Latest / Sports Card Clubhouse / MidLife Sports Cards Q & A - October 1, 2025

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MidLife Sports Cards Q & A - October 1, 2025 · Sports Card Clubhouse

0:11
What's going on everybody All right, it's Wednesday and and
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the beauty of Wednesday, the beauty of these Q&A episodes is
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it you all get to pick the topics.
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Whatever you guys want to talk about, hear about, hear my
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thoughts on, share your thoughts on it's all wrapped around what
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you all come up with. So remember, if you have a
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question or a topic you want discussed on an upcoming
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Wednesday episode, submit it, submit it down below in the
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comments. And I will absolutely put it on
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the list and I will continue to work my way through the list.
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And again, some weeks I get 10 submissions.
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Some weeks I get 5. So it might be a week or two or
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three before I get to him. Sometimes it might be that week.
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It just kind of depends on what's submitted.
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And but again, it's like, you know, when you have a channel
1:06
and you you put out videos, you're kind of just guessing on
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what people are interested in. You don't really know.
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I tend to put out things that I'm kind of interested in and
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then I hope you all are interested as well.
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But this is awesome because you all get to decide what it is
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we're talking about. And because of that, each and
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every week, it's a surprise to me.
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It's a surprise to me what we're going to talk about.
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And there are sometimes that there are questions that I get
1:37
really excited to answer. I'm like, oh, that's a really
1:40
good one. And then there are sometimes
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that I'm like, huh, I wonder if there are a ton of people that
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are interested in this or just a few.
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Regardless, if you have a topic that you want brought up again
1:54
down in the comments, please bring it up.
1:57
Now, halfway through the week, middle of the week, we can get
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there. We're we're closing in on the
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weekend. So let's take a look at the
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first question. And this is an interesting 1A,
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really interesting one. Let's check out the first
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question here, a question for your Q&A.
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Why is it assumed that PSA's new harsh grading standard means
2:24
that the old standard was too lenient?
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Maybe the old standard was just fine, but the new standard is
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excessively tough and may not stay that way, a response in the
2:35
comments said. I've been thinking the exact
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same. The old standards were better
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from grade to grade. The new standards reflect
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microscopic differences between grades seven through 10 and
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massive differences between grades one through 4.
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Why the huge disparity between the high and low grades?
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They should go back to making it an even progression.
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All right, grading controversy. This you know, I know that
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people say, man, why is why do we talk about grading a lot?
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It's not just grading like with the grading companies.
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It's agreeing on conditions every day when there is a deal
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being made, there are, there is a buyer, there is a seller and
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they probably don't see the cards exactly the same.
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They probably have a slightly different opinion of the grade,
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the condition, the the value. As a result, what is mint, what
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is near mint, what is near mint, what is X mint, what is poor,
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what is good and everything in between.
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And I know that people talk about, yeah, there's all this
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controversy about grading. This is not a new topic.
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This is not a new topic at all. And and that's part of the
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intricacies of vintage cards because most modern cards,
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they're eighths, ninths or tenths.
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You know, there might be a, a printer line, there might be a a
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touch on some corners, there might be some centering issues.
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But the the deviation between a really nice modern card and a
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not so nice modern card it's not that much.
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But the the difference in pre war cards and vintage carts is
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so wide now. I was looking through this
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Beckett monthly. This is from 1986 and I
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referenced this the other day when I was on Hobby Hotline on
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for Collectors Network with Doctor Beckett and there was an
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article that he wrote. And again, this is August of
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1986, and the article is called The Grading Controversy.
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And he wrote a whole article about, you know, what is a mint
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card, what is a near mint card, and the differences between
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different companies and different graders and different
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dealers. And he referenced his definition
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of each. And then he referenced another
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publication opinion. And you can see right here in
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the dark grey boxes, they have the definitions of each.
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But look it in the middle. He was hosting at the 1986
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National. He hosted the basically a
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discussion about grading. And that's that's part of the
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thing about grading is 1 A person's definition of near mint
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might be different than another's.
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Now, a lot of the times people talk about PSA versus SGC and
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the differences between the two. We have to keep in mind, and
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I've done videos on this, but if you go side by side, what does
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near mint mean? SGC versus PSA?
