Is there a "sweet spot" grade wise .......

jmb

where you feel that you get the most value for the grade ?

Quick background. Grew up in the mid 70s to early 80s and had tons of 75 through 83 cards. My next door neighbor was about 10 years older than me and he gave me a few Mantle cards in the late 70s. I was lucky enough as a 10 year old to have a 64, 65, 66 & 68 Mantle. I remember my neighbor had pages and pages of the majority of Mantle cards from 61-69.
My favorite set as a kid was easily the 76 Topps set. I did own at one time in the early 90s the eight 33/34 Goudeys of Ruth & Gehrig. Sold them to help pay for college. Anyway, after seeing the Mantle thread, the nostalgia bug hit me & and I would like to acquire some cards again.

Aside from Ebay who are the honest, reliable dealers that you purchase from ?

slum22

It really depends on what cards you are going after and why as well as your budget. In general, a couple axioms you will read on these boards are:

1. "buy the card not the holder" -- which is to say that not all 10's, 9's, 8's and so on are the same. Some cards that look great may reside in an 8 holder and this card may actually look better than the same card in a 9 holder. Third party grading like PSA, SGC and BGS are great, but ultimately they are rendering an educated opinion on every card they grade. So to many collectors value could be found in a PSA 5 holder that houses a card that exhibits wonderful eye appeal while having some technical problem that is minute to the naked eye.

2. "Buy the highest grade your budget allows" -- historically the higher the grade, the higher upside you have in the future from an investment standpoint. If you own one PSA 10 Joe Montana rookie in the long run you will do better investment wise than if you owned the same amount of dollars worth or PSA 9 or 8's of the same card. Same reasoning applies to a 9 vs multiple 8's and 8's vs. multiple lower grades. There are exceptions but not many.

So there you have my two cents. 1 from a collector's point of view and 2 from an investors point of view.

Welcome back to the hobby!

JBrules

<< <i>where you feel that you get the most value for the grade ?

Quick background. Grew up in the mid 70s to early 80s and had tons of 75 through 83 cards. My next door neighbor was about 10 years older than me and he gave me a few Mantle cards in the late 70s. I was lucky enough as a 10 year old to have a 64, 65, 66 & 68 Mantle. I remember my neighbor had pages and pages of the majority of Mantle cards from 61-69.
My favorite set as a kid was easily the 76 Topps set. I did own at one time in the early 90s the eight 33/34 Goudeys of Ruth & Gehrig. Sold them to help pay for college. Anyway, after seeing the Mantle thread, the nostalgia bug hit me & and I would like to acquire some cards again.

Aside from Ebay who are the honest, reliable dealers that you purchase from ? >>



To answer your question regarding honest dealers other than Ebay. I would say right here on this board (the Buy/Sell/Trade section). I have purchased several high end cards from fellow board members. Also check out Net54 Buy/Sell/Trade section as I have made purchases there also.

jmb

Thanks for the replies guys.

Probably looking to add at least one of each of Ruth, Gehrig, Dimaggio & Mantle for starters. Debating whether to have a 76 set graded or not also.
Lots of great cards in that set with some of my favorite photos.

WalterSobchak

Almost all of my collection is 50's-70's. In my opinion, in general you can get the most value for the grade in PSA 7 (for 50's and 60's cards), PSA 8 (for early 70's cards), and PSA 9 (for mid-late 70's cards).
The reason is simple: You can find some really, really nice cards in the grade if you are patient and shop smart.... but it's also the highest grade that the heavy hitters with their deep, deep pockets don't care about.


Can't really answer your other question; all my card purchases nowadays are either on EBay or someone on these message boards.


*edited for spelling*

jmb

Thanks baseball. After checking the PSA prices and completed ebay auctions I noticed 2 things. There is a large jump in price from a 6 to a 7, some nearly doubling in price for a 1 grade jump, and most of the cards I am interested in seem to be selling at the next grade level up compared to the PSA prices. So a nice 4 Goudey Gehrig is actually selling for the PSA 5 price. I still need to figure out the plan of attack.