Where are all the super rare cards?

[Yankeefan51]

With the exception of four auction houses and dealers who price items for more than 3x their value, it is unusual to see ultra high grade rare sale. Almost of the cards that I sill collect are valued at $1000 or more (PSA 8 Cracker Fed Federal Leaguers go for $600-700).

In the past two years, I have only seen one card on BST that meets my standards in terms of grade and rarity.

Despite the fact that are a large number of collectors who enjoy low grade
cards, I think there needs to be more of market for buying selling and trading the best of the best. I have more than 400 cards ( pre 1950) in my collection and fewer than 10% are below a 6. In terms of value, appearance
and opportunity condition matters. Our return when we auction a rare item
is 300-500% more for PSA 8 or SGC 92 than lower grade cards. In fact, there is a countless number of Non graded, PSA 1-4 cards and with few exceptions they do not sell or sell at 40% of book.

There is a true distinction between creased old card and those ultra high grade rare cards. The wise collector/investor focuses on quality. It is too bad that those who appreciate the best rarely comment on the Board nor
do they communicate with other important collectors. Like the great whales these collectors will continueto build the best collection and consume thousands of little fish along the way.

Bruce

[Kenny Cole]

I think a lot of "important" collectors(whatever that means) communicate with each other pretty frequently. If I were "we" I suppose I'd be wondering why "we' weren't invited to the discussion. My guess is that 'we" are still accurately viewed as being a prick.

[RCMcKenzie]

heritagead170.jpg


After I won an m116 McGuire from a weekend Heritage auction, they sent me this flyer. I thought you or Wonka must have bought an M116 McGuire from them.

[Cardboard Junkie]

The Bruces are probably just a little testy today......a very little testis.

[deadballfreaK]

Originally Posted by Yankeefan51

With the exception of four auction houses and dealers who price items for more than 3x their value, it is unusual to see ultra high grade rare sale. Almost of the cards that I sill collect are valued at $1000 or more (PSA 8 Cracker Fed Federal Leaguers go for $600-700).

In the past two years, I have only seen one card on BST that meets my standards in terms of grade and rarity.

Despite the fact that are a large number of collectors who enjoy low grade
cards, I think there needs to be more of market for buying selling and trading the best of the best. I have more than 400 cards ( pre 1950) in my collection and fewer than 10% are below a 6. In terms of value, appearance
and opportunity condition matters. Our return when we auction a rare item
is 300-500% more for PSA 8 or SGC 92 than lower grade cards. In fact, there is a countless number of Non graded, PSA 1-4 cards and with few exceptions they do not sell or sell at 40% of book.

There is a true distinction between creased old card and those ultra high grade rare cards. The wise collector/investor focuses on quality. It is too bad that those who appreciate the best rarely comment on the Board nor
do they communicate with other important collectors. Like the great whales these collectors will continueto build the best collection and consume thousands of little fish along the way.

Bruce

Damn, I feel bad that I am clogging up this site with pissy little $50-100 cards. Perhaps we need a new site for the elite. The term collector/investor makes me gag. That means strictly investor.

[HRBAKER]

[teetwoohsix]

Here's my contribution. The crease makes it important. It's got a high grade super duper rare crease straight through the forehead. What a rare gem, probably worth a trillion.

[cardaholic]

Good. Go find some R308s in PSA 8 or higher. Once you've given up on that, how about Propagandas Montiel or Ovenca Venezuela in PSA 8 or higher.

[EvilKing00]

I have never seen a crease at that exact spot, very nice

[Bocabirdman]

All of us here understand or "need" to understand that there are financial considerations involved in this hobby. All cards are eventually re-sold.

Some folks just look at it differently.

A Collector doesn't let the potential return on his investment get in the way of his collecting.

An Investor doesn't let collecting get in the way of the potential return on his investment.

[the 'stache]

Bruce, I'm going to guess many of these high grade cards are just being held in private collections, and aren't going to see the light of day anytime soon.

If I had the financial wherewithal to afford some of these, I'd buy, and keep them in a safe. They'd never see an auction house, or Ebay.

[Matthew H]

It still surprises me that such an old school hobby veteran would be collecting "rare for the grade" nonsense...

[tiger8mush]

Originally Posted by Yankeefan51

Like the great whales these collectors will continueto build the best collection and consume thousands of little fish along the way.

Even the greatest of whales have one thing in common with the poor little fish ...

[Leon]

Bruce- Knowing you most likely won't come back to this thread to respond I will respond and feed the troll in you anyway. Many collectors collect for things other than the almighty dollar. Personally, I collect for many other reasons but with an eye on value too. If you had seen all of the alledgedly tampered with holders I have seen in the last 48 hours you would give pause to your ultra high grade cards quest. There are people actively tampering with holders and passing them off to people with your mindset. Good luck in the hunt....and btw, I will stick to my pr-vg+ collection and be happy all of the time. Here is one you won't find, let alone in high grade.

[vintagecpa]

Originally Posted by Leon

...If you had seen all of the alledgedly tampered with holders I have seen in the last 48 hours you would give pause to your ultra high grade cards quest. ...

Any chance of throwing us a bone with some juicy details or is this part of something ongoing?

[T206Collector]

Are I sure this is not just a copy and paste job from a Archive thread?

Leon already made this point, but a lot of us regulars here can support it -- 1-of-1 and extremely valuable:

[Leon]

Originally Posted by vintagecpa

Any chance of throwing us a bone with some juicy details or is this part of something ongoing?

Let's hold off for now. I don't feel like going into the gory details in this thread but I have spoken with the ringleader of a ring of counterfeiters. I believe He is good at what he does too....this has to do with the whole Den Prak thing. Hopefully more people will go to jail soon.

