Such a tough set condition wise. Not a single candidate for perfection in the entire set. Here are all the key cards I pulled. I have always loved the look of this Will Clark XRC...
Yikes. As I have said before, production quality at the end of the decade was awful! They were printing, cutting and packing these as fast as they could make them, since they were literally printing money during the hobby boom. Not a single perfect card in this entire box. Here were the stars and rookies that missed the grades...
@jordangretzkyfan said:
Always a fun rip to hunt for Griffey. This was a pretty solid box for PSA 10 candidates. Here are the ones that didn’t make the grade...
>
Junior is too OC to sub for a 10...
I did find these 14 candidates though, so that is pretty solid. Spuds Sabo was a beast those first few seasons!
Looks pretty good to me. Are you talking about it being slightly to the left? That should still be good enough.........no?
2013,14 and 15 Certificate Award Winner Harmon Killebrew Master Set and Master Topps Set
I have around 100 packs of 1988 Donruss baseball are they worth opening for PSA 10 what are the cards to look for?
I also would be willing to sell them if I got a fair offer.
@rmilin said:
I have around 100 packs of 1988 Donruss baseball are they worth opening for PSA 10 what are the cards to look for?
I also would be willing to sell them if I got a fair offer.
Devon White. Pop 1 out of 360 graded and the 1 is pathetic. Looks more like a 7 with all that top edge chipping.
Seriously though, there's not much of value in this set. Key rookies in 10 (Glavine, Alomar, Grace, Jefferies) rarely crack $30, although a Grace recently sold for $85. As jordangretzkyfan can surely attest, it's nearly impossible to find gradable cards from this set due to the dark borders and low quality-control standards of the time.
Looks pretty good to me. Are you talking about it being slightly to the left? That should still be good enough.........no?
The left border is too narrow versus the right. It is most notable to me at the top of the left border where it almost has a slight tilt cut. There is also a tiny “water mark” on the upper right border near the corner of the photo. My thinking is that either of these flaws makes it a PSA 9 at best. I know, I am a picky nut. At current grading prices, I don’t want to make many submission misses that aren’t likely to dime.
@rmilin said:
I have around 100 packs of 1988 Donruss baseball are they worth opening for PSA 10 what are the cards to look for?
I also would be willing to sell them if I got a fair offer.
Those 100 packs will yield 1500 untouched cards. In my experience opening 1988 Donruss (which is about 4 cases worth), you will land ~0.6% that are dead centered, with no edge wear and no print flaws. That means 1 lone PSA 10 in all those packs. They are condition nightmares even straight from the pack.
Let’s try a stack of eight 1988 Donruss racks this morning, since folks were talking about the difficulty of PSA 10s from this set. These are untouched from a fresh case I opened last week...
Yeah, these cards are a complete condition disaster even straight from the pack. Not a single candidate for PSA 10 in this group. To be fair, I only ripped 6 of the 8 packs which I will show you why in a moment. First, here are the stars and rookies in the 6 racks...
I always loved the look of the 1988 Donruss McGwire as a kid. The image always struck me as 1952 Topps Mantle-esque. So when it was staring back at me from the center of the top rack, I had to protect it 🙂 The even better rack was the one pictured below it. Pretty sick to have a HOF Roberto Alomar RC in the center cell along with the Mattingly team MVP right next to it. Sweet rack that now has me in a Mattingly mood...
Funny how a pack of 1988 Donruss can trigger me to want to hunt for Mattingly RCs. I have always loved the design of the 1984 Fleer set. Time to rip a box...
Looks pretty good to me. Are you talking about it being slightly to the left? That should still be good enough.........no?
The left border is too narrow versus the right. It is most notable to me at the top of the left border where it almost has a slight tilt cut. There is also a tiny “water mark” on the upper right border near the corner of the photo. My thinking is that either of these flaws makes it a PSA 9 at best. I know, I am a picky nut. At current grading prices, I don’t want to make many submission misses that aren’t likely to dime.
