Neither set is worth tens of thousands, let alone hundreds of thousands, but I would like some of my cards to be reviewed for the bump. However, given the modest value of the sets involved, I am grappling with the thought of whether or not it would even be worth it to send in a significant number of cards at any price point other than "free" (which of course, will not happen).

I also fear that no matter how carefully I select the candidates, PSA will, as a matter of course, deem at least half not worthy of the grade jump which would further add to the pain. I can see the mindset of the grader being, "well, these all cannot be worthy of the grade jump, no one will get 100% right." Of course, the grader cannot appreciate and may not even have any idea that these cards were already culled from a much larger lot (to the contrary though, the grader might at least "suspect" this if you send in a ton of cards from the same year). That thought is enough to scare me right there.

The above fear got me to thinking if PSA would consider a "split fee" on the resubmissions. For example, x amount for the review and an additional Y amount for slabbing those deemed worthy of the upgrade. While financially beneficial to the submitter, and a situation I would embrace, I could see the criticism that this would create, i.e., PSA has the incentive to slab more cards to make more money therefore these bumps cannot be trusted.

When the dust settles, I wonder if I am just as well off standing pat in my situation. At least my sets would have the "what if" component, hopefully translated into added value, of cards that might get the jump.

In close, I do not know what others plan to do with their sets but would be interested in hearing any thoughts. Again, I do not want this thread to turn into another debate on the merits of the change but rather thoughts on "playing the hand as dealt" so to speak.

rube26105

nt me, my 50 bowman fb set is just fine the way it is, figure i can buy upgrades chaper, unless its a 8 of a major star like jim perry in it or jim finks, somebody with some weight on the card , like a 4.00 or 5.00 weight

hankcaddy

i have 2 so far i might send in
don't have a huge collection of 8's so it does not effect me so much

Ravens124

I'm happy with my cards for now. No need for me to send cards in for upgrading.

JasP24

I am submitting approx. 60 cards from my collection that I feel have a chance at the half point bump. A couple are at the $60 level, a few at $35 and the rest at $15.

For me, paying $60 to have a $2,000 card possibly become a .5 within the grade is well worth the investment. If I can get at least 10% of those 60 cards to bump I feel I will make back the cost of grading fees via added value to my cards. It's sheer speculation on what the market will bear for the .5's, but I am certain a $2,000 card bumped half a grade would sell for much more than the $60 cost of resub. More than likley 10X that.

You'll have to add up hom much it will cost you for your regrades and determine how many you'll need to bump to get that cost back in additional card value. I wouldn't expect more than 25% to go up in grade.

Every collector will be different.

Jason

JasP24

If you are talking cards valued under $100, just wait for the next $5 grading special.

FYI, PSA will accept reviews under the same services as raw submissions. I talked to PSA customer service this morning in reference to the $13/5 day January Collectors Club special currently being offered. If you put your cards in the mail on 31 January, you will still be able to take advantage of the $13 special. PSA won't log them until AFTER 1 Feb, and everything logged after 1 Feb WILL be graded under the half point system.

That alone will save you $2 per card for everything valued $100-$499.

Jason

mbothner

I plan on sending in a 100 card bulk submission of PSA 8's. With shipping that will cost around $650. I am only going to send in really nice PSA 8's. I do not have a good feeling about this. PSA has disappointed me too many times. That's alot of money if they only bump 10% of the cards.

JasP24

With low $$ cards, you will need to have a higher percentage bump to make it worthwhile. All I can tell you is be very picky on what you send in, and make sure the centering on 8's is within PSA 9 standards (better than 65/35 on front).

Jason

WinPitcher

No I won't be sending in any cards for a bump. I will though embrace the new grading scale with whatever raw cards i would have sent in anyway.


Steve

Mickey71

Mefer,
The charges you talk about make complete sense as to a review and a fee to encapsulate the card. This is not going to happen though. Why not $10 and then the tier price difference if it bumps. This would be totally acceptable.
Mickey71

quincunx

P$A will never get another dime from me as I am not one of the big boys that got preferential treatment in over grading already and now a cut rate backdoor deal on the resubs. They will make more money in 2008 and then will wonder where it all went in 2009 and beyond.

smtjoy

Helpful thread, nice to see what others are doing, here is my current plan of action-

1947-66 Exhibits (about 200 PSA graded 4-9's) I may resubmit 2-3 cards that are 8's and might get the bump but not worth it on the rest. Considering I have a sub of 40 of these im about to get back im pretty pissed about this whole thing as none of these will have the .5, gurrr. Saving up for a raw 100 card submission.

