After swinging and missing 3 times in the last month, I was finally able to score my 59 PSA Campanella Symbol of Courage upgrade. I lost the Probstein auction when my $78.50 snipe was outbid by a dollar at the very end. For this one, I put in a snipe of $83.50. I was probably over paying, but it was the last card I needed to have my '59 100% upgraded. I got it for $46.65 - so I was very pleased.
On August 9th of last year, I made an offer on a mid/lower grade set for $1250. He accepted the offer. From that point, I went through the set card by card making a note of any card that had as much as a surface wrinkle.
Some cards (May, Spahn, Spahn AS, Mantle, Banks, Kaline) were in terrible shape. Some were really close. For example, the Gibson looked to be fine at first but I noticed the slightest indication of a surface wrinkle when I held it up to the light.
All told, I had to upgrade 130 cards -
22 superstars (1 PSA 7, 18 PSA 6, 1 PSA 5.5, 1 PSA 5, 1 BVG 6.5) and Frank Robinson bought raw (as well as PSA 6)
20 Stars/Minor Stars (1 PSA 7, 5 PSA 6, 1 PSA 5) Larry Doby, and Richie Ashburn bought twice because I didn't update my list right when I purchased
14 Team Cards (Orioles as a PSA 5, Yankees bought twice, Reds bought twice)
5 Combo Cards (Aaron/Mathews Fence Busters and Corsair Trio both PSA 7's)
17 Raw High Numbers - Bob Thurman bought twice
53 Raw Commons.
My 130 cost me more than 2x the original cost of the set. I would have probably been better off just buying the higher graded set up front - but it has been fun upgrading it and getting it exactly how I wanted it. I am going to take another look at the album as I am sure there are a handful that I missed and will need to make those uniform as well. In the 137 duplicates that I now have for the set, I estimate that I have $600-$700 in condition adjusted value - but I tend to hold on to them.
Anyway, I am sorry for rambling on. It has been quite the time and energy investment and I am pretty stoked to finally get the last card needed!
|