Do you remember how and when you became aware of PSA?

lightningboy

I was reading a copy of Sports Collector's Digest (which went from being a really cool buy/sell/trade/ magazine in the 80's to a non stop advertisement in the 90's) in the Spring of 1998. I had gotten married and had kids during the previous 6 years and was for all intents and purposes out of the hobby. Anyways, I was reading a small ad where a dealer was buying 1983 Topps Gwynn rookies for $500/each. Well shoot, I knew I had at least a dozen of those in near mint or better condition. I just needed to figure out why the ad had the number 10 next to the card. One thing lead to another and I was caught up in the "buy Griffey, McGwire and Sosa and make a ton of money" race. As it turned out that number 10 had great significance and proved to be very difficult to get.

What about you?

MULLINS5

The first time I saw PSA slabs was when I was at a Gibralter card show in Michigan in 1996 and saw a dealer's table with '79 OPC Gretzky rookies encased. It wasn't until about 2003 that I started learning about PSA and why it is important to have cards go through them.

jackstraw

Probably late 93 early 94 through a dealer who had some SBC cards . My curiosity was up
so I did some research with the SCD and that's where I found PSA. I made my first sub
In September of 94.

Stingray

<< <i>The first time I saw PSA slabs was when I was at a Gibralter card show in Michigan in 1996 and saw a dealer's table with '79 OPC Gretzky rookies encased. It wasn't until about 2003 that I started learning about PSA and why it is important to have cards go through them. >>




I would have to say my story is probably the same!! Though can't say what the first card was, but it was a a Gilbralter show that I first start seeing graded cards and thinking why would you want them in a permanent plastic case, you can never hold the card again?? 😄

cardbender

I first saw SBC graded cards (which became SGC) at the 1989 National.

A few years later I saw PSA cards for sale in the SCD.

Then at the '93 National in Chicago, I saw a dealer by the name of Neal Gubitz, with
a few display cases full of them.

I bought my first PSA card in 1995 at a Wisconsin State Fair Park card show.
It was a 1960 Sandy Koufax graded PSA 8. I still own this card.

I started submitting cards to PSA in 1996.

royalbrett

Probably the ads in Tuff Stuff in the early to mid 90s.

KendallCat

Buddy of mine showed me a 34 Gehrig he bought in a case and I liked the fact it was graded by a 3rd party. Bought my first one at the Cleveland National in 1997 - 1956 Ted Williams for $450 in PSA 8. Hooked from that point on.

dtkk49a

It was 1999 and I used to work across the street from a SGC grading facility and one of my coworkers showed me some cards he had SGC grade for him. I was immediately fascinated by the idea and walked some cards across the street the following week.
Shortly after that I started buying PSA slabs off eBay and they are now my grader of choice.

rexvos

I bought a 1967 Carl Yastrzemski at a card store in Monroe, La around 94-95, it was in this case I could not remove it from. I bought it because the card looked great. I finally realized it was a PSA case. Card was a 7 I paid like $15 for it. I had no clue who PSA was until about 4 years later. Wish I would have known then what I know now.

addicted2ebay

Early 2000's.. I remember seeing a Psa 10 gem mint slab and thinking what a gimmick. Before that mint was alway the top grade to me.

bziddy

I remember reading a story in the early 90s about some guy who had sold off all his collection so that he could become an grader with PSA. Something about he wasn't allowed to own cards if he was going to grade cards.

I might be mixing up 2 or 3 different stories and combining them, but that's when I first heard of PSA.

Dpeck100

It was around 1997 when Beckett started listing graded card prices along side the sets. I can recall vividly in 1998 watching the cards zoom higher and especially the 1985 Topps Mark McGwire PSA 10.

Stewie

I became aware of PSA at the Shaq-National convention in Atlanta. The year was 1992. I was directed to a booth where I met a couple of very well dressed gentlemen who showed me a contraption with a black light which was designed to detect the reconditioning or tampering of cards.

jay0791

Years before grading a respected local card dealer got me into high grade raw
cards and even paying way over "book."
Many thought I was crazy.

My 1st PSA card was a 66 Sutton RC in psa 7. I remember thinking nice card but what kinda crap is this grading???
I know how to grade. So I broke this and others bought after it out back into raw.

Dealers were starting to ask premium prices for nice grades. I remember being offered 75 Brett Mini RC PSA 10 for $400.

Graded 52 Topps Mantles.......

I remember saying to myself, "what idiot would buy at those prices! Not to mention ebay auctions I saw.

Still don't have a brett higher than psa 8 or any early mantles.

Then I remember giving in and getting many of those earlier cards I had bought graded and getting nice grades
then selling on ebay for what I thought was a nice profit.

Now???? excuse me while I go shoot myself.......

Stewie

<< <i>Years before grading a respected local card dealer got me into high grade raw
cards and even paying way over "book."
Many thought I was crazy. >>



This makes for a very interesting topic of its own. The perspective here should not be overlooked. Folks who were hoarding raw material 20+ years ago are enjoying the rewards of such right now. I'm certain there are plenty of us who could claim to have held a lot of great looking raw cards which ultimately became destined for someone else's showcase.

The same concept was pitched to me by a respected dealer I knew who was basically doing what you've suggested here. When the monthly Beckett price changes were exposed, he ignored them. The gaudy prices being paid for raw cards was beyond my comprehension. I thought he was crazy.