1962-63 Exhibits (50 PSA) not sending any in for bumps

1939-46 Saluatations (30 PSA) Maybe 2-3 will get resubmitted depending on value

1921-38 Exhibits (40 PSA + lots of raw) Closing my registry set and I will be sending them to SGC for crossover and will now be using them for grading.

E93- Moving these to SGC

Roberto Clemente Master Set- (138 PSA graded) I will probable resubmit about 5-10 of the best 7-8's for review. Keeping these PSA

Misc Vintage- Moving all these to SGC


Overall I might send 20 cards in for the bump, but im looking at over 100 I am sending to SGC for crossover plus lots of cards I had been sending to psa will now be going to SGC. I think its crazy that psa wants to charge full cost to just examine a card for the bump, I am guessing not even half the card submitted will even get flipped, at minium they should have offered a nice cheap special on this.

DataDriven05

I think my decision will be easier than most because I only collect one set currently - Post War HOF Rookies (Baseball).

Like a few others have said... The difference in value from the grade of the card they currently own to the next grade up (or half grade in this case) is worth the attempt at the bump.

My main motivation? This set can get expensive. I had to make a choice between this set and the Football HOF Rookie set. I chose this one beause I was farther along and had more invested in it. So for me I would be looking at it as a way to generate more money to use on the set.

For example, I own a 1959 Bob Gibson RC in PSA 8. For my collecting goals that is more than satisfactory. I believe this card sells anywhere between $500-$700 on EBay. The PSA 9 of this card averages, according to VCP, over $5,000 in the past 5 sales. If I bump that to a 8.5, the potential is there for it to become a $1500 card, maybe more. I realize that is all speculative right now, but let's say it's true. I could sell the PSA 8.5, buy back the 8 and have more money to put toward something else.

A lot of people do this already with whole grades, so it's certainly nothing new or innovative. However, when the collecting becomes expensive and/or budgets become tight every little bit counts. A couple nice "wins" in this case could equal a great headstart on that 51 Bowman Mantle or 52 Topps Ed Matthews. Those are two cards I doubt I will ever 'just have the money lying around for'.

As for what I am submitting:

My two remaining cards from my former Football HOF Rookies set...
- 1958 Jim Brown PSA 8
- 1965 Joe Namath PSA 7

...and about a dozen or so cards from my Post War HOF Rookies set. I really only need 1 or 2 to hit for it to be worth it.

- Chris

Rangerman

Very interesting thread guys! For the past week I have been thinking this over as it relates to my collection. As a collector primarily, almost all of my 2000 PSA graded cards are in registry sets. I feel obligated to analyze the possibilities of bumps----- even though most of my cards are 9s and 10s, I still have 350 8s -- mostly vintage from 1951 to 1974. I am 'culling' through these now just to see what I have and then in weeks to come following some post 1 Feb. reviewing by others and further soul searching, I will come to some type of grip on what I'll do. My cull rate is 63% ( PSA 8.0 to 8.4) and 37% (PSA 8.5 to 8.9) selected for the possible submission so far . If I end up with 130 cards to send in , I would hope that my careful cull will result in about a 40% success rate-- 52 cards may get the bump. Practically all are commons, which further limits the profitability- especially with 1964 to 1974 Topps. This again will likely become a collectors rational since the registry is the driving force for me . I will look at the sets involved, and decide whether a few blue registry flags and certificates are worth the $850 to get the cards reviewed is worth the MONEY Tony

mbothner

I started going through my cards last night. The corners on my PSA 8's seem to pretty much all be the same. The diference is centering. I am just pulling cards that are 50/50 for the first try. If that does not work well then I will not try the others that are just a little off.

Another question I thought of. If we are paying the full grading price even if the cards are not bumped then should the cards all be reholdered? This would be a good submission to toss in some of my cracked cases and old style PSA labels just to get new cases. Will PSA remove the cards from the current slabs to inspect them?

BTW, I would like to thank PSA for coming out with this change right at tax return time. Now I know what I am doing with my return.

JasP24

<< <i>

Another question I thought of. If we are paying the full grading price even if the cards are not bumped then should the cards all be reholdered? This would be a good submission to toss in some of my cracked cases and old style PSA labels just to get new cases. Will PSA remove the cards from the current slabs to inspect them?

