1971 baseball PSA 8's worth it?

jbarnes

Looking for some input here. I've collected all PSA 9's in the early 70's, trying to stay away from the 8's. However, I've dipped into the 71's, and the 9's are just too dam expensive for me.

My question here is should I go to the PSA 8's in 1971? The pop reports shows a lot of cards in 8's (+96,000). Higher than 73 and 74. Could be a number of reasons for that (black borders slide all the cards into 8's that otherwise might be a 9), but I'm concerned the supply is just too great. However, the prices for the 8's are still very high. And, the variation of the corners on the 8's is massive. Some of the 8's look like 8.5's and some of them look like 6's. And the B. Robinson sold on PWCC last week looked like a 9.

IMO, the 8.5 grade was created just for this year (71). I could go with the 8.5's, but not enough of those come up for sale.

So, should I go after the 8's and pay a high premium for cards that have POP's of +100, or just skip this year?

Thanks in advance,

jb

Dnice

I think the best answer for this would be to buy what you can simply afford. We all want the 9's and 8.5's but its not in everyones price range so just buy what makes you happy and as long as you are not depleting funds that you really dont have made available.

PaulMaul

I buy a lot of 1971 PSA 8's. I also pass on five times as any as I buy. I value nice corners and blackness, and I hate tilt, so I search for 8's that I like (usually one corner touch and slightly imperfect centering). I'm happy with every 8 I own, but I agree that buying 8's sight unseen is a minefield.

gemint

I'd say go for it. No use trying for all 9s in that set. There are still a handful with zero pop and we already have one collector taking on that challenge who owns most of the pop 1s. If you aren't set on having a consistent grade across the set, go for higher pop 9s, 8.5's when you can find them and then settle for solid 8s when you can't find them in higher grades. Some cards like Raymound and Wegener are tough to find centered, even in 8s. The Bench is pretty tough to find nicely centered as well. The higher pop 8s won't set you back that much. I've bought and sold many below $10. The low pops will run you a few hundred apiece though.

Mefer

The 1971 set is extremely popular. Even in the 8 grade, the demand is there. As you note in our opening, I too consider 8s the "9s" for this year. I have seen many 8s that just pop and present very nice. Not unlike any other year, not all 8s are equal; you should be choosey and only buy what appeals to you.

Good luck!

WalterSobchak

If you have a lot of disposable income, go for it. If you don't, pick a different year.

Indy78

I think you've received a lot of good advice here that would apply to anyone building any registry set. If one's condition tastes don't match their budget and they're not willing to compromise on either, then the solution is to pick a different set. If you're worried about paying a high premium for higher POP cards, I would also skip it on that point alone, because all you'll do is worry yourself about cost and take all the fun out of building the set.

ClockworkAngel

I only do 9's, but with the 1971's, it was more than I bargained for, literally. They are crazy expensive, but the good news is that they so rarely become available in 9 that I'm not spending too much. I have 10 HOF's in PSA 9 and those have been purchased over 2 years.

The 1971 set is so unique in that it's the most gorgeous set out there when the cards are Mint, and one of the ugliest when they are not. I think you could have a blast getting some really nice looking cards targeting 8's and 8.5's.

Good Luck!

gemint

8's can look darn nice if you select the right ones.

wrighty

The set in all 8's is tough enough, I tried it after 2 years I had 616 cards in 8 and 8.5 then I quit and sold the entire partial set. The last 136 cards were going to cost me over $10,000 as I still needed some low pop cards like the Raymond and some stars like Munson. Tough set but in my opinion the best looking set out there. Good luck if you decide to take it on.

gemint

<< <i>The set in all 8's is tough enough, I tried it after 2 years I had 616 cards in 8 and 8.5 then I quit and sold the entire partial set. The last 136 cards were going to cost me over $10,000 as I still needed some low pop cards like the Raymond and some stars like Munson. Tough set but in my opinion the best looking set out there. Good luck if you decide to take it on. >>



It is a tough set but doable. I had bought 3-4 high grade raw sets and graded out myself. I was still about 20% short. Then I bought a high ranked graded set to finish it off.

jbarnes

<< <i>8's can look darn nice if you select the right ones.


>>





Sweeeeet cards. Love em!

jbarnes

<< <i>The 1971 set is extremely popular. Even in the 8 grade, the demand is there. As you note in our opening, I too consider 8s the "9s" for this year. I have seen many 8s that just pop and present very nice. Not unlike any other year, not all 8s are equal; you should be choosey and only buy what appeals to you.

Good luck! >>



Great reply . Thank You
jb

jbarnes

<< <i>The 1971 set is extremely popular. Even in the 8 grade, the demand is there. As you note in our opening, I too consider 8s the "9s" for this year. I have seen many 8s that just pop and present very nice. Not unlike any other year, not all 8s are equal; you should be choosey and only buy what appeals to you.

