Beckett Message Boards

So the other day I'm telling my buddy I got back into collecting again and he goes on about how he has 100,000 cards and would love to sell them BUT he wants decent money for them. The conversation goes on for awhile saying he has sets from 1984-2002. So I tell him those years aren't worth what he's thinking but I'd love to come and have a look. Tonight he sends me pictures of 2 cards and tells me they are the top 2 cards of the collection. So in my head I'm thinking maybe some Griffey rookies or maybe a Ozzie rookie?? Well the first picture I get is this guy:



The centering looks amazing. I can't see the bottom right corner, I was super shocked a this one. Now the second photo I about crapped my pants.



I haven't had a chance to go check the collection out but I'm pretty sure I'll be making time to go over there tomorrow and sift through 100,000 cards. My only question is who is SMA and do you think that would grade out that high with a more credible grading company.

Thought??

(04-18-2015, 10:04 PM)Neifert Wrote: [ -> ]So the other day I'm telling my buddy I got back into collecting again and he goes on about how he has 100,000 cards and would love to sell them BUT he wants decent money for them. The conversation goes on for awhile saying he has sets from 1984-2002. So I tell him those years aren't worth what he's thinking but I'd love to come and have a look. Tonight he sends me pictures of 2 cards and tells me they are the top 2 cards of the collection. So in my head I'm thinking maybe some Griffey rookies or maybe a Ozzie rookie?? Well the first picture I get is this guy:



The centering looks amazing. I can't see the bottom right corner, I was super shocked a this one. Now the second photo I about crapped my pants.



I haven't had a chance to go check the collection out but I'm pretty sure I'll be making time to go over there tomorrow and sift through 100,000 cards. My only question is who is SMA and do you think that would grade out that high with a more credible grading company.

Thought??

SMA= mom and pops company, most likely already out of business. It's not going to grade out the same in PSA, SGC or Beckett. They never do. Those companies usually miss major character flaws such as being trimmed, shaved or a beveled edge.

but still that card looks to be in pretty decent shape, or am i just being mesmerized by the card itself??

I can tell right away the top left is reddish which seems like a red flag.

The rest of the card might be fine but it has the appearence of trimming or some other type of flaw on the top.

I would tread carefully. If it is genuine it is a nice card to have but I wouldn't overpay for it assuming it is genuine and might be flawed.

(04-18-2015, 10:34 PM)Neifert Wrote: [ -> ]but still that card looks to be in pretty decent shape, or am i just being mesmerized by the card itself??

It's REALLY tough to give a definitive answer looking at pics. From where I sit, it looks unbelievable. However, if you buy it based on it being graded a 7 just know that the equipment any of the major companies will use to grade the card will be far superior to whatever that company used. I would buy it with a stipulation: let the seller know it is going in for grading and if it is found to be altered in any way, he needs to buy it back. I'd also try and work on a price as far away from a PSA 7 as you can get it because if it comes back a 5, you may still feel a little cheated. You may even want to pick up a little magnifier. For a few bucks they can give you a better understanding of what your up against.

Take this Eddie Matthews. Looks pretty good, right? That indent on the right is from the glare. Ungraded, its not an issue because to the naked eye it looks great. But...


With a little magnification, you pick up every tiny flaw that was once invisible to us and that's what you'll get graded on. The camera isn't even really picking up the magnification like your eyes would and you can still see the issue.

Like i said it's a buddy so i'm sure he'd be cool with letting me send it off to get graded. I've never submitted anything before so what time frame would i be looking at and who is the best to get vintage stuff graded??

(04-18-2015, 11:19 PM)Neifert Wrote: [ -> ]Like i said it's a buddy so i'm sure he'd be cool with letting me send it off to get graded. I've never submitted anything before so what time frame would i be looking at and who is the best to get vintage stuff graded??

Well, PSA is super expensive and you can't pick a time frame. They do however command the highest resale value/premiums in vintage. Beckett is a better, more consistent grader in my opinion and you can pick out whatever time frame in which to get your cards back you like. Sliding price scale for the time tables. Also, Becketts cases are much harder to tamper with than PSA's.

Instead of buying it first, offer to have it sent in and get it graded. If it comes back with the same or better then take at the original price. Sounds fair to me. And if it comes back as less and you still want it maybe some negotiations can begin? just my 2 cents.

Thanks Hofcollector!

Tucker i think that's exactly what i'm going to do. I'm going to go watch the Cards game with him tomorrow night and dig through some cardboard!

(04-19-2015, 12:11 AM)Neifert Wrote: [ -> ]Thanks Hofcollector!

Tucker i think that's exactly what i'm going to do. I'm going to go watch the Cards game with him tomorrow night and dig through some cardboard!

Keep us update though. This is an interesting thread. Cant wait to see what it will come back as!