Set Recommendations

[Leon]

Originally Posted by Niko

Awesome pickup.

For those of you with knowledge about t206. If I were to go for PSA 1/2, would it be cheaper to buy lots of beater commons and slab them myself, or to buy them slabbed straight out. Also, is the re-sale value on the PSA 1s or 2s? Say I put an entire set together in PSA 1-3 - would it sell alright if I were to ever sell it? Better idea to buy raw? I like the idea of slabbed more personally.

For this grade set, 1-2 range, I might skip the grading on all but the HOF'ers (and maybe them too). You can put the money towards more cards. Just a thought....

I have 98% of the value of my collection slabbed but probably only 60% of my cards. I tend to not get the lower valued ones graded. The only reason I get them graded is to them from myself and to get a 3rd party opinion on alterations. I have saved way more than I will ever spend on grading by having a few high end cards get rejected, and subsequently returned for a refund. After the alterations were pointed out I could see them but I didn't beforehand. best regards

[Niko]

Thanks for the advice.

How much extra do you think it would come out to per card for raw/psa 1/2

I feel like PSA 1/2 would run about 20+, whereas raw would run about 15 per. Does that seem accurate?

[glchen]

I'm a set collector and a big fan of the 33 Goudey's, so I think that set would be a worthy goal for you. And right now the pricing on Goudey's is really good, so other than the Ruth's, you can get a good deal for most cards. The Lajoie will still be out of reach, however.

One other idea that I've come across recently is to try to build sets around specific cards that I really like. For example, I'm a big fan of the E103 Wagner, E98 Cy Young, and E93/94 Cobb. These can be expensive cards. However, many of the rest of the set isn't that bad, so I'd like to obtain one of these cards some day. Along the way I've been looking to pick up the rest of the set if the price looks particularly appealing.

For that reason, I think you should avoid T205 if you don't like the look. I'm a firm believer that you should collect cards that you love looking at. When you're bored, you just feel like taking out your collection and looking at the cards. That's the best.

[Niko]

Thanks for the advice. In theory, T205 is perfect for me - it's affordable, it's got a nice checklist, it's a relatively small size - I just don't like the way they look, especially compared to the beauty of the artwork on T206 cards. I'll take a look into some E cards and see if any of those strike my interest more.

[glchen]

The grading specials for PSA constantly change. However, the best deals that I've seen for PSA for prewar cards is $5/card with a declared value < $100. There is often a minimum card requirement here like you need to submit 50 or more. Note with PSA, you have to have a membership. For SGC, the best deal in the past year is $6/card with a declared value < $250. Unless you have a high value card from ebay that you need to authenticate, you can usually just wait for these deals to re-appear before submitting.

[drdduet]

Niko,

Sounds like you really like the T206's. May I suggest that that is what you go after. Building subsets of the Monster (Southern Leaguer set, team sets, HOF sets, portrait sets, back sets, etc) can be very rewarding. No need to tackle the beast all at once.

Good Luck!

[Niko]

I like 33 goudey but I feel like besides the multiple Ruth's and Gehrig, the set is pretty boring(Lajoie too, of course). Also, I feel like I can easily find almost all commons in poor condition. While it would be a fun set to build, I don't think it poses the challenge that T206 does, except for the Lajoie.

With my budget being slim, perhaps I shouldn't be trying to take on the Monster as my first set ever. I'm not sure how prepared I am for it, but this is the second time it's lured me in and with the checklist, the artwork, and the stories, I can't find a better option than the t206.

If I were to go with it, I'd need to decide on condition (raw vs PSA, PSA 1 or 2? 3?), how to start, how much to budget myself at a time, etc. I realize that organization is key but I feel like the best way would be to pick up a big lot of say 100 or so, to get the ball rolling.

Zach

[Robextend]

Originally Posted by glchen

I'm a set collector and a big fan of the 33 Goudey's, so I think that set would be a worthy goal for you. And right now the pricing on Goudey's is really good, so other than the Ruth's, you can get a good deal for most cards. The Lajoie will still be out of reach, however.

Shhh!! I don't need the extra competition!

In all seriousness I totally agree with everything Gary said. 1933 Goudey in mid-grade condition was the first set I started working on. I am at about 75% and I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. It is a great set for many reasons. The monster is great as well, but will obviously take you much longer and will cost more money. Whatever you end up doing I wish you the best.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by Niko

Thanks for the advice.

How much extra do you think it would come out to per card for raw/psa 1/2

I feel like PSA 1/2 would run about 20+, whereas raw would run about 15 per. Does that seem accurate?

I haven't submitted cards very recently but say they are $8 each to be graded, for an estimate. If you have a $20 card then that makes it $28....which is almost 30% more. That is quite a percentage increase for these type cards. Now, if you get into the more expensive ones then it probably makes more sense. Again, just my opinion, and if you like them all slabbed then by all means go for it. The main thing to do is whatever makes you happy. best regards

[Niko]

Originally Posted by Leon

I haven't submitted cards very recently but say they are $8 each to be graded, for an estimate. If you have a $20 card then that makes it $28....which is almost 30% more. That is quite a percentage increase for these type cards. Now, if you get into the more expensive ones then it probably makes more sense. Again, just my opinion, and if you like them all slabbed then by all means go for it. The main thing to do is whatever makes you happy. best regards

I would wait for PSA's $4 or $5 bulk special if I were to do this. It would come out to about 6-7 dlvd per card so the costs wouldn't be that much higher. I would like all PSA graded.

The problem with this is my problem when I attempted the 1955 topps set. I was buying mid-grade cards to add and then grade myself, but I realized that grading out at 5 was like an average grade for the 55 cards and if anything it wouldn't help the value at all - I felt like it was a waste to have an entire set graded as PSA 5 when the average grade is like 5-6. However, I feel like due to the sensitivity of the T206's, an average grade of 1-2 or even 3 is much more respectable. Even if they're all 1's, I think it would hold it's value well. With this said, I would never plan on selling, but we all know other things come up in life that could take precedent if need be.