I posted this on Blowout a few weeks back, but it speaks to the basic question of the OP. I undertook a massive change in direction to my card collection (cashed out my random modern cards for some prewar) and had a blast doing so. Here's the repost:
Hi all. I have been regularly posting my vintage pickups in the monthly pickups thread, but I wanted to create a new one documenting the completion of my PC transformation and give a bit more of my story.
In late 2019 I decided that I wanted to transform some of the looser strands of modern cards in my collection into something that even people outside of the hobby would be able to appreciate. I have well-established collections including a 1956 Topps set in mid-grade condition and fun group of 2016 Cubs autos and my plan was to leave those collections untouched. I really wanted to take the loose strands of modern cards and turn them into something focused and iconic. The loose strands were composed of some pretty nice cards, including
Trout - 2011 BC PSA 10, BC refractor PSA 9, raw Finest auto, raw Finest, dynasty
Griffey - 1989 Topps Traded Tiffany PSA 9, 89 Topps Traded PSA 10, raw 98 Chirography, 99 Chirography PSA 9, 89 UD PSA 9
Jordan - ~40 graded base cards and inserts
Jeter - 96 Leaf Signature Extended Series Auto
which is a pretty solid group of cards, but didn't really share a collecting focus other than being nice cards. The subsequent (~March 2020) rapid rise in card prices was both a good thing and a bad thing. The cards I wanted to sell kept going up but the vintage cards I wanted to buy also kept going up. The saving grace was the Last Dance and the resulting general interest in 80s/90s cards which really pushed Jordan and Griffey to ridiculous levels. I did a great job of hitting the Jordan peak but was a bit behind on the Griffey peak (see story below). The Trouts of course are worth more now than when I sold them. Nonetheless, the following cards were really starting to pull out of the window where I could afford them so I felt pressure to act quickly.
I considered a few different new directions. I knew I wanted it to be vintage because I just love how vintage cards look and how they simultaneously represent pop art and capture the game at its peak popularity. As a Cubs fan, I strongly considered an Ernie Banks run but I didn't think it was "iconic" enough and I already had a good group of 1950s era cards. Ultimately, I fell in love with the 1933 Goudey Babe Ruth #144 in the batting pose. I love the look of this card and my constant watch of ebay and the AHs pushed it into a Wayne's World white stratocaster fascination ("It will be mine, oh yes, it will be mine"). Since one card isn't a collection in my book, I also targeted a Lou Gehrig (there are two in the set) and possibly another Ruth (there are four variations) if I could swing it.
Because I had primarily collected 1956 Topps in mid-grade and modern 2016 Cubs cards I had to spend considerable time training my eye on lower grade Goudeys and learning the market. Eye appeal is really important to me but getting used to examining grades 1-3 was challenging. These cards are so old and popular that anything above a 4 was out of my price range and most of the cards in the population hang around 1.5-3 (with wide variations in eye appeal) so I had to determine what aspects of a grade ~2 card I really valued. For me, it came down to surface veins/wrinkles and registration/focus becoming deal breakers. I was definitely ok with corner rounding, maybe even some surface discoloration (especially on the back), and lack of centering. I just didn't want to see creases or veining and I wanted the image to be clear. As it turns out, the focus on eye appeal can lead to wild swings in realized prices for cards of the same grade. I was somewhat used to this for mid-grade 1956 Topps, but the variations in price there is tiny compared to how much a high eye appeal 2 of Babe Ruth will drive the price. This took some time to get used to and I definitely missed some really nice cards because I didn't have the confidence in my eye or my understanding of the market.
Eventually, I built up enough cash and had enough confidence in my low-grade eye calibration to put some money on the table. Without further prelude, let's get on to the card parade!
My first major pickup was a 1933 Goudey Babe Ruth #149 (Red) in SGC 2.5 from the net54 BST. At the time I bought this card, prices were just starting to increase but I felt the urge to jump in before things got worse. I had my heart set on a 144 but I couldn't find the "one" and then this Red Ruth appeared. It was a classic case of "I knew it when I saw it" and I decided I needed it and would just have to wait on a 144. When I got the card in hand I knew I made the right decision, both on the card and my approach, and it definitely lessened the sadness of seeing those Trouts continue to go up in price. I love the image and the brightness of the red background. I also enjoy reading the backs and it seems that the Goudey cards always make a point to bring up his start with the Red Sox. Given everything the Babe had accomplished by this point, I think it must be because the Goudey cards were made in Boston and they felt stung by his subsequent global stardom (not to mention the championships).