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What does X mint mean, SGC versus versus PSA?
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There are a lot of similarities. In fact, the verbiage is very
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similar in some cases, but there are differences.
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So when people say, well, you know, or is SGC just going to
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cross all of their slabs over to PSA at some point because you
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know, if if SGC were to dissolve, well, probably not.
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And and one of the reasons probably not is because a A4 is
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not the same definition for SGC grading as it is PSA grading.
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But that's not the question here.
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It, it, it, it, it sets the stage though.
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It's the prelude for the conversation here, because not
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even grading companies have the same definitions.
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Different grading companies have different definitions.
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And something that I brought up with Doctor Beckett, something
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I've brought up with a few people is when you enter in new
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technologies, it, it affects what you can see versus what you
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can't see. And, and in some ways that might
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make grading more accurate with the new technologies, but in
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some ways it's putting a more stringent eye on a card that
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might be seeing things that otherwise wouldn't have been
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seen, which in my opinion means that grading is harder.
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Now, again, I've mentioned all this before.
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Now I want to put a card on the screen here.
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So on this screen, I've got a dandy early win card.
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Now keep in mind a couple of things.
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Dandy cards went into potato chip bags.
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So they commonly have grease stains.
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They commonly have like a a filmy surface.
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Because of that, they, they, they have some issues.
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Now, this card was graded quite a while ago And, and I know that
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because of the flip, which you'll see here in a second, but
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I want you to look at this card and I'm telling you right now,
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it was graded years ago. What grade do you think that
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this card should receive and what grade do you think this
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card did receive? OK, again, an early win dandy
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card. Now what I want you to do is see
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how it graded. Did anybody out there think that
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that card was going to get a 5? Because when I look at it, I see
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some paper loss issues on the front, I see some paper loss
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issues on the back. I see substantial dirt and
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grease on the back and the front.
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I see quite a bit of damage to this card.
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But years ago, this card got a 5.
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Now did it get a 5? Because it's a dandy card.
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And at that time when they were grading dandy cards, they said,
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well, we know it's going to have grease.
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We know it's going to have surface issues because all of
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dandy cards, not all most dandy cards have those sorts of
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issues. So we're going to grade it per
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the standard of what a dandy card is expected to have.
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Is that what happened? Because I if you look on PS as
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grading standards and you look at what A5 represents, that card
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does not, is not described by what a 5 is on the PSA website.
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So is it that they graded the card too easy?
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Is it that they graded the card correctly and now we're just
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grading too hard? And this question basically is
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asking that that concept. Is it that back in the day they
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graded them too easy and now is right?
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Or is it that back in the day they graded them correctly and
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now it's too hard? Ultimately, I think that's where
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the consumer gets to come in. The the reason that you send a
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card to a grading company or you buy a card in a certain grading
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companies holder is because you subscribe to their opinions.
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You know, if if there are grading companies out there that
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you don't trust, you probably don't buy cards in those grading
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companies holders, right? I mean, they're a grading
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company. They're smaller grading
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companies that a lot of us, if you saw a card in a holder at a
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in a case at a card at a card show, you probably would go, I
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don't think I'm going to buy it just because I don't really know
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what to think of that holder. And I don't know if that company
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has some shenanigans. I don't know if that company is
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legit. I don't really trust that
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company. But if you buy cards in PSA
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holders, to a certain extent you're saying I trust the
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evaluation or I like the card a lot.
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And I think that their evaluation took into account the
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things that would concern me and relief that concern from me.
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I think that if, if people feel that PSA is now grading much
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harder than they used to, or if people feel that PS as grading
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standards have gotten tougher, then what it might mean is and,
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and what it means for me because because I subscribe to the
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theory that they are grading harder than they used to.
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And one of the things that that did for me, it didn't make me go
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well, I don't trust PSA anymore. I don't trust their old grades.
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I only trust their new grades or vice versa.
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What it, what it meant to me is cards during the tenure when
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they weren't grading as harsh, I need a little bit of a higher
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grade for it to be the, the standard that I'm OK with.
