Freeing some cards

bigreddog

Just picked up some 1984 psa football cards from board member "Gameusedhoop" (Highly recommended seller)

I got the cards quickly and immediately started freeing them from their plastic prisons to add to my set.

Ive broke out hundreds of cards for my raws sets. Sometimes you run across a few that are tougher to open, but all of these were pretty easily poped open
and the slabs are reusable for special projects like the custom made Michael jordan Sets I have featured in the "Buy/Sell/Trade" section.


Click the link below to view the complete sets

Custom Michael Jordan Sets


And now for the 1984 Topps football cards I set free for my set:

Opps I forgot I set this 78 Roland Harper free. It was the only slab I ruined. Now to track down a "cherry" Joe Theisman




My obsession is with how the card set flows with the cards around it. That steve freeman in the bottom left corner is ruining the flow with that centering.



Again that Cliff Branch in the middle is throwing off the page flow here.



AAAGHHH!!! Its driving me insaine! That McElroy has got to go!!!!!



AAAH! Yes, The Nat Moore has added very nice flow to the Key Marino Page. Im still eyeballing that Duper card though.





I thought the Hannah and Tatupu would just about ace the Mint flow here... Hmmmmm... That james and morgan are giving me a headace now.





Gastineau and Jones have really made my Jets Page flow much better! The Leahy SUCKS! and the Lance Mehl is in danger of losing it's spot in my set.



Now my Steelers page is starting to really get that MINT flow going!



Its a nice start, but that whole top row while MINT cards has to go due to the centering. Billy Ray Smith needs the boot as well. Still work to be done on the Chargers Page.







Cosbie, Dutton and Pearson are still screwing up the flow of the Cowboy flow




SOMEBODY PLEASE...... Help me show that regular issue Billy Sims the door out of my set.



Saints are looking pretty darn good


Just need to get rid of that Mark Haynes to get the Giants in Championship form!

EagleEyeKid

So you're cracking open psa 9s to make your raw set.
Why don't you just make a psa 9 set ?

fkw

right on!!!!

dont forget to send those flips back to PSA so they can keep the pop reports extremely accurate lol

SidePocket

One of the more entertaining posts I've seen here in quite a while. Now THAT's how you build a raw set.

otwcards

Gives new meaning to "ripping." I'd hate to think if you were working on a NM '48 Leaf Set . . .

hammered

<< <i>So you're cracking open psa 9s to make your raw set.
Why don't you just make a psa 9 set ? >>




Or, why don't you just buy a raw set?

fkw

for those interested in pop report accuracy, there is a post today over on Net54 about "where to send in their flips?"

one guy shows a pic of hundreds of flips he has... and most say "throw them out"...

just sayin'

Where do I send these flips? (Net54 thread)

JoeBanzai

Please post a few more scans, I still don't understand what you are doing.

bigreddog

Hey Guys!

I sense a bit of bewildermint here and I guess in todays hobby world rightfully so.

So, First I suppose a bit more information is needed here.

#1 I prefer my sets raw as they were intended when I collected them as a kid. I need to be able to feel and smell them. I need to be able to hold the whole set
in my lap and flip through it in chronological order. All of which is not possible when encase in a 100 lbs of plastic cases. That being said I can and do appricate how
beautiful a set is in graded form. In fact I have worked on a couple of graded sets over the years as well. My 1972 Topps Football set currently holds the #2 Spot on
the PSA set registry. My 1971 Topps Football set resides at the #1 spot on the SGC set Registry. But I also maintain both of those sets in raw form as well.
I also hold the #5 spot on the SGC reistry with a 1955 Topps all American set. Weighing in at close to 100lb or more in a Pelican case you can't just pull it out and sit
with it on your lap and flip through it.

#2 I have an obssession for building the sharpest most perfect centered sets possible. The thing is, I don't care about values, priceguides, vcp. I don't collect labels or price tags.
I collect CARDS solely for the sentimental value and what they meant to me as a young boy. With the hobby dominated by "Whats it worth" and label collectors, It is true
that I need to play the money game in order achive my collecting goals, but that has never been what motivates me. The day it becomes more about the money than the
the cards, is probably the day I will exit the hobby.

