Obtaining High Grade Vintage (looking for 1951 red backs)

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Posted By: GregStarling

First, I'm new so if I'm out of place or doing something screwy, I apologize in advance.

I've just got back in the hobby a few months ago when I rolled my poker bankroll into sports cards to have a more "legit" hobby with less swings. I've been able to pick up a few decent cards off of eBay, and I've been buying small vintage collections out of newspaper ads. Here's my dilemma.

I collected cards a lot all the way through college, but I've been out of the hobby for over 5 years. I've decided to do some buying/selling for a little side money to further my collection (a lot of buying a 10K collection for 2K busting it up and reselling for a small profit). That being said, I'm just doing that to improve my personal collection. Right now, I'm trying to collect high grade vintage 1951 Topps Red backs. It's an easy set to collect, but as with any set over 50 years old finding high grade stuff is at the least, difficult. I found this place through google, and I checked out the buy/sell forums. What are the better places online to find good solid vintage stuff for sale? High End Auctions like Robert Edwards? eBay? Other sites out there? I've browsed through beckett.com and psacard.com, but really haven't found a lot of stuff. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Also, I'm trying to build this set with PSA 8-10s. Is it more cost effective to:
1. Buy the cards already graded
2. Buy raw cards that have good eye appeal and get them graded myself
3. Buy packs in great condition (graded or otherwise) bust em and send those cards in?

Thanks for at least reading a newbie post.

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Posted By: jay behrens

Welcome aboard, but you might want to read the FAQ at the top of the front page.

Jay

I've just reached Upper Lower Class. I am now officially a babe magnet for poor chicks.

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Posted By: David Vargha

eBay and auction houses like Mastro, REA, etc. are often your best sources for high grade vintage. Dealers are good, but you will usually pay a premium for their services. Submitting raw and hoping to get 8's or better is a crapshoot at best and as high-grade, raw vintage dries up, becomes more increasingly difficult. (Although 1951 Red Backs are fairly plentiful in top-notch condition.)

DavidVargha@hotmail.com

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Posted By: leon

As a newbie we'll give a little slack on the year as '51 is close. I did change the FAQ's to RULES today so more folks would know what the forum is all about. regards

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Posted By: Anthony

While I agree that '51 Redbacks are plentiful, they are very prone to small paper wrinkles that will hammer the technical grade. If you're looking for 8's and 9's (IMO 10's are gifts, so don't count on them) your best bet is to buy them already graded. Submitting high grade raw and having them come back as 5's will leave you very frustrated, and poor. And if you are buying graded check them carefully, sometimes those little wrinkles have a way of disappearing just before they are submitted and then coming back later down the line.
Personally, if I was looking to put together a really nice '51 Redback set I'd go for the 2 card panels, and not worry about chasing grades on slabs.

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Posted By: Rick

Stocks are a legit hobby.

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Posted By: jay behrens

I've always been mystified why they would grade a card that has been torn in half. Granted, they are perforated, but still, you have to tear the card in half to get an individual player. If you did this to 1941 Double Play, it would never be graded. Or how about seperating the end panels from a t202?

I've also considered a 51 that isn't part of the orignal 2 card panel to be a damaged card.

Jay

I've just reached Upper Lower Class. I am now officially a babe magnet for poor chicks.

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Posted By: Alan Elefson

Jay-
I collected the redback set for several years, so I felt the need to respond to this post. Individual 51 topps redback cards are not altered or damaged in any way. I have opened more than a dozen redback packs, and they come as separate cards. The panels were designed to buffer the 51 Topps current allstars (I believe, although it could be for the team cards or the other allstar set) in packs. So, you actually have two sets, the individual panels, and the double panel cards. I agree with Jay that if you want to pursue this set, go for the double panels (most dealers have difficulty pricing them because they do not appear in most price guides). Generally, the double panels are valued at about twice the regular panels, but some people believe they are worth more than 4 times the combined value. The last set I recall reading about sold for between 1400-2000 dollars in the late 90s.