Wow check out this auction!! 1981 Topps Kirk Gibson PSA 10 Pop 1

Dpeck100 · February 21, 2012 11:12AM

I was just cruising through some EBAY listings and came across this monster.

1981 Kirk Gibson

There are 91 watchers on this and the price is nearly $1,300 with time to go.

This is a Pop 1 with 250 cards graded and 56 PSA 9's.

MattyC · February 21, 2012 11:18AM

I have no problem paying handsomely for a perfectly centered 10, but that is not one for which I'd pony up, in terms of l/r centering. It's probably within PSA 10 guidelines, though.

Dpeck100 · February 21, 2012 11:19AM

I never really looked at it. I did just run through recent sales and this card raw could have been picked up for a few bucks. Talk about a home run!!!

Hallco · February 21, 2012 11:28AM

Great card as far as condition is concerned. The dude on the front kinda ruins it for me though!

ThoseBackPages · February 21, 2012 11:32AM

Its a great card for sure.

1981 Topps Paper Stock is simply "mush". Very tough set to grade

jwilson6204 · February 21, 2012 12:02PM

how can you tell how many watchers there are? I was under the impression I could only tell for cards I was sellling. thanks

benderbroeth · February 21, 2012 3:28PM

imagine if it were jeremy lin!!!

RookieWax · February 21, 2012 7:11PM

I am pretty sure that as of a few weeks ago, that card was a pop 0 in a PSA 10. I was wondering if we would ever see a PSA 10. There is no telling how high this card will go.

Dpeck100 · February 21, 2012 8:06PM

Watchcount.com

Just type in Kirk Gibson and this bad boy comes up. 109 watchers now.

I have a feeling this is going to launch. I recall seeing some auctions in the past year or so for his World Series memorabilia from 1988 bringing huge cash.

shagrotn77 · February 21, 2012 8:25PM

I'd be surprised if Dmitri Young didn't buy it.

Probstein123 · February 21, 2012 10:23PM

I turned down a 2K offer during day 1 of the auction...
just curious... would you have accepted or would you have let the auction run ?

jeffcbay · February 21, 2012 10:28PM

I would have let it run... the fair market price will work itself out.

LodiBrewFan · February 21, 2012 10:59PM

Two grand for a 81 Topps card, wow. I would have had a hard time saying no to that one.

That being said, you probably did the right thing. The stars are aligned on this one so who knows what the final price will be.

Johnsteph10 · February 21, 2012 11:02PM

I think it'll clear $2k -- there are a couple of highrollers that won't let this card go easily...

lifeshouldbefun · February 22, 2012 12:26AM

I'm a Watcher :-) Makes me want to go out and buy an '81 Vending Case and just search for the Pop 1's, and No "10's" cards "-)

jeffcbay · February 22, 2012 12:33AM

How much do you think the first Valenzuela PSA 10 would go for? 650 graded and no 10s.

WalterSobchak · February 22, 2012 1:00AM

Hopefully the hobby heavyweights will get involved!

Dpeck100 · February 22, 2012 1:15AM

I would not have taken it.

Think of all the extra eye balls you have now looking through your auctions. I came across this becuase I am bidding on two of your cards.

I think sellers who end hot items early upset the other bidders and lose the free advertising for the rest of their merchandise.

Rare cards from strong sellers have been bringing crazy prices lately. If some idiot is willing to spend $3,000 on a Jeremy Lin card why can't this be worth $15,000?

I think you will be pleased you left it running and if the person was willing to spend $2,000 on day one they should be willing to spend the same at the hammer. My guess which is based on simply picking a number out of thin air is $4,350.

Good luck Rick!

itzagoner · February 22, 2012 1:19AM

Rick, the answer to your question is in the shagrotn77 post directly above yours.

armyautin · February 22, 2012 1:21AM

<< 
.

I think sellers who end hot items early upset the other bidders and lose the free advertising for the rest of their merchandise.

! >>

Completely agree, this makes me angry if it is an established seller. Ending auctions early is a breach of trust between the seller and those hoping to bid at the end of an auction. think of the backlash if major auction houses ended their items early. Occasional sellers are just unloading their stuff and don't care about happy (returning) customers.

Probstein123 · February 22, 2012 1:40AM

Think of all the extra eye balls you have now looking through your auctions
==> Bingo !

mikeschmidt · February 22, 2012 1:45AM

Depends on the card. I think this is a good card to let it run, but I equally think that there are times when closing an auction early is in the seller's best interest.