1933_Goudey_Ruth_Red _1 by
boosandpearl, on Flickr
1933_Goudey_Ruth_Red_2 by
boosandpearl, on Flickr
The next pickup was a Lou Gehrig. I kept a close watch on 144s but by this point prices were getting ridiculous and I decided to grab a Gehrig. There are 2 Gehrigs in the 1933 Goudey set, card #92 and #160. 160 is harder to find in high grade and all of the examples in my price range always seemed to have registration or focus issues (which is common in the set). I also like the coloring of the 92 a little better so I decided to focus my efforts there. I barely missed out on a gorgeous SGC 2.5 that had paper loss on the back (presumably from being glued in album) with amazing corners. Missing that one stung for weeks. I came close to a deal with someone on net54 for a decent looking 160 but couldn’t pull the trigger (someone else nabbed it as I was cogitating). Finally, I was able to get this card at a decent price. I definitely think its overgraded as a 3, but seems more like a 2.5 to me. Nonetheless it was priced fairly and I was super happy to have it in hand. He was such a fantastic athlete and it’s tragic that he was out of baseball 6 years after the release of this card and dead in 8. With 13 full years of good health (8 of which he was in the top 5 for MVP with 2 wins), he finished his career with a 1.080 OPS(!) and a total WAR of 114.1, the most of any 1st baseman. What a legend! I feel very fortunate to have one of his cards in my possession.
1933_Goudey_Gehrig_1 by
boosandpearl, on Flickr
1933_Goudey_Gehrig_2 by
boosandpearl, on Flickr
After the Gehrig, I had a tough decision to make. I thought I wanted a 144 but by this point prices became really steep and my bank of cash was significantly depleted. Either I needed to hope that prices would fall as a consequence of the ridiculous times we live in (the stock market is not the economy
), or I would need to sell some additional cards to beef up my cash reserves. I decided to hold back a bit. It’s worth mentioning here that while the 144 has arguably the most iconic image of all the Goudey Ruths, it was a double print. There are twice as many 144s as any other card in the set. Unfortunately, one of the printings tends to have significant registration issues that are easiest to pick out in the area around his face (the black outline separates from the skin color of his face) but it requires a high res picture to see it clearly. Regardless of the grade, I knew I needed my 144 to be in focus as much as possible.
A month or so go by and then someone on net54 posts a PSA 1 with a fair price and a bad picture. I couldn’t tell if it was an “in focus” Ruth or an “out of focus” Ruth. I do a little digging and find a much higher resolution picture online from a prior sale by an AH, and it turns out that this card is definitely undergraded by my standards. Lots of corner rounding, but decent centering, great focus, and no creases/wrinkles observable in the scan. The price was still high enough to wipe out the remainder of my cash but I decided I was going to do it. With shaking figures, I wrote out the “I’ll take it!” email and placed my message in the net54 thread. It was posted late in the evening west coast so I was confident I was able to get in quickly enough before the east coasters had a chance to swoop in. I went to sleep super happy and excited to have finally landed my 144! I woke up and quickly checked my email and the thread for confirmation. There was nothing. No email and no updates to the thread other than additional inquiries by other people. This wasn’t good. Sure enough I get an email in the evening that someone else had beaten me to it. I berated myself for taking the time to do the additional research for the high res pic even though it was the right thing to do. I was so close and it was just out of my reach. To say I was disappointed doesn’t do the feeling justice. Gutted is the more appropriate word.
