Sports Cards Hobby Thread

[HarleyQuinn]

Beckett Marketplace has a LABORDAY20 sale going on that'll get you 20% off any order of $40+. The only notable name I didn't see as a dealer was Burbank but DRT, Triple Play, Wonder Water Sports, Addison, Big Mac, Birmingham, Columbia, and Rich 'N Deals were all well known dealers that will be applicable.

 

[HarleyQuinn]

Guys like this kinda kill me when they do these mass bulk PSA submissions and act like 70-80% of them should come back as 10s and god forbid they get 9s. Dude still got about 80 cards that were a Gem Mint 10 out of a 285 submission. To me, 10s should be pretty rare to get and it's about time that PSA started just heading into that natural direction but these 'investors' are pissed off because they aren't getting a 75-80% success rate like in the past.

Some of his gripes were legit (e.g. the '10' Zion with bad corners/fraying at the top) but this comes off like a dude whining that he didn't get the grades he wanted and so he only can make $55,000 instead of $125,000. If he knows they are 'tightening' their standards then accept it or shut up.

 

[SFH]

Man the damn entitlement I see in some of the Facebook groups and message boards about not getting their 10s blows my mind.

 

[HarleyQuinn]

Won a sweet card giveaway from Card Dojo on Youtube! Beat him in the 'pack battle' so I ended up getting all 4 packs of cards. Very cool

 

[SFH]

Beckett Marketplace has a LABORDAY20 sale going on that'll get you 20% off any order of $40+. The only notable name I didn't see as a dealer was Burbank but DRT, Triple Play, Wonder Water Sports, Addison, Big Mac, Birmingham, Columbia, and Rich 'N Deals were all well known dealers that will be applicable.

Took advantage of this deal, thanks for the heads up. I tried out Birmingham Sports Cards this time since they had an 08 NT Brees that I "needed."

2020 Donruss #281 Cesar Ruiz RC

2020 Donruss #178 Taysom Hill

2020 Panini Luminance #157 Zack Baun RC

2018 Panini Prizm Prizms Hyper #65 Michael Thomas

2020 Panini Contenders Draft Picks #217 Zack Baun AU RC

2017 Panini National Treasures #38 Drew Brees

2020 Crown Royale Draft Picks Holo #74 Adam Trautman

2008 Playoff National Treasures #17 Drew Brees

2019 Playoff #149 Taysom Hill

2019 Panini Unparalleled Flight #127 Taysom Hill

2019 Panini Unparalleled #127 Taysom Hill

2012 Topps #209 Jahri Evans

 

[snuffbox]

Just won a 1956 Topps Harvey Kuenn, SGC 4.5, for under $10 total! I'm putting together a nice little collection of the peg-legged manager of Milwaukee's Wallbangers. Also have a PSA 4.5 '54 Topps rookie, PSA 4 "Tigers Big Bats" card w/ Al Kaline, 59 Topps graded 7, 1960 PSA 6, a dual worn patch form 2019 Diamond Kings and a 1/1 booklet with cut autograph & jumbo bat piece from 2015 NT. Plus a 1983 Brewers team ball with Kuenn on the sweet spot and Yount, Mollie, Cooper, Bob Uecker, etc on the panels.

Hoping to add his '54 Bowman rookie and 1955 Bowman error card soon.

 

[HarleyQuinn]

Well you know I expect you to show off the entirety all together now

 

[snuffbox]

I've tried to post pictures in here a couple times and failed. I'm not a smart man. But when the '56 arrives I'll try again!

 

[HarleyQuinn]

The easiest way to do it is to hit the 'Insert Image' Click the Box and find the pic on your computer. If you're doing it via another URL, then you hit the chain above the box and paste the URL.

 

[snuffbox]

Thanks!

 

[SFH]

Man this seller HOOKED IT UP on eBay. Grabbed a 2016 National Treasures Collegiate of Brees. Dude snuck in 4 more cards of random players (Oregon Ducks uni Norm Van Brocklin #'99, Miami Hurricanes uni Greg Olsen #'99, Florida Gators uni Matt Jones #'d 25, LSU Tigers Uni Jeremy Hill #'d to 10). The lower serial #'d guys I never heard of but I can definitely use that to angle trades for lower end Saints stuff.

