A post-war jeremiad. collecting nm or better
 

What is the future for 1960's commons graded nm-mt 8? With grading costs going up dramatically it makes little sense to submit unless you’re confident a 9 is in your future, which of course is a complete crap shoot.

I’m sitting on several dozen commons graded 8 from the 60's, about half football, in roughly equal numbers of PSA and SGC. Not entirely sure why I got these, as I never would compete in a registry and I’ve never been it in for resale. I guess I just wanted nice cards in a protected holder, and would pick them up when the price was reasonable or better. I figured one day I might have them reholdered in a uniform slab, under some sort of bulk submission re-holder special that was probably always just a figment of my imagination. For now they just sit, and are in some ways an eyesore, because about half of whatever sets they represent are in binders and the other half are kept elsewhere in different slabs. Hard to enjoy (I know, first-world problems).

Anyway, I cracked open a dozen or so yesterday and put them in binders, where they display nicer and don’t occupy so much space. Now I’m trying to decide whether it’s better to unload the rest and buy nice ungraded cards, but I see that in many cases these are going as high as the slabbed versions. Maybe it would be better to just crack ‘em all open and binder them, but if so, they likely lose value and I certainly won’t pay 15 or 25 dollars a pop to resubmit them down the road if I change my mind. Anyone else facing this dilemma?

Sorry for the ramble, but the hobby has become depressing for me lately, and at times I see a closet full of stuff I just ought to sell and be finished. Part of me says that when I see more than a hundred of every card in a set available at one time, depending on how nice I want it to look, I can always pick up the collecting bug again later. Another part says I’m getting older and poorer, and the hobby is going the other direction, so I should just call it a day and enjoy the memories.

Thanks for the soapbox-- I hope to feel a little better getting this out of my system.

2 part response
 

Part 1 is pretty simple - to keep slabbed or not to keep slabbed - that is the question - Quite simply from a "what's it worth perspective" definitely keep them slabbed. From a purely collector perspective - do what makes you happy! I suspect with a little searching you should be able to find nice raw specimens for less than the value of your graded "8's". These days the grading companies have gotten very stingy giving out 8's to vintage cards!

Part 2 - again a personal decision, but if you decide you want to empty the closet - get in touch as I would love an opportunity to discuss a purchase!

Hey, Todd, don't feel like the Lone Ranger. I qualify all of my remarks that follow with the statement that there are a million different ways to collect cards, and I don't presume to have discovered "the way." It's just that I will turn 48 in a couple of months, and I care less and less about how many feel the hobby should be done vs. what I have found I prefer over my lifetime as a collector.

I understand where you are coming from on pretty much every issue you've raised. Having faced the same dilemma in the past, I'd personally just crack the commons for my sets and be done with it. Sure, you might be able to attract buyers for high grade slabbed commons, but it feels like set builders in general aren't as numerous as they once were and those building graded sets are less numerous still.

It's almost like you looked into my mind when you created your post. I, too, can always find multiple examples of nearly anything I am looking for. It's simply a matter of how much I want to spend and how nice a set I feel like I have to have. If I recall, you are also a prewar collector so you know that offers a greater challenge than mainstream postwar sets. Prewar collecting doesn't always offer multiple examples of what you are seeking. I have also gone down that prewar road, but that era just doesn't resonate with me the way 50s and 60s baseball does. To each his own. There's no shortage of most of the postwar mainstream stuff. No need to overpay, unless you're into competing on a registry. I am not one of those collectors.

Like you, I am starting to feel like the hobby is going in a direction contrary to what I'd prefer. At the risk of being shamed for admitting it, I have recently taken delight in low grade vintage and collecting the Heritage and Flagship sets. These options are much more manageable financially, and I find that I derive the same level of satisfaction as when I was going for higher grade vintage and fretting over each and every common I was inserting into my 50s and 60s sets. Basically, I have made the decision that if my participation in card collecting is to continue and endure, I'm going to have to adjust my methods. So far, the above is what I've come up with.

Hopefully this helps your thought process in some way. Sorry for the ramble.

I’d sell the slabs and use the funds to purchase what you love. I too prefer post war baseball cards. However, I have difficulty holding onto it. I seem to sell it to fund purchases whenever a rare or hard to find a piece of 1971 Pirate related memorabilia crosses my path. I’ve sold too many slabbed 1950s Mantles than I like to admit when I see the current state of the market. But the reality of it is, that although the card values have far out paced the memorabilia, if I’m willing to spend the money I can recoup those cards any day of the week. I love the rarity of memorabilia. A while back I sold a pair of 1956 and 1958 PSA 6 Mantles to fund the purchase of Clemente pennant which is the only one known to exist. The Mantles are now significantly more valuable than the pennant. Nonetheless I’d do it all over again as the rarity and uniqueness items like that pennant are much more appealing and desirable to me. I’d obviously make a terrible banker but I’m definitely a great collector. If this isn’t your retirement fund then sell those slabs and collect what you love.

I doubt you would make a terrible banker, think of the memorabilia selection you would have in your vault~!



:D

I am in the same boat with 'common' HOFers from the 1970s. I have a stack Id like to sell but the price to repurchase them raw is the same as what I am into them for anyway. So I will hang on to them until I get inspired and have the cases meet Mr. Dremel.

The whole market is bonkers. Stuff I like has shot up so high that I have to wonder whether to sell now and lock in a profit or hold until I retire as I had planned to do. I guess if it keeps rolling I can do both--hold until the prices are so high that I can retire on the proceeds. To paraphrase Graig Nettles, Cy Young to sayonara.

I have never in my life seen or heard the word "jeremiad" before. I assumed the thread was referring to a Biblical story regarding the prophet Jeremiah, and sure enough, this type of lamentation is an eponym. Big grammar points!!!

Now back to the program...

:o I will admit to looking it up just now too!

I've always preferred the Hunter S. Thompson-esque word "screed".

https://www.azquotes.com/picture-quo...n-35-65-79.jpg

Somehow I don't think Hunter Thompson was a card collector. But it's good to see his picture on this thread.

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