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So like for example, in in a card from the 50s, maybe maybe
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my threshold is in that 4 range like that X mint, you know, kind
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of X mint VG sort of range. Well, if it was graded in 1995,
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that might have been more like a five grade and now it might be
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more like a three range. And so I have to, and I said
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this at nauseam to me, the number, the number is a
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suggestion. The number is 1 Series of
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opinions based on some of the qualities about the card.
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And then I have to buy a card that I like or don't like if
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they're grading harder then, which I believe to be true.
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I'm way more open minded to a lower number because to me a
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lower number is still a better card than that number.
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So there was a time where I'd say, you know, I want cards kind
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of in that 6 range. The six range is kind of the
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sweet spot to me because it's not super expensive.
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It's got a lot of positive qualities to it.
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But now because I feel that they're grading a little bit
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more harsh, I'm more looking in the four range and that is a
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very, in most cases, a really high quality card. 45 S again, I
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don't think we should continue to get too caught up in the
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number itself and the number that was assigned from the
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grading company. Instead, what I think we should
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be doing is focusing on the card, using the number as a clue
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or a piece of information toward our own conclusion of the
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quality of the card. And for me in the current
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grading process that's happening, a card that is being
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graded right now, I am very, very open to a card in in the
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3-4 range from the 1950s, whereas maybe 10 years ago or 15
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years ago, I would have been looking more in that 6 range.
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So again, I think the number doesn't matter a ton.
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I think as we move forward the number is going to matter less
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and less and less and what we actually think of the card
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itself, our own opinion of the card is going to be the primary
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factor in determining the value and the demand of the card.
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This one says hello, this is Roy.
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I have been away from most card content for a while.
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Here is a simple low impact question for you.
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I am beginning to get interested in some modern players.
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There's a sweet spot in a star players career where interest
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slacks off in their cards. I'm thinking right before a
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player retires you could possibly pick a few key cards
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well before any Hall of Fame hype.
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All right, I think this is a super interesting concept.
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I totally hear where you're coming from.
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You're saying I want cards of guys that are going to be Hall
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of Farmers and I want cards of guys when they're not red hot.
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Now, years ago, Clayton Kershaw and Justin Verlander, for
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example, were like absolutely dominating players, dominating
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pitchers in the league. But over the last couple of
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years, they are still active, but they have not been as much
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in the forefront of this young races.
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They've not been in the forefront of superstars, though
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they're still quality players. They're not getting a lot of
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attention at the moment. And what it sounds like what
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you're saying is when a player is in the the core peak of their
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career and when a player is entering the Hall of Fame or
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just entered the Hall of Fame, there's a lot of attention
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around them. And with that, attention tends
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to be some demand. So I think what you're
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suggesting is if you buy a future Hall of Famer of a guy
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who's toward the end of his career, when he's not getting a
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lot of attention and before the Hall of Fame attention comes in,
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then you might get a pretty good deal on some of their cards.
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I think to a certain extent that's true.
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I think to a certain extent. But here's the thing.
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I think we all know and have known that Albert Pujols was
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going to make the Hall of Fame. I think we all know Verlander
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and Kershaw are going to make the Hall of Fame.
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We knew Ichiro was going to make the Hall of Fame.
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A lot of guys over the last 10 years that when it got to the
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twilight of their career, we knew they were going to make the
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Hall of Fame. We knew Derek Jeter would make
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the Hall of Fame. We knew Mariano Rivera would
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make the Hall of Fame. We knew that.
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So I think personally, a lot of the Hall of Fame value has
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already been baked into the price.
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I think that people don't go, oh, I'm going to grab some
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Ichiro cards before Ichiro makes the Hall of Fame.
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We all know he's going to make the Hall of Fame.
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So people have already built that in, in my opinion.
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So what I think happens is a lot of people who collect Hall of
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farmers, what they do is they look out and they go, who's
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going to make the Hall of Fame? And I want to get their card
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before they make the Hall of Fame because it could make their
18:28
price go up. CC Sabathia, OK, I knew I wanted
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ACC Sabathia card because I like CC Sabathia.
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Now. CC Sabathia was to me clearly
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going to make the Hall of Fame. It was just a matter of whether
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he was a first or second ballot Hall of Famer.
