1971 Bazooka complete set

[markcal02]

I have a 1971 bazooka complete set that are still untouched boxes and are in nr mint/mint condition. If i wanted to sell this set, should i leave them untouched or hand-cut them and get them graded? I talked to PSA and they say that they will only grade them if they are hand-cut. I have seen some of the cards in that set that are hand-cut and graded a PSA 9 sell for over $500 on Ebay, but i have never seen the full untouched boxes sell for half that, so would i be better off hand-cutting them myself and then having them graded by PSA to get the most value for them? Would anyone know how it would be best to have the boxes cut to get the best grading from PSA if i decide to sell them?

I appreciate any help you can offer,
Mark

[drc]

I would recommend offering them as uncut, then if you don't get a price you want then you can cut them.

I would prefer them uncut, as uncut stuff is neat, but I removed my personal sentiments from the above.

[markcal02]

Thank you drc for taking the time to read and reply to my posting.

I agree with you 100% and would rather keep this really nice set untouched, but i would also like to get them graded/protected and saw on Ebay that the graded cards value are about 4 fold the price of the untouched full boxes. I know that selling the untouched full boxes will not get near the price of separately graded cards would. I don't even know if i could hand-cut these boxes myself to PSA grading standards if i wanted to sell them.

Take care,
Mark

[barrysloate]

Mark- if you knew by hand cutting the cards you could get 9's and 10's then of course it would be worth doing so. But you just as easily could miscut some of them and get terrible results from the third party graders. Is it worth taking that chance? Probably not.

[doug.goodman]

If your goal is to make money, even if it means destroying a really cool item, then grab the scissors and go for it, that's what third party graders love. If you send them in and don't get the grades you want, you can always clean them up and send them in again.

If your goal is to keep a very cool set in a very cool condition, then leave them whole.

Doug

[markcal02]

Thanks Barry Sloate and Doug for your replies.

Again, i would prefer to keep this really nice set untouched and together. Something i didn't disclose when posting my question, is that i have been out of work for a very long time after getting laid off and I'm really asking this question to look at all my options, if i really need the money and absolutely have to part with this set. I feel the same way you both do and don't want to touch the boxes if i don't have to.

Mark

[AustinMike]

Mark - I am also on the side of leaving the boxes intact. But I am somewhat biased. I collect Post cereal cards and have all the singles and am now concentrating on uncut back panels. The values received for Post panels on Ebay vary dramatically. I've seen panels go for much more than they are worth (in my opinion) and others go for much less than they are worth (again, in my opinion). As everyone knows, the amount you'll get for your boxes/graded cards will depend on whether or not you have at least 2 people who really want them bidding on them. Even for a graded card you might not get much bidding action on it and it could go for very little. If you do a buy it now, you're guaranteed to get what you want, but if nobody wants to pay that price, it won't sell.

When I bid on Post panels, I sum up the value of the cards on the panel and then multiply by 2 to arrive at a value for the uncut panel. Typically, complete boxes would have an even higher multiplier. Unfortunately, there are probably more Bazooka panels and boxes availble than Post panels and boxes so I'm not sure what multiplier should be used for them. But unless you get all 9s and 10s, I would think the complete box value would be higher than the cut graded card values.

Again, I favor keeping the boxes intact. However, if you feel that you must cut the cards out to maximize what you get out of them, you want to cut outside the lines as much as possible. With the Bazooka boxes, this is problamatic for the cards in the center. You can cut a little outside the perimeter lines, but you cannot cut "outside" the interior vertical lines. These you want to cut in the center of the line as much as possible knowing that any deviation will negatively affect the grade of the card that is cut into. That is the downside to cutting the cards out.

[markcal02]

Thank you for sharing your experience and advice AustinMike.

Mark