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Player registries cooling down?

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  • They do have basic issue sets already...just maybe not for your favorite player. As you can see my Jim Thome Basic Set @
    http://www.psacard.com/PSASetRegistry/AlltimeSet.aspx?s=170047&m=30945&ac=0
    I like collecting this set as it doesn't have all the off the wall cards and is actually (for me) within reach of completing. >>



    I can't figure out how to hyper link that but you get the point.
  • csakerscsakers Posts: 239
    I have stated this before, but a TRUE Master Collection should include everything pertaining to a player. I understand PSA wants to limit it to the playing years, which is understandable. However, within those years all items should be included. Otherwise, it is NOT a Master Collection. You could call it an ALMOST Master Collection. However, when you limit the composite and do not include all items (or mark some optional for various reasons), then it defeats the purpose of creating a Master Collection.

    Would it be easy to complete a Master Collection? No. Should it be easy to complete a Master Collection? No. This is part of the fun (and frustration) in attempting to put together a Master Collection.

    For those collectors wishing to stick to mainstream, then call it a Mainstream Collection. I venture there are enough collectors willing to pursue the great white whale for PSA to make such a valid change and create a TRUE Master Collection for players.
    I only need 18 cards to complete the Don Mattingly Master collection. Help would be great!
  • ashabbyashabby Posts: 471
    Also psa gives you credit if over 1000 cards. So don't need to 100 percent complete. Being hard is the fun
  • JasonM32JasonM32 Posts: 170 ✭✭


    << <i>I have stated this before, but a TRUE Master Collection should include everything pertaining to a player. I understand PSA wants to limit it to the playing years, which is understandable. However, within those years all items should be included. Otherwise, it is NOT a Master Collection. You could call it an ALMOST Master Collection. However, when you limit the composite and do not include all items (or mark some optional for various reasons), then it defeats the purpose of creating a Master Collection.

    Would it be easy to complete a Master Collection? No. Should it be easy to complete a Master Collection? No. This is part of the fun (and frustration) in attempting to put together a Master Collection.

    For those collectors wishing to stick to mainstream, then call it a Mainstream Collection. I venture there are enough collectors willing to pursue the great white whale for PSA to make such a valid change and create a TRUE Master Collection for players. >>



    I understand that sentiment when it comes to cards but magnets? Matchbooks? Coins? If you are going to have that then why not notepads coffee mugs and t-shirts? You'd just need to pay a premium for the extra extra large PSA holder of course.

    I don't know about the rest of you but I collect trading cards.

    By the way, you don't need to keep typing certain words in capitol letters, asking rhetorical questions and then answering them yourself. Maybe you don't intend it to but it comes off as a little condescending.

    Bernie Kosar collector

  • Many of the things to which you refer to as "foreign junk" happen to be the highlights of some collections. There are numerous collectors who have attempted to gather every possible item depicting their favorite player - including notepads, coffee mugs, and shirts. Are these items not valid for someone to have within their collection seeing as they are not trading cards? The types of items you might deem to be junk are truly highly valued collectibles and vital members of some collections.

    For the purposes of PSA and grading, it would be unrealistic to venture very far from the nearly two-dimensional items. Thus, pads, mugs, and shirts would be out of the question. . .for now. PSA is constantly changing their definition as to what can and cannot be graded.

    How are magnets, matchbooks, and coins that much different from trading cards? They are all types of collectibles depicting players. If you wish to stick with simply collecting trading cards of players, then PSA has options for this type of collection (Basic, Master Topps, Rookie, and so forth). When you venture into the realm of a Master collection, then it should include any and all types of items that are able to be graded. Otherwise, it is not a TRUE Master Collection.

