1971 Graded Willie Mays Question

[Zach Wheat]

Originally Posted by Gr8Beldini

...What is more desirable from an investment / resale point of view: a 1971 Topps Willie Mays graded PSA 7... or SGC 7.5.

To answer your question, I would keep it as a PSA 7. I think from a resale point of view, it will be more desirable in a PSA holder even if it gets a grade bump going to SGC. It is becoming more difficult to find higher grades for this set in a PSA holder.

[Kutcher55]

PSA 7. PSA does much better with 1970s baseball cards than SGC. This is particularly true in condition-sensitive sets like 1971 Topps. Furthermore, the SGC tux is quite unflattering for the 1971 topps black border cards. Just doesn't look good. Not everyone will agree with that, but I think most collectors do. I suspect if you did a compare of 1971 star cards and looked at PSA 7 vs SGC 7.5 comps, the PSA would be at least on parity if not higher priced.

[Kutcher55]

I took a quick look at some recent comps and obviously small sample size but it would contradict what I just wrote. A couple of SGC 7.5 Nolan Ryans just sold on eBay, one for $676 and the other for $749. The PSA 7 price has tended to be in the $500-600 range.

A 71 Clemente SGC 7.5 just sold for $809. PSA 7s tend to be in the 600-700 range.

That all said, if you're looking to move a PSA 7 into an SGC hopeful 7.5, I wouldn't do it. Not enough upside to offset the cost and risk of the reslab.

[jchcollins]

The easy, safe bet answer right now is probably that the PSA 7 is more desirable across the masses.

I would tend to agree that 71's don't look fantastic in SGC slabs with the black on black, though I've owned some. For me personally I'd pick the card that I thought looked the best, regardless of which slab it was in - assuming the prices were fair / comparable.