A First for me

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Posted By: Jerry

Just got back the first card I ever had graded and the only graded card in my collection. I was a nervous wreck something bad would happen to it.

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Posted By: Mike

I understand completely. I am expecting about 30 cards back from grading next Monday. The fear never ends. Even after doing this since grading erupted onto the scene. You always worry....so get used to it.

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Posted By: Chris

Congrats on getting it back -- it's a beautiful card!

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Posted By: Josh K.

very nice card. Ive been in your shoes as well - it took me awhile to send in my first card for that very reason - now I submit frequently, and track the shipment daily until I see that it has been received and signed for.

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Posted By: David Vargha

I too, was at first concerned about sending something as precious to me as my valuable baseball cards through the mail, even if it were Registered and insured. So I did a little experiment first with something almost as dear to me to help put my mind at ease.

Four years ago, I told my son (then eight years old) that he was going to be going on a trip to his grandmother's house by himself. While he slept that night, I bound and gagged him and gave him a small dose of a horse tranquilizer that was readily available at the time. I carefully packaged him up using packing peanuts and bubble wrap and sent him via USPS Registered Mail the next morning to his grandmother in Cathedral City, some two and a half hours away. I figured if he could make the trip safely, then my cards would probably make the 90-mile trek to PSA in Orange County all right.

Well, the bottom line is that he arrived just fine at his grandmother's house two days later with out any bruising and having been unconscious for all but the last hour or two of the ordeal. The bottom line is that he had a great time at his grandmother's house and I had the assurance that I could send my cards without any worries. By the way -- the tracking thing doesn't work so well as my mom had already signed for him, unwrapped him and spent four days with him and the online tracking still showed it at the Post Office of origin in Simi Valley.

DavidVargha@hotmail.com

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Posted By: Cat

David:

The real risk was not shipping your son USPS Registered. The true risk was being sent to Cathedral City. I hope grandma didn't let him out of her site.

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Posted By: Brett

I've never sent a card to be graded and never will.

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Posted By: dstudeba

I take it you are afraid something would happen to the card and not trying to turn this into an anti-slab thread.

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Posted By: Jerry

You would be right. It's disconcerting to have strangers handle your treasures, especially the first time.

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Posted By: jay wolt

JERRY - That Home Run Baker/Jack Barry T3 looks fantastic.
I like the way Turkey Red's are protected by the PSA slab...jay

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Posted By: dstudeba

Jerry -

Sorry to be unclear, my post was in response to Brett's post. I agree I get nervous also, but personally I have had no problems with Registered mail. I guess it is like anything, you tend to get used to it.

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Posted By: Bob

After having UPS lose an almost complete graded set of E98s on the way back from grading, I was very gun shy for a while but continued to ship. I do admit that I track the shipments' progress more closely now than I used to before the loss.

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Posted By: Jerry

Bob, Sorry to hear about your loss. I hope you had them insured for full value. I had 2 19th Century team cabinets left out in the rain one time by UPS, but it was my fault for not requiring signature. Why did you chose UPS instead of USPS registered Mail?

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Posted By: Bob

Jerry- I sent them to GAI who used UPS only and not USPS registered mail. I always use USPS registered mail to send the cards to GAI, SGC and PSA and PSA and SGC use the same service to return my cards. I have used GAI several times since without any problems. It was UPS that was responsible as I tracked the shipment in and out of several stops before it got to Little Rock, its final destination before coming west to my home. The package, according to the web site, went in to the LR center but never emerged.
I did have the cards insured with 2 problems though: 1) anyone collecting E98s knows how tough it is to find certain cards like Coombs, Tenney, Vaughn, Walsh, Mack, etc. They just pop up very rarely and 2) I had a nice Clarke with an "Old Put" stamp on the back that I massively underinsured when totalling up the values. I have never seen another except for Leon's blue one which is coincidentally the only known Old Put card with a blue front. That was my goof on not realizing how rare and thus expensive this card was. If anyone ever sees a Clarke Old Put for sale, please email me. I don't think the thief would be dumb enough to sell it in the GAI holder so it would probably be raw or even in another holder.
Bob