Sportsamerica · February 22, 2012 1:49AM

<< How much do you think the first Valenzuela PSA 10 would go for? 650 graded and no 10s. >>

I sold my 9 to Dmitri Young... Listed it as a BIN, sold it within 2 hours.

These 81's are tough.. I had some fun a year or two with a case of 81 vending, got about 5 10s out of each box, besides the card stock, the centering was horrible.

jeffcbay · February 22, 2012 2:19AM

I've always thought about diving into a couple boxes of '81 Topps because it's a nice risk/reward money-wise, but the card stock alone scares me away. There's a reason why some of these cards are hard to 10.

Dpeck100 · February 22, 2012 2:29AM

130 Watchers and climbing. Obviously alot of the people watching are just spectators like me but the more people watching the better is my opinion.

It only takes a few to jump off the sidelines to change the outcome in a big way.

sportscardtheory · February 22, 2012 2:51AM

<< 

<< 
.

I think sellers who end hot items early upset the other bidders and lose the free advertising for the rest of their merchandise.

! >>

Completely agree, this makes me angry if it is an established seller. Ending auctions early is a breach of trust between the seller and those hoping to bid at the end of an auction. think of the backlash if major auction houses ended their items early. Occasional sellers are just unloading their stuff and don't care about happy (returning) customers. >>

This is why eBay needs a Best Offer option WITH running auctions. It would make them money as well because there would be less "off-eBay" sales due to people being able to make an offer on a running auction.

Bosox1976 · February 22, 2012 5:34AM

Opened a beautiful, pristine 1981 rack case a couple years ago.... not one 10. Zero.

TOUGH cards. Risk/reward is rough.