I did not notice the "water mark". The centering is not perfect.
Out of 100 "perfect" cards how many 10's do you generally get? The cards you set aside as 10 candidates all seem like 11's to me.
Thanks again for sharing.
2013,14 and 15 Certificate Award Winner Harmon Killebrew Master Set and Master Topps Set
Out of 100 "perfect" cards how many 10's do you generally get? The cards you set aside as 10 candidates all seem like 11's to me.
Thanks again for sharing.
I haven’t subbed from this journey yet, but my previous subs typically land dimes on 2 out of 3 cards I think will 10. So much of the process is at the graders discretion. I have learned that when I lean in on cards with a tiny imperfection, they nearly always come back a 9. That is why I have only pulled ones that are stone cold 10s in my eye, so my hit rate will hopefully be closer to 75%. Thanks for asking and continuing to share along the way!
@rexvos said:
I love this thread primarily because I love 83-88 Fleer products 84-87 Donruss and 83-85 Topps.
I end up with a load of all of those products after every show I do.
@tkersting said:
Nice hit on the Strawberry. Love this thread.
Thanks guys! Strawberry was the first “star” that I chased as a kid. I pulled his 1987 Topps from the first pack I opened that year and I was hooked. Took me a month of saving my allowance to eventually buy his 1984 Topps RC as my first “major” card. His 1984 Fleer stayed out of reach until 1989. Pulling this Fleer RC today was a great flashback to collecting as a kid.
Out of 100 "perfect" cards how many 10's do you generally get? The cards you set aside as 10 candidates all seem like 11's to me.
Thanks again for sharing.
I haven’t subbed from this journey yet, but my previous subs typically land dimes on 2 out of 3 cards I think will 10. So much of the process is at the graders discretion. I have learned that when I lean in on cards with a tiny imperfection, they nearly always come back a 9. That is why I have only pulled ones that are stone cold 10s in my eye, so my hit rate will hopefully be closer to 75%. Thanks for asking and continuing to share along the way!
Great percentage you have been achieving! The thing I forget to do most often is to look hard for surface imperfections and the larger "blurrier" print spots.
Had this Ron Washington card set aside, even though centering isn't perfect, totally missed the print defect near top of bat. This card was far and away the best of the 15 or so I ended up with.
2013,14 and 15 Certificate Award Winner Harmon Killebrew Master Set and Master Topps Set
I never tire of open 1987 Topps. This is where it really began for me and the image of the stars and rookies are indelibly burned into my brain. So many classic photos. Here are the ones that didn’t make the grade...
All three of these cards are such iconic snapshots from my childhood collection. None worthy of a PSA 10, but sweet cards none the less...
There were 4 contenders for PSA 10 in this box. Good looking Yount as part of the mix...
Always a fun year to rip. With all the lore around the Billy Ripken error from this year, it brings back a flood of FF hunting memories for me. I know this box is the corrected black box version, since I opened the case myself. Only one box left from this case break and then I will mix in some FF error boxes. Here are the piles of stars and rookies that keep growing...
Pulled all the key cards, but none are worthy of a perfect 10...
The star power among these 3 candidates for PSA 10 is outstanding...
Bowman loves to play tricks on you when hunting for Griffey RCs. More on that in a moment. First, here are the stars and rookies that missed the mark and continue to pile up...
Nothing like the thrill of opening a pack and as you sift through them catching the edge of that all too familiar key rookie card. The only problem with 1989 Bowman is that the photographer tasked with taking the Mariners team photos had zero creativity on where he took the majority of the shots. Much like your elementary school picture day, he set up shop in the coaches box just off 3rd base and ushered at least four of the players through. I can just imagine a young Junior standing in line behind Harold Reynolds waiting his turn for his rookie baseball card picture. Wonder if they gave out those complimentary combs? Here is what I mean. Which one of these is the Griffey RC? My heart took a little jump each time I saw the edge, only to drop 3 out of the 4 times...
