Mid-Grade Collectors

[commishbob]

Dean...that's a terrific lineup of cards!

[DeanH3]

Thanks for the kind words guys.

Stephen - yes, there is paperloss in the back. But not enough to bother me with the kind of eye appeal the front offers.

[Exhibitman]

While 5 is the midpoint, I've always thought of midgrade as vg through ex-mt. Or 3-6. Sub-3 is low grade, off-grade, OBC, or collector grade. Whatever term you like. 7-8 is high grade, 9-10 is registry bait. That would all be for pre-1974 cards. Once you get into the 1974-on, I'd say there is basically no collectability below a nice looking 4 unless it is one of the really expensive RCs from the era. The rest is basically dollar box fodder. After 1980, the cut-off is basically a 6 or a 7, except for a few cards (1986 Jordan, 1979 Gretzky) that people will buy. Modern era (1989+) there is no midgrade or low grade; if it ain't near mint or better it is basically useless.

[jchcollins]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

9-10 is registry bait.

"Registry bait", good term. There was an old grading site used 10-15 years or so ago where a collector named Bruce Moreland was attempting to describe how certain terms were useless outside of the world of professional grading, and particularly with vintage cards. His point was that trying to describe the difference between a mint card and a gem mint card while raw was likely to be so purely subjective as to be absurd. Your term comes in nicely here, because those types of cards are most certainly "registry bait."

In case you couldn't guess no, I do not participate in any PSA registry quests...

[CobbSpikedMe]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

Sub-3 is low grade, off-grade, OBC, or collector grade.

"OBC" for low grade...Awesome.

[drmondobueno]

The cards I owned as a kid were early’60’s and I handled the **ll out of them. We all did. So a perfect card is nothing I owned for long.

I chase VGExish stuff these days and have been selling off the high grade prewar stuff I have. There is something about a rougher card that I find attractive. Maybe it’s the idea of owning something that some other kid kinda like me liked having.

Recently I started a Japanese Menko type set, starting with die cut and round menko from the late ‘40s and early fifties. Thinking about kids who lived through the horror of WW2 brought it all home to me. I prefer cards that were played with and wonder where on the island they came from. Maybe one day I will get overseas, maybe not.

Baseball is cool.

[nat]

Originally Posted by drmondobueno

The cards I owned as a kid were early’60’s and I handled the **ll out of them. We all did. So a perfect card is nothing I owned for long.

I chase VGExish stuff these days and have been selling off the high grade prewar stuff I have. There is something about a rougher card that I find attractive. Maybe it’s the idea of owning something that some other kid kinda like me liked having.

Recently I started a Japanese Menko type set, starting with die cut and round menko from the late ‘40s and early fifties. Thinking about kids who lived through the horror of WW2 brought it all home to me. I prefer cards that were played with and wonder where on the island they came from. Maybe one day I will get overseas, maybe not.

Baseball is cool.

Hi Keith. No doubt you've seen it (since it's on the same page as this thread) but I started a thread on Japanese cards. I'm putting together a collection of Japanese hall of famers and I'm posting them there as I go, but if you've got some type cards from unusual menko sets that you could post, I'd love to see them.

[drmondobueno]

Originally Posted by nat

Hi Keith. No doubt you've seen it (since it's on the same page as this thread) but I started a thread on Japanese cards. I'm putting together a collection of Japanese hall of famers and I'm posting them there as I go, but if you've got some type cards from unusual menko sets that you could post, I'd love to see them.

Hey Nat, have been following your thread and enjoying same immensely. My japanese baseball knowledge is severely limited and by no means can I read kanji. I do use the Engle book as a guide and guess my best more often than I care to admit. Will do on posting once I get a scanner to work with an ipad.

Wish me luck on that!