So, I just continued trying to save up my dollar bills to one day afford a Gem Mint 10 Jose Canseco Donruss Rated Rookie.

ssollars

I don't exactly remember the first time I saw a PSA graded card, or became aware of PSA, but like a few have said here, it was probably at a Gibralter show between '95 - '98 when I visited them regularly. I do however remember my first PSA card I owned. My first Jim Brown rookie was a PSA 6 I got off eBay for less than $200! At the time I wasn't "into" the whole grading thing and cracked it out and put it with my Browns collection. A few years later the grading bug kicked in...

Scott

Stone193

Thru SCD - purchasing cards.

Of course knew of ASA - aka Alan Hager - but found his grading to be suspect; especially considering he was selling the cards "he" graded.

I met Mike Baker at the 92 National in Atlanta and he gave me a sample card. And of prominence - the "first" graded PSA card - the PSA 8 Wagner was on display on the floor inside a very think lucite display case.

jsanz

I was waiting for ASA Alan Hager to be mentioned. I was set up next to him at a show back in NJ in I think 1991. It had to be 1991 because Topps Stadium Club was hot. Anyway, he had all these cards in plastic cases and he was showing them to me and explaining how all of this made sense. I think he was really a coin dealer but was trying to bring grading over to cards. I was young and not interested. I had no idea that this would be the future of the hobby. Did he have some relationship with PSA way back or license his slab patent to them?

bishop

One night back in the late 80s I was having a nightmare about my cards slowly suffocating in plastic prisons. Then just like in one of those Body Snatcher horror movies, I woke up and found out it was not a dream

Nathaniel1960

National - Chicago 1993

rcmb3220

Last year when I was browsing eBay to see if any of my cards were worth selling. I noticed raw topps Gwynn rookies were going for under $10 but the ones in plastic cases with the red-bordered labels were going for much more. That led me to the psa site. I wasn't intending on getting back into collecting but I got myself hooked. I hadn't even looked at my cards in over 20 years at that point.

Stewie

<< <i>One night back in the late 80s I was having a nightmare about my cards slowly suffocating in plastic prisons. Then just like in one of those Body Snatcher horror movies, I woke up and found out it was not a dream >>



That's strange. I had a similarly discordant dream about some short crazy lady telling me to let my cards step back into the light. I later realized it was just my wife.

BobH

I had a 61 Topps baseball set that was really nice. I think it was 1993 or 94. Cards looked mint . Placed them all in a binder and worked on upgrades for about a year or so. Then i heard about third party grading so naturally wanted all my rookies and stars in PSA 9 holders. One of the Mantles was graded a 7 and all the rest of the stars were 5's and 6's...............bummer. Sold the set and literally got out of card collecting for 15 years. I now understand the importance of third party grading to the hobby but i was not a fan when it initially arrived

Stone193

<< <i>One night back in the late 80s I was having a nightmare about my cards slowly suffocating in plastic prisons. Then just like in one of those Body Snatcher horror movies, I woke up and found out it was not a dream >>

Good one Al!!!

BigMK

I was at a local card show, had to be around 1997/98. I had started to lose interest in cards myself at this time. This was at a time when card shows were really declining in attendance from about 5-6 years earlier. I heard one of the dealers at this show talking about PSA and a numbered grading system for cards. I thought to myself, what a great concept. Started researching, and found a bunch of graded cards online on this site called eBay, which was new to me at the time. I couldn't believe some of the prices these graded cards were going for. Purchased a few low end graded cards online and I was hooked, my interest was renewed in the hobby. I actually preferred BGS slabs at first because I thought the cases looked cooler and liked the idea of having subgrades. I think the emergence of card grading has saved the hobby, at least it did for me. It gives collectors that reassurance they need when they spend their money on a collectable, they are receiving an unaltered authentic version worthy of their grade. Grading along with the internet as the new marketplace for buying/selling has reshaped the hobby. Although I do miss the days when I was a kid going to the local card shops/shows, it is a luxury to sit at your computer and shop for any card you want in any grade and have it delivered to your house in a few days.

Stone193

<< <i>I had a 61 Topps baseball set that was really nice. I think it was 1993 or 94. Cards looked mint . Placed them all in a binder and worked on upgrades for about a year or so. Then i heard about third party grading so naturally wanted all my rookies and stars in PSA 9 holders. One of the Mantles was graded a 7 and all the rest of the stars were 5's and 6's...............bummer. Sold the set and literally got out of card collecting for 15 years. I now understand the importance of third party grading to the hobby but i was not a fan when it initially arrived >>

You're not alone!

Just about every card that I bought in the late 80s that was graded Nmmt or Mint by the sellers? Usually Exmt.

Back then, the usual suspects? Greg Manning, Polo Grounds, Mr Mint...just to name a few.

Mr Mint - business model - buy as Exmt - sell as Mint - reality: Exmt. I'm not saying this is 100% truth - more like my perception.

It's all part of the process of having a hobby and learning about it IMO.

Grimster

My cousin started hoarding McGwire rookie cards during the home run race. I thought he was nuts for paying that much over "book value" for PSA 9's and 10's. That was the first time I had seen slabbed cards. I wasn't collecting at the time. I did, however, buy a 1989 donruss Ken Griffey Jr. in PSA 9 just for fun. I wonder what happened to that card.....

hyperchipper09

Late 94 / early 95. Didn't get my first PSA cards until a trade deal in Spring 99 however. Main thing I remember about that deal is the money I made a few months later. Selling an 86 Donruss Canseco PSA 9 for $100, an 85 Fleer and Donruss Clemens PSA 8 Clemens for $50 each, 87 Fleer Bonds PSA 9 for $100. Even 91 Ultra Update PSA 9's of Juan Gonzalez and Jeff Bagwell sold at $40. Halcyon days of selling and getting $$$ for PSA cards that weren't Gem Mint