Subbing vs. Buying

Beck6

Does anyone else have this problem? I refuse to buy a $20-$30 PSA 10 because the joy of subbing one and getting the PSA 10 far outweighs the joy of even owning the card. I tend to hold my self-subbed PSA 10's as a badge of honor and I am willing to pay $50 in grading fees and subs and wax just to get it. Tell me I am not alone. Here is my short list, but I have a lot that could be added

1990 Topps Frank Thomas PSA 10
1988 Topps Tom Glavine PSA 10
1987 Topps Barry Larkin PSA 10
1988 Donruss Tom Glavine PSA 10- This one especially has proven to be difficult. I finally broke down and bought it after several subs
1988 Topps Football Bo Jackson PSA 10
1989 Donruss Ken Griffey Jr. PSA 10- I have 3 or 4 at PSA right now and I have probably wasted $100 worth of wax and grading on this card alone

alifaxwa2

You're not alone.

vintagefun

You're not alone! I've got raw cards I need for my registry but don't think they'll grade where I want them to. Sure, I could go buy them at the desired grade pretty easily and affordably, but for certain 80s cards, I'd rather roll the dice on some rips looking for the self-subbed 9/10, even if it cost me twice as much in the end. And fully acknowledging that I still may need to buy the graded card.

But I enjoy my rips, so I find it to be worth the chase.

Dusto

Definitely not alone! I too would rather blow through boxes and cases to get my own self-sub 10's of cheaper cards. I love the excitement of both opening packs since I am a ripper, thoroughly examining a card, and then subbing to PSA and waiting for my results. Buying a card from the era that I grew up cutting my teeth on ('87-91) would give me zero enjoyment in the hobby. It's all about the chase even if I lose a few bucks along the way once the grades get back. The good news is that the only 10 I can pull in 1987 Donruss is the Maddux so that helps to buy more junk. My list is:
1987 Topps Bo Jackson (gotten 3 9's)
1987 Topps Barry Bonds (never got one worthy to send)
1987 Donruss McGwire
1987 Donruss Bonds
1987 Fleer Bo and Barry
1989 Donruss Griffey
1990 Score Griffey
1990 Score Bo B/W
1990 Topps and Leaf Frank Thomas
1991 Topps Chipper

BaltimoreYankee

I'm with 'baseball'. Much easier to buy a graded card and spare the possibility of getting the grader of death.

ThoseBackPages

<< <i>I can definitely see the satisfaction in what you guys do. But for me, buying unopened, ripping, grading raw cards, etc. is a very time consuming and unfulfilling activity. The fact that it's cheaper to buy it graded makes the decision all that easier for me to not bother having to make it. >>



This.

divecchia

I'm sure you are not alone. There are many people that feel the hunt and the joy and gratification of scoring a self subbed PSA 10 outweigh any cost they might incur trying over and over to score that 10. For me I tend to only sub the more difficult cards that I don't mind getting back in lower grades. For the common cards I will just pick up the PSA 9 or 10 that I need.

Donato

ssollars

<< <i>I can definitely see the satisfaction in what you guys do. But for me, buying unopened, ripping, grading raw cards, etc. is a very time consuming and unfulfilling activity. The fact that it's cheaper to buy it graded makes the decision all that easier for me to not bother having to make it. >>



sometimes ripping and subbing is the only option. For me finding late 80s commons in 9 and 10 has been next to impossible to find already graded. It's just not worth the risk for resellers to grade such cards.

MULLINS5

You are not alone.

Another great reason to sub yourself is that you have total control over the appearance/quality of your cards.

Stooge

I know this may sound stupid in a lot of others ears, but the shear joy of subbing my own cards and receiving 10's is a big thrill for me other then just clicking a few buttons on my computer and waiting for the mail to a point where I want to see if I can take a monster Topps Baseball card set such as a 1990 Topps with 792 cards, in which there is an endless supply of wax, and see if I can complete the entire set "Homemade" in all PSA 10's. The fact that some see this as a "Complete waste of money" and/or "Time" makes me want to do it even more. I also further understand that I am Human and will need to sub probably 2-3x's this amout of cards just to get all 792 cards in perfect Gem Mint 10's, not to mention the sheer volume of boxes/cases that will be required to just search for the cards to sub, but hey I think if I buy everything through BBCE, and 1990 has the "No name on front #414 Frank Thomas R/C" and "George Bush card" even though the odds of pulling 1 are like 1:1,000,000 the odds are still there to pull one of those bad boys, and if I were to sub all of the Ryans, Thomas', and a few other key cards, it may not be such a loss, and quite possibly not be a loss at all.

Just think of the fun of all that ripping, subbing, breaking, pulling.....and that is just my poor back from leaning over looking at all of those cards!

Subbing your own cards is always better then buying someone else's conquests....that is fur sure!

BeRoyalKC

<< <i>You are not alone.

Another great reason to sub yourself is that you have total control over the appearance/quality of your cards. >>



I think we all knew your answer. How many boxes of 89 hockey have you opened

MrNearMint

<< <i>I can definitely see the satisfaction in what you guys do. But for me, buying unopened, ripping, grading raw cards, etc. is a very time consuming and unfulfilling activity. The fact that it's cheaper to buy it graded makes the decision all that easier for me to not bother having to make it. >>



+1

I don't buy unopened to open the unopened, I buy the unopened to keep the unopened unopened. lol

Beck6

I know for sure that subbing cards has made me much more comfortable purchasing raw cards and has probably saved me a couple bucks along the way as I know how to spot surface wrinkles and such more consistently. It also makes you appreciate some of the cards more. I self subbed my 1980 Henderson psa 9 that I bought off of craigslist and I love that card more because of how I found it than the fact it is in a psa 9 holder.

fiveniner

<< <i>I can definitely see the satisfaction in what you guys do. But for me, buying unopened, ripping, grading raw cards, etc. is a very time consuming and unfulfilling activity. The fact that it's cheaper to buy it graded makes the decision all that easier for me to not bother having to make it. >>





Agreed

WhiteTornado

If I really want a card that is in a certain grade, I'm most likely to just buy it in that grade. One of the biggest reasons for me is very limited funds, which would get eaten up very quickly with grading fees if I had to try multiple times to get the grade I wanted.

Davis

'89 pro set barry sanders. That's my weak spot.

Dusto

I once bought a case of 1986 Topps Traded just to self-sub my own Barry and Bo.