Adventures of a Born Again Collector
MithrilMan
Posts: 161
I’ve been collecting baseball cards on and off since 1973. I worked in a card shop from 1988-1990 in Charlottesville, Virginia while attending college. We prided ourselves in grading, and in fact, were a priniciple in the massive nm-mt T206 “Find” in the late eighties. (Wish I had some money back then.) This card shop has left the card business and now focuses on autograph shows in Northern Virginia.
I’ve been out of the card business since graduating from college in 1990. This is background for my familiarity with grading. Although I’m not an expert; I’d say I’m not a novice. Hopefully someone will find my recent experiences interesting…
I decided to start collecting again, and I’m focusing on 1973 (as it was my first baseball cards purchased) and 1954 Topps (as it contains my childhood hero’s rookie card (Hank Aaron.)) I started about 6 months ago and I have 70% of the ’73 set in PSA 9 and 15% of the ’54 set in PSA 9. This thread relates to the 1973 build.
I’m picking up graded ’73 cards via auction house and eBay when I feel that the price is reasonable. I thought it would be fun to supplement those purchases with some raw cards submitted through PSA. Also, I have bought some SGC cards for crossover. I’m really having a blast with it, but there have been some frustrations that some may learn from or (I’m guessing) some could have predicted.
I bought approximately 1500 raw cards through Ebay that were advertised as NM or better, showed good pictures, and were from reliable sellers. I picked the best 100 cards based on my knowledge of grading and submitted them. Results: On the disappointing side mostly. Many cards I thought were 9s ended up 8s. Some low POP cards that I thought were 8s ended up 7s. Also, there were 9 cards submitted that were returned as MINSIZERQ. Some cards came back with the grade that I had anticipated i.e. 9s and 8s.
What I learned: Break up the lots into 20 or so batches to get different graders at the expense of saving a few bucks/card.
I bought a complete ’73 set advertised as NM-MT through a long time dealer’s catalogue. Disaster. I know ’73 cards very well at this point and am familiar with their propensity to be OC. There was no randomness with this set. It had a full 90% of the cards OC, and the cards that weren’t OC were dinged or stained. The stars, particularly the Schmidt, were the cards in the worse condition. Thankfully, the company refunded my money no questions asked; however, I was out $30 for return shipping and insurance.
I bought 7 SGC 96 cards for crossover. 5 came back PSA 9 and 2 came back PSA 8.
Again, sorry to ramble. I’ve learned a lot. I think it’s generally not a money maker (or in my case a savings because I’m not planning on selling) to search for raw cards on Ebay and grade them, but I’m sure many of you have a better eye than me. I have a lot of fun submitting raw cards; I think I will just be much more selective – especially on the post 1960 stuff. Great Hobby! Have Fun!
I’ve been out of the card business since graduating from college in 1990. This is background for my familiarity with grading. Although I’m not an expert; I’d say I’m not a novice. Hopefully someone will find my recent experiences interesting…
I decided to start collecting again, and I’m focusing on 1973 (as it was my first baseball cards purchased) and 1954 Topps (as it contains my childhood hero’s rookie card (Hank Aaron.)) I started about 6 months ago and I have 70% of the ’73 set in PSA 9 and 15% of the ’54 set in PSA 9. This thread relates to the 1973 build.
I’m picking up graded ’73 cards via auction house and eBay when I feel that the price is reasonable. I thought it would be fun to supplement those purchases with some raw cards submitted through PSA. Also, I have bought some SGC cards for crossover. I’m really having a blast with it, but there have been some frustrations that some may learn from or (I’m guessing) some could have predicted.
I bought approximately 1500 raw cards through Ebay that were advertised as NM or better, showed good pictures, and were from reliable sellers. I picked the best 100 cards based on my knowledge of grading and submitted them. Results: On the disappointing side mostly. Many cards I thought were 9s ended up 8s. Some low POP cards that I thought were 8s ended up 7s. Also, there were 9 cards submitted that were returned as MINSIZERQ. Some cards came back with the grade that I had anticipated i.e. 9s and 8s.
What I learned: Break up the lots into 20 or so batches to get different graders at the expense of saving a few bucks/card.
I bought a complete ’73 set advertised as NM-MT through a long time dealer’s catalogue. Disaster. I know ’73 cards very well at this point and am familiar with their propensity to be OC. There was no randomness with this set. It had a full 90% of the cards OC, and the cards that weren’t OC were dinged or stained. The stars, particularly the Schmidt, were the cards in the worse condition. Thankfully, the company refunded my money no questions asked; however, I was out $30 for return shipping and insurance.
I bought 7 SGC 96 cards for crossover. 5 came back PSA 9 and 2 came back PSA 8.
Again, sorry to ramble. I’ve learned a lot. I think it’s generally not a money maker (or in my case a savings because I’m not planning on selling) to search for raw cards on Ebay and grade them, but I’m sure many of you have a better eye than me. I have a lot of fun submitting raw cards; I think I will just be much more selective – especially on the post 1960 stuff. Great Hobby! Have Fun!
My favorite ball players throughout the years: Hank Aaron, Dale Murphy, Ellis Burks, Lance Berkman
0
Comments
Jeff
Welcome back to the hobby!
Bosox1976
<< <i>were a priniciple in the massive nm-mt T206 “Find” in the late eighties >>
Welcome back to the hobby MM.
Thanx for the read - we've all had our share of "fun" dealing with sellers from time to time.
On the "find" - where was it? I remember back then there was a big find in a Barn - I think it was PA?
Good luck in the future.