[rhettyeakley]

Bruce: Look at my cards the numbers all go to eleven. Look, right across the board, eleven, eleven, eleven and...
Us: Oh, I see. And most cards only go up to ten?
Bruce: Exactly.
Us: Does that mean it's better? Is it any better?
Bruce: Well, it's one better, isn't it? It's not ten... Where can you go from there? Where?
Us: I don't know.
Bruce: Nowhere. Exactly. What we do is, if we need that extra push over the cliff, you know what we do?
Us: Buy another eleven.
Bruce: Eleven. Exactly. One better.
Us: Why don't you just collect what you like regardless of the little number on the flip and do whatever makes one happy?
[Pause.]
Bruce: These go to eleven.

[Matthew H]

Wow Leon, I didn't know that existed! Thanks for sharing. (not as cool as PSA 8 cracker jack fed leaguers, but still cool)

[Bored5000]

Originally Posted by Leon

If you had seen all of the alledgedly tampered with holders I have seen in the last 48 hours you would give pause to your ultra high grade cards quest. There are people actively tampering with holders and passing them off to people with your mindset.

To me, it requires at least some suspension of disbelief to believe that 80-year-old cards or 100+ year-old cards show up in "mint" condition or "near-mint" condition. There are just too many cases of doctoring or fraud IMO to put faith in a card that old being what it seems.

[auggiedoggy]

Originally Posted by Bored5000

To me, it requires at least some suspension of disbelief to believe that 80-year-old cards or 100+ year-old cards show up in "mint" condition or "near-mint" condition. There are just too many cases of doctoring or fraud IMO to put faith in a card that old being what it seems.

I also find it hard to believe that 100+ year old cards would stand the test of time so well. Makes you wonder how many fakes are owned by collectors of exclusively high-end material. Especially given the fact that there are people out there that can do a pretty decent job at producing fake but very realistic PSA holders! Oh well, perhaps authenticity is not the key factor for the wise collector/investor.

[Pinstriper780]

Originally Posted by tiger8mush

Even the greatest of whales have one thing in common with the poor little fish ...

Very true, the end result is always the same.

[atx840]

High grade does nothing for me.....I'd rather have the Boston Garter strip.

[Exhibitman]

Originally Posted by Yankeefan51

It is too bad that those who appreciate the best rarely comment on the Board

Oh, if only that was true in every case...

In all seriousness, if you really feel that way about the board and its membership, why not stop posting and go away, since it is obvious that no one meeting your criteria for importance posts here. I guarantee you won't be missing any PSA 8 Just So Cy Young cards on the BST board.

[EGreenwood]

Bruce:

Instead of bemoaning the lack of communication, why not initiate the dialog? I personally don't have the wherewithal to play in the ultra-rare, high grade space; however, I do enjoy the samples that are shared. The background and research that go into these posts are often fascinating reads. For example, the Boston Gartner strip is stunning, as far as men in skivvies go.

For me personally, a low-grade T206 AB HOF'er is a good score for my collection, and I am ok with that.

Erik

[wonkaticket]

Bruce,

You are incorrect. In fact there has been a huge influx of high grade, scarce to downright rare material into the market over the past few years. Many “Whales” (LOL) would agree in fact much of it came from “Whales”. However in order to obtain such material one has to actually bid, win and then purchase such items.

If you’re wondering why there isn’t an influx of high quality material at half price or amazing deals that makes much more sense given your modus operandi. As a consolation you’re not alone on this we all wonder how we can get amazing items on the cheap.

In regards to why board members don’t post amazing “world” class pickups it’s mainly because we are all penniless hacks. However you can be the game changer Bruce looking forward to your pickups unless you’re the under bidder yet again?

Cheers,

John

[oldjudge]

Bruce-For the life of me, I can never understand the reason for posts like this. If you love the hobby, and I'm pretty sure you do, you have to realize that it is made up of a panoply of people with very different collecting interests, and various levels of disposable income. Just because someone does not collect what you collect, or has less money to spend on cards than you do, does not diminish what they do in the least. In fact, many people who you are mocking in your post, because of their love of the hobby, allocate a higher percentage of their available funds to their collecting pursuits than you do. Do you think statements like you have made would have ever come from the lips of Jefferson Burdick, or Buck Barker, or Keith Mitchell? I don't. Be a mensch!

[slidekellyslide]

Originally Posted by oldjudge

Bruce-For the life of me, I can never understand the reason for posts like this.

Because he is a sad, lonely internet troll starving for attention in any way he can get it...oh and also this post will result in at least 2 ultra high grade cards for their collection.

[Sean]

Originally Posted by oldjudge

Bruce-For the life of me, I can never understand the reason for posts like this. If you love the hobby, and I'm pretty sure you do, you have to realize that it is made up of a panoply of people with very different collecting interests, and various levels of disposable income. Just because someone does not collect what you collect, or has less money to spend on cards than you do, does not diminish what they do in the least. In fact, many people who you are mocking in your post, because of their love of the hobby, allocate a higher percentage of their available funds to their collecting pursuits than you do. Do you think statements like you have made would have ever come from the lips of Jefferson Burdick, or Buck Barker, or Keith Mitchell? I don't. Be a mensch!

+1

[Bocabirdman]

I sure am glad that the original poster took the time to start this thread. It has been a L-o-o-o-ng time since we had something or someone to bark about around here.

[Bocabirdman]

Before I go away from this thread, let me interject that anyone who believes that there is a correlation between bank balances or discretionary spending and how much "class" a person possesses, clearly has none. With that, I leave you to prove me right..........

[auggiedoggy]

Meh! Just another sanctimonious windbag.

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