    I agree with many others who have voiced the opinion that it should not be easy to complete the challenge of putting together a Master collection. This is the purpose of the Basic collections.
    I only need 18 cards to complete the Don Mattingly Master collection. Help would be great!
  • begsu1013begsu1013 Posts: 1,943 ✭✭
    don't really have a dog in this pony show...but agreed, a person should collect what they want whether it be a mug, tshirt, stamp, etc. the website is clearly psacard.com not psacoffeemug.com, psapopsiclestick.com

    just glad I'm a little ocd and only like collecting cards that come in the standard holder and fit uniformly in the "vault".

    in the end, to each their own and nobody's right. but by all means, continue to argue....
  • JasonM32JasonM32 Posts: 170 ✭✭
    Perhaps labeling certain items "junk" was a tad harsh and for that I apologize. I'm just sharing my opinions like everyone else here does. I acknowledged that you can't please everyone and I even came up with a possible solution or compromise. There's no reason for anyone to take my opinions personally.

    I understand that some people that collect anything and everything that they can find. That's great and I'm sure some people have amazing collections. However, when I started building sets here I was under the impression that it was a registry of trading cards. Certain other things I can understand but I feel like it's starting to get out of control with the coins and magnets and matchbooks.

    The funny thing is that I actually like some of the foreign stuff. I really like the Italian Panini stickers. I see that as a quality product with some kind of legitimate distribution by a recognized company. What I don't like is the stuff that is of much lower quality. It's usually hand cut, the pictures are blurry and dark, and it's printed on low quality stock. The few existing copies of these things are just beat to death. Plus, adding this stuff takes the Master Sets from difficult to complete to near impossible to complete.

    Also, it sets collectors up to be exploited by profiteers who get these things graded, add them to the Master sets, and then slap an absurdly high price tag on them. If you are trying to complete a set then you forced to over pay for something of poor quality. Either that or quit and I think a lot of people are doing just that out of frustration.

    Bernie Kosar collector

  • NickMNickM Posts: 4,895 ✭✭✭
    If sellers have put high prices on low grade graded examples of poor quality cards, find raw copies yourself and submit them for grading.
    If you can't, perhaps the prices are not out of line and the items are very rare.

    Nick
    image
    Reap the whirlwind.

    Need to buy something for the wife or girlfriend? Check out Vintage Designer Clothing.
  • halosfanhalosfan Posts: 2,634 ✭✭✭✭
    you all need to sub more Alex Rodriguez cards
    Looking for a Glen Rice Inkredible and Alex Rodriguez cards
  • cards651cards651 Posts: 665 ✭✭
    Two individuals seeking to collect something of limited quantity, thus forcing the price ever higher, does not qualify the item as a 'highly valued collectible'. When one of the individuals loses interest, the item will sell for the $0.99 starting bid on eBay. Can it then be described as junk? I understand PSA trying to make the tent ever wider to appeal to all collectors but at some point they start to lose the mainstream collector (me). I start to see my wife's position on this whole 'baseball card thing' and I put the credit card back in the wallet, dust off the Bugs Bunny costume and head off to Comic Con. - Kevin M.
  • begsu1013begsu1013 Posts: 1,943 ✭✭
    thus again, sticking to the basic topps set is generally a good idea vs the master collection of popsicle sticks and pogs. those cards (pre 85ish maybe) will always retain value in high grades.
  • IndianaJonesIndianaJones Posts: 346 ✭✭✭
    I would like to comment as someone who began collecting in 1961, and have continued off and on through today. My perspective is much different from those who were kids collecting in the mid-80s, and then as adults whose heroes played in the 80s-90s, and have discovered the more than several hundred (even 1,000+) items produced of their heroes during the ultra prolific set-producing era.

    During the 60s when I collected as a kid, the mainstream Topps cards were plentiful, except for the seventh series, usually. My connotation with them was that they were common and easy to come by. Sure, you had to hustle to get the series completed before Topps issued the next one, but your allowance allowed you to get a lot of cards at a penny apiece. Ultimately, the connotation for the Topps was that you took them for granted. However, the regional / food issues were in a class all their own. I guess the little Guy team pins were oddball, but the regional / food cards were valued substantially more than the common Topps because they were usually very beautiful too, and nowhere as easy to come by.