 

[snuffbox]

That Van Brocklin is a hell of a freebie!

 

[HarleyQuinn]

Posted my massive mailday over at Instagram. Ton of jersey cards, several Optic Blacks /25, defensive HOFers, and some Rookie Cards. Perfect timing that they came for tonight's NFL kickoff game!

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[snuffbox]

I finally got a '86 Jordan sticker! BGS 5. Not half bad.

 

[snuffbox]

This turned into my best (or craziest) card buying day ever. After winning the Jordan rookie sticker auction, I tried out my Vito Corleone impression with offers on a couple other cards. I ended up getting a 1955 Topps Jackie Robinson, PSA 1 due to pinhole but beautiful eye appeal, and a 1968 Topps Nolan Ryan rookie, BVG 2.5 w/ great centering.

 

[HarleyQuinn]

Did a couple Beckett orders via Burbank and Three Stars. Ordered a bunch of serial #'d cards of historical legends with only 5 of the 32 Cards at $4.00+ and 18 were at $2.80 or less. Threw in a few guys I liked such as WR Jimmy Smith and RB Clinton Portis but targeted the following players who had cards in the 2003-Present Day Sets

Franco Harris (The Immaculate Reception is such an iconic NFL play to me he's a must own some card with his name if you're a collector), Jim Brown, Marcus Allen, Larry Csonka, Earl Campbell, Henry Ellard, Eddie George, Roger Craig, Jerome Bettis, Eric Dickerson, Raymond Berry, Art Monk, Barry Sanders, Walter Payton, Fred Biletnikoff, Dwight Clark, Ozzie Newsome, Lawrence Taylor, Len Dawson, Charlie Joiner, Sid Luckman, and Sonny Jurgensen.

32 Cards for about $91 total so roughly $2.84 per card only because I splurged a little at $5 for Barry Sanders and a Dwight Clark 2015 Topps High Tek Gold Rainbow Diffractor. I try hard to keep these totals low so I can pay off the CC easily at the end of the month without being like, "OMG I spent $400 through my CC!"

I'm planning to do a massive grading submission down the line so I've been stocking up a bit on all of these raw cards. Even if they only get 8s, that'd be fine for my PC and if they get 9s or 10s that'd be a bonus.

 

[HarleyQuinn]

Gonna be sending out my first submission of cards to get graded tomorrow! Threw in a few jersey cards just to get them graded too (a Corey Dillon, Sam Darnold silver, etc.). Going with GMA partly because they're based in Florida, it's only $5 per Regular or Jersey Card, and there's a 14 Business Day turnaround (maybe less depending on timing). All of the Youtube videos I've seen of people sending in BGS/PSA graded cards have shown that GMA grades within a 0.5 number grade usually with some outliers e.g. a BGS 6 being given a GMA 10 but even on video that card looked like a 9 at least.

I don't trust PSA and refuse to wait 4+ months + pay $20 per card or whatever. The FBI probe + accusations of controlling the POP Report... and BGS just charge too high a per card fee. I'm not paying what could be a 'break even' price for a BGS/PSA 8-9 just to get a card graded by somebody who may be having a bad day that day when grading is already a judgement call.

GMA's Total Cost (with UPS Delivery) is about $126 compared to PSA costing $320 just to grade the regular cards. Sending 16 Regular Cards + 4 Jersey Cards. The grading is largely for my PC Collection but all the cards I'm sending in have great centering with a few having less than ideal corners just to get them slabbed more than anything else.

 

[SFH]

Good luck, can't wait to see your returns.

 

[HarleyQuinn]

Good luck, can't wait to see your returns.

Thanks! Gonna do a running tally of the dates in this post to get an idea of the turnaround time, etc. In theory, I should get the cards back around October 5th - 8th area. One of the cards I submitted was a 2013 Topps Museum Collection 4 Quad Pro Bowl Patch of Drew Brees 24/25. I'm not expecting it to be graded because I think it actually may be too thick but we'll see.