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And three years ago, four years ago, he wasn't really getting
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any attention. He wasn't getting, he wasn't in
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the news, but then when he makes the Hall of Fame, he's in the
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news. And when he was pitching in the
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playoffs, he was making a lot of news.
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So there, there is a little bit of a lull.
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I think the question comes down to or, or at least my question
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back is are you looking to buy a card that you would want anyway
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as a long term card in your collection, or are you trying to
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speculate on a card that you think will go up in value when
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they make the Hall of Fame? Because if what you're trying to
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do is speculate for a guy who's going to make the Hall of Fame,
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I think a lot of players, their cards don't really go up when
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they make the Hall of Fame. I think that it's expected in
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many cases, the guys who we don't know we're going to make
19:36
the Hall of Fame and then are kind of a surprise or guys that
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are maybe he's going to make the Hall of Fame and then they do
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make the Hall of Fame. That's where there tends to be a
19:46
little bit of a bump. But when Ricky Henderson
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retired, we knew he was making the Hall of Fame.
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So when he made the Hall of Fame, his card probably didn't
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move much. And, and I've done some episodes
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on this concept, The guys whose cards jumped a lot were more
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veterans committees, guys like when Minnie Minoso got in, when
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Ted Simmons got in, when Gil Hodges got in, When guys like
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that get in, it's sort of like, oh.
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This guy made the Hall of Fame, and now Dave Parker's cards have
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gone up, right? Dave Parker autographs and
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autographed rookies have gone up.
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And I think that the reason for that is that we weren't sure if
20:32
they'd make it. But when a guy makes the Hall of
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Fame, it's not like suddenly he's a better player.
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It's that there's more demand 'cause there are some people who
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collect cards of Hall of Farmers, and if you're not in
20:44
the Hall of Fame, there are a certain number of people who
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won't collect your cards because they only collect Hall of Famers
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or they want all Hall of Famer cards.
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And as soon as you make the Hall of Fame, then boom, all of a
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sudden the demand goes up. And when the demand goes up, the
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price tends to go up. But guys like Ichiro, Verlander,
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Kershaw, stuff like that. I don't really think that
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there's this like, great deal in Lowell right now because I think
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people know, yeah, Poo Holes is going to make the Hall of Fame.
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So people have already bought up his cards as if he was already
21:21
in. There might be a slight jump
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when he gets in just because there's some attention and
21:27
people go, oh, yeah, pool Holes, I need to go get some of his
21:30
cards. But then I think that that kind
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of lulls back down to where it was.
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So I guess it kind of depends on what the point of it is.
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If the point is that you want to buy cards when they're not super
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hot, but they're cards you want in your collection anyway,
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totally makes sense to buy Verlanders right now and
21:48
Kershaw's right now and, and got Goldschmidt's like that and guys
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like that right now. But I don't think that there's
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going to be this surge in value in a few years when they're Hall
21:58
of Fame eligible. But again, that's just my take.
22:03
This question says if a card is cracked out of a slab and
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resubmitted, the grading company would be obligated to regrade
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the card even though they can identify that they have already
22:15
assigned a grade to that card. Any time a card is cracked out
22:19
of a slab there is always a chance that card was damaged
22:23
during the slab cracking process so it would need to be re
22:27
evaluated. Now it does beg the question,
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should the card be able to receive a higher grade than the
22:34
one it previously assigned? If so, how many grade points
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above the previous grade would be acceptable?
22:41
Is the is it fair if there was a true mistake when the original
22:46
grade was assigned? This is such a complicated
22:52
question. There are so many variables
22:55
here. I agree with your point about
22:58
when a card is cracked out of a slab and then resubmitted.
23:01
It's very possible that the grade could and would change
23:05
because it's possible that the card got damaged during the
23:08
crackout process. And so I could see a card going
23:12
down in number because it was cracked out.
23:14
So just because the card has cracked out and resubmitted does
23:17
not mean it should get at least the same grade that it got
23:20
before. As long as we have a human being
23:24
using their judgment and some fairly vague descriptions of
23:29
what qualifies for certain grades, there's always going to
23:33
be a variance from one grade to the next.