>>



If reviews do not bump, they are returned as is. The do not remove the cards from their current slabs to inspect them. I've always wished they would crack and reholder as well. Since we are already paying, it would be nice to at LEAST get a shiny new slab for the cards that don't get upgraded. To this point, that his been their standard operating procedure. I think it might help nudge the people on the fence about resubbing if they offered to new slab every card you send in.

Jason

perkdog

I own about 50 slabs, I will be sending in about 20 of them. I always look for "high end" for the grade- Im curious how I did in selecting my cards. I think about 10-12 of the 20 should get a bump! If its less than that, no big deal.

WinPitcher

You could always pay the reholder fee while they have it there, that way any cracked slabs can be corrected.


Steve

mbothner

<< <i>You could always pay the reholder fee while they have it there, that way any cracked slabs can be corrected. >>



Yes but PSA will require a separate submission and separate postage. My question was that if I am already paying PSA for the service then why not reholder the card for the customer regardless if it is bumped.

Downtown1974

Not a single card will be re-submitted. Im content with how they are now.

WinPitcher

I understood your question, I was simply giving you another option.


Steve

mbothner

<< <i>I understood your question, I was simply giving you another option. >>



You are right. I am just trying to find ways to send PSA less money.

bxb

I have several high end 7s and 8s that I would like to submit for a bump, but I will hold off until:

1. The manpower at PSA is adequate to handle the anticipated volume in a timely fashion;

2. The new crop of grading trainees becomes more consistent;

3. The fee structure is reduced for the cards already holdered by PSA.

I am well aware that the above conditions may never be met.

0.02

imafishinnut

IMO, it doesn't make much sense to send in cards for review right now unless you plan to sell your cards in the near future or unless you want to compete for the top spot for your set in the registry. Yes, you could upgrade the value of your sets, but what does that accomplish if you not doing one of the above.

Personally, I am not looking to do either so I do not plan to send any cards in for review right now. My sets are a personal collection first and a long term investment second. Therefore, I do not have any plans to sell them any time soon. When and if I do decide to sell, I might reconsider sending cards in for review. Plus, my 1971 Topps set is near the bottom of the top 20. Even with a significant amount of bumps, I have no hope of competing for the top spot.

Mike

Rangerman

bxb, BINGO!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Unfortunately this is true and I need to feel warm and fuzzy before I send my stuff for whatever abuse may occur. Too many unknowns> And it seems likely that even after I pare through mine before shipping, the tendency out there will be to bump a low percentage of the submission. .

cravetopps

<<<<I have several high end 7s and 8s that I would like to submit for a bump, but I will hold off until:

1. The manpower at PSA is adequate to handle the anticipated volume in a timely fashion;

2. The new crop of grading trainees becomes more consistent;

3. The fee structure is reduced for the cards already holdered by PSA.

I am well aware that the above conditions may never be met.

0.02>>>

Excellent summary.

I would add one more.....

4. It becomes readily apparent that the .5 adds value to the card in the holder based on historical sales prices.

I would definitely not do it simply to increase my registry position.

Morgoth

smtjoy I agree with you 100% on the issue of full service fees for basically 1/3 of the grading you normally pay for (no need for authentication or alteration checking). My Clemente Basic set will stay were it's at for now until they either offer a discount rate or there is enough data to prove how much the 0.5s are worth. I do think the first graded 1/2 grades will sell higher then later ones but I don't have enough money to risk it at this point.

Mefer

Thanks guys, a lot of very good points here; some I did not consider. Any other thoughts?

nearmint

I'll probably cherry-pick a few 8's from my better sets and see what happens. For my lesser sets I won't bother yet. It would make more sense to buy cards to fill in the empty holes first.

aro13

I will not be resubmitting any cards from my registry sets. The card is the same to me whether it is in a 7 or 7.5 holder or an 8 or 8.5 holder. If I had cards I was going to sell that were well centered 7's or 8's I would resubmit them.

Yankeeefan

Interesting thread! Since I have no intention of selling my main 2 registry sets, I won't consider sending any graded cards in for a possible bump for awhile.
I do have a few low pop cards from the 1960 set that are well centered 8s that might be worthy of .5 bump. I'll wait and see if the market changes on the 8s and how the 8.5s are excepted first.
It'll be interesting to see how my stack of raw cards grade when I finally get around to submitting them.

