Should I focus my collection on PSA 8's and 9's?

[stevecarlton1972]

Originally Posted by HasselhoffsCheeseburger

I'd say it's case dependent. You yourself don't care about resell, you're buying for the pleasure and enjoyment of reliving your collection. But you said you also want something to pass down to your kids and nephews so future value is also a concern.

Are you talking about an '86 Topps Traded Tiffany Bonds? Yeah, I would think PSA 8's and 9's will hold their value. Are you talking about an '87 Topps Bonds? No, I would not put any money into an 8 or 9. You get my point. There's no way to blanket all cards with one statement.

I think you'll have to familiarize yourself with PSA's pop report and get a feel for what the thresholds are for certain cards at a certain level. That, combined with getting a feel for how much unopened product for that particular card is still out there will help you make your own educated guesses as to which grade and price point you're comfortable getting into.

For the most part though, the general thought is that there was an infinity amount of product produced in the 80s so many people are only interested in PSA 10s for much of the regular issues. There are pros and cons to this. One of the pros is that there are issues that weren't produced in bulk that get swept up into the stigma and are available for great value now when you can find them.

Arthur

Thanks for the feedback!

These are the type of rookie cards I would be looking for at first:

1980 Topps Rickey Henderson
1982 Topps Traded Ripken
1983 Topps Sandberg, Gwynn, Boggs
1984 Fleer Update Roger Clemens and Puckett
1985 Topps McGwire
1986 Topps Traded Bonds
1989 Upper Deck Griffey

I would try to buy a PSA 9 of these cards first, but would settle for a PSA 8 if the price is out of my league (I know that an 82 Topps Traded Ripken will be more expensive then the 83 Topps Gwynn or Boggs . Does that sound like a good strategy?

[Peter_Spaeth]

Makes sense to me. Consider spending up though for a Tiffany Bonds, get a nice 8. And IMO Maddux and Johnson should be on that list.

[stevecarlton1972]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Makes sense to me. Consider spending up though for a Tiffany Bonds, get a nice 8. And IMO Maddux and Johnson should be on that list.

Definetly, as they were the rookies that came to mind. But as you said there are Maddux, Johnson, Alomar, and I have to go through each set to refresh my memory.

I still remember the 86 Donruss Canseco was THE card to get when I was in High School, as I would like to see how that value has fallen from its peak in the early 90's?

[Peter_Spaeth]

80s eye candy 80-84

[Peter_Spaeth]

85-89.

[HasselhoffsCheeseburger]

Okay, that makes sense. The Rickey, McGwire, and 83s are the toughest PSA 10s of the entire decade so going for 9s makes perfect sense. I think Peter is right though, go after an 8 Tiffany Bonds.

The 80s are a slippery slope. I set out a few years ago to do what you're doing now. The list has grown exponentially but I've enjoyed every step of the way.

[AGuinness]

Sweet cards, Arthur, especially the Leaf and OPC. I grew up in Vermont in the 80s and always hated running into the Canadian counterparts when trading, etc. But now I've done a 180 on them and quite enjoy them more than the Topps and Donruss varieties.

[stevecarlton1972]

Thanks to everyone on the info about Topps Tiffany as I honestly never knew these sets existed. Like every kid in the 80's, I collected Topps, Donruss, Fleer and UpperDeck and then the market crashed in the early 90's and most of these sets were worth nothing (except those early/mid 80's sets with Henderson, Ripken, Gwynn, etc). I just googled Toppy Tiffany after you guys posted a few pictures and now I see why those cards are a good get, as they are rare/low production compared to the mass produced Topps sets of that time period. When I sold my cards about 20 years ago, I had a lot of older cards my uncle gave to me (1965 Joe Namath Rookie, 1979-80 Wayne Gretzky Rookie)

Originally Posted by HasselhoffsCheeseburger

Okay, that makes sense. The Rickey, McGwire, and 83s are the toughest PSA 10s of the entire decade so going for 9s makes perfect sense. I think Peter is right though, go after an 8 Tiffany Bonds.

The 80s are a slippery slope. I set out a few years ago to do what you're doing now. The list has grown exponentially but I've enjoyed every step of the way.

]

Don't worry, my list has already gotten bigger over the weekend! It started very small with a select few cards that defined the decade (1980 Topps Ricky Henderson, 1989 Upper Deck Ken Griffey, etc), and now I keep adding this Hall of Famer and that Hall of Famer.

And of course I have to find a Billy Ripken Fleer F**face, just because it was the one card that we all talked about in High School for a laugh!

[RayBShotz]

If you are set on a collection of slabs from this era, I would recommend PSA 9 grade examples. In the case of lesser stars you might be inclined to add, a PSA 10 may even be peanuts.

4 Sharp Corners is a great place for this stuff aside from eBay.
Best of Luck re-entering the hobby!
RayB

PS please share your spoils with us on this Board.