37 1 09192569 MINT 9 1981 TOPPS 32 KEN OBERKFELL Card
38 1 09192570 MINT 9 1981 TOPPS 91 TIM STODDARD Card
39 1 09192571 MINT 9 1981 TOPPS 100 ROD CAREW Card
40 1 09192572 MINT 9 1981 TOPPS 108 BRUCE BENEDICT Card
41 1 09192573 MINT 9 1981 TOPPS 137 HOSKEN POWELL Card
42 1 09192574 MINT 9 1981 TOPPS 139 OSCAR GAMBLE Card
43 1 09192575 NEAR MINT-MINT 8 1981 TOPPS 156 BOB McCLURE Card
44 1 09192576 MINT 9 1981 TOPPS 173 BUMP WILLS Card
45 1 09192577 EXCELLENT-MINT 6 1981 TOPPS 261 RICKEY HENDERSON Card
46 1 09192578 NEAR MINT-MINT 8 1981 TOPPS 240 NOLAN RYAN Card
47 1 09192579 NEAR MINT-MINT 8 1981 TOPPS 240 NOLAN RYAN Card
48 1 09192580 MINT 9 1981 TOPPS 240 NOLAN RYAN Card
49 1 09192581 MINT 9 1981 TOPPS 240 NOLAN RYAN Card
50 1 09192582 MINT 9 1981 TOPPS 271 BILL CASTRO Card
51 1 09192583 MINT 9 1981 TOPPS 293 CHARLIE LEA Card
52 1 09192584 MINT 9 1981 TOPPS 302 DODGERS FUTURE STAR PERCONTE/SCIOSCIA/VALENZUELA Card
53 1 09192585 MINT 9 1981 TOPPS 302 DODGERS FUTURE STAR PERCONTE/SCIOSCIA/VALENZUELA Card
54 1 09192586 MINT 9 1981 TOPPS 302 DODGERS FUTURE STAR PERCONTE/SCIOSCIA/VALENZUELA Card
55 1 09192587 MINT 9 1981 TOPPS 302 DODGERS FUTURE STAR PERCONTE/SCIOSCIA/VALENZUELA Card
56 1 09192588 MINT 9 1981 TOPPS 347 HAROLD BAINES Card
57 1 09192589 MINT 9 1981 TOPPS 365 GRAIG NETTLES Card
58 1 09192590 MINT 9 1981 TOPPS 365 GRAIG NETTLES Card
59 1 09192591 MINT 9 1981 TOPPS 387 PHIL NIEKRO Card
60 1 09192592 MINT 9 1981 TOPPS 402 N.L. CHAMPIONSHIPS PHIL. SQUEAK PAST ASTROS Card
61 1 09192593 MINT 9 1981 TOPPS 402 N.L. CHAMPIONSHIPS PHIL. SQUEAK PAST ASTROS Card
62 1 09192594 MINT 9 1981 TOPPS 468 JOHNNY WOCKENFUSS Card
63 1 09192595 MINT 9 1981 TOPPS 478 JUAN EICHELBERGER Card
64 1 09192596 MINT 9 1981 TOPPS 479 EXPOS FUTURE STARS T.RAINES/R.RAMOS/B.PATE Card
65 1 09192597 NEAR MINT 7 1981 TOPPS 479 EXPOS FUTURE STARS T.RAINES/R.RAMOS/B.PATE Card
66 1 09192598 NEAR MINT-MINT 8 1981 TOPPS 479 EXPOS FUTURE STARS T.RAINES/R.RAMOS/B.PATE Card
67 1 09192599 NEAR MINT 7 1981 TOPPS 479 EXPOS FUTURE STARS T.RAINES/R.RAMOS/B.PATE Card
68 1 09192600 NEAR MINT-MINT 8 1981 TOPPS 479 EXPOS FUTURE STARS T.RAINES/R.RAMOS/B.PATE Card
69 1 09192601 MINT 9 1981 TOPPS 482 JIM GANTNER Card
70 1 09192602 NEAR MINT-MINT 8 1981 TOPPS 515 ROBIN YOUNT Card
71 1 09192603 MINT 9 1981 TOPPS 519 JOHN TAMARGO Card
72 1 09192604 MINT 9 1981 TOPPS 519 JOHN TAMARGO Card
73 1 09192605 MINT 9 1981 TOPPS 540 MIKE SCHMIDT Card
74 1 09192606 MINT 9 1981 TOPPS 540 MIKE SCHMIDT Card
75 1 09192607 NEAR MINT-MINT 8 1981 TOPPS 582 GAYLORD PERRY Card
76 1 09192608 MINT 9 1981 TOPPS 597 RAFAEL LANDESTOY Card
77 1 09192609 MINT 9 1981 TOPPS 597 RAFAEL LANDESTOY Card
78 1 09192610 MINT 9 1981 TOPPS 620 DENNIS ECKERSLEY Card
79 1 09192611 MINT 9 1981 TOPPS 636 AL HRABOSKY Card
80 1 09192612 MINT 9 1981 TOPPS 636 AL HRABOSKY Card
81 1 09192613 MINT 9 1981 TOPPS 638 CHECKLIST 606-726 Card
82 1 09192614 MINT 9 1981 TOPPS 647 DICK DRAGO Card
83 1 09192615 MINT 9 1981 TOPPS 647 DICK DRAGO Card
84 1 09192616 MINT 9 1981 TOPPS 690 BOB WATSON Card
85 1 09192617 MINT 9 1981 TOPPS 710 RON LeFLORE Card
86 1 09192618 MINT 9 1981 TOPPS 710 RON LeFLORE Card
87 1 09192619 MINT 9 1981 TOPPS 715 BILL MADLOCK Card
88 1 09192620 MINT 9 1981 TOPPS 725 STEVE ROGERS Card

Probstein123 · February 22, 2012 7:01AM

I think this is my 4th most watched item ever

1) 52 Topps Mantle rookie
2) 56 topps X-Mas Rak with mantle on top
3) a Kaleidoscope ( no joke )
4) Kirk Gibson RC

Dpeck100 · February 22, 2012 7:03AM

146 watchers and climbing.

Don't you worry there will be some late action on this one for sure!!

ThoseBackPages · February 22, 2012 7:21AM

<< Was that a 3 box case? If so that's what 3*24*48 = 3456 cards? So you pulled 52 out of that for subbing? That's about 1 out of every 66 cards.

That's pretty tough ... though, '79 is tougher! ... I'm averaging 1 every 4 racks these days ... 39*4 = 156 so 1 out of every 156 cards. Though I got a nice bunch of 10s last sub

I checked out the pop report for 81 and there's a weird disparity there. Excluding the traded cards which seem to have more 10s than 9s ... there are a bunch of cards with more 10s then 9s ... then there are a bunch that only have like 2-5 nines and nothing else and then there are some that are more like the 70s in the 30 9s and 4 10s realm. Bizarre - seems all over the place.