09-17-2020: Package Sent out by UPS
09-22-2020: Package Received by GMA [3 Business Days]
XX-XX-2020: Package Sent out by GMA
XX-XX-2020: Package Received by Me

 

[HarleyQuinn]

Got some of my Hall of Fame RB and WR legends in my mail day today. Threw up a quick IG post highlighting 12 of my pick ups reminding collectors/investors to not overlook the history of the sport they collect.

 

[HarleyQuinn]

I used to always think that cards out of /199, /299, or even /499 were pretty high print runs for serial #'d cards but now I'm starting to think that some of that could be solid value from a scarcity standpoint just based on pop reports from PSA.

2018 Silver Prizm - Luka Doncic: 3,590 Graded. 2018 Red/White/Blue Prizm - Luka Doncic: 1,818 Graded. 2018 Pink Ice Prizm - Luka Doncic: 743 Graded. 2018 Red Ice Prizm - Luka Doncic: 291 Graded. 2018 Hyper Prizm - Luka Doncic: 290 Graded.

2019 Silver Prizm - Tyler Herro: 804 Graded. 2019 Green Prizm - Tyler Herro: 293 Graded. 2019 Orange Ice - Tyler Herro: 238 Graded. 2019 Ruby Wave Prizm - Tyler Herro: 117 Graded.

2017 Silver Prizm - Jayson Tatum: 940 Graded. 2017 Green Prizm - Jayson Tatum: 171 Graded. 2017 Fast Break Prizm Autograph - Jayson Tatum: 86 Graded.

 

[HarleyQuinn]

My 2nd HOF Legends mail day. The Walter Payton & Barry Sanders cards are friggin' sick in person!

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[SFH]

Nice pick ups. I have my next 2 grading submissions already packaged, weighed, and labeled for shipping. Just waiting for current batch to stop doing the dance all over the country. Seriously how hard is a Louisiana to Texas shipment? It checked in at Irving, TX and then moved to Jackson, MS before going back to Texas. I'm trying to sub one per week and when they're done I'll have gets once per week.

After those 2 I've already boxed, and taped 7 more submissions, will weigh, label, and ship once per week in the coming weeks. My "to be graded" sorter is currently containing 3 cards that'll be "non guaranteed" and 7 guaranteed with subs National Treasures cards (my NTs get subs). I have two lower end rookies in transit from USPS to my place, and STILL waiting on COMC to send my July order (estimated ship date is still October 19)

 

[HarleyQuinn]

Nice! Are you still grading through BGS? I'd love to grade more cards but even sending a 50 card sub to GMA would be at least $250 ($5 per card), which is a lot for me even as I've been investing $2-$6 per card in my collection. My package did arrive at GMA today so it took about 3 business days (I'm ignoring Thursday as I went to my UPS store that morning).

I also feel like if I really wanted to, I could pick up my own plastic slabs and put the cards in them if I was worried about protection. I don't really care about the 'grade' itself so much, so I feel like I'd just be wasting more money in getting a subjective grade on some of my cards when the built-in scarcity should help improve its value anyway even if I only sold them for 3x or 4x the price.

 

[SFH]

Yes, still BGS. The Facebook group for bulk subs I'm in, admin was able to negotiate $10/card for non-guaranteed (18 months), $12/card for no sub 30 day, $25/card for subs 30 day. It gets exponentially more expensive for 10, 5, 2, and same day.

When I package for Non-guaranteed I put 10 cards. When I package for 30 day no sub I package 8 cards. For 30 day with subs, I put 4 cards. Since National Treasures cards are thicker, the four cards has around the same weight as 8 standard cards. The guy lets me put multiple orders in the same package and doesn't require payment until they're done. Granted, a 30 day I subbed in June still isn't done so I really have no idea when they'll catch up (6 months is current guess).

I've been periodically sneaking in a 3rd sub for BAS in my boxes, 1 or 2 cards tops toward my Super Bowl auto stuff. I have about five 8x10 autos I want slabbed but proper packaging and shipping for that is not as easy as wrapping 8 cards in holders between cardboard with tape.

