Help me decide.
 

I posted this previously on a different sub-forum but it may get more traction here. I know these aren’t all pre-war but I’d love to get some opinions.
I want to send in 10 of these cards to SGC for grading for my PC (except the Space card which will be sold). Which 10 would you choose? Assume the backs are as clean/same condition at the fronts.

Feel free to ask any questions that you may think of.

I would grade only the Mantle.

The 6 T218’s, the T220, the T68 Stonewall, the T205 Doolan, and the Willie Mays.

Though this would certainly be an unprofitable endeavor, those are the 10 coolest in my book.

I would also only grade the Mantle.

The Mays doesn’t look to be all that pristine. Maybe a mid-grade item? If so, you can buy these in mid grade for pretty cheap, likely around the amount of the grading fees.

So I wouldn’t be inclined to grade this one.

Hence, “unprofitable endeavor”

Consider my comment withdrawn.

Help Me Decide
 

Mantle and Stonewall, that's it.

Glenn

Thank you everyone for your responses so far. To address one point made, I am not concerned about whether or not grading them would be profitable. I’m sure there are some cards where I could find them already graded in better condition.

If you aren't looking to sell them (other than the space card), why are you worried about having them graded at all? Keep them as is and use the $100-$200+ you save on grading fees to acquire more cards you like?

That has always been my line of reasoning.

Brian

Mantle

I think you’re thinking too deeply about this. Let’s say that grading was free and each card is worth one cent. Which 10 would you like to see graded in your collection?

Sign me up for free grading!

I still wouldn't grade any.

Brian

+1 agreed the Mantle and Stonewall

The Mays is also not complete. The other half is missing so I wouldn't grade that one myself for this reason. I would search out a complete one instead and sell of this half at that time.




.

only Mantle

If selling or for PC only the Mantle..

Forgive me, but I don't even understand your response.

Grading isn't free, so that isn't even an option, or a pertinent variable to your original question. And personally, I still wouldn't see a need to get any cards in my own collection graded. Especially if I'm not looking to sell them, but know that if I ever do change my mind about that, then I'll have ones I'm going to sell graded for free at that time.

Meanwhile, as the OP going to keep all those cards in your personal collection, why waste the money to have them graded? There aren't any of those cards in really super-high condition. And it's not like you apparently just want only graded cards in your collection, otherwise you wouldn't even be asking the question and would have just gotten them all graded. And if you said that if nothing else, having them graded would also help protect and preserve the cards, that can easily be achieved with penny sleeves, top loaders, single screw-down cases, and so on, and for a heck of a lot less than grading fees. And as I initially said, the best thing of all is you can then spend the money you would otherwise have spent on grading fees and spend it on something else you like or want, like more cards for your collection.

Agreed. The only reason I grade cards is to protect them if they are high grade, identify them if they are rare, or increase my profits if I decide to sell them. It doesn’t look like any of those criteria apply here.

I would get the McGraw postcard graded, as well as the Mantle and some of the other suggestions.

Doolan T205

% of replies answering OP's question: 4.5%

Again, you're trying to reason through this and ask why? The "why" of why I want to grade them is not important, the grading cost is not important, the cheaper options of protecting them are not important, the value after grading is not important to me.

What is important is this - If you had decided to grade all of these - for whatever your reasons may be - which 10 would you do first.

This really shouldn't be all that difficult.

Thank you for recognizing that. That is my frustration here. Some want to talk me out of it. I'm not looking to be talked off the ledge. I simply wonder what everyone's top 10 choices would be, and geez, it would be nice if someone threw in a why they chose those 10, like "Mantle was my dad's favorite"...or anything like that. I really thought this would be a fun and easy question to answer.

Since I didn't give the why...

I pick the T218's and T220's because I have a gigantic bias towards those two sets, as my pet sets I have spent far too much time tracking down, check listing, and master-set-building with all front/back/print defect combo's.

Willie Mays because.... well, he's Willie Mays.

And Stonewall Jackson because I am collecting a T68 master set, and as a lover of history and cardboard it is one of my favorite issues. Jackson was a significant figure of American history, a fascinating man who seems somehow complex and simple at the same time. I will refrain from saying anymore before this turns into a different kind of shitshow lol.

T205 Doolan because of my bias to T cards, and gold shiny borders are pretty.

Love it, and thank you. That is exactly what I hoped to read, and I agree with your reasons too. I found the Jackson in an antique store here in Richmond, Va. (home of the Confederacy), sitting on a shelf of antique tobacco packs and wrappers. The crisp corners and bright coloring just called to me. I have a few T68's in terrible condition and wasn't planning on building that set, but I too love history and Stonewall called to me and begged me to take him home even though the price was probably a bit more than what most would feel it is worth.

Lol, I was thinking the exact same thing and let out a cackle when I read this.

I'm not trying to goad anyone or cause a stir - but my guess is that not in Jim's wildest nightmares did he think the thread would turn into a TPG-bashing session.