    For example, a box of Post Cereal would give you anywhere from 5-7 cards, and you had to eat the cereal, of course, to get the cards. Plus, you could only consume so much cereal, and YOU WEREN'T THE ONE buying that cereal. Your parents were, which left you vulnerable as to how many boxes you could select. I was the youngest of 3 siblings, and none of them were card collectors---FORTUNATELY! During the baby boom era, many of my friends often had one or more siblings vying for those precious food issue cards or coins. The free prize did not automatically go to you. Big or little sis might just want it, too! Occasionally, just to spite you ...

    In the case of Bazookas, you got lots of gum, and 1-3 cards; but a kid usually had to spend his own money for those, and since these cards were far from a penny apiece, I would buy the regular ol' Topps---more bang for the fifty cents a week I got back then. Don't think I didn't want those Bazookas though. They were neat little cards, and most of the time they had a cool photo not used on the regular Topps issue. I guess I'm saying all this to say that when I was finally able to get some of the regional / food issues I had wanted so much since I was a kid, I felt so excited, gratified, and looked upon those toughies as MUCH bigger highlights of my collection than the regular mainstream Topps. Ask me what my 3 favorite cards are, some of these will come to my mind first. Don't get me wrong; I absolutely loved the Topps and '63 Fleer when they were available at the stores. But the regional / food were so much more challenging to collect and come by, and most of the time were very attractive in their own right.

    Again, in my time there was nowhere near as much to choose from. The card companies changed all that to such a ridiculous point ..... Nuf said on that.

    Briefly, I think the best way for the 80s-90s people to deal with what to do is not allow themselves to be held down by the mammoth lists. I would personally get off collecting just one player and figure out who are your favorites, even if it's 5-10-25 guys or a team. Then, identify which items seem to attract your eye the most and collect those. Keep it to a manageable number--top 25 or 50. Perhaps with each player, whatever fits nicely in an All-State Display Case. I've always loved those. I own a couple. Let's face it; that's where we might have seen some of these cards for the first time! You won't win any set registry paper awards, but perhaps you might be more exihilarated and fulfilled in what you do acquire. It's kinda like having your own mini-museum of the best-looking cards you love of _____________, _____________, etc.

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    One of the sad realities is the fact there were so few Babe Ruth cards made during his career. A few fun-zie items, but by and large very very little. Much has been made of the 1914 Baltimore News. At the crucible of the buzz over this card is the simple facts of the manner in which the Baltimore News cards were distributed made them so exclusive and unattainable. Living outside the distribution region for the paper made them unknown to the rest of the country, which would raise nary an eyebrow anyway. Virtually no one cared about Babe Ruth that year and well into the next. I can't recall--methinks only the boys hawking their papers got one each week, or perhaps a card came free with the always more expensive Sunday edition, but the paperboys still got to claim one card each week. I'm now well off the subject, but could anyone enlighten me on this one? I'll never own one, but would be fascinated to learn its story, cause I love stories of these kinds of cards.

    Wow. Got kinda verbose. Sorry. --IndianaJones (Brian Powell)
  • Brian,

    I greatly appreciate your input, especially as a more seasoned collector. I tend to follow the advice you prescribe, as the main focus of my collection is on one player. My overall goal is to complete the Master Don Mattingly registry collection. Presently, there are nearly 1,500 items in this collection. As you pointed out, the companies really exploded their offerings - both good and bad - throughout the 1980s and 1990s. I do have some other collections, but my main focus is on the Mattingly set.

    Additionally, I agree with your opinion with regard to the regional/food items produced. There are a lot of different sets out there that have wonderful shot selection, great colors, and terrific designs that are much better than some of the mainstream sets with their tired designs used year after year.

    Thanks again,
    Chris
    I only need 18 cards to complete the Don Mattingly Master collection. Help would be great!
  • cards651cards651 Posts: 665 ✭✭
    Interesting take, Brian. Collecting is different in different places. In my neighborhood in the early '70s, Topps were the only cards that mattered. We bought, traded, bicycle spoked etc. Food issues were junk. Interesting that the scarcity that intrigued you, turned us off. As you note - how much cereal could you eat? These just weren't collectible from a practical matter.