 

[HarleyQuinn]

It's crazy they can charge such high fees per card (and raised them in the current market!) while being incredibly slow on the turnaround times with 4-6 Months becoming a new expectation from people. Some of it isn't helped by people sending in literally 200+ Card submissions but if I sent in all the cards I wanted to grade in a mass bulk submission I could probably be around 125 Cards at $4.50 per with GMA and it'd still be $563 even with the discounted 'bulk' rate.

I could spend $500 and pick up 125 raw cards at an average of $4 per card and 'save' that $63. I can't even imagine what people spend for PSA/BGS. I do understand that people spend that much on certain cards e.g. Zion/Ja/Luka knowing they'll "make their money back" selling it immediately if they get 10s but even then the 10 Gem rates have been falling to like 50-55% at best so that's no longer a guarantee + the 6 Months wait time unless you want to spend an additional $100 per card for a faster return.

 

[SFH]

Someone on blowout bragged about sending in hundreds of the same base Luis Robert rookie to PSA to flip. Then turns around and blasts collectors like me just protecting their collection and how we're the reason turnaround is slow.

 

[HarleyQuinn]

Would love a link to that thread, @SFH. Got an e-mail from GMA that my cards officially arrived and should be shipped out by 10/9. Crazy turnaround for a 20 card submission compared to PSA/BGS without spending up.

 

[SFH]

Between Blowout and the grading groups, that mindset is all over the place. The threads here, especially the ones charting turnaround for SGC, PSA, and BGS are full of "my cards are taking too long because other people are grading too!" types.

 

[HarleyQuinn]

Some of this is boosted by the insanity of the current market but it's really interesting to see some of this stuff via Card Ladder. All initial prices are from 2004, giving some reasonable 'years' of holding + into mid-careers of some of the following players. Also a hold time of 15-16 years, which is reasonable let's argue.

Worth highlighting
#1: Almost all of these are base rookie cards so not even autographs or jersey/patch or serial numbered.
#2: Despite fluctuations both negative and positive in the market through 15-16 years, if you happened to sell them today you'd be getting at least 2X/3X profit on every single card.
#3: A lot of these cards were considered old/low graded even by 2004 standards!
#4: A lot of the flippers are taking advantage of an insanely high market and good on them. But I also feel that a majority of them are taking the 'short term' flipped profit over the potential long term $$ profit, which may be a ton higher (if they prospected right...) See guys buying in on Zion, Ja, Luka, Luis Robert, Fernando Tatis Jr, Kyler Murray, Lamar, Mahomes at fairly high prices today rather than going with slightly safer options maybe. You could've picked up a 2005 Aaron Rodgers Topps PSA 10 for between $300 - $600 over the last several months or a 2012 Topps Chrome Russell Wilson PSA 9 for between $115 - $235 between July and September.

1955 Topps Roberto Clemente - PSA 3: $372 and last sale now was $1,300 on 9/21.
1962 Topps Mickey Mantle - PSA 5: $128 and last sale now was $358 on 9/24.
1969 Topps Kareem Abdul-Jabbar - PSA 7: $317 and last sale now was $7,901 on 9/23.
1981 Topps Larry Bird - PSA 8: $9.00 and last sale now was $190.50 on 9/22.
1986 Fleer Sticker Michael Jordan - PSA 10: $1,925 and last sale now was $25,945 on 9/20.
1987 Donruss Mark McGwire - PSA 10: $38.00 and last sale now was $98 on 9/24.
1988 Fleer Michael Jordan - PSA 8: $30 and last sale now was $250 on 9/24.
1988 Fleer Reggie Miller - PSA 10: $515 and last sale now was $1,338 on 9/21. Worth noting price was dipping to $115-$125 in 2007 & 2008.
1989 Topps Traded Deion Sanders - PSA 10: $6.65 and last sale now was $113.94 on 9/24.
1996 Bowman's Best Kobe Bryant - PSA 10: $58 and last sale now was $750 on 9/24. Extenuating circumstance given his death but price rise was gonna happen anyway.
1998 Topps Chrome Paul Pierce - PSA 9: $6.73 and last sale now was $150 on 9/24.
1998 Topps Peyton Manning - PSA 9: $11.70 and last sale now was $300 on 9/24.
2003 Topps Lebron James - PSA 9: $23.00 and last sale now was $1,250 on 9/24.