#3 For decades I have worked on my 1969 - 1989 Topps football run. Long before any TPG I was obssessed with building crazy high grade raws sets. Ive probably built all the
70's sets multiple times over. Ive built the 1970 Topps Set at least 5 times over. Once the TPGing thing came in it became increasingly more difficult to find the higher
grade cards, as more and more of the "Whats it worth" and "Collecting for profit" parasites moved increasingly more into the hobby getting "Stupid Money" for
"Low pop Cards" and who could blame them. As Ive said, Ive never been one to be ruled by priceguides and such and spent more than my fair share of money on cards
over the years, but no way was I going to give "Crazy money" for commons or fools gold GEM MINT 10 cards that were really only 9's on any other day. So I sat on the
sidelines for a few years. Eventually the populations went up, which was predictable, and the prices fell. I eventually started to find graded cards, especially commons,
at darn near the same cost as raws., so it didn't make much sense to chance buying a raw from ebay, etc.. which almost always resulted in an overgraded dissappointment.


#4 As for the 1984 set and its history?? Someone asked "why don't you just buy a set"? Well lets see now....... because there is no seller, dealer, etc.. offering
anything remotle close to a truely MINT set. They are all sets made up with overgraded leftovers from cards that they feel wasn't worthy of sending to PSA.
Besides Ive owned an 84 set for many years with top grade Marino, Elway and many stars and just recently broke a wax box from Steve(BBCE). So my remaining
wantlist on the set is 50-60 cards. So it's no big deal for me to pick up these 9's for $4 each! and thats with Shipping! You can't hardly by raws for that and chances
are they'll be overgraded. Yeah so what, I spent $400 on a wax box and another 100 bucks on the 9's making a set that lists for what $150 or so. No big deal to me!
Im having a great time building a killer set. I pulled very nice gradable John Elway and a pretty nice Marino from the 84 Wax box as well as many other nice high end cards
that I will deal away to help offset the cost and play the money game with. I may even buy another 84 box from BBCE just for the hell of it and the shear fun of ripping it!


#5 As for what Im doing? Simply building the nicest 1984 set in the hobby thats all. The fact that I prefer it to be Raw seems to be what is confusing some of you.
I guess with so many "whats it Worth" and Registry slave "Label collectors" out there in the hobby, I suppose your confusion is understandable.
Newsflash! The Fact that finest set in the hobby does NOT necessarily belong to the PSA regisrty slaves is what I think threatens and confuses many.

dilfer

bigreddog,

You seem to be putting together a top notch set. The 84’s are great; I think the set is underrated.

That being said – what’s up with the hate in point #5? I collect raw in vintage sets, but also have PSA and SGC cards in my collection. While I have never put together a fully graded PSA or SGC graded set, I don’t consider those that do “slaves”. They (graded set collectors – including yourself in point #1) do so presumably because they enjoy it, not because they are forced to. Let’s keep things in perspective. It‘s just cardboard.

Sean1125

That is a TRUE collector right there.

Love this post.

mikesimo88

Nice cards but

If you you look up CONTRADICTION in the dictionary, there will be a picture of BIGREDDOG...

You have the number 1 registry set yourself in a set, yet you call others slaves and are condescending and demeaning to those
Who collect graded cards? Say what???

I think you have issues....not to mention you spend money that cant be made back...

swartz1

throw them out...

or at least get some type of incentive from the company before you send them in...

TmbrWolf22

I too love the 84 set, as it was one of the first I started buying packs of as a kid. The set has a remarkable amount of HOFers as well. With all that being said, I cannot stand the design, the tilted pics play tricks on the mind I think. frustrating.

hammered

So...

When you buy PSA graded cards, there are several valid reasons.
When others buy them, they are registry slaves and label collectors.

I think I get it now.

BTW, congrats on having the courage to bust open some '84 commons in PSA 9. If you hadn't shown us the cracked slabs earlier, we never would've believed you.

MeteoriteGuy

70s and 80s Topps cards, although not rare...can be pretty hard to find in nice mint centered examples.

I have never understood why some will pay $100 in a psa 10, for a card that would be $10 in a psa 9 and $1 ungraded. Those people do appear to be the minority however, so more power to them. They help make the 8s and 9s affordable. Having said that, i have never seen anyone post so many why you should buy graded cards comments, while taking an anti-graded card stance.

dennis07

This is not intended to knock the OP. I believe in to each his own. But I've got to say, Thank you, Lord.

itzagoner

<< <i>......"Collecting for profit" parasites...... >>



wow. where do you even begin with this?

alright. i can dig what you're doing. building a knockout vintage raw set or even a more modern set is pretty cool, but there is inherent value attached to anything, i suppose.

the value of the people who make these cards available to you in the first place might be equated by the fact that some of them are the same parasites who built their piles based on intelligent speculation and bold negotiating skills.

without them, you'd be working even harder to locate your beloved gems.

careful whose punch bowl you poop in.