RonBurgundy

Call me crazy, but I pretty much don't see the point in submitting anything for a half point bump until the market for ".5" cards has been established. It could be that the market for .5 cards - especially commons - winds up being so close to the lower grade that it's not worth it. Big cards with a half point bump will do well, but I would not be surprised if it's limited to those cards only for a good long while.




Ron

WinPitcher

Ron you are not crazy, IMO the cards that we might see being re subbed are those with decent price spreads between grades. PSA even mentions as much and show charts to prove it.

I never thought people would be sending in commons, even low pop ones. Not even condition sensitive ones where an 8 is worth a bundle and the 7 is miles back. The .5 resubs will be the Ruths and Cobbs of the collecting world at first i would think.


Steve

ArtRossLives

Zero. I've paid PSA once for grading and would rather spend my card money on cards than send more to Newport Beach. Frankly grades are a crapshoot + or - one grade now. Half grades are meaningless. If I decide to sell I'll do what everyone else will be doing - "These beauties were graded before January 08 and were lovingly picked from only the finest high end examples of each grade.....you'll easily be able to resubmit and get a bump....my loss is your gain....blah blah blah"

JasP24

<< <i>Zero. I've paid PSA once for grading and would rather spend my card money on cards than send more to Newport Beach. Frankly grades are a crapshoot + or - one grade now. Half grades are meaningless. If I decide to sell I'll do what everyone else will be doing - "These beauties were graded before January 08 and were lovingly picked from only the finest high end examples of each grade.....you'll easily be able to resubmit and get a bump....my loss is your gain....blah blah blah" >>



Any buyer who buys what a seller is writing in their auctions rather than by viewing a detailed scan gets exactly what they deserve.

Down the road, once the market has accepted the half grades as the norm rather than the exception, you'll need the .5 on the slab to get the .5 selling price IMO. As it has been stated 100 times already, the low end and low dollar cards are not worth sending in. You won't get the bang for your grading buck and if you read PSA's press release, they really aren't targeting that audience. It's the high dollar stuff where you have a large variation between 8 and 9 price that it makes fiscal sense to spend the few dollars on grading with the likelihood of increasing the value of the card by a large margin.

Jason

WinPitcher

Jasp

We finally agree, great post!

Art, with good scans and good feedback and a decent following your model will work too.

The guys with poor feedback and crappy scans will not get that benefit.

Steve

JasP24

<< <i>Jasp

We finally agree, great post!

Art, with good scans and good feedback and a decent following your model will work too.

The guys with poor feedback and crappy scans will not get that benefit.

Steve >>



Most importantly, the card must match the description "finest high end examples"...

Jason

fiveniner

NOT!!!!I am plenty satisfied.

RTB

RTB

I just learned about this today whenn reading the cover of the new SMR. My immediate gut feeling is that it is an obvious ripoff by PSA as the quantity of raw cards yet to be graded gets smaller. And here we are like little puppies ready to jump through some hoops to support this ripoff. What a pitiful shame...

gemint

<< <i>

<< <i>Zero. I've paid PSA once for grading and would rather spend my card money on cards than send more to Newport Beach. Frankly grades are a crapshoot + or - one grade now. Half grades are meaningless. If I decide to sell I'll do what everyone else will be doing - "These beauties were graded before January 08 and were lovingly picked from only the finest high end examples of each grade.....you'll easily be able to resubmit and get a bump....my loss is your gain....blah blah blah" >>



Any buyer who buys what a seller is writing in their auctions rather than by viewing a detailed scan gets exactly what they deserve.

Down the road, once the market has accepted the half grades as the norm rather than the exception, you'll need the .5 on the slab to get the .5 selling price IMO. As it has been stated 100 times already, the low end and low dollar cards are not worth sending in. You won't get the bang for your grading buck and if you read PSA's press release, they really aren't targeting that audience. It's the high dollar stuff where you have a large variation between 8 and 9 price that it makes fiscal sense to spend the few dollars on grading with the likelihood of increasing the value of the card by a large margin.

Jason >>



Good luck deciphering an 8 from an 8.5 simply from an eBay scan. For my '61 set, I've been buying only cards that look strong. For centering, I'm golden but several have had much weaker corners than the scans reveal, even good scans.

