PSA Registry set purchase question.

akuracy503

I figured this might be the correct forum to ask registry questions, I am fairly new to the PSA registry game.

Contemplating to purchase a '54 topps baseball set already graded, this is my favorite Topps issue i'd certainly enjoy it.
However how risky is it in terms of resale value, difficulty of sale.

Let's assume the set is purchased below SMR and it is a low/mid grade condition.

I have already disregarded the option of piecing the set together myself as I figure it'd be a lot more cost effective to buy a set outright.

Thoughts?

Or should I save myself the burden of owning a set.

Davemri

SMR is irrelevent. Check the prices according to VCP to see what kind of price you should be looking at. You can get a 1 day membership for $3.99 I think? THat would be well worth it..


Dave

markj111

<< <i>SMR is irrelevent. Check the prices according to VCP to see what kind of price you should be looking at. You can get a 1 day membership for $3.99 I think? THat would be well worth it..


Dave >>




What he said. SMR means nothing. If you use it, you will get burned.

1960toppsguy

Just like a stock, if you BUY it, it is sure to go down in value but that's not important if it's something you like alot.

thehallmark

If it's priced right and you have the means, buy the set and then upgrade the cards slowly over time. This way, you'll have the beauties to look at right now AND you'll have a long term goal as well.

Oh, and you absolutely MUST find an unopened pack of 1954 Topps to go with your set. That's the cherry on top of every vintage set.

Most importantly, have fun and enjoy the journey no matter what path you choose! This isn't supposed to feel like work.

MCMLVTopps

my 2 cents...

Do not use SMR as a guide to any purchase, it simply does not reflect nor keep up with realistic market conditions. VCP (Vintage Card Prices) is the only viable database for current prices along with ever-growing historical data.

If you have the funds and really want the set, purchase as a whole...think of the shipping charges alone that you will save if you tried to put the set together one or two at a time, not to mention the time it may take you to accomplish the task. The value of the set would slowly, but steadily increase, thus, not a concern.

cardbender

Good point, if you tried to piece the set together, the shipping costs alone could run you up to $1000 for a '54 Baseball graded set.

Aaronman

I think your best value would be from purchasing the set in it's entirety. It might be harder to put together a PSA low to mid grade from 1954 than a PSA 7-8 set. I'm guessing that the pop on a 54 Topps Al Aber in a PSA 5 is a lot less than a PSA 8. So putting it together card by card could take you a while. As far as VCP vs SMR, it's a tough call. SMR is very general and can be off in either direction. VCP is good (but not great) but does not take into account Ebay store sales and shipping expenses. I find VCP to be about 20% lower than what you can sell most cards for but still a good tool to use. If you sum up the 54 topps set in PSA 5 from VCP (using average pricing) you get $4548.80 (with one card missing #223). The PSA 5 set price from SMR is $6875. I'm guessing that you can find the commons under SMR but the stars might be over SMR. Here are some examples:

Kaline SMR: 240 VCP: 231
Aaron SMR: 625 VCP: 747
Banks SMR: 375 VCP: 389
TW#1 SMR: 300 VCP: 218
TW#250SMR: 325 VCP: 231

The other thing to consider is how you value your time. It will take a couple of years to put together this set card by card. I think you need to factor that in when you decide to build the set card by card using VCP values or buy the set based upon SMR from a monetary perspective.

My $.02