23:37
I could take a card, I could crack it out, I could resubmit
23:40
it, and it could get a a huge swing up or down.
23:44
Again, we know this, they know this, they talk about this, we
23:48
talk about this. But the point, the take away, in
23:53
my opinion, the take away from this right here is everything.
23:59
Here's the take away. That is the reason that we
24:03
shouldn't give so much validation and credit to the
24:07
grade. The fact that the grade could
24:10
change is is the fact that the grades do change is what makes
24:18
it insane when a card goes from an 8 to a nine, how the price
24:22
just goes through the roof on a vintage card.
24:24
On a vintage card, if a card gets an 8 versus a card gets a
24:28
nine, that the value of that card goes exponentially higher.
24:35
And if a card goes from A9 to A10, exponentially higher,
24:39
especially for vintage cards, which is again the the take
24:45
away. The point is that is crazy
24:50
because on a given day, that 10 could be an 8 or a nine.
24:55
It it could that nine could be a 10 or an 8.
24:59
Yet the amounts that people are paying for the premium from one
25:02
to the other when there may not be a difference, I mean
25:07
literally except for how the card was viewed on that
25:12
particular day. So I don't really know what is
25:19
acceptable for a card to go up or down.
25:22
I mean, again, ideally, see when you go to McDonald's and you get
25:29
a Big Mac and you get a Big Mac and you're in Kansas City, MO,
25:35
or you go to Seattle, WA and you get a Big Mac or you go to
25:41
Anaheim, CA and you get a Big Mac, it's pretty similar because
25:47
their standards and and their processes for how they put the
25:53
sandwich or the burger together is very, very similar.
25:59
The ingredients are the same, the portions are virtually the
26:02
same. But there are sometimes you go
26:06
to a McDonald's, you go. That wasn't a very good one.
26:09
That was not a very good one. They were kind of lazy on that
26:13
one. That bread was a little bit old
26:15
on that one, Whatever it is. So there's always going to be a
26:19
variance whenever a human is involved in the process.
26:22
So what is what should be allowed?
26:26
Again, if we want, just like balls and strikes, if we want
26:31
balls and strikes to be called perfectly, then a computer can
26:34
do it. But if we want a human being to
26:37
do it, there are going to be times where there are mistakes.
26:42
So do we want a mistake free computer based system?
26:48
We have tag, at least for modern, we have tag.
26:52
If you want a human being to do it, we have some other grading
26:57
companies. So I am certainly not defending
27:01
the grading companies. I have issue with A7 being
27:06
cracked and resubmitted and coming back at 9 or vice versa.
27:09
I have issues with that. But ultimately, the reason it's
27:14
such a big deal, the reason it's such a big deal that a card goes
27:21
from A7 to A9 or A9 to A7, that really shouldn't matter that
27:24
much. The reason it matters is because
27:28
we, the second secondary consumer, the third party
27:32
consumer, the person who comes along the line after the fact,
27:36
is willing to pay so much more because it has a nine instead of
27:41
because it has a 7. That's the reason it's a big
27:44
deal. Ultimately, it's our fault if we
27:47
bought cards with our eyes, if we bought cards that we liked
27:51
instead of gave so much of the power away to the grading
27:55
companies, it wouldn't really matter if it changed from an 8
27:59
to a nine. If if people were were buying
28:03
cards without looking at the grade, therefore it's the same
28:07
card. You should be just as willing to
28:11
buy the card that has a nine, which you don't know it's a nine
28:15
or an 8, which you don't know it's an 8 simply by I mean, what
28:20
if the grading companies did that?
28:23
What if the grading companies didn't put the number on the
28:28
slab? What if the grading companies
28:31
just had it where if you looked up the serial number, then you'd
28:34
see the grade? Wouldn't that be better?
28:37
Would that be better? Would you look in a case and go,
28:41
Oh my gosh, that's a beautiful, that's a beautiful 1958 Mickey
28:46
Mantle. And then you run the serial
28:48
number and you go, ah, never mind, it's just a three.
28:52
Wouldn't that be crazy if you looked into a case and you
28:56
didn't know the grade? I think it's interest.