Did you pick the right one?
The Griffey was nice, but not 10 worthy. Here are the 5 that I set aside as contenders, but I can tell I am already going to throw the Butler back due to L/R centering...
Not sure what to rip next, so I am going to sleep on it and see what I wake up in the mood for tomorrow. Thanks to those who continue to follow my rips!
Love the late 80s rips Chris, as always. The 89B had a forgiving price point when I was a kid and I was all in, 8 pocket pages and all. The fact that we could land all the big rookies like Jerome Walton and Dwight Smith made it a no brainer.
Oddly enough I still penny sleeve those two guys when ripping 89UD. Not saying they get 87F John Stefero CS1 treatment, but the rush of pulling them as a young collector is still with me.
Conundrum - Loving my unopened baseball card collection....but really like ripping too
@NJ80sBBC said:
Oddly enough I still penny sleeve those two guys when ripping 89UD. Not saying they get 87F John Stefero CS1 treatment, but the rush of pulling them as a young collector is still with me.
The Stefero was “royally” en fuego in 1987 and 1988 👍
I am glutton for punishment and woke up in an early decade Donruss mood today. Time to kick it off with the worst condition set of the 80s. Yep, 1981 Donruss...
Right on equity, that was a brutal box once again. This will certainly be the hardest set to build in perfect condition by a mile. Here are the growing piles of stars and rookies that look like they were cut by the factory with safety scissors...
I have always thought this Raines RC is highly undervalued...
@jordangretzkyfan said:
The Stefero was “royally” en fuego in 1987 and 1988 👍
One mystery that I'm constantly reminded of when you open the 1987 stuff is why Seitzer didn't have a Donruss or Topps card in the regular sets that year. He spent the entire month of September '86 as a starter and hit well over .300, just like he did at every level in the minors (.444 career OBP as well). Would it have been as simple as Donruss and Topps not having him under license?
The 1982 Donruss set was a significant upgrade to their premier attempt in 1981. The condition on 1982s is much better, so it all comes down to centering. Unfortunately for me, this box was consistently cut 60/40. Here are the stars and rookies that continue to build up...
I did pull these two blazers, but centering will keep each at MINT 9...
I only found 3 candidates for PSA 10 this round...
@jordangretzkyfan said:
The Stefero was “royally” en fuego in 1987 and 1988 👍
One mystery that I'm constantly reminded of when you open the 1987 stuff is why Seitzer didn't have a Donruss or Topps card in the regular sets that year. He spent the entire month of September '86 as a starter and hit well over .300, just like he did at every level in the minors (.444 career OBP as well). Would it have been as simple as Donruss and Topps not having him under license?
Great question. I wonder if Topps and Donruss were too focused on the other Royals rookie prospect in 1987...only Bo knows!?!?
I picked up some monster boxes a few months ago of 80's and they had a bunch of 83 Donruss but the white borders had all changed to a shade of very light yellow. Those look awesome with those fresh bright white borders!
I know you are opening 80's, but could you or someone let me know how they grade top to bottom on 1990 Donruss. I am sending in some Griffeys and probably need 10's. My left rights are good and corners good but top to bottom????
@1959 said:
I know you are opening 80's, but could you or someone let me know how they grade top to bottom on 1990 Donruss. I am sending in some Griffeys and probably need 10's. My left rights are good and corners good but top to bottom????
You should probably go on eBay and look at several scans of PSA 10s yourself to confirm, but it looks to me, just eyeballing it, like they're considering the top border to be the width from the top of the D in Donruss to the edge. Maybe get a ruler and measure the scans to be sure, and compare to the width of the border at the bottom.
Comments
I am assured to find Canseco in this though....
Such a tough set condition wise. Not a single candidate for perfection in the entire set. Here are all the key cards I pulled. I have always loved the look of this Will Clark XRC...
