Tale of 2 1953 Topps Mantles

[bnorth]

I think the mega premiums on the centered cards was a little market manipulation and will return to the normal lower premiums. One "seller" was seriously into promoting them. He bought a bunch of mid range perfectly centered cards for his personal(LOL) collection, got the hype going. Then unloaded them through PWCC and repeated while the prices went up.

[Leon]

Trust me, this is not a one or two person manipulation on centered cards. Many collectors go after them big time, just like I do...I would rather have this than a 2x+ more costly card, in a grade or two higher holder, but with poor centering. I like bigger bottoms on my '63s!!

Originally Posted by bnorth

I think the mega premiums on the centered cards was a little market manipulation and will return to the normal lower premiums. One "seller" was seriously into promoting them. He bought a bunch of mid range perfectly centered cards for his personal(LOL) collection, got the hype going. Then unloaded them through PWCC and repeated while the prices went up.

[irv]

Originally Posted by Leon

Trust me, this is not a one or two person manipulation on centered cards. Many collectors go after them big time, just like I do...I would rather have this than a 2x+ more costly card, in a grade or two higher holder, but with poor centering. I like bigger bottoms on my '63s!!

Until I joined this site, centering is something I never really concerned myself with or really considered how much of a difference it makes when it comes to grading and value.

Now, being as I have read it multiple times here how important it is, I tend to only look for well centered pieces myself.

[MetsBaseball1973]

Originally Posted by bnorth

I think the mega premiums on the centered cards was a little market manipulation and will return to the normal lower premiums. One "seller" was seriously into promoting them. He bought a bunch of mid range perfectly centered cards for his personal(LOL) collection, got the hype going. Then unloaded them through PWCC and repeated while the prices went up.

I also disagree with this sentiment, above. Anyone who shops for a centered card sees how tough and rare they are. The full grade premium plus is here to stay, just from simple supply-demand.

[pokerplyr80]

Originally Posted by bnorth

I think the mega premiums on the centered cards was a little market manipulation and will return to the normal lower premiums. One "seller" was seriously into promoting them. He bought a bunch of mid range perfectly centered cards for his personal(LOL) collection, got the hype going. Then unloaded them through PWCC and repeated while the prices went up.

I couldn't disagree more. Even if this one of the reasons the bigger premium for centered cards got started, they're here to stay. Collectors realize how rare a perfectly centered card is, and how much better it looks. Trying to find a centered Mantle on Ebay is like trying to find a needle in a hay stack. When they do pop up at even close to a reasonable price they're gone within minutes. Same with the big auctions, REA, Heritage, Goodwin, etc. Often there won't be a single centered Mantle in the entire auction.

Edited to add: I seem to remember the Net54 motto used to be "buy the card, not the holder." I don't get why members are surprised collectors are now doing this and paying premiums for nice cards.

[ullmandds]

all i have to say is..."namaste!"

[Stonepony]

Originally Posted by ullmandds

all i have to say is..."namaste!"

I don't get that even after googling it

[ullmandds]

namaste is a word(that I hate btw) used by many who practice yoga as a way of describing a zen-like, centered state. Bad joke on my part i suppose!

[ullmandds]

ok scratch hat "joke" I misused namaste!

[begsu1013]

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