Advice on Building 61 Fleer Bkball set??

shu4040

Hi,

So I've bought the Big 3 (Wilt, West, Oscar) in the last 3 mos on relative whims, and now wondering if I should build the whole set with those 3 out of the way. It's a classic, good looking set and modest in size.

The 3 I have are in the 6.5-7 range, so I guess I'd be looking at the same for the remaining. I'm a relative newbie to this set except I've learned centering is a b8tch, and many cards are sized differently.

Any tips or suggestions for building this set? Can I buy and self sub, or how risky are the min sizes?

Thanks!
Matt

Largentcollector

Matt,
Min size is a big issue on these cards but some always sneak through. I would look for most of your cards graded in form from PSA. I'm 67% through my set now in PSA 7 and it's a blast to collect (smaller set size helps). My advice to you would be sell your big three to me and work on this set in the PSA 8 range .

Good Luck!

Nathaniel1960

Get the Big "E" RC and stop there. Apologies to Sihugo Green.

flatfoot816

great set! mine is currently #7. If you have the big 3--go for the entire set. Suggestion would be to do PSA-8s of all the others since most are affordable. Took me maybe 10 years to get to #7. I started out going for all PSA-7s--then started to get 8s---and now shooting for as many 9s as I can get. Do not buy raw and submit



Note--do not forget the 1st card--Attles. Tough in PSA-8 and undervalued IMO. Russell 2nd year has also seen a spike since his rookie card from '57 went out of sight pricewise



best of luck

BaltimoreYankee

I'd like to offer a slightly different alternative: Buy the HOFers PSA graded and the rest of the set ungraded (and keep them that way). That's what I did with '55 Topps baseball and am currently doing with '71T baseball.

shu4040

some great feedback so far guys. thanks for the encouragement

sounds like a rationale fear of trying to build raw

I first nodded enthusiastically at the thought of now getting all 8s for the more common guys, HOWEVER, I see then rationalizing that I need the big 3 in 8s....it's a sticky gamble...especially as the Wilt 8 continues to get pretty pricey

VitoCo1972

You know what? PSA isn't perfect on this set either. It's impossible to be perfect when the cuts were that all over the place. Just be on the lookout for things that are WAY too short. You'll also find some that look huge too. Those are good almost all the time.

Stone193

I like the idea of the 'hybrid' set - with the keys graded.



I don't think I would have the patience to buy raw on ebay tho.



I would rather attend shows for that.



I will say, ya can get lucky - I bought this card for 30 bucks (Rotman Auctions - 1993) and had it "membership" graded.







Whatever you plan? Good luck buddy. I think it's a great set.



Back in '92, I bought the Robertson RC for 400 bucks - PSA 8 but not well centered. Forever, I regretted the purchase. Not now.

slum22

Matt,

Congratulations on picking up the Big 3. Those are some of the most iconic cards in the hobby and make a great part of any basketball collection. That said, I would like to suggest that there is actually a Big 4 in this set, as Elgin Baylor is another top 15 all timer with a RC in this set. At the least you should add his RC to round out your Big 4. His card is very affordable in PSA 6 or 7. It is an underrated card based on both his under appreciated stature in the game and hobby and so as a condition sensitive card. Out of Wilt, Oscar and West, his is the toughest card to find centered.

To your question about subbing your own cards, it is totally doable. I don't remember how many I subbed for my set. I want to say around 20. One received a 5 and the rest ranged from 6-8. Most of them were 6's and 7's. Sizing is all over the place with this set both tall and short. Min Size can definitely be an issue. I had 4 cards that got N6'd. One thing to look for when buying raw is the white stripe at the top of the back of the card. When a card is centered well or reasonably well and full sized you should see a white strip along the top of the card on the back. If the strip is missing and the front scan shows good centering this is usually not a good sign for the size of the card. As you look at cards from the set it will make sense.

Good luck! If you have questions shoot me a PM.

slum22

Some more food for thought for you, in terms of the grade you want to pursue. In my opinion, if you are building this set for the sake of enjoyment and do not plan on selling it or thinking of it as an investment vehicle then PSA 7 is the ideal grade for most collectors. The set in PSA 7 is manageable as most commons can be had in the $20-35 range at this grade level. Realistically, the price between many commons in 6 and 7 is often very minimal. Once you get to PSA 8 and above the price typically doubles or triples compared to PSA 7's. Throw in the fact that many 7's can look as good or better than 8's and you have a perfect collecting storm where you can get some 7's for prices close to 6's and some 7's that look like 8's. However, if you are looking for potential future upside from a dollar appreciation standpoint, then I agree with Manny in collecting the set in as high a grade as your budget allows. If you can get 8's or above for most any card in this set, then you will likely see a better long term return for price appreciation. I will bump my set thread so you can see the varying presentations of grade ranging from 7 to 8.

bishop

shu4040

thanks Slum, really appreciate the perspective and your thread bumping. some great cards in there...I'm leaning towards pushing for the 7-8 set, rather than 6-7.

how'd you do with selling your extras as you upgraded? able to recoup costs?

slum22

Matt,

Yes, if you are patient you should not lose money building this set. My goal was to get the set in 7 and above, so any cards that I subbed that were 6.5, 6 or 5 were sold off. In almost every case I was able to recoup the cost of the card and grading fees and usually more. Part of that was because I never paid a huge premium for the raw cards. There were a couple of cards I subbed and got doubles with 7's and 8's. With those sales added to the lower graded sales I came out well ahead. The way I went about it was buying almost always at auction and selling with BIN/BO. I bought far more cards already graded vs. raw and submitting though. The principle is still the same though, IMO, you should usually come out ahead by setting disciplined snipes on auctions and then fielding offers with Fixed price listings. Set breaks were my friend as typically some cards got overlooked and I got deals and at the least I was able to save on shipping costs with multiple purchases.