Returning collector and new member -- Where to buy reasonable vintage??
 

Hi all,

So, I'm one of "those guys" - I collected as a kid during peak Junk Wax ('86-'93 or so) and got interested again by watching vintage box breaks during the pandemic.

It turns out the bug never really left, and now I would like to start building a quality vintage collection. I have no interest in the new stuff and the "hits" mentality - even when I was a kid, I got into vintage and have some lower-grade '50s-'70s HOF cards from then.

I'm not looking to invest per se, but I do want to collect cards that will likely hold their value and ideally have some potential appreciation. I spent enough time accumulating a bunch of worthless crap the first time around :rolleyes:.

Which brings me to the problem: Is there anywhere to find reasonably priced, decent quality vintage cards these days?? I know it's because of "those guys" like me (sorry about that...), but it's frustrating as hell to be excited about cards again with nothing reasonable to buy. For graded cards, everyone seems to want at least 50% more than the same PSA card sold for two months ago. I'm not opposed to buying raw for inexpensive cards, if the source seems trustworthy, but people seem to be asking graded prices for raw cards. COMC is dominated by some guy named Dean who will gladly sell you any card for 4x the going price - and apparently they won't ship your cards for 5 months unless you pay an extra fee that gets big if you want more than a few cards.

So, what to do? Any suggestions other than just to hope the current spike subsides as the pandemic (hopefully, eventually) recedes? Are there any areas of vintage where prices haven't spiked?

I've looked at the B/S/T forum here, but obviously that can have only a limited selection at any given time. I'm also using this time to do my homework and research about the current market, which has been fun, but at some point I want to, you know, actually buy some cards!

Any advice for a returning collector would be much appreciated, thanks!

Use "-dcr" in your searches on COMC to remove all Dean's ungraded card listings. Dean's cards is a company in St Louis that sells those same overpriced cards on their own site (little cheaper there) and eBay.

Yeah, COMC doesn't ship fast unless you pay for expedited services. But they will offer a whole bunch of sales between Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Usually there are 2000 different consignors running sale discounts on millions of cards during the BF sales. And you can leave purchased cards on site for years with no fees until you finally decide to ship them.

You can still find some nice cards at decent prices via auction style on eBay. It takes some patience. However, I will say if you see something you like, even at a slightly higher price than you'd like, buy it. The regrets I have are the ones I didn't buy. Good luck and welcome back!

Welcome.
Greg Morris cards has a good selection and a great reputation, Cleansweep too. Some sellers will have their own specific websites which helps avoid the eBay margin. The smaller auction houses are fun to watch/bid and very informational about the current market, they usually have higher quality items and can be trusted more.

I found I had to be very focused on what I wanted when I got back in so I built a 300 card excel spread sheet with all of the cards I wanted in my collection. It covered 1908-1971 but was very specific in which cards/years/players etc.

I found that helped me not just throw money at stuff, if it wasn't on my list I wasn't bidding/buying. Now the list has changed a bit but it was a good start for me to stay focused.

And this is the best place to hang out and meet great people in the hobby.

Thanks to all of you for the advice! I like the idea of developing a focused target list...it will be really hard to narrow it down that much though. The few purchases I have made have been of the “Tobacco card with decent eye appeal for $25? Sure, ok” variety. I don’t know enough yet about prewar cards to know which ones I would really want.

On the high end, mid-grade 51B and 52T Mays are definitely on there, but it seems like every listing for one of those is $2000 above the “most recent sale” for the same grade in the PSA database - from like two weeks ago.

I know that SGC and Beckett slabs are in less demand than PSA (the whole grading mafia thing seems pretty absurd to me, but I’m a realist, and the market is still buying PSA for whatever reason). How much is the general price difference between them?

Thanks again for the responses - I’m looking forward to getting to know people here and picking their brains.

Thre are deals still to be had. Look for non mainstream issues, especially premiums and over sized issues.

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Agree with this. My solution to "collecting on a budget" is to identify which players and eras I want to collect, then find a lesser collected set from that era...this allows me to chase and enjoy those cards at a fraction of cost of the "popular sets".

Examples:

I LOVE the artwork and player selection of 1951 Bowman...but due to the price of the 51 Mantle, I decided to build the 1952 Bowman set. The artwork is just as good, I still get to include Mays and Mantle, but I can get the ENTIRE set in EX condition for the same price of a beat up 51 Mantle.

I think the 1933 Goudey set is iconic...but I've been building the 1935 Goudey 4 in 1 set instead. A lot of the same artwork and many of the same HOF players (including Ruth!) but WAY more cost efficient.

You could apply this same logic to other sets...if 52 Topps is out of your budget, you could chase 1953 Topps (similar players and even better artwork in my opinion).

If you like t206, you could make a run at the gold bordered t205 (only has ONE Cobb to obtain instead of four).

And so on.

It can seem counterintuitive, but to be honest, a way to get good deals is to spend more money. Buy lots. Sell what you don't want to keep.

Most folks buying vintage cards are buying one or two at a time. The complete sets, or other large lots, don't have as many buyers. The whole is worth less than the sum of its parts. Buy a complete 60s or early 70s set, keep a few stars, sell the rest, and you'll probably make a little money too.

There are still decent deals to be had on midgrade vintage, even graded, on ebay - some good sellers have already been recommended. Yes, we are in a bubble right now and prices are higher, but I would agree with what Dean said above that the few regrets I have are as to things I didn't buy. Since you left the hobby, "investment grade" (I'd say PSA 7 and higher on vintage) has really taken off and there are individual cards there worth exponentially more in higher grades than say, a PSA 5 - but that as a trend is nothing new. Most of us here can still afford a decent / pleasing collection even on a budget. It will just take some time getting back into it learning how things work now. Good luck!

Thanks everyone! I’ve sprung for some nice-looking raw cards from sellers with good feedback - Carlton rookie, 65 and 67 Mays, 64 Mays/Aaron, 56 Koufax...hopefully they look as good in hand when I receive them. Also a couple of PSA 3/3.5 tobacco cards. I think I need to rein in the spending a bit after this initial burst of enthusiasm though :o.