Waking up in a 1989 kind of mood today. First up is Topps...
Yikes. As I have said before, production quality at the end of the decade was awful! They were printing, cutting and packing these as fast as they could make them, since they were literally printing money during the hobby boom. Not a single perfect card in this entire box. Here were the stars and rookies that missed the grades...
And here were the key rookies in this box...
Sticking with 1989, but turning to Fleer next...
That was a pretty typical box. Approximately a 1% hit rate on PSA 10 candidates. Here are the piles that don’t make the grade...
Pulled these key cards, but none are worthy of a 10...
Here were the 6 contenders this round. Always loved Grace back in the day...
Feeling some 1989 Bowman next...
Always a fun rip to hunt for Griffey. This was a pretty solid box for PSA 10 candidates. Here are the ones that didn’t make the grade...
Junior is too OC to sub for a 10...
I did find these 14 candidates though, so that is pretty solid. Spuds Sabo was a beast those first few seasons!
>
Looks pretty good to me. Are you talking about it being slightly to the left? That should still be good enough.........no?
I have around 100 packs of 1988 Donruss baseball are they worth opening for PSA 10 what are the cards to look for?
I also would be willing to sell them if I got a fair offer.
Devon White. Pop 1 out of 360 graded and the 1 is pathetic. Looks more like a 7 with all that top edge chipping.
Seriously though, there's not much of value in this set. Key rookies in 10 (Glavine, Alomar, Grace, Jefferies) rarely crack $30, although a Grace recently sold for $85. As jordangretzkyfan can surely attest, it's nearly impossible to find gradable cards from this set due to the dark borders and low quality-control standards of the time.
The left border is too narrow versus the right. It is most notable to me at the top of the left border where it almost has a slight tilt cut. There is also a tiny “water mark” on the upper right border near the corner of the photo. My thinking is that either of these flaws makes it a PSA 9 at best. I know, I am a picky nut. At current grading prices, I don’t want to make many submission misses that aren’t likely to dime.
Those 100 packs will yield 1500 untouched cards. In my experience opening 1988 Donruss (which is about 4 cases worth), you will land ~0.6% that are dead centered, with no edge wear and no print flaws. That means 1 lone PSA 10 in all those packs. They are condition nightmares even straight from the pack.
Let’s try a stack of eight 1988 Donruss racks this morning, since folks were talking about the difficulty of PSA 10s from this set. These are untouched from a fresh case I opened last week...
Yeah, these cards are a complete condition disaster even straight from the pack. Not a single candidate for PSA 10 in this group. To be fair, I only ripped 6 of the 8 packs which I will show you why in a moment. First, here are the stars and rookies in the 6 racks...
I always loved the look of the 1988 Donruss McGwire as a kid. The image always struck me as 1952 Topps Mantle-esque. So when it was staring back at me from the center of the top rack, I had to protect it 🙂 The even better rack was the one pictured below it. Pretty sick to have a HOF Roberto Alomar RC in the center cell along with the Mattingly team MVP right next to it. Sweet rack that now has me in a Mattingly mood...
Funny how a pack of 1988 Donruss can trigger me to want to hunt for Mattingly RCs. I have always loved the design of the 1984 Fleer set. Time to rip a box...
I did not notice the "water mark". The centering is not perfect.
Out of 100 "perfect" cards how many 10's do you generally get? The cards you set aside as 10 candidates all seem like 11's to me.
Thanks again for sharing.
I haven’t subbed from this journey yet, but my previous subs typically land dimes on 2 out of 3 cards I think will 10. So much of the process is at the graders discretion. I have learned that when I lean in on cards with a tiny imperfection, they nearly always come back a 9. That is why I have only pulled ones that are stone cold 10s in my eye, so my hit rate will hopefully be closer to 75%. Thanks for asking and continuing to share along the way!
This box yielded beautiful cards, but unfortunately no Donnie Baseball. Here are the piles of stars that missed the mark...
