New here, Please help with Topps set

[geor952]

Welcome aboard Zach! I am three cards away from an EX-EXMT '55 set as well. I was also going to tell you to sell the lot you bought and put the money towards graded. If you shop around you can get 1955's in PSA 5 for 6-8 bucks a piece. It will save you some money versuses paying for the grade. Good luck and enjoy the horizontals. One more bit of advice, knock those high numbers out as soon as you can. Their price is quite a lot more than the low numbers. I saved them until the end, and wish I would have spread them out.

[Niko]

In regards to the grading, I paid approx. $4 per common and will be getting them slabbed at the special(when it comes back) for 4.50 per card, so in total it will come to around $9 per common. You really think its that bad of a deal?
I guess I could try and just re-sell the lot and put the grading $$ towards buying a ton of them already slabbed.

If anyone else with experience has advice on this matter, I'd appreciate it.

How close to the SMR do you guys think it would actually cost me to complete the set in PSA 5 or 6 form? I know VCP is supposed to significantly more accurate.

[David W]

Why get vg-ex common cards graded?

It won't add any value to the cards. No set registry guys will want them.

[Niko]

I'm looking for a fun challenge. If I wanted to just put together the set raw, I could do it so easily for so little. I don't think it would be satisfying enough for me. However, grading myself (as opposed to buying slabbed) may not be the best idea. I'm still thinking that over.

[geor952]

$4.50 a card sounds like a great deal. In my experience owning the set isn't nearly as much fun as putting it together. Getting that box from PSA in the mail and seeing what grades your cards earned is pretty dang exciting and worth an extra buck or two per card. I say go for it, take your time and have fun. Keep me posted on your successes.

[doug.goodman]

No offense meant to any specific person, apologies to Nico for using his numbers :

$4 for the card and then $4.50 to some hack at a grading company to make up a number. Yep, that's why I collect cards.

Best regards,
Doug


PS - I'm 11 cards away from a master set with variations of Topps baseball 1948 thru 1981. All raw. My kitchen knife is prepped and ready, should one of the cards I need come graded.

[geor952]

No argument from me Doug, crack away. I don't pay for grades, but don't crack them either. I'm afraid I might ding up my kitchen knives. No, I really just enjoy the cards and understand the excitement that comes with getting graded cards. To each his own, as long as they enjoy the hobby!

[toppcat]

Originally Posted by doug.goodman

PS - I'm 11 cards away from a master set with variations of Topps baseball 1948 thru 1981. All raw. My kitchen knife is prepped and ready, should one of the cards I need come graded.

A) Very impressive Doug-what do you still need?

B) My philosophy on graded cards seems to match yours as I bust 'em out for my sets too. I will only buy graded pre-war on Ebay, but they mostly get cracked out (except for the E cards). Been burned too many times with trimmed raw pre-war cards on the 'bay. I'll take my chances with post war but pre war is a magnet for card doctors even in the lower grades I trade in.