JasP24

<< <i>

<< <i>

<< <i>Zero. I've paid PSA once for grading and would rather spend my card money on cards than send more to Newport Beach. Frankly grades are a crapshoot + or - one grade now. Half grades are meaningless. If I decide to sell I'll do what everyone else will be doing - "These beauties were graded before January 08 and were lovingly picked from only the finest high end examples of each grade.....you'll easily be able to resubmit and get a bump....my loss is your gain....blah blah blah" >>



Any buyer who buys what a seller is writing in their auctions rather than by viewing a detailed scan gets exactly what they deserve.

Down the road, once the market has accepted the half grades as the norm rather than the exception, you'll need the .5 on the slab to get the .5 selling price IMO. As it has been stated 100 times already, the low end and low dollar cards are not worth sending in. You won't get the bang for your grading buck and if you read PSA's press release, they really aren't targeting that audience. It's the high dollar stuff where you have a large variation between 8 and 9 price that it makes fiscal sense to spend the few dollars on grading with the likelihood of increasing the value of the card by a large margin.

Jason >>



Good luck deciphering an 8 from an 8.5 simply from an eBay scan. For my '61 set, I've been buying only cards that look strong. For centering, I'm golden but several have had much weaker corners than the scans reveal, even good scans. >>



Very true...Which is why the .5 on the PSA slab will be the added bonus to prove that at least in PSA's eyes, the card is "high end"...Sorry, but as inconsistent as PSA is, I'll take their word over some random seller's word every single day of the week!lol

Jason

WinPitcher

Guys that is why I said the following:


Art, with good scans and good feedback and a decent following your model will work too



Steve

AlmostPerfect

<< <i>Not a single card will be re-submitted. Im content with how they are now. >>



you are an intelligent man, spend the money on more cards!

JasP24

Here are my upgrades so far:

1 07066440 1950 BOWMAN 6 LOU GROZA N/A 8.5
3 06032097 1950 BOWMAN 35 JOE PERRY N/A 8.5
7 11957716 1951 BOWMAN 21 ARNIE WEINMEISTER N/A 8.5
14 03450327 1955 BOWMAN 2 MIKE McCORMACK N/A 8.5
19 31443547 1955 TOPPS 66 BRUISER KINARD N/A 8.5
27 40326552 1963 FLEER 10 NICK BUONICONTI N/A 8.5
32 11892268 1965 PHILADELPHIA 53 MEL RENFRO N/A 8.5
34 04394396 1972 TOPPS 244 CHARLIE JOINER N/A 10

12 11114269 1958 TOPPS 90 SONNY JURGENSEN N/A 8.5

What I have soent in grading fees, I have more than tripled in card value with these upgrades...For me is well worth it..Can't wait for the next grading special so I can send more in...

Jason

bigreddog

Won't be sending any cards for review scam. I collect cards, not labels.

Experienced collectors have already been paying premiums for the well centered PSA 8's.
Many submitting for "speculated Value" may be suprised to find that the .5 bump will not create the premiums they think
for the cards that collectors have all ready been giving a premium for years. Collector's are not stupid.(well, not all) If centering is the main reason for the .5 bump, the smart collectors already can reconize the high end psa 8's weather it has the half grade or not.
Then Again the Label collectors just might give you a big premium for it. Who knows Best to wait and see.

Im not going to pay them twice reguardless. Already crossing one set to SGC. I collect cards. Not labels and priceguide quotes. It saddens me to see our hobby driven by sheer greed, by both Grading Companies and us as collectors, instead of the cards, its "What's it Worth?" It worth what someone is willing give you.

JasP24

Some points...

--Based on the bumps I have gotten, corners are playing a more important role than centering..

--If you are crossing to SGC, well, you are in fact paying twice to get your cards re-graded anyway. Why not just collect raw and get out of the graded card arena if that's your biggest complaint?

--Speculated value is a fairly easy thing...Card worth $500 in PSA 8, and $5,000 in PSA 9...Cost $13 to grade it ($15 at regular price), you will have EASILY tripled the value what you paid to grade and re-grade it. In fact, you can probably multiply your grading fee times 50..But, yes is speculation. You can shoose to play the game or you don't. I have no problem with anyone who doesn;t want to send their cards in for re-grade. Why would anyone have a problem with me choosing to do so?