I was really happy to find 30 candidates for PSA 10 from this gorgeous set...
It was this 30th contender that had the kid in me high-fiving myself (which looks really awkward when you do it)...
I love this thread primarily because I love 83-88 Fleer products 84-87 Donruss and 83-85 Topps.
I end up with a load of all of those products after every show I do.
Nice hit on the Strawberry. Love this thread.
Thanks guys! Strawberry was the first “star” that I chased as a kid. I pulled his 1987 Topps from the first pack I opened that year and I was hooked. Took me a month of saving my allowance to eventually buy his 1984 Topps RC as my first “major” card. His 1984 Fleer stayed out of reach until 1989. Pulling this Fleer RC today was a great flashback to collecting as a kid.
Great percentage you have been achieving! The thing I forget to do most often is to look hard for surface imperfections and the larger "blurrier" print spots.
Had this Ron Washington card set aside, even though centering isn't perfect, totally missed the print defect near top of bat. This card was far and away the best of the 15 or so I ended up with.
Time to start a little end-of-decade Topps run. First up is a 1987 Topps vending box...
I never tire of open 1987 Topps. This is where it really began for me and the image of the stars and rookies are indelibly burned into my brain. So many classic photos. Here are the ones that didn’t make the grade...
All three of these cards are such iconic snapshots from my childhood collection. None worthy of a PSA 10, but sweet cards none the less...
There were 4 contenders for PSA 10 in this box. Good looking Yount as part of the mix...
Next up...
That box was decent on condition. Here are the piles that miss the mark...
Pulled a nice Glavine RC, but not a 10...
Pretty happy to find 8 candidates for PSA 10...
Time for some 1989 love...
That was one tough box. 1989 showed me no love this round. Here are the growing piles of stars and rookies...
Pulled these key RCs, but there wasn’t a single PSA 10 worthy card in the entire box...
I can’t rip a box of 1989 Topps without getting the itch to hunt for a brand with Griffey’s rookie. Here goes a 1989 Fleer box...
Always a fun year to rip. With all the lore around the Billy Ripken error from this year, it brings back a flood of FF hunting memories for me. I know this box is the corrected black box version, since I opened the case myself. Only one box left from this case break and then I will mix in some FF error boxes. Here are the piles of stars and rookies that keep growing...
Pulled all the key cards, but none are worthy of a perfect 10...
The star power among these 3 candidates for PSA 10 is outstanding...
One more round of Griffey hunting before I pick a new theme for the weekend. Up next is a 1989 Bowman box...
Bowman loves to play tricks on you when hunting for Griffey RCs. More on that in a moment. First, here are the stars and rookies that missed the mark and continue to pile up...
Nothing like the thrill of opening a pack and as you sift through them catching the edge of that all too familiar key rookie card. The only problem with 1989 Bowman is that the photographer tasked with taking the Mariners team photos had zero creativity on where he took the majority of the shots. Much like your elementary school picture day, he set up shop in the coaches box just off 3rd base and ushered at least four of the players through. I can just imagine a young Junior standing in line behind Harold Reynolds waiting his turn for his rookie baseball card picture. Wonder if they gave out those complimentary combs? Here is what I mean. Which one of these is the Griffey RC? My heart took a little jump each time I saw the edge, only to drop 3 out of the 4 times...
Did you pick the right one?
The Griffey was nice, but not 10 worthy. Here are the 5 that I set aside as contenders, but I can tell I am already going to throw the Butler back due to L/R centering...
Not sure what to rip next, so I am going to sleep on it and see what I wake up in the mood for tomorrow. Thanks to those who continue to follow my rips!
Love the late 80s rips Chris, as always. The 89B had a forgiving price point when I was a kid and I was all in, 8 pocket pages and all. The fact that we could land all the big rookies like Jerome Walton and Dwight Smith made it a no brainer.