Out of my frustration, one thing was clear: just the feeling that I was the owner of a 144 had made me jubilant (perhaps a sign of addiction?). There was no way I was willing to take the chance that the market would drive the prices back down. I needed to be more aggressive and I needed to sell some more of my modern cards. I put a plan together: I would sell the last of my “loose strands” (I still had the Griffeys at this point) and dial back my naturally conservative approach. I put the Griffeys up on the BO BST and eBay and found a really nice looking 144 in PSA 2.5 with a BIN definitely priced above market. I decided that I would need to go above market if I wanted to land a 144 that met my standards, so I sent the seller a message with a reasonable offer (it wasn’t listed as a Best Offer but that has never stopped me in the past). He came back somewhere in between (still at least 10% above the market) and I decided to put my plan into motion. If I could sell enough of these Griffeys to significantly close the gap between his offer and my available PayPal I would buy it. I negotiated fair prices on the BO BST Griffeys and the high priced 98 Chirography sold for my initial ask on eBay. I had enough cash on hand and I pulled the trigger on the 144!
The seller sent the card USPS express (no shipping charge to me, which is classy) and it was in my hands two days after I completed the transaction. It is a marvel to have in hand and definitely exceeded my eye appeal expectations. Finally, the batting Ruth was in my physical possession!
1933_Goudey_Ruth_Batting_1 by
boosandpearl, on Flickr
1933_Goudey_Ruth_Batting_2 by
boosandpearl, on Flickr
As it turned out, I sold a few more Griffeys after I bought the 144 so I had a few hundred dollars available for one more purchase. In the course of investigating other Babe Ruth cards on net54, I discovered a relatively rare tobacco card of the Babe that has a fantastic image. It is commonly called the Churchman Ruth and was produced by the British tobacco company WA and AC Churchman in 1929 (so it precedes the Goudey set). The Ruth is part of a set of 25 cards that depict sports and games in various countries. The USA is represented by a baseball card and a football card. The baseball card doesn’t identify Ruth by name, but he is instantly recognizable and the image matches that used for his Japanese 1929 Shonen Club postcard. After seeing an example of this beautiful card, I thought this would be a nice target and even though the population is tiny (328 cards total graded by PSA with another 86 by SGC compared to 1392 at PSA and 544 at SGC for the Goudey 144) it’s quite affordable. Definitely under-valued by the community in my opinion likely because Ruth isn’t called out by name. So I start my search and put up a WTB on net54. After a few days someone contacts me offering a high end example in PSA 8 for a little above the last realized ebay sale. Unfortunately, it’s out of my price range and after I ask him for a pic he told me the card already sold on Facebook. I was a little disappointed but it was out of my price range anyway, so it wasn’t too big of a deal. I continue my search.
About 1 week after that (!), someone from the UK puts another PSA 8 example on ebay for less than what the net54 guy wanted with a “best offer” option. The seller started the listing in the early morning UK time, which was still in the late evening for me on the west coast. I immediately put in an offer and he quickly responds with a counter just above my offer. Boom, I jump on it and accept! The seller warns me that because he’s shipping from the UK it might take a while to get into my hands. In my euphoria over the steal I just made I figure my patience can withstand a shipping delay. Unfortunately, the shipping ending up being more frustrating than anticipated. It arrived quickly in the US and made its way out of customs ok (which was my initial worry for a $1k card), but for some unknown reason the USPS kept sending it from my regional distribution center to the wrong PO. This happened twice and I opened a case for their investigation. They eventually sorted it out and the card was in my hands about three weeks after purchase with lots of anxiety on my part. It was shipped in a bubble mailer and thank God the seller had surrounded the card with cardboard. I kept having nightmares of a busted up, almost century old Ruth arriving at my doorstep!
So, here is the final piece of my vintage transformation from Trout, Griffey, Jordan, and Jeter to Ruth and Gehrig. Amazingly, this is a pop 8 card with only 1 graded higher (an 8.5). If you told me I could buy a Babe Ruth tobacco card at that level of scarcity for less than half the cost of a PSA 10 US175 I would have laughed in your face. I couldn’t be happier with it.
1929_Churchman_Ruth_1 by
boosandpearl, on Flickr
1929_Churchman_Ruth_2 by
boosandpearl, on Flickr
I know that was a super long read for a message board but I hope you found it enjoyable. I have certainly enjoyed this journey and am happy to share it with you.