29:01
I think it's an interesting thought.
29:03
There was one more piece from this that I wanted to.
29:05
Is it fair that they make actual mistakes?
29:09
I've thought a lot about this too.
29:11
I've thought, well, wait a second.
29:13
If if I have a four and I crack it out and I send it back in and
29:18
and it gets A7, they made a massive mistake either the first
29:25
time or the second time. So why should I have to pay for
29:30
them to regrade a card that they later acknowledge is wrong by
29:36
three grades? Wouldn't wouldn't it be in the
29:42
grading company's best interest to grade harshly?
29:46
Because if they grade harshly, you might crack it and resubmit
29:51
it to be graded again. And then maybe when he gets
29:55
graded again, maybe that time it gets graded more accurately or
30:00
more fairly. If you're the grading company,
30:04
what is better for your business?
30:07
What is better for your submissions?
30:09
Is it to give you a good grade where you're like, great, it got
30:14
a nine. I'm not cracking this out
30:16
because it looked like A7 to me. Or if it's the seven that they
30:21
give a 5, because if it should have gotten A7 but they give it
30:25
a 5, aren't you more likely to crack it and try it again?
30:29
Aren't you willing to go back up and pay a second time to have
30:34
that card get evaluated? I actually think for repeat
30:40
business's sake, it's actually better for them to grade harshly
30:45
because then you're more willing to resubmit it to them.
30:48
The only way to break this cycle that we're in, this snowball,
30:53
this circle, this hurricane, this Blizzard of, is if we
30:59
finally start going, I don't care that that card has a nine
31:04
on it. It looks like A7 to me.
31:08
So I'm only going to pay 7 prices.
31:10
And I don't care that that card has A7 on it.
31:14
It looks like a nine to me, so I'm going to pay 9 prices.
31:18
Until that happens, the grading companies will continue to have
31:24
a ton of power over us and that's on us.
31:27
That's not on them, that is on us.
31:34
This one says Bravo picking PA. Being an hour north of Philly
31:38
makes it real nice to go to so many great shows within a few
31:42
hours drive. Strongsville is only 7 hours
31:46
which makes it a nice weekend getaway.
31:48
So many professional and minor league teams in the area.
31:52
Plus fall is beautiful this time of year.
31:54
Anyway. If you were setting up, you're
31:58
at your first big card show. Which cards would you get to
32:03
fill your cases? Your mission is to sell the
32:06
cards at their fair market value and to sell at least 95% of your
32:12
inventory. Which cards would you choose
32:16
that are very popular and always in demand?
32:19
Thanks, this is a super fun question.
32:23
If I were a dealer and I had to sell 95% of my inventory and I
32:29
had to sell it at comps. Now there are a lot of
32:33
assumptions in here and a lot of things I don't know so I feel
32:36
like I don't have all the information in order to give the
32:39
best answer I can give. So if it was a local card show,
32:44
if it was a local card show, I would say I would fill my cases.
32:48
Like where I live, I would fill my cases with Steph Curry cards,
32:52
refractor Curry's, insert Curry's refractor and insert
32:57
Jordan's refractor and insert Brock Purdy's refractor and
33:04
insert Jerry Rice's and a bunch of Pokémon cards.
33:10
If if it was where I live now, if it was at the National.
33:14
And I think I think that your question is like, OK, you're
33:17
going to the national a major show.
33:19
There's going to be tons of traffic.
33:21
There's going to be people with money.
33:23
What would you fill your cases with to make sure that you sell
33:28
95% of your inventory at fair market value?
33:31
Now, the first thing is what is fair market value?
33:33
Is it fair market value for the grade or is it fair market value
33:38
for the I appeal I'm at since most people consider the comps
33:44
based 99% on the grade, I'm going to go with that.
33:48
Now I don't subscribe to that. I subscribe to the card.
33:53
That said, what I think I would do is have if I was at the
33:58
National, how could I sell out my cases at the National?
34:03
Here's what I would do. I would have centered and I
34:08
would have high. I appeal centered.
