2017 National Trip
davidlisa
Posts: 62 ✭✭
I realized this was my sixth National in a row. We attended Friday from 10 to 6. The thing that stands out most to me was all the quality material that was either ungraded or graded by another service. There were a few items I considered but ultimately chose to buy PSA graded instead. Why don't more large dealers with great cards not get them graded. It got to the point where we were strictly looking for dealers with PSA inventory. My thinking is that sometime when I'm gone, my family will be better able to liquidate my cards if they are PSA graded. Another thing I noticed was that most cards i was looking for were priced a lot higher than current ebay sales, VCP, and PSA price guides. (try to buy a 1954 Bowman Ted Williams for anywhere near these prices) Lots of great unopend product available. We enjoyed the BBCE display although by Friday much of it had been sold. 2017 Allen and Ginter was $110 everywhere. I visited 707 Sportscards, Levi has some incredible stuff but I was unable to purchase anything from him, his stuff is great but expensive. On the drive home, my son and I were talking about the show and one thing that struck us both was that there were a lot of 1952 Topps Mantles in the room and I mean a lot. This card is great for a lot of reasons but my impression is that it isn't rare and honestly I'm not sure the prices for cards less than an 8 are reasonable. Like many other cards it's rare in high grades but I don't think that equates to higher prices for lower grade cards. The cheapest one I saw that had a numerical grade with no qualifiers was a PSA 1 for $12,000. We didn't see a T206 Wagner but heard one sold on Saturday. My favorite item was T206 Cobb with Cobb back. We had a great time and really enjoyed seeing the incredible Items in the room as we do every year. Can't wait until Cleveland next year as it's just up the road from Stow where we live. I'm not thrilled about the Chicago location but understand the reason they keep choosing it. The traffic is crazy 24/7.
Comments
Excellent post! In regards to your comment about the 52 Mantle I think what you are seeing is with prices rising people are bringing them out. It is an iconic card and probably the iconic baseball card in the hobby, and while they are not rare or scarce they are hard to find centered and with great eye appeal. I would say maybe 15-20% of them in all grades fall into that category, and where the Mantke #311 sits on the 52 Topps sheet explains a lot about why it is hard to find centered. Same with Pafko and Matthews. Again, enjoyed reading your posts and thoughts about the Natty - just got home myself after 3.5 days there. Can't wait until next year!
For your viewing pleasure
KC
I agree with your comments about the amount of ungraded material. I have not been to a National in many years but was expecting more PSA graded cards. I don't understand a dealer not getting his cards graded. I am sure I am missing something!
I think some of the old time dealers are still opposed to card grading?? I remember chatting with some dealers years ago who just did not like the whole grading thing!!
I spoke to one elderly gentleman ( a dealer) and kindly asked him if he had any 1964 Topps in PSA 8. He told me he did not deal in graded cards and if he got a graded card he would rip open the case and throw it away. I quietly walked away.
bump
I understand some dealers not wanting to grade, obviously it's their stuff but I would think it would increase their sales, like I said when I'm gone it will be easier for the kids to liquidate PSA stuff then raw.