Quote:
Originally Posted by HobokenJon
I'd love to see the range of views on this question. We all can agree there should be no premium placed on, say, a complete 1985 Topps baseball set in VG-Ex condition. But what about hard-to-complete sets? Under what circumstances should they command a premium to their break-up value?
For example, hypothetically:
-- a 1952 Topps baseball set, all graded PSA 8
-- a 1933 Goudey set, all graded PSA 6 (or alternatively PSA 7)
-- a T206 set with common backs, all graded PSA 5
-- a complete T206 rare-back subset, all in mid-grade holders
-- a T206 Polar Bear set, all graded PSA 5 or better (extremely condition-sensitive)
-- a T211 Red Sun complete set in any condition (which to my knowledge does not presently exist)
Or for more recent sets, how about these examples:
-- a 1963 Topps baseball set, all in PSA 8 holders
-- a 1971 Topps baseball set, all in PSA 8 holders
-- a 1977 Topps baseball set (the year I first started buying packs), all in PSA 9 holders
-- a 1986 Fleer basketball set, all in PSA 9 or PSA 10 holders
Discuss!
|
I think only I really see a full set go for more if it's a very tough set - tough as in the cards are actually difficult to locate. A 1952 Topps set is not rare at all, it's just expensive.
For some of these in high grade, I would think the gap would be even bigger than normal between a sets break up value and it's all together value. 1952 Topps in PSA 8, the Mantle is what, like $10 million alone now? How many people would even consider paying it's 'full value' for a 407 card set and actually be able to do so? Breaking it up allows the big whales to get the big cards they want and the less enormously wealthy to bid up the 'regular' cards; it doesn't require buyers with absurd amounts of money that even few among the very tip top of the economic period could do. Buying a PSA 8 1952 set for anything even approaching it's 'true value' would be a large risk and take a massive amount of liquid capital.
The only one of these that might exceed it's breakup value would be T211, I think.