Ticket Collectors

[Shoeless Moe]

Question - when you are buying your historic ticket stubs do you prefer them slabbed and graded or raw?

Reason I ask is 'cuz I have a couple very nice ones that I can't decide. If the PSA process didn't take 3 full months (a quarter of a year) to complete from the time you mail 'til the time you receive, I'd probably slab them, but that is soooo long to wait.

Is your decision to buy either on Ebay or at an Auction House impacted if its slabbed or not?

My personal preference is to at least hold it raw at first, to have held it like the holder did when they witnessed the event, then to get it slabbed to protect and for re-sale purposes. I believe people in general prefer them slabbed and pay more if its slabbed, thoughts?

[koufax1fan]

Slabbing tickets for a grade only IMO is worthless. However, if you want to authenticate them and have PSA add the pertinent information on your ticket is a wise choice if you are selling the ticket.
Phil

[Jay Wolt]

Originally Posted by Shoeless Moe

If the PSA process didn't take 3 full months (a quarter of a year) to complete from the time you mail 'til the time you receive, I'd probably slab them, but that is soooo long to wait.

thoughts?

Why not try SGC? I see their slabbed tix on eBay, so maybe they are quicker.
Here's one that I saw on eBay (not mine)

[CobbvLajoie1910]

Mine are all raw -- and personally, the better the "grade"/condition (within reason), the less interested I am in that piece. Wear = reasonably plausible proof ticket was used to witness the event. As a collector, that means something to me.

I utilize a rigid BCW ticket holder, use a Dymo laser printer (+ clear labels) to document the ticket -- and it presents better than anything a TPG could similarly provide.

My 2-cents.

[mcgwirecom]

I don't believe in grading them at all. Tickets were meant to be handled and torn (in the old days). they spent the whole game in someones pocket or wallet. There is no way to get a high grade on an old ticket. The only thing I will concede is if you are not sure its real it may be OK to get it authenticated (skip the grade) but I have yet to see a counterfeit ticket. Just think its a waste of time and money..... I just read Phils post after I posted, great minds think alike.

[Shoeless Moe]

I agree with all of you, I think all of us think alike which actually is kind of hard to believe its unanimous. We all like they ungraded and raw. I too like the idea of having it in your own holder for protection, but still allows you to take it out.

Great answers by everyone thanks!!!

There definitely are a few fakes and reprints out there, but more then likely you would know it if you saw it. A few years back a guy on Ebay was selling some fake 1919 World Series ones, which were close, but you could tell if you had a real one, which I did at the time, those really were the only fakes I've seen.

[Scott Garner]

I am absolutely not a fan of slabbing baseball tickets.
I prefer to keep them raw, but do store them in a ticket top loader that I label with my own game info, as I have my own system that I started years ago.

What's the point in authenticating that a ticket is to a particular date when the information is already printed on the ticket? It's beyond me due to the cost of doing this, FWIW... I would prefer to spend the money on other cool tickets or memorabilia.

My experience is that the majority of die hard ticket collectors do not slab them, but cross over collectors that are accustomed to slabbing cards are definitely into slabbing tickets as well. To each is own.

That's the great thing about collecting. The hobby offers a little something for everyone.

[Mark70Z]

Originally Posted by Scott Garner

I am absolutely not a fan of slabbing baseball tickets.
I prefer to keep them raw, but do store them in a ticket top loader that I label with my own game info, as I have my own system that I started years ago.

That's the great thing about collecting. The hobby offers a little something for everyone.

I prefer raw, but I like what Scott is doing; very cool!

[Exhibitman]

I think they look nice sometimes in slabs and the protection is great for klutzy collectors like me. I had three rather delicate tickets that I needed in nice stable holders so I sent them in on the PSA March special. I hope to have them back in time to take to the National . Same with all sorts of paper ephemera. Like this die-cut Benny Leonard that is now in an SGC case:



No way was I leaving that one raw in my hands!

Buying is less of an issue for me because the ones I collect [boxing, mostly] are not valuable enough that there has been a counterfeiting problem. Still, a slab does help me feel safer to purchase from a random venue like eBay.

As for resale, I think it depends. When it comes to resale through auctioneers, slabbing may save some money in the long run. Most AH's will give me a 0% commission deal on slabbed items but will hit me for 5%-10% on raw items [value and rarity dependent, of course]. A $100 ticket may not be slabworthy but a $300 one might make sense. I also tend to think that the slab will attract impulse purchasers. For example, a while ago I purchased a rare ticket that I stumbled across at a show. I was able to handle it and verify the security features and stock, so I knew it was 100% legit. I would probably have passed on it had I seen it on eBay raw at the same price.

[RTK]

I'm hardly a ticket collector although I have picked up a few over the years along with the ones I've saved from the many events I've attended. I actually like the creases and wear on vintage tickets, they help tell a story. Someone handed the ticket to an usher, excited to be going to a game, not knowing it would become historic. The ticket was stuffed in a pocket, thrown in a drawer along with a handful of change. Maybe weeks later used as a book mark, to be forgotten in the book, years later sold at a garage sale. I always wonder who used the ticket, a little boy, a grandpa, a war vet in uniform. I enjoy handling them, it's like touching history. If I slabbed any, I think I'd only slab ones from truly historic games; perfect games, no hitters, etc...

[Gary Dunaier]

Back in the days when tickets were torn, I would always pre-fold my ticket ahead of time so that it got a neat tear along the dotted line.

Now that tickets are scanned, when I go to games I put them in a hard plastic holder and leave them there. They can still be scanned through the plastic, and the ticket remains in mint condition.


(Photo taken July 16, 2013. © Gary Dunaier. Link to upload on Flickr.com: here.)

[mybestbretts]

I just got these back from PSA. I wanted to get these slabbed and the
autographs authenticated. last game kc.jpg

last game 2.jpg
I really don't care about grades but really wanted to protect them.