Raw to slab success ?

[revlis]

I'm curious to hear some success stories.

What are the best examples you have of buying a raw vintage card and getting a high grade? Either from eBay or show.

I'm thinking - bought at a low price and by getting it graded you greatly increased the value.

I'm new to vintage so I'm wondering how common this is.


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[glynparson]

That make their living doing this.

[swarmee]

I bought a very nice raw T51 Murad College Series set from Kit Young cards on eBay last year for $900 ($6/card) and scored some 8s, 7s, 6.5s, etc. Most of my top cards in my Master Set http://www.psacard.com/psasetregistr....aspx?s=187482 were from that raw set.

[pokerplyr80]

I took a shot a couple of years ago on ebay and bought a raw 53 Mantle that I had hoped would grade a 5. It came back a PSA 4.5. At the time they were selling for about 50% more than I had into the card and fees. Not exactly a windfall but I was happy with the outcome.

[mechanicalman]

Originally Posted by glynparson

That make their living doing this.

Yes, and also people making a living going the opposite way (graded to raw), which blows my mind. Seems like TPGs have been a boon to opportunistic entrepreneurs.

[philliesfan]

Bought some 1950's raw from a store a couple of years ago. A lot of 7's and quite a few 8's as well. Waiting for something like this to happen again.
Robert

[Thromdog]

Not a huge deal but negotiated a best offer on eBay and bought this one raw for $40.

Then sold him for $110.

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[Bliggity]

My best so far was a '53 Bowman high # that I bought raw for $45 at a show. Graded 7.5, VCP is over $200. Not a huge deal, but it gave me a lot more confidence in (cautiously) buying raw.

[JustinD]

Originally Posted by mechanicalman

Yes, and also people making a living going the opposite way (graded to raw), which blows my mind. Seems like TPGs have been a boon to opportunistic entrepreneurs.

+1

And they seem to be making a killing doing it too. (with the help of a little photoshop creativity for some as well.)

[Joshwesley]

Bought the joe Jackson strip card in my avatar raw for 700.00 and had it graded by SGC... Came back a 60..

I've received offers as high as $2,000.00 for it.

[frankbmd]

I have generally been unsuccessful increasing my net worth by having raw cards graded, but once I had a positive result increasing the value of a card 1103%.

[robw1959]

My most recent success story was purchasing a T206 minor leaguer earlier this year and seeing it grade PSA 7. That's only the second time I've ever seen a raw T206 card come back as high as a 7, because usually when they look that sharp they have been trimmed.

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

Originally Posted by robw1959

My most recent success story was purchasing a T206 minor leaguer earlier this year and seeing it grade PSA 7. That's only the second time I've ever seen a raw T206 card come back as high as a 7, because usually when they look that sharp they have been trimmed.

that's cool, I've never broken a 6 on a T206 or T205 that I've graded. I have gotten an 8 on a t218 though and that was pretty cool.

[robw1959]

My most recent success story was purchasing a T206 minor leaguer earlier this year for $40, and seeing it grade PSA 7. That's only the second time I've ever seen a raw T206 card come back as high as a 7. Some of my all-time best raw-to-slab success stories are: a 1933 Goudey 92 Gehrig ($600) - SGC 40, a T206 Sweet Cap Christy Mathewson ($215) - PSA 5 M/C (it looks like a 1954 Topps styled card), a T206 Tolstoi Home Run Baker ($215) - SGC 60, a T206 Piedmont Cobb/Bat On ($1115) - SGC 60, and a T213 Coupon Type 2 Walter Johnson ($550) - SGC 55.

[revlis]

Some nice stories for sure! Thanks. My only experience buying raw and getting them graded is with modern autos - of which there are many nice examples. I have been looking at buying more vintage and was wondering if this was a good avenue to go down. Also I just love hearing those stories of a big score - like I've read about on forbes (texas find, etc). Always interesting stuff!

[Exhibitman]

It happens a lot, at least in terms of being surprised by good grades on raw buys. My favorite was a raw 1969 Phil Esposito, a card I really wanted as a kid, that I bought raw from an eBay seller, sent in and got a 9. A very pleasant surprise. Most recently I sent in one of my Babe Ruth cards to get slabbed for protection in handling and ended up with an SGC 80. I'd not thought of it in those terms.

[T206Collector]

I once bought a group of cards with back damage. I was able to soak the paper off the back of a Pfeister and it came back an SGC 60. The Polar Bear Dougherty below recently came to me in a group of mid/low grade raw cards...



My best raw to grade T206 is this one, which also happens to be signed by Larry Doyle. This one came to me from the Jeff Morey collection about 10 years ago. I couldn't believe how pristine it was when I got it in the mail, and I am of course thrilled with the grade...