    Here's a Reggie item from the early '80s --
    Reggie Bar

    Even had these in Boston. The candy was good and I bought a good amount. Always threw out the wrapper. I should have saved the wrappers so I could mail them off to an expert in Newport Beach, who would grade the wrapper on a scale of 1 to 10 (perhaps with an occasional qualifier) and encase it in plastic. I could then sell it to someone on eBay. Wish I was more forward-looking....
  • IndianaJonesIndianaJones Posts: 346 ✭✭✭
    Hey cards651! Thanks for responding and providing your childhood point of view. You expressed very very well and most succinctly a beautiful facet of the gems that constitute the postwar regional / food issues category: --- "These just weren't collectible from a practical matter." Think about that sentence you wrote for a while and perhaps you'll well understand and appreciate the resulting complications and end results during a kid's childhood, where these cards and coins are concerned. Had these free prizes been ugly, cheaply designed eyesores, no one would have cared back then, as well as today. 'Twas not the case.

    Backing the individual thrusts of the given promotions were TV commercials, which made the trinkets all the more delectable. Post Cereal hired several major stars to appear in their spot commercials that were frequently shown on Saturday morning cartoon shows, as well as late weekday afternoon kid shows. You can enjoy some of these commercials with the click of a few buttons on YOUTUBE. Some nostalgia buff uploaded them for all who wish to see. So far I've seen Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, Jim Gentile, Whitey Ford. I believe Harmon Killebrew did one as well. Same goes for the '62 Post Football, with stars such as Paul Hornung and Sam Huff doing a terrific job of encouraging us kids to start a collection today! If the General Foods promotion had taken place just a few years later, the Post advertising personnel most assuredly would have been knocking on the door of Yaz. How much would seeing a commercial with Yaz have meant to you? Then on YOUTUBE 40+ years later? As it is, Yaz is one of the major short prints from Post Cereal's final year of their baseball card promotion. Indicative of how the hobby regarded the regional / food issues by 1981, the Beckett 3 price guide listed Yaz's Topps regular issue at $12.00, whereas that '63 Post Cereal short print was at $100.00

    I don't recall any commercials from Kellogg's 3-D baseball card promotion. Back in the early 70s, I had a close buddy with two brothers on my block. His youngest brother did not collect cards, but Doug and his middle brother did. Doug liked the Yanks and his brother the Twins. I rooted for the Cubs. In '71 we were all frustrated about our teams. Somehow, by the grace of God, each of us pulled the one card we really wanted out of a box of Kellogg's Raisin Bran. Doug got Mel Stottlemyre, his bro got Harmon Killebrew, and my prize was Ernie Banks. We were so very pleased. We had no idea who all was in the set, as there was no published checklist and no price guides back then. All we knew was the card was 1 of 75 different, and the chance of getting any given favorite player was 1 in 75. The significance was sure not lost on us.

    To be sure, the idea of trying to complete a set of this size was totally absurd, a bunch of nonsense, and indeed, highly impractical. Be that as it may, this is precisely what the Kellogg's people was pitching to us kids in 1971. There's more significance to that year's set, but I'm getting verbose again. Still, I lovingly wrote a chapter in my book on postwar regional / food issues devoted to the 1971 Kellogg's 3-Ds. I avoided the nuances of the tinzie variations, though I sure respect my fellow hobbyists that relish those minute differences. The chapter dwells on the life of a teen collecting those cards, as well as a major adult hobby figure of that period.

    Loved your comments on the Reggie bar and wrappers. Had we only known...................... Reggie Jackson said on his commercial for the candy bar that it really tasted good. He was right. But at 25 cents each as I remember, that was about a dime more than a typical candy bar like Snickers. You are so right. A graded Reggie wrapper would be cool.

    All right. All right. Time to shut up. Take care. IndianaJones (Brian Powell)
  • macboubemacboube Posts: 336 ✭✭
    I tried saving a case of Reggie bars from the early 80's..........................all was well and good until my Airedale got into them. The vet bill was one thing, but the loss of the Reggies was hard to swallow.
  • cards651cards651 Posts: 665 ✭✭
    Great posts Brian and macboube. Thanks. PSA needs a 'Like' button. - Kevin
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