Do You Participate in the PSA Registry?

[Bestdj777]

I like the registry for what it is. It makes for a decent checklist of the cards in the set, and I feel slightly more secure having my graded cards catalogued somewhere. That said, I rarely get cards graded for the purpose of adding them to the set and largely keep most of them raw.

[steve B]

Not the PSA registry, but I was a little into the SGC registry when it was still a thing.
I was surprised to find it was kinda fun to scan and enter the new cards once every year or two. The only set I had much in was T206, but I added whatever I had done plus scans.

[Johnny630]

For those that are actively involved in the Registry are you submitting raw cards for your registry sets or are you buying already graded cards ??

[bobbyw8469]

Minor way, for me. I have one set on the registry. It is small and minor (1970 Rold Gold. 15 cards. Very attainable.). I do not actively pursue cards on Ebay for it. It is more like an afterthought.

[Johnny630]

Back at it's start the Registry for PSA was a Major Major Marketing Piece for their brand. It seems as time goes on it is becoming less important. It's more about Pop Reports Now.

IMO The Registry and Pop Reports are what has made PSA....it was brilliant or their behalf.

[IndyDave]

I resisted grading cards for the longest time. Around 8-10 years ago I joined PSA with the primary purpose of estate planning. My now adult son enjoys occasionally looking at my cards, but has shown no interest in collecting.

I decided to have some of my more valuable cards graded to help guide him if/when the time comes for him to dispose of my collection. I haven't had a membership since 2018, although I did submit a handful of cards through my local card shop after my membership expired.

The only set I have completely graded is 1964-65 Kahn's basketball. I had the Lucas and Robertson graded awhile back and had purchased one or two cards graded to finish my set. I sent in the rest of my cards to get graded to have the graded set. I'm #2 on the list - the #1 set has been there for over 15 years. I'm not trying to upgrade my cards to get to #1.

I was getting ready to do another submission of cards through my LCS when PSA stopped accepting orders. I need to review again what I was going to take and what recent sales are - to determine if it is worthwhile. Will probably only take in cards I'm willing to turn around and sell right away.

[metroac]

#2.

Several years ago, I bought a set of '55 Bowman football cards that was made up of both raw and slabbed cards. I started buying "affordable" PSA 7's and 8's, and eventually got to the point where I wanted to have one nice set on the PSA Registry. It's in the top 20, but I'm not really interested in upgrading it. Similarly, I started collecting the '55 Armour coins and ended up pursuing a raw set and a graded set when I found a seller who seemed to have plenty of each and offered them at pretty good prices. My PSA set is in the top 10, and I am actively looking for the last coin (Mantle correct, L-R) and am willing to pay up if/when I find it. Also looking for a couple of coins for the raw set. I'm tempted to liberate one of my slabbed Mantle L or R's from its slab to add to my raw set, but I suspect it's more saleable in its PSA 6 slab.

I've never sent a card in to a TPG, though I own many. I find that when I am working on older sets (for me, 1930's - 1950's), I often find nice looking, reasonably priced, slabbed cards for sale that - I assume - people were disappointed in when they sent them in for grading, or that they've upgraded. I also find that it's increasingly difficult to find a really nice star card from this era that isn't slabbed.

For me, sets that are mixed (raw and slabbed) are hard to store, display and enjoy. I've got sets in storage boxes that are about 2/3 in Card Saver 1's and 1/3 in PSA and SGC slabs (mixed). I'm happy with the cards, and I loved putting the sets together, but I rarely take them out to look at them. I found that I could put a slabbed '36 Wheaties Gehrig Series 4 in a single-pocket page and keep it in the same binder with the other cards in the set, all of which are raw except the Gehrig. Does anyone display/store mixed sets in 4-pocket pages?

I see I've wandered from the topic -- gone from the PSA Registry to the reality of collecting in a world where the TPG's have such influence. I'll shut up.

[hcv123]

I have the #4 Clemente master set. I used to be partnered with a friend and had the #1 set for 5 years. I have always collected to the beat of my own drum. I encountered much frustration over the years with set registry inconsistency in recognizing some variations and not others, not appropriately weighting cards according to their own criteria and relegating some of the toughest test issues to "optional" land. My set currently sits at 80 something percent complete - it will never be 100% complete per PSA's definition and I don't really care. There are a handful of items that I do hope to acquire/reacquire that would fill holes in the set as it stands. My collection extends well beyond the parameters of the registry. I have purchased a handful of cards in PSA holders in the past with the registry in mind. I haven't done that in a while. Mostly I buy what I like and want and have my own goals. I do have a bunch of other registry sets started, but don't pay much attention to them.