Picked up my first vintage card : 1955 Topps Hank Aaron

[Gmrson]

Great looking card!

[doug.goodman]

That's a great way to start. Too bad you can't feel the actual card in your hand. Insert smiley face here.

[71buc]

Congrats, beautiful card, I hope to add that one to my own collection one day soon!

[bravesfan22]

thanks for the kind words guys!

[CobbSpikedMe]

Very nice way to start out. What a great card.

AndyH

[Bocabirdman]

Really nice way to start. You are kinda setting yourself for a letdown though. There aren't TOO MANY cards that will look better in your mitts.

[Wymers Auction]

I think for your first card you have really good taste.

[rjackson44]

pretty card wow

[Harliduck]

Originally Posted by doug.goodman

That's a great way to start. Too bad you can't feel the actual card in your hand. Insert smiley face here.

His is NICER than mine, but I can touch mine...

[bravesfan22]

Originally Posted by Harliduck

His is NICER than mine, but I can touch mine...

I wouldnt mind owning a raw one but I just dont feel comfortable buying raw online and I dont have many chances to buy raw in person. Not to mention I'd be too scared I'd damage a raw one and be mad at myself haha.

[geor952]

Great card Adam! I need Snider and the Koufax to finish my '55 set. You are well on your way. The centering is pretty on par for the set.

[bravesfan22]

Originally Posted by geor952

Great card Adam! I need Snider and the Koufax to finish my '55 set. You are well on your way. The centering is pretty on par for the set.

Good luck, I hope you get it finished, is it a raw set or graded? Also thank you for answering my question about the centering, thanks!

[brob28]

Great card Adam! I think you're doing the smart thing buying the high $ cards that are slabbed until you have a good eye for spotting any alterations etc. It can be hard to see trimming etc from a scan.

[geor952]

Originally Posted by bravesfan22

Good luck, I hope you get it finished, is it a raw set or graded? Also thank you for answering my question about the centering, thanks!

Adam, I consider mine raw, I have about 15 cards graded, because the price was right. I preferred raw. My Clemente is a psa 4.

[Harliduck]

Originally Posted by bravesfan22

I wouldnt mind owning a raw one but I just dont feel comfortable buying raw online and I dont have many chances to buy raw in person. Not to mention I'd be too scared I'd damage a raw one and be mad at myself haha.

You know whats funny...I have literally bought thousands of raw cards off ebay over the years, and have only bought a couple of trimmed cards and have been taken care of each time. I have bought 3 graded cards (and freed two of them, haha) with great success. BUT..my brother, who has bought maybe 5 graded cards got totally taken. He bought a 65 Mantle 4, and once in hand the PSA holder was able to come apart with his fingernail and the card had multiple creases. No way it was a 4, and no way the PSA holder should just "pop" open. He is currently in a battle with the seller and mediating with Ebay. This has been going on for a month. So with that said, by percentage alone, buying raw has completely been overwhelmingly the way to go IMHO and I won't trust anything graded. Just reading through all the posts on this forum has completely turned me off to an obviously flawed, biased system that is too easy to forge. Again...just my opinion and has nothing to do with your obvious AWESOME 55 Aaron. I'll gladly trade my raw one for your graded one...

[ALR-bishop]

John---you and Doug are going to get along great

I have a full Topps set run and they are all in sheets in binders, and any that were graded when I got them have long since been freed to their natural state. I can not say for certain I do not have altered or trimmed cards or resealed packs in my collection, but neither in my view can the graded guys. What I do know is that I will be the judge what cards go in my collection without the aid of a minion at a grading company who knows less about post war cards than I do.

But, I will admit I am just in this as a hobby. If you are an investor, or a hobbyist/investor, grading is a fact of life

[bravesfan22]

Originally Posted by Harliduck

You know whats funny...I have literally bought thousands of raw cards off ebay over the years, and have only bought a couple of trimmed cards and have been taken care of each time. I have bought 3 graded cards (and freed two of them, haha) with great success. BUT..my brother, who has bought maybe 5 graded cards got totally taken. He bought a 65 Mantle 4, and once in hand the PSA holder was able to come apart with his fingernail and the card had multiple creases. No way it was a 4, and no way the PSA holder should just "pop" open. He is currently in a battle with the seller and mediating with Ebay. This has been going on for a month. So with that said, by percentage alone, buying raw has completely been overwhelmingly the way to go IMHO and I won't trust anything graded. Just reading through all the posts on this forum has completely turned me off to an obviously flawed, biased system that is too easy to forge. Again...just my opinion and has nothing to do with your obvious AWESOME 55 Aaron. I'll gladly trade my raw one for your graded one...

John,
I am sorry to hear about your brothers luck first and foremost. I mean I would love to own raw cards but like a few others have pointed out, with me just starting out the vintage I dont trust my eye yet and it's still hard to trust anything online. I just make sure to read through sellers feedback and buy from sellers who have sold quite a bit of the type of item im interested in. I have already picked up alot of info on what to look for on raw cards to know if theyve been faked IE: if theres a crease or corner bent up what is the color of card stock its on and how does that relate to the set and things like that. Overall I think ill stick with graded for now, I havent decided if I want to do a full '55 set or just do certain stars and hof's out of the certain sets i like. For now I'm doing Braves hof's (aaron,mathews,spahn) and certain stars(williams,mays,robinson) out of the 55 set.

Thanks for the kind words about the card, I'm glad so many people appreciate it like i do!