CollectorAtWork

To each his own, but the thing I don't understand here is why buy PSA9's if you're just going to crack them out? Well centered PSA 7's (or even 6's) may be good enough and still look good in the sheets. Then you wouldn't have to pay the premium of PSA 9's and it'd be cheaper to build a nice looking set. I get most of my prewar cards graded and slabbed, but I also collect vintage and modern cards, and usually just leave those in the box or in sheets.

Hallco

I get it! it would not work for me personally, but I completely understand what you are doing! Congrats on an incredible 84 set. In no way is this meant as a criticism or a negative....but do you consider yourself OCD? The only reason I am asking is because I am! With almost everything in my life....except for cards!?!? I can't walk by my sofa without adjusting the throw pillows if someone has been sitting on it recently....but depending on the rest of a card...I am ok with a VG/EX card that has some rounded corners! Not sure why, it just doesn't bother me that much.

bigreddog

Whew! vultures are circling!

I am not Anti-Grading and apologize if that is the way many took it. There is no doubt that some of the nicest sets in the hobby are in the registry.

I guess what gets me is how the Registry has created a certain mentality where one feels the need to continuely re-sub the same card over and over
hoping to get a higher flip therefore increasing registry status and or monatry value. The flip and or Value have become more the focal point than the card itself,
which in reality nothing has changed with, Its still the same card.

I understand that we all want are cards and collections to hold some monatry value, but it just seems to me that card values, VCP and such have become more important than the cards themsleves.

I throughly enjoyed building the 72 set I have on the registry. Lots of the cards came from the many original raw sets I have made over the years. So many of those cards hold a sentimental value for me. Ive had many opprotunities at cards with a higher grade on the flip, but opted out because I didn't feel the higher flip card was as nice as the card I had. Does anybody have a Mint 9 #8 Scoring Ldr or Mint 9 #348 George Blanda IA ???? the two cards that have eluded me for sometime now.

Looks as though Ive raised a lot of eyebrows here, which is ok, even if most have come down on me negatively. As someone posted to each there own!


SOOOOOOOO How bout some 1984 TOPPS FOOTBALL CARDS!! I know many of you out there have a box of cards you keep and feel you might get graded. But you know you will most likely never submit as there really is no profit margin in subbbing 84 commons and such.

I just busted a wax box from Steve at BBCE and looking to swap some cards from others who have recently ripped some 84's

I got a thread going on some 83 Topps Footbal Wax Rips as well. I will put up a new thread for the 84 wax rip with some pics


Happy collecting and REMEMBER............ Buy the card NOT the Flip.


John

Blackie

This is quite possibly one of the best threads ive ever read! bigreddog is true collector and does it for the enjoyment of the hobby..........thanks for sharing

TmbrWolf22

I'd be interested in a a few HOF RCs. Long, Slater, Craig.....LMK if you have any worth grading.

ArchStanton

I love that set. I have a few flips tucked in the front of the binders of my '58 and '61 baseball sets, but NOTHING like that. You are a true card junkie.

WalterSobchak

That is an awesome set you have going. I am trying to put a NM/MT-MINT set together as a side project (I collect baseball exclusively otherwise) with cards mostly pulled from packs....... and 99% of the cards I find have at least some tilt. It's frustrating. I don't know how you are finding so many cards that don't have a tilt!

Estil

<< <i>So you're cracking open psa 9s to make your raw set.
Why don't you just make a psa 9 set ? >>



Because they don't fit in a binder silly

lwehlers

i really think what you are doing with your sets is just great! i also love raw sets.

bigreddog

Im just amazed that this thread has gotten this kind of attention! "Gameusedhoop" is offer the remaining 180 or so PSA 9's for $2.50 each....... IF you buy the whole lot.
Some don't have good enough centering for me. But if the lot does not sell I have 20 others on his list I would go a couple bucks apiece on. Cracking another 20 would be great!

Still need a cherry Dickerson Rookie. Should have picked up that PSA 9 i seen the other night. 20 bucks got it and it had nice centering.


For those who have inquiried about cards from the 84 wax box I broke. I will post a seperate thread featuring those, similar to the 1983 wax box Break I posted.

I had a few replies and possible deals set up on my 83 Thread, but I never heard back from those folks.. SO PLEASE ....... Don't waste my time by wanting to buy or trade for something and then not respone and follow through.

Take care yall
John