which would you buy?

eyebone · April 25, 2010 9:10AM

Sort of a continuation of the interesting thread started by Mickey.....

Suppose you were given the choice between two similarly VCP valued cards: a PSA 6 rookie of a retired legend or a PSA 10 card of the same player from midway through his career. Pop reports, eye appeal, registry chasers, etc. aside (and I understand these can be huge factors), which card would you prefer to own and which card do you think has the best long term $ potential?

Eyebone

Brick · April 25, 2010 9:18AM

PSA 6 Rookie

Brick

bsidegrve · April 25, 2010 9:31AM

I would take the RC
But thats just me, Ive been a fan of RC's in any sport all my life

Plus I think a RC of any legend Player will always have a more mass appeal to collectors

Tedw9 · April 25, 2010 9:34AM

No question, the rookie card.

vladguerrero · April 25, 2010 9:40AM

RC

akuracy503 · April 25, 2010 1:00PM

I learned to love mid grade RC's and key cards and can do without the high grade stuff unless It's a necessity, I can't speak for the registry set competitors, i'm sure that's a whole different beast.

cardbender · April 25, 2010 1:27PM

It depends on the player and year, but I would lean towards the PSA 10 myself.

I've never been a fan of a PSA 6 rookie card. It seems to have limited upside and are fairly easy to find anytime down the road.

Like a '54 Aaron RC. What's a PSA 6 about $1000 card right now? It has almost no potential to gain value in the future. A PSA 10 of his '65 or '66 card would be the better buy in my opinion. Those are cards that could command crazy prices down the road, especially if no more 10's get graded.

I realize many here are RC crazy.

I'm more into high grade condition rarity myself.

1960toppsguy · April 25, 2010 2:07PM

I would never purchase a PSA-10 when I could purchase an 8 or 9 for a fraction of the cost

JHS5120 · April 25, 2010 2:57PM

I would take the PSA 6 rookie because PSA 10's can dramatically decrease in value with the increase of pop.

thehallmark · April 25, 2010 3:04PM

Let's use an actual example here. Would you rather have a PSA 6 Aaron RC or a PSA 10 1971 Topps Aaron?

For long term investment, I'd rather have the RC.....but it's close. I think there's a lot to be said for the potential market growth of basic issue HOFer non-RCs in very high grade, particularly when we are talking about a card with a great looking photo. There are more cards out there like the 1976 Bench, ya know?

I don't want to say too much, though, because I'd prefer less competition for those beauties...

toc1000 · April 25, 2010 5:17PM

"None of the above."

Firstly, I think a '7' or '7oc' is minimum collector grade. Anything lower and the ugliness begins to hurt my aesthetic sense.

Secondly, I lack the PSA 10 fetish certain collectors seem to have - due to poor centering, too extreme price premium, and mucho quality overlap with PSA 9s. I'm quite satisfied with a strong 9, or even a strong 8 on a card in the personal collection.

fkw · April 25, 2010 9:09PM

Id buy 5 of the rookies Raw for the same price as the PSA-6.

cardbender · April 25, 2010 9:28PM

<< <i>Sort of a continuation of the interesting thread started by Mickey.....

Suppose you were given the choice between two similarly VCP valued cards: a PSA 6 rookie of a retired legend or a PSA 10 card of the same player from midway through his career. Pop reports, eye appeal, registry chasers, etc. aside (and I understand these can be huge factors), which card would you prefer to own and which card do you think has the best long term $ potential?

Eyebone >>

I used the Aaron RC and his mid-career point card a '65 or '66 card in PSA 10 to match the criteria eyebone stated. The problem with my example is the '65 or '66 PSA 10 Aaron would sell for significantly more than a PSA 6 Aaron rookie, so that throws the same value part out of the equation.

Another poster mentioned his '71 card. I would also rather have his '71 card in a PSA 10 which there are maybe only a handful graded this high, as opposed to his PSA 6 rookie of which there are hundreds graded this high. I know the universal appeal of rookie cards, but I think condition rarity trumps this. At least on this player's cards.

Now if you're talking say Johnny Bench RC in PSA 6 to his '78 card in PSA 10........ on that one I wouldn't want to own either. They're both common as mud. Not that there's anything wrong with Bench cards.

To me the answer really depends on the player involved and the
collectors own personal choice of what they want to own.

I'd rather own the 10 all day and I feel that grade has more upside.
Sorry, I prefer mint cards than ex-mint ones.

I really don't feel that 1960 and later rookie cards graded in PSA 6 have much upside down the road. That's a so-called collectors grade. There's nothing wrong with it or collecting in that grade, but there's thousands of cards in that grade that will be available to buy at any point in the future. Post 1960 cards are not scarce in a PSA 6 grade.

-------------------------------

Like a few mentioned, I too would rather own a sharp, centered PSA 8. More bang for your buck. But the OP was comparing a 6 RC to a mid-career PSA 10 card.

UlyssesExtravaganza · April 26, 2010 12:09AM

For the Aaron example, I'll take the PSA 10 and probably would for players of that era. A PSA 10 Banks, Mays, Clemente would be something I would love to have but probably never will. If it's a 69 Jackson vs. a PSA 10 Jackson in 1983 or 84, I'll go with the RC. I guess if the PSA 10 is 72 or earlier (not a 70) I'm interested in that.

TomGshotput · April 26, 2010 2:27AM

<< <i>Like a '54 Aaron RC. What's a PSA 6 about $1000 card right now? It has almost no potential to gain value in the future. A PSA 10 of his '65 or '66 card would be the better buy in my opinion. Those are cards that could command crazy prices down the road, especially if no more 10's get graded >>

But are VCP prices similar, as the original question required

For baseball cards, I'll take the rookie card if the player had a long career, the PSA 10 if he had a short career. . .

cardbender · April 26, 2010 3:56AM

Tom, I think for the Aaron example you'd have to
go with his '65 or '67 card in PSA 9. SMR is around $900
for both cards which compares to his PSA 6 RC SMR.

That would be a fair comparison. The OP's original
posting was comparing a PSA 10 mid career card to
a PSA 6 RC.

For many players you'd have to compare a PSA 9 example
in order to get a equal value PSA 6 RC.

72skywalker · April 26, 2010 4:11AM

I would take the PSA 6 rookie card all day long over the PSA 10. I personally feel that PSA 10's are way overrated. (no offense to those that love them) In my opinion you are paying crazy money to have someone tell you that the card is virtually flawless where most PSA 9s have only a small flaw that you most likely would miss if not for that label.

which would you buy?

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