A Picture Worth a Thousand Words

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by JoeDfan

And that is why I basically stopped collecting cards, and starting collecting bats and jerseys.
It is astounding to me that a piece of cardboard that there are thousands of would be worth more than the actual player's uniform or bat or whatnot.

I think it is just AMAZING when I pick up a bat and know that Joe DiMaggio or Yaz or whomever used to actually use it.

On the other hand, I certainly do not mind that everyone else is willing to pay up for cardboard. It keeps the prices down on the stuff I like to collect.

I am telling you from personal experience you need to completely ignore this poster.

For close to 3 decades I never once considered collecting baseball bats. I start emailing with the above poster, BAM. Now I have a custom made baseball bat display with several baseball bats displayed in it.

[ooo-ribay]

I don't understand the card guys....AT ALL!

Of course, I don't understand the Ruth guys, either.

[perezfan]

Makes no logical sense whatsoever. Why would a mass-produced piece of cardboard with a simple photo of the player's image sell for multiple times more than an actual jersey he wore, or a bat he used?

Even worse... there's a very good chance that the PSA 10 of Aaron is altered, and not even what it's purported to be. This is true of any slabbed card, of course.

Great topic, as I have been amazed by this phenomenon for many years. It simply must be that more people collect cards than memorabilia... thus more bidders to drive up the price?

I keep thinking that these values will flip-flop, but amazingly they never do! Maybe now that PSA and Beckett have been exposed as being incompetent/complicit, things might finally change course?

[JoeDfan]

Originally Posted by bnorth

I am telling you from personal experience you need to completely ignore this poster.

For close to 3 decades I never once considered collecting baseball bats. I start emailing with the above poster, BAM. Now I have a custom made baseball bat display with several baseball bats displayed in it.

I have no idea what this guy is talking about.

[rlevy]

I have nothing against collecting nice cards. I don't view this as a card collecting versus game used question. However the idea that collectors pay so much extra for a card graded a "10" versus one graded lower, when often the only way you can see the difference is under a magnifying glass, just seems so silly to me, and has nothing at all to do with the game. They might as well be collecting bottle caps (no insult intended to bottle cap collectors).

The PSA Registry was a stroke of marketing genius. They created a way for collectors to compete against each other for bragging rights, and have all the ability and incentive in the world to manage the quantity of cards graded as "9"'s or "10's, knowing collectors will keep breaking them out and resubmitting, paying PSA even more money. What a racket.

And has been pointed out, the odds that the "10" was trimmed seems pretty good right now.

I agree that there is fraud in collecting game-used as well, but it usually (not always) is aimed at making a fake item real, not altering it to increase a grade.

Rick

[Fuddjcal]

Originally Posted by bnorth

I am telling you from personal experience you need to completely ignore this poster.

For close to 3 decades I never once considered collecting baseball bats. I start emailing with the above poster, BAM. Now I have a custom made baseball bat display with several baseball bats displayed in it.

Iv'e always wanted to dive into the world of fake bats!!!!.... The displays are NICE and I think I have one little nook in the office I could cram them into. No more than 5 BATS though. I should have listened

[Exhibitman]

I wouldn't go so far as to trash card collectors. Personally, I don't have the room for bulky stuff like bats or jerseys. I also really like the artwork on cards and appreciate the ones i can get signed. i mean, how do you not like this:

[rlevy]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

I wouldn't go so far as to trash card collectors. Personally, I don't have the room for bulky stuff like bats or jerseys. I also really like the artwork on cards and appreciate the ones i can get signed. i mean, how do you not like this:

The question in my mind isn't whether cards are collectible. The question to me is would you pay twice as much for a card graded by PSA as a 7, or three times as much for an 8, or 4 times as much for a 9 (get the Picture?), so you could increase your point score on their registry. Or would you say, what a great card I have, period.

Rick

[bnorth]

This thread needs more non card pictures.

[JoeDfan]

Originally Posted by bnorth

This thread needs more non card pictures.

Definitely room for a few more on there.

[hcv123]

The core of my collection is cards, but extends way beyond - newspapers, magazines, store model gloves, photographs, a couple of game used items, etc. As a collector I have not led with the idea of "competing" because PSA arbitrarily assigns a particular number to a particular card. I agree with the questionable judgement of "buying the holder".

As a seller - I have chosen not to ignore the fact that a card in a PSA holder demands more attention and $$ than one outside and have regularly "played the game" to maximize my return (without playing any alteration games)