I think it's safe to say there are plenty of issues we all could point out with TPG companies - but simply out of assistance to a board member, I do deign to say it's possible for us to put aside those grievances to help him decide what 10 cards to send in.

So - the ten:

I would try to have as much variance as possible, and then you'd have some decisions on what to leave out set/category-wise.

1. Mantle
2. Lekang
3. Blood
4. Mace & King
5. Stonewall Jackson
6. Doolan
7. Pick your favorite year/player from Play Ball
8. Mays
9. Chas Bacon
10. Owen Moran (horizontal/boxing look)

I will be the first to both not answer the OP's question and answer it too:

The Mantle card - because people tend to grade Mantle cards

T68 Stonewell - check out that sword...it should be sheathed

Sport Kings Lekang and Blood - Sports Kings are cool, even if not baseball subjects

T205 Gold Border Doolan - have to preserve that somewhat greenish border

T218 Attell and the 3 other boxers - Black Sox involvement, and the other 3 boxers because they are wearing shorts (boxer shorts)

McGraw postcard - to prevent people from sticking a stamp on it and sending it through the mail


Brian

Thank you, Nate and you are correct - I never thought it would turn out the way it has. I was hoping that by presenting a wide variety of vintage cards - all of which I will probably send in for grading for MY reasons - I'd get some really interesting choice selections and see what everyone thought of these cards.

We all collect for different reasons; era, team, player, design/style, rarity, value, etc. I'm a different collector than most. Why in the world would I spend $20+ to grade a 1960 common? Because I found it in the wild....me... I found it. I didn't buy it on eBay, didn't cross it off my want list, or hunt it down. I found it naturally, all by itself and its a 60+ year old card in amazing condition. I have small group of nice 1960 Topps and its one of my favorite sets and I like the way it looks in an SGC slab. That's me, that's how I collect. That's all that matters to me. Why do people throw thousands of dollars into restoring an old car that when complete isn't worth what the parts cost? Because we collect these things in ways that make us happy.

It's always cooler to find it in the wild. Never happens with T cards for me, here on the west coast.

Here's my Natural Leaf Jackson, above to a Natural Leaf of his commanding officer and mentor, R.E. Lee. The Lee on right is a unique handcut paper thin piece from an advertising poster that is unknown beyond a handful of these cutouts I have. Natural Leaf is the tough back, it can take many years for a particular one to appear, but the all-silver Pan Handle's are the coolest I think. Thanks for giving me an excuse to go digging into this box again :D

Generals Grant, Sherman, Sheridan, and Oliver Otis Howard (Not who I would guess as a fourth Union general for inclusion) as well as President Lincoln also have cards.

I laughed.

I hate TPG's, but there is a time and place to push my view and this ain't it.

Sweet!

No, here is the frustrating problem. The very last sentence in your opening post specifically said to, and I quote, "Feel free to ask any questions that you may think of.". So I took you at YOUR word and asked why you'd waste the money having any of them graded.

I, and I'm guessing some others who also responded, thought yours was a serious post and question and that you were actually asking for serious advice in return. And instead of answering my question, which you had specifically invited me to ask, you really never answered and instead accused me of overthinking, then said to assume the cards could be graded for free (which made no sense to me in the context and way you phrased it), and then directly asked ME which 10 of those cards I would get graded for my personal collection, to which I honestly answered......none!

I wasn't trying to talk you out of anything, just give you some good, solid advice for you to do with and act upon as you pleased and saw fit. And since pretty much everyone else in this thread didn't immediately just pick out and name 10 of those cards to get graded, I'm going to go out on a limb and assume the majority of those responding were thinking like me and assumed you actually wanted some serious advice on what to do also.

It would have been nice, and a whole lot less frustrating, if you had made it clearer in your opening post that you really weren't looking for actual helpful and honest advice. Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

Who exactly in this thread said a single detrimental thing about any TPG? What number was the post or posts where such critical comments were made? I'm trying to figure out where you're coming from in now calling this a TPG bashing thread.

Not sure that you and I have even had a hint of an indirect or direct line of communication prior to this very moment, but clearly you are very predictable. I attempted to preempt a response such as this with the disclaimer of “not trying to cause a stir” knowing that there are some keyboard warriors here who are sated by online arguments of the most inane and pointless nature.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

What????????????


You said this thread had turned into a TPG bashing session........period. I'm merely asking you were did that come from, because no one said a word about or against TPGs in the thread. So answer the question!

I think we are all so used to our own process for evaluating getting items graded that the entire concept being proposed here has thrown us incredibly off kilter.

I look at this grouping and don’t see any real reason to prefer any one over any others. Some look interesting and cool. Maybe those ones! Others seem like they are in a little better condition. Maybe those ones!!

I think if you were expecting a lot of insights, wild stories, and fist fights over the top 10, then we have obviously failed to deliver. But maybe next time you ask, we’ll be less disappointing overall.

