MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT. I am selling 90% of my collection...............

RonBurgundy

I think. After a lot of thought and consideration I believe I am going to change my collecting goal of acquiring a complete Topps run in high grade from 1954-80. I no longer have confidence that prices will sustain themselves in the graded market for these years, particularly with commons as the population reports increase, half points drive the prices of straight 7's and 8's even lower, and as card doctors continue to populate holdered cards with altered stuff. I came to the conclusion a year ago that it no longer made sense to build completely graded sets, because the economics of it did not work. Now I realize even doing partially raw/graded sets in high grade - in these years - is increasingly difficult if you attempt to maintain a spread between the price paid for the card and it's going market price - especially when prices for quality raw continue to rise. I think it's only going to get worse for high grade collectors..........mid grade collectors will continue to see plenty of value, I think.

I collect for the fun of it, but I'm not blind to the fact that I want value in my collection. So I think with certain forces pushing that value down over time, it's time to liquidate and get into something more comfortable.

So in all likelihood my complete and partial sets from 1954-80 will be on the block in the coming weeks, but I'm not getting out of collecting. I will probably use the proceeds to do one of the following:


1) Build a '52 Topps set in 7 or better. Yes I know, I'm crazy.

2) Build a '53 Bowman set in 7/8, along with a '52 Bowman Large Football set or selected HOF'ers in super high grade. I think these two options are good ones, because both should provide much enjoyment while also holding and adding value down the road. The only thing I'm keeping would be the HOF'ers in super high grade that I already have. Autographs will be on the block as well.




Ron

OnlyThe10s

Good luck man.

Just give us a crack at some stuff before it goes on the bay.

perkdog

Ron do you have any registry sets going that I can check out to have an idea of the stuff your going to be selling?


BTW- Good luck trying to build a 52 Bowman Large set or even find HOF'ers in Super High grade!

Allen

<< <i>BTW- Good luck trying to build a 52 Bowman Large set or even find HOF'ers in Super High grade! >>



My thoughts exactly.

Good luck in whatever you do. I contemplate selling everything almost daily.

BobS

Good Luck Ron - changing gears is alright.

Feel free to contact me when you're looking to move you're raw 56's.

Cheers.

RonBurgundy

Thanks guys and I am going to have stuff to move, no doubt. Once doing inventory is finished you will see much of it, if not all of it, offered up here.

Re: the '52 Bowman large set.......yep, them boys are TOUGH. The Holy Grail of Modern Football.




Ron

stown

Keep me in mind when sorting out your '54s, please.

brianwintersfan

Interested as well!

css23

Ron, best of luck on the new goals.

I would be interested in some of your 58's if you part with them.

Stone193

Good luck Ron.

Since I've always thought that graded cards can be overpriced, I switched to other items to collect - they're fun, reasonably priced and still give me that sense of collecting enjoyment.

mike

mealeworm

Ron,
I understand exactly what you are saying and think about Raw sets all the time. I just want to finish off my 57 set for now. I know you have some of those floating around. I will be in touch.

Dave

RipublicaninMass

I have to say I partly agree on this. The pre-war sets I work on are more commonly found graded than not, plus risks of trimming fakes etc. I would rather collect those graded at a fair price. I would have to say for me 1958+ would be fine raw, again just my opinion. I have a nice 85 topps set with maor stars graded 9-10 and that is just fine by me as well. I just dont wanna hear "the sky is falling" since Ron decided to sell

Bosox1976

Ron:

Best of luck either way; if you've got a sinking feeling about something you collect it must take away a good amount of the pleasure. There are certainly better investment vehicles, so pleasure is vital to the process.

That said, we (and I personally) know you've got a great eye for stuff. Selling will go well for you. I hope the revised focus gives you the confidence of retained (and likely increasing) value, and as importantly the pleasure.

You should definitely contact DRS. David is the man on the 52T set - and a pleasure to converse with. When I sold him my 62T registry set, he was willing to indulge my 52T questions. I certainly don't know him well enough to speak for him, but he has been around the block a few times on that set.

Add me to the list of interested buyers too!

ArnyVee

Ron, it's cool to change your collecting focus and there's nothing wrong with realizing that you might be cutting your losses on some/most sets due to the adjustments in grading.

By the way, keep me in mind for whatever Dave doesn't want/take for the '57s.

DRS

Thanks for the kind words, Mike

Ron - I am working on the completion my 3rd PSA 7 1952 Topps Master Set

If you want to chat about the challenge of building a PSA 7 (or better) 1952 Topps set, feel free to call me at my office 914-273-3700

Best of Luck

David R. Selznick

Spahnfan

I think many of us have had similar thoughts about our sets. Good luck and enjoy doing what you want to do. I still want to finish my 50's sets. I still want to collect them as long as I can afford to, then sell some as my wants change. You know, you can just cut back some and not sell so much.

Stone193

Ron

I forgot to mention this but I bought so much crap in the early 90's, that if I sold 90% of my collection, I would still have 50% left!