60's and 70's raw craziness

[Yastrzemski Sports]

A year and a half ago I was trying to complete a 1972 Topps set. I gave up online and picked them up at shows. The two I could not land were the Murcer- which I was losing at $30+ and the Tim Foli IA which I would quit at $20. I’m not sure what was going on at the time but those two were going for crazy money. I think I picked up both at a show under $20.

[conor912]

Originally Posted by Yastrzemski Sports

A year and a half ago I was trying to complete a 1972 Topps set. I gave up online and picked them up at shows. The two I could not land were the Murcer- which I was losing at $30+ and the Tim Foli IA which I would quit at $20. I’m not sure what was going on at the time but those two were going for crazy money. I think I picked up both at a show under $20.

That was the set that broke me in my quest for a Topps run. What a beast.

[Yastrzemski Sports]

Originally Posted by conor912

That was the set that broke me in my quest for a Topps run. What a beast.

It’s a good thing you stopped there before getting to sets like 71 and 70 and god forbid you got to 67 and 66.

[JollyElm]

Originally Posted by Yastrzemski Sports

A year and a half ago I was trying to complete a 1972 Topps set. I gave up online and picked them up at shows. The two I could not land were the Murcer- which I was losing at $30+ and the Tim Foli IA which I would quit at $20. I’m not sure what was going on at the time but those two were going for crazy money. I think I picked up both at a show under $20.

As a 1972 set aficionado, I can certainly offer some insight into the high cost of the Tim Foli IA card. It is nearly impossible to find one nicely centered, without a tilt, etc., so graded versions of it (say PSA 8 or 9) with decent centering have extremely high asking prices as compared to other lowly commons. So ebay sellers probably see the sold prices and put a premium on their cards, even though the ones they are listing are way O/C and don't share the same characteristics as the ones sold. Murcer is somewhat similar (although he was also a high numbered star in New York at a time when the Yanks had virtually nothing) in that his card is very 'tilt-centric.' Finding a centered, straight one is tough. Even a quick look at many PSA 9's shows a defined tilt to the card. If you only see what #699's sold for and don't assess the specific attributes of said cards, you come to the conclusion that the card itself is 'rare' and your asking price takes an elevator upstairs.

[buymycards]

I recently completed a 1971 baseball set. The prices for decent cards on eBay are very high. I had an especially difficult time finding a nice looking, centered, #544 Vida Blue for under $20. This card books at $2.50 in EX condition. Another high priced card is #709, the Dusty Baker Rookie. This is a high numbered card, and it books at $37 in EX, but it is impossible to find one for close to $37.

I was able to buy a few hundred NM commons from a board member, which gave me a good start to the set, and I picked up many of the stars and high numbers by buying lots, but finishing out the last 20-30 one at a time got pretty expensive. It seems that card show dealers and card shop owners realize that the prices are rising for these cards, because I wasn't able to find many bargains at shows and shops. Off condition cards are still pretty cheap, so someone could put a set together in VG without a lot of expense.

[nolemmings]

Well, sorry to rant again, but I may put my return to buying nice raw post-war cards on hold. GM had a nice 1967 Kaline a week or two ago, which mostly sells for under $100 in PSA 8 and has one sale at 8.5 for $155. My snipe didn't even register and the ungraded card sold for $193.50.

The kicker, though, was a high-number 1966 Dick Bertell. Nice but far from scarce and not so distinguishable from those in recent sales. The ungraded GM card sold for $115. This is about double what it sells for in PSA 9 MINT. Surely no one is buying in hopes of a 10?

I can see the odd card earning more when really well centered, especially if it is notoriously found off center, and likewise for cards usually subject to print dots or snow. But c'mon man. This is just nuts and I'm not cherry picking sales to make my point, unless everyone just happens to want the same cards that I bid.

[Suitntieguy]

Originally Posted by nolemmings

Well, sorry to rant again, but I may put my return to buying nice raw post-war cards on hold. GM had a nice 1967 Kaline a week or two ago, which mostly sells for under $100 in PSA 8 and has one sale at 8.5 for $155. My snipe didn't even register and the ungraded card sold for $193.50.

The kicker, though, was a high-number 1966 Dick Bertell. Nice but far from scarce and not so distinguishable from those in recent sales. The ungraded GM card sold for $115. This is about double what it sells for in PSA 9 MINT. Surely no one is buying in hopes of a 10?

I can see the odd card earning more when really well centered, especially if it is notoriously found off center, and likewise for cards usually subject to print dots or snow. But c'mon man. This is just nuts and I'm not cherry picking sales to make my point, unless everyone just happens to want the same cards that I bid.

I just don’t get it either. It makes no sense.

[jchcollins]

Seems odd to me as well, I'm hoping the mania extents to mid-grade raw that is nice and centered too. I have a '56 Clemente up on ebay right now that is perfectly centered, would be about a 5. If it sells for exorbitantly more than I paid for it, that would be just fine with me...

[Fuddjcal]

Originally Posted by Suitntieguy

I just don’t get it either. It makes no sense.

what does make perfect sense is to not by a thing from Garret Morris and their 10% sales tax from CA on top of it. NO NEED.

[JollyElm]

I said it before and I'll say it again. There seems to be something at play with GM Cards. Without casting aspersions, because I am not leveling any actual accusations, anyone who used to buy from them a couple of years ago (to take advantage of the $3 shipping total, no matter how many cards you purchased) sees how things have changed. I used to purchase a lot of stuff at nice prices (and I fell a little short a thousand times, so clearly there were other people bidding, too) to upgrade my sets, but then their whole existence suddenly flip flopped. Instead of being an inexpensive go-to ebay seller - a convenient place to get cards at fair prices - their sales prices soared and everything they had started going through the roof (like anecdotes from this thread show). It made absolutely no sense. Now the first thing I think of when I see a GM auction is, "How high am I going to have to bid to even have a chance of winning that one??" and skip it entirely. Again, I'm not accusing them of anything, but now I scroll past their stuff the same way I do with frickin' Dean...and I'm sure they couldn't care less.

People will say the reason for their growth into an incredible revenue-grabbing success is great customer service, or that they grade their items accurately, or ship fast and whatever else. Apologist stuff. Blah blah blah, come on, 99% of the ebayers I buy from do the exact same things. Why pay 200% of what the 'same' card is selling for from a different seller????? Pure lunacy!!!