Oddly enough I still penny sleeve those two guys when ripping 89UD. Not saying they get 87F John Stefero CS1 treatment, but the rush of pulling them as a young collector is still with me.
I picked Sax above. I would not be a very good pack searcher.
The Stefero was “royally” en fuego in 1987 and 1988 👍
I am glutton for punishment and woke up in an early decade Donruss mood today. Time to kick it off with the worst condition set of the 80s. Yep, 1981 Donruss...
Right on equity, that was a brutal box once again. This will certainly be the hardest set to build in perfect condition by a mile. Here are the growing piles of stars and rookies that look like they were cut by the factory with safety scissors...
I have always thought this Raines RC is highly undervalued...
Here were the 2 lone contenders for PSA 10...
Time to turn my sights to a perfect Ripken RC...
One mystery that I'm constantly reminded of when you open the 1987 stuff is why Seitzer didn't have a Donruss or Topps card in the regular sets that year. He spent the entire month of September '86 as a starter and hit well over .300, just like he did at every level in the minors (.444 career OBP as well). Would it have been as simple as Donruss and Topps not having him under license?
Uh oh spaghetti O's ... does this mean '83 and '84 Donruss are next? lol
ISO 1978 Topps Baseball in NM-MT High Grade Raw 3, 100, 103, 302, 347, 376, 416, 466, 481, 487, 509, 534, 540, 554, 579, 580, 622, 642, 673, 724__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ISO 1978 O-Pee-Chee in NM-MT High Grade Raw12, 21, 29, 38, 49, 65, 69, 73, 74, 81, 95, 100, 104, 110, 115, 122, 132, 133, 135, 140, 142, 151, 153, 155, 160, 161, 167, 168, 172, 179, 181, 196, 200, 204, 210, 224, 231, 240
The 1982 Donruss set was a significant upgrade to their premier attempt in 1981. The condition on 1982s is much better, so it all comes down to centering. Unfortunately for me, this box was consistently cut 60/40. Here are the stars and rookies that continue to build up...
I did pull these two blazers, but centering will keep each at MINT 9...
I only found 3 candidates for PSA 10 this round...
Great question. I wonder if Topps and Donruss were too focused on the other Royals rookie prospect in 1987...only Bo knows!?!?
Hmmm. Well, since Dan asked...
That might have been the ultimate 1983 Donruss box. That was a good way to end the day! Here are the piles that missed the mark...
This Sandberg RC was so close, if not for the print issue running up his sleeve...
This box contained a whopping 27 candidates for PSA 10. Here are the first 25 of them. Loving all the Diamond Kings that were in this box...
Hard not to love crisp, centered examples of these 2 HOF RCs...
Very nice hits!
I picked up some monster boxes a few months ago of 80's and they had a bunch of 83 Donruss but the white borders had all changed to a shade of very light yellow. Those look awesome with those fresh bright white borders!
ISO 1978 Topps Baseball in NM-MT High Grade Raw 3, 100, 103, 302, 347, 376, 416, 466, 481, 487, 509, 534, 540, 554, 579, 580, 622, 642, 673, 724__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ISO 1978 O-Pee-Chee in NM-MT High Grade Raw12, 21, 29, 38, 49, 65, 69, 73, 74, 81, 95, 100, 104, 110, 115, 122, 132, 133, 135, 140, 142, 151, 153, 155, 160, 161, 167, 168, 172, 179, 181, 196, 200, 204, 210, 224, 231, 240
I know you are opening 80's, but could you or someone let me know how they grade top to bottom on 1990 Donruss. I am sending in some Griffeys and probably need 10's. My left rights are good and corners good but top to bottom????
You should probably go on eBay and look at several scans of PSA 10s yourself to confirm, but it looks to me, just eyeballing it, like they're considering the top border to be the width from the top of the D in Donruss to the edge. Maybe get a ruler and measure the scans to be sure, and compare to the width of the border at the bottom.
Thanks Count, Great idea. Will do.
Thanks gentlemen!