Might have been easier to just ask us which ones we liked the best, and leave the grading element out of the calculus entirely.

And by the way, when someone says I'm not trying to do this or that, and then follow it by a "but", that typically means they are trying to start something, intended or not.

And if by predictable you mean I'm not going to put up with or back down from someone's BS directed at me, then yeah, I'm very predictable.

And you want to know what else I've found to be really predictable? Typically when you respond back and ask people that are giving you BS a question, they never seem to be able to respond with logical answers, facts, or evidence to support the things they were saying or accusing others of. Most of the time they take an "I'm right and you're wrong" posture, and that is often the best (and all) they can seem to do.

So let me try this one more time. In what post(s) in this thread did someone bash or say anything detrimental about any TPG?

I never knew just asking a simple, straightforward question about a claim someone was making could get you accused of being what you're apparently accusing me of being. Thanks!

Now answer the question!!!!!

OP: Posts on a card board wanting to just talk about picking cool cards out of a batch to send in and put in his favored holder.

Everyone else: Unable to comprehend that it isn't about money for someone else.


Every couple week or so, someone says everything here in hobbyland is really all about money. And then some people respond and say that isn't true. This thread is the perfect example of how it appears to, usually, be pretty much all about money. The concept of doing it because it's a favored card is so foreign that it just doesn't even register as a possibility, even when it is very explicitly stated.

Nic,

No one was being disappointing to this guy, we were trying to give him honest, good advice based on his original question of which 10 cards should he get graded. He didn't say anything in that initial post about possibly providing stories and such for why we might pick a certain card, or that grading really wasn't important at all apparently. If he had posted what he said in posts #25 and #31 of this thread in post #1 instead, we probably aren't having this conversation because then we would have known from the beginning what he was really asking about and wanted. The error was not in the way people initially responded to his post and question, it was in the way he phrased and asked his question. And the fact that pretty much everyone responding read and interpreted it the exact same way tells you that the OP did not do a very good job of presenting and clearly asking the actual question he intended to.

I'm not disparaging anyone, as this was apparently a misunderstanding of what the OP wanted, brought on by the way he initially posed his question. What does bother me though is the way some people will react and respond back when you then raise and ask questions about what is going on when trying to figure out what it was that the OP really did want to know. The smart-ass and condescending comments actually reflect back on the people making them. Like instead of making fun and comments about how over 95% of the people in a particular thread aren't properly responding to an OP's question, an intelligent and mature person would probably be thinking, "Hey, if that many people aren't getting it, maybe they aren't the problem after all." At least you would think/hope so, right?

None of us (at least to my knowledge) can read minds and could therefore really tell what the OP actually wanted to know from his original question, and as a result, none of those disparaging remarks from others are deserving or called for. There's no disappointment or anything else you need to be apologizing for on everyone's behalf Nic.

I agree with this, because I think the OP would have gotten the answers he was looking for, without the confusion that grading interjects into the discussion.

So my top ten list I provided are the ones I like, while I would also not consider grading any of the cards shown. Since grading was part of the OP's question, I think both answers are valid.

Brian

Which 10?
 

Vintagedeputy-

My vote is:

1) Mantle
2) Doolan
3) Stonewall
4) your 5 best boxers
5) Weaver
6) Pinson

Regarding the inability of posters to stay ON POINT, I have mentioned this
previously and even started a tongue-in-cheek thread about it. You'll find
BobC one of the worst: you catch him flat guilty of it then, when you
mention it, pay the price of receiving his "Finnegan's Wake" style replies
in which he makes an epic attempt to show that a) he's smart and b) you
somehow didn't understand your own post. Ignore clowns like that, and
best of luck with your submission! Trent King

Thank you very much, Trent. I had actually typed out a very lengthy response to all of this and then pushed the wrong button and lost it all. At this point, if someone could tell me how to delete this entire thread, I’d do that.

I never intended for this to get ugly. I simply wondered which 10 cards everyone else would choose to submit first. If they threw in a why, that would be fun to hear as well. In the end, they’ll all get sent in regardless.

grade
 

Put the rocket ship in there too !

The 10 that I would get slabbed are : Stonewall Jackson, the 2 Sport Kings Cards, all the boxers, and the runner. The reason is because they are colorful, artsy and they’ll pop in an SGC or CSG holder.

If I was going to grade 10 of them.

Stonewall Jackson
Ken Chase
Whoever the nicer 39 Playball is
Chas Bacon Jr
Tom Collins
Ken Mc Bride
McGraw postcard
Mantle
Pinson
Weaver

I wouldn't really expect great grades on any of them.

In general, I try to only grade cards that I think will do well, or that need that indicator that they're genuine. And I don't think of immediate sale, but my wife or kids selling hopefully a long time from now. I haven't graded all that many.

Thank you, Steve. That right there is one of my main reasons for grading.