Good luck! >>



So it sounds like most of you agree that the 8's are of "value". I am concerned about the high pops in the 8's, but you think the "value" will hold up because of the additional demand on the 8's due to the 9's being out of range. If anyone thinks different, please let me know. Some of the HOF 8's are getting really expensive, but their pops are pretty high also.

Phrased another way; Are PSA 8's in 1971 going to hold value and be a good investment?

Thanks again for your replies to this question,

jb

esquiresports

My personal opinion is that you'd be better off spending the $25K or so a PSA 8 set would cost on as many PSA 8.5 and 9 HOF-ers you can get. Like you said, there are an abundance of 8s and only so many people willing to drop that kind of money on an 8 set.

gemint

<< <i>

<< <i>The 1971 set is extremely popular. Even in the 8 grade, the demand is there. As you note in our opening, I too consider 8s the "9s" for this year. I have seen many 8s that just pop and present very nice. Not unlike any other year, not all 8s are equal; you should be choosey and only buy what appeals to you.

Good luck! >>



So it sounds like most of you agree that the 8's are of "value". I am concerned about the high pops in the 8's, but you think the "value" will hold up because of the additional demand on the 8's due to the 9's being out of range. If anyone thinks different, please let me know. Some of the HOF 8's are getting really expensive, but their pops are pretty high also.

Phrased another way; Are PSA 8's in 1971 going to hold value and be a good investment?

Thanks again for your replies to this question,

jb >>



Nobody knows what will hold value and what won't. If you're concerned the set may lose $1k or $2k value over time, I'd say skip it.

ClockworkAngel

<< <i>My personal opinion is that you'd be better off spending the $25K or so a PSA 8 set would cost on as many PSA 8.5 and 9 HOF-ers you can get. Like you said, there are an abundance of 8s and only so many people willing to drop that kind of money on an 8 set. >>



I wholeheartedly agree.

JBarnes, your latest post brings up the value of PSA 8's and how worthy an investment they might be....and that's a different story altogether. If you have the disposable income to spend on HOF 9' from this set, I don't think you'll have a tough time getting your money back and then some. IMO you are more likely to get a higher return on those than PSA 8's, particularly commons and minor stars. Just like 1973 10's will give you a better return than 1973 9's. Also, I agree with Scott on sets. I can see building graded sets for the challenge and the fun of it, but you should expect to lose money if you sell it down the road. Graded sets don't do well. There's only so much demand for $500 commons that are hard to find Mint.

Hope this helps and I didn't confuse you even more!

jbarnes

<< <i>

<< <i>My personal opinion is that you'd be better off spending the $25K or so a PSA 8 set would cost on as many PSA 8.5 and 9 HOF-ers you can get. Like you said, there are an abundance of 8s and only so many people willing to drop that kind of money on an 8 set. >>



I wholeheartedly agree.

JBarnes, your latest post brings up the value of PSA 8's and how worthy an investment they might be....and that's a different story altogether. If you have the disposable income to spend on HOF 9' from this set, I don't think you'll have a tough time getting your money back and then some. IMO you are more likely to get a higher return on those than PSA 8's, particularly commons and minor stars. Just like 1973 10's will give you a better return than 1973 9's. Also, I agree with Scott on sets. I can see building graded sets for the challenge and the fun of it, but you should expect to lose money if you sell it down the road. Graded sets don't do well. There's only so much demand for $500 commons that are hard to find Mint.

Hope this helps and I didn't confuse you even more! >>



Great advice. Thanks. And love your 71's on your link. I'm not really thinking about sets right now, just HOF's in 9's through the early 70's. Getting the commons one at a time is brutal, and I don't have time for that, unless they are sold in quantities greater than 10.

PaulMaul

<< <i>Getting the commons one at a time is brutal, and I don't have time for that, unless they are sold in quantities greater than 10. >>



It all depends on how you look at it. I enjoy chipping away at large sets like this over decades, putting together mixed raw/graded beautiful sets.
I'm not so much concerned about investment return, though.

gemint

Buying commons in bulk is a good option. Usually you can get them cheaper than buying one at a time and you save a lot on shipping.

ClockworkAngel

I imagine you have seen the PWCC auctions going on with all the 1971 8's and 8.5's? Should be really interesting to watch what all those do....judging by early bidding, the Stars/HOF's may approach $1,000 each. Specifically, the Reggie, Rose, Ryan, Seaver, Clemente, Brooks Robinson. None of those have come close to a grand in the past, according to VCP. Really should be a good auction to watch for the market.

jbarnes, kind of tough when you star seeing 8's go for those kinds of prices to say that 8's are "affordable". Guess it depends on how one defines affordable