Only 5 hours left on the Gibson and it's still ONLY at $1,342.45 ... maybe should have taken that $2k Rick ... cause you know, no one ever bids at the last second

>>

Paul, also keep in mind that there are ZERO Joel Youngblood's graded higher then PSA 8 there are 0 9's, and 0 10's

i realize that '79 is "better" then '81, but the fact that there are (last time i checked) at least two cards (Ayala being the other) from the '81T Set that there are ZERO PSA 10s in existence 31 years later says how tough a set the '81T is.

Probstein123 · February 22, 2012 7:33AM

dpeck& co: are you able to see what the #1 most watched item in the ebay sports memorabilia category ?
if yes, what is it ?

RookieWax · February 22, 2012 7:40AM

Back in 1981 I bought the equivalent of about 3 wax cases of these from various sources and packing types. I took very good care of these cards over the years (in most cases they were still in their original box although loose) . I am sure I have gone through them all at some point or another seeing what I might submit for grading. I still have yet to come across one I feel even has a chance at a 9. The awful centering, edge chipping, and/or factory ink spots/smears make every card ungradeable.

Dpeck100 · February 22, 2012 8:06AM

Right now it must be the Jeremy Lin cards.

The top one has 1,263 watchers and the next one has 813. Those are the two BGS 9.5 cards that have been jacked up that will never get paid for.

I will see if I can tell on the site how to find the top items and report back.

Dpeck100 · February 22, 2012 8:10AM

There is only one other item that the site picks up that are higher for individual cards besides those two. It only tracks cards with bids.

1) Jermey Lin BGS 9.5 1/25
2) Jermey Lin BGS 9.5 1/25
3) PSA 9 Auto Michael Jordan at 183
4) PSA 10 Kirk Gibson at 150

There are tons of the pack deals with sales that are higher but these are it.

Bosox1976 · February 22, 2012 8:13AM

Yes Paul - it was a 3-Box case. Really thought one of the Valenzuelas would do it - they were the nicest cards in the case.

Probstein123 · February 22, 2012 8:17AM

The top one has 1,263 watchers and the next one has 813
==> unreal...

pmcollectour · February 22, 2012 8:18AM

Will Nolan catch Kirk ?

RookieWax · February 22, 2012 8:20AM

<< Will Nolan catch Kirk ? >>

Another toughy. I have over 100 of these...not one gradeable.

pmcollectour · February 22, 2012 8:21AM

4SC has a few 1981 PSA 10's on ebay for 9.99 BIN's.

firedawg45 · February 22, 2012 8:25AM

thats one ugly psa 10 centering!!!!! psa 9 all the way.

RookieWax · February 22, 2012 8:27AM

A few of those corners on the Ryan do not look sharp. I almost feel that is the only way you have a chance at a 10 with the 1981 Topps cards....get lucky and have a grader let one slip by.

RookieWax · February 22, 2012 8:29AM

Probstein...what happened to the 1981 Topps rack case you had up a few weeks ago that you ended the same day it was listed?

mikeschmidt · February 22, 2012 8:31AM

The Pete Rose PSA 10 fetches a ton of money. Moreso because all three in the Population of three are owned by one collector.

It's even really hard in 9.

Dpeck100 · February 22, 2012 8:39AM

Rick keep in mind those cards were advertised in a story that hit the internet so there are a ton of people watching just like when the Strasburg card hit and they did a story.

A month or so back I saw a Gretzky PSA 9 OPC have 191 watchers. That is the most I have ever seen on an auction other then these two.

Probstein123 · February 22, 2012 8:49AM

Probstein...what happened to the 1981 Topps rack case you had up a few weeks ago that you ended the same day it was listed?
==> sold

Sportsamerica · February 22, 2012 9:21AM

<< Will Nolan catch Kirk ? >>

I say no.

Probstein123 · February 22, 2012 9:30AM

ok...kirk is starting to move...

Dpeck100 · February 22, 2012 9:32AM

Oh boy, I knew he was going to make a run at this one!

Fireworks for sure on this bad boy in the final moments!

155 watchers and climbing...

Edit: 162 and climbing

lfa2mfg · February 22, 2012 10:16AM

@ThoseBackPages - don't forget Glenn Adams in your 1981 toughest cards list. PSA 8 is the highest graded for that one - he always has a smudge right over his face...

dtkk49a · February 22, 2012 10:37AM

A lot more people are watching the Gibson over the Ryan.

Watchers

ldferg · February 22, 2012 11:36AM

Ryan will not pass Gibby.

Mike,
Do u have any of the Fernando's left?

Wow check out this auction!! 1981 Topps Kirk Gibson PSA 10 Pop 1

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