--Unless you plan on being buried with your cards, or having a huge bonfire with them, someday, someone is going to sell them..When you/they do, personally I want to get maximum return vs. what I have spent. I started collecting my PSA graded football rookies in 1998/99...I've spent thousands of dollars because I enjoy collecting them. I want to know that whenever I sell or my kids or their kids or their kids sell them one day, that my money will not have been flushed down the toilet. Yes, it is a hobby that I enjoy. But part of the joy is owning something of value.

Can't we all just collect what we like and not try to preach to others the virtues of why raw is better or graded is better or PSA is better or SGC is better or baseball is better or football is better or commons are better or rookies are better, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc...

Collect what you like. If it's no longer fun, find a new hobby. Seems pretty simple to me...

Personally, I can't WAIT for my next review sub to pop and I can see which of my cards were deserving of the .5 bump. I enjoy the chase and I enjoy the PSA grading game.

Jason

Thulnanth

Interesting thread - thanks everyone for sharing!!!

For me personally, I'll be sending in zero cards for review - I cracked out all my 8's and lower a long time ago. I really don't think the whole .5 thing will affect me and what I collect very much (modern nonsports cards). I am more upset about the label changes - I wish they simply had added a .0 or .5 to all cards graded 8 or lower, rather than moving the location on the flip. Oh well, as long as the card deserves the grade, I guess it's no big deal

Take it easy,
Jared

bigreddog

Jason good points (but preaching none the less)


Yes we all like to think are cards will have value. But I don't look at my collection as an investment that I expect to get anything out of, other than the enjoyment of having the cards of my youth. As for my children being able to sell them......... Lets just say I have a lot more sound investments for their futures than my obsessive Card collecting habits.

Im more than willing to play the grading game. I love having some of my cards graded. but Most of my colection of the past 35 years will most likely always be raw.

My decission to cross one of my sets to SGC was never about wheather I was going to pay twice, Yes Im playing the grading game, But weather I was going to pay PSA twice. I had always planned to do a set in the SGC holders anyway and since I felt I was being played for a sucker by PSA, It was the perfect time to make this choice.

I guess Im just old fashion and long for the days of my youth when card collecting was innocent and about the cards. Nope them days are gone forever. Which is exactly why I still play this game with great passion. For the chance to get those cards of my youth for no other reason than to enjoy and have them take me back to those childhood days of 1972 when I was 8 years old.

We all have our own personal reasons for being in this hobby. I will continue with my collecting goals and wish you all the luck in your collecting goals as well.


The Cards

Jason you seem to be a very knowledgable Football guy. So maybe you can shed some light on a question.

Over the years I have probably put together the 1972 Topps Football set 5-6 times now it seems. It is my favorite all-time set.

I hold the #12 spot on the PSA Registry( No its not the set I crossed)

It seems funny that after 35 years of collecting and nitpicking this set, that I have not noticed this before now.

Why is there No Leroy Jordan or Mel Renfro in the 72 set? Both were stars of the Fabled Cowboys Doomsday defense of 1971.
Both appeared in the 1970 and 1971 Topps sets. As well as the 73,74,75,76 Topps Sets. I wonder why they were ommitted from the 72 set? ANYBODY?

markj111

I will when I get around to it. I really think PSA should give a price break on cards that have previously been graded. I would like a discount voucher for some number of cards, perhaps based on the number I have submitted over the years.

JasP24

I agree bigred..Everyone has their own reasons for collecting...Your reason makes perfect sense, to re-collect your childhood favorites..For me that would be 1982 and 1983 Topps (Yuck..lol)..

NFL history was a hobby of mine before I got back into cards in the late 1990s...I didn't collect any memorabilia or cards, but finding/purchasing old reading materials and old game films can be very expensive with no return on the back end..I still enjoy learning new things, and the cards were a great way to bring a piece of each HOF player into my house...I collect HOF or future HOF rookies, and that's it..There isn't one card in my entire collection that isn;t a rookie..Doesn't make it better or worse, just my preference...

I'm not collecting as an investment into my kids futures either...In fact, I'm certain I'll still own these as a grandfather (God willing)...I've spent in the high 5, low 6 digits on my collection..If I were to sell off now, based on VCP values, I would bring back a 74% profit...That's not bad for a 9 years, and gives me a justification to the wife when I drop 5K in a week...lol

Sorry to preach..Its hard to answer a preach without being that way...You bring up some valid arguments and I think your point of view is shared by many collector's out there, most likely the majority.

Jason