1979 Ozzie Smith on ebay....what happened here?
 

What am I missing that this card sold for $225? I was watching this one and then it spiraled out of control towards the end....card has nice centering but a little black splotch right over the team name...interesting.


http://www.ebay.com/itm/151278409277...84.m1423.l2649

the rookie Ozzie is notorious for terrible centering,. An 8 with decent centering is going to bring decent coin. Nothing more, nothing less

Someone bought the card and not the holder/numerical grade. I applaud that. I'd pay more for a centered 8 than a tilted OC 9 all day.

I guess this is where my relative lack of experience since I got back in to card collecting is apparent. There were a handful of BIN PSA 8s going for around 120 concurrently, including this one that I ended up buying...to my eye, the centering is almost as good as the one that went for $226....maybe a little less nice on the top edge and the left....but pretty good overall.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/201063543190...84.m1439.l2649

And honestly, I am just trying to understand and re-educate myself here, definitely not trying to allege any shilling or anything of the sort. Truly just trying to understand the marketplace a little bit more. I guess in this hobby, the eye of the beholder and what his wallet is willing to give up drive price as much as anything. Thanks guys!

Hobby
 

Enjoy the hobby Carl and welcome to the board

I'm with you on the one you got. 1/2 the price and almost the same centering. The bidding wars bring funny number sometimes though. Tough card to find centered, so you did well..........

+1. Those two examples are about as good a centering on that card that I've ever seen (I know mine is at least 90-10) I'm not a stickler for centering by any means, but I can see how some are.

Enjoy your card!

I would have done the same thing you did. It's a 1979 Topps Ozzie Smith! No way do I drop $220 + on that card. I can live with a slight tilt, or reasonable off centering. You got a card and an extra $100 bucks to spend. Nothing wrong with that.

Thanks, Al! And thanks all for the feedback, everyone. I am excited about the Ozzie rookie and am looking forward to its arrival. I haven't gotten over the thrill of getting great cards of players I loved when I was a kid...specifically non-junk wax cards, that is.