34:14
Jackie Robinson's, Ty Cobbs, Cy Young's, Babe Ruth's, Lou
34:21
Gehrig's, Mickey Mantels, Hank Aaron's, Willie Mays's Did I say
34:28
Jackie yet? Jackie Robinson's if I didn't
34:30
say Jackie yet. Centered, high colour, high eye
34:36
appeal. If I took those cards of those
34:41
players and Walt, OK, I'll, I know I'm going to get yelled at
34:45
for leaving. Walter Johnson, probably 2.
34:50
Christy Mathewson 2. I know I'm leaving out a big
34:57
name or two, but Joe DiMaggio centered well.
35:04
Good color, good eye appeal. If I took out a bunch of Cobbs,
35:11
Ruth's, Gehrig's, Jackie's, Mantels, Mazes, Aaron's,
35:16
Clemente's, all the guys I just listed and the cards were
35:23
centered high, I appeal and I put them at middle of the comp
35:28
for the grade, I'd sell out. I would absolutely sell out of
35:34
all of those guys. Now there are other, there are
35:36
other players that are popular, There are other players that are
35:39
good. There are players I didn't
35:41
mention that are better than some of the players that I did.
35:45
But the demand really kind of comes down to about 10 main
35:51
players. And if if the card is centered
35:57
and the card has high eye appeal and you have it priced with
36:01
comps of the number on the slab, those things will get eaten up.
36:06
Those things will I'd sell out my cases on day one of the
36:10
national that that's what I would do.
36:14
I would just absolutely clean up.
36:18
But I think the people who bought from me, who bought those
36:23
players centered high eye appeal at middle comp for the number,
36:29
those people would do better than I would do because I think
36:35
long term those cards are going to continue selling more and
36:41
more and more than their same grade counterparts.
36:46
I, I, I really believe that. So I hope I answered the
36:52
question correctly or or I hope I answered the question in a way
36:56
you were hoping for me to answer it.
37:00
And Andrew says, hi Greg, I was wondering when you sell carts or
37:05
get rid of, does it make you appreciate your collection more?
37:10
You mentioned in the midlife live stream about quality versus
37:14
quantity. So what do you find and believe
37:18
the difference to be in a collector versus a hoarder?
37:22
Is it the passion and time being carefully curated the
37:27
collection? Have you ever held on to cards
37:30
that you don't like longer than you should have?
37:33
Hoping to hear facts, but will accept your opinions.
37:37
However, I can't be responsible for how other people will
37:41
perceive them. Thanks, Greg.
37:45
All right, Andrew, so I feel like there's a few things I want
37:50
to make sure that I'm clarifying.
37:52
First of all, I don't think that there's a right or a wrong way
37:56
to do this. This hobby.
37:58
I, I, I really don't, I really don't have any.
38:02
I have so much respect for a guy like Chris from Missouri who
38:07
wants to have every card of every Hall of Famer.
38:11
I believe Chris has every Hall of Fame rookie card post WAR, I
38:16
believe, and he has most cards, the full runs of most Hall of
38:23
Famers post WAR. Mike Moynihan said the other
38:26
day, a couple of weeks ago, his goal is to have every TOPS card,
38:31
every base TOPS card ever created.
38:36
Now that collecting that way doesn't work for me, that does
38:42
not mean that their way of collecting is an incorrect way
38:46
to collect. I love that they collect that
38:49
way. I think that's fantastic, but
38:52
that's not for me. For me, I want to have a number
38:55
of cards that I'm able to enjoy. And when I have boxes and boxes
38:59
and boxes and boxes and binders and binders and binders of
39:02
cards, that's too many for me with my lifestyle, with my
39:06
attention span, with my brain capacity to be able to actually
39:11
enjoy. So for me, I am more of a
39:16
collector who would, who would like to have a couple of 100, a
39:21
couple 100 to 50 like cards that I really like those than to have
39:30
thousands and thousands and thousands of cards.
39:33
That doesn't make me better than anyone.
39:35
That doesn't mean that I'm doing it the right way and someone
39:38
else is doing it the wrong way. One of the things that came up
39:42
on the live stream was, you know, the hoarder style of
39:47
collecting for for whatever reason, that term is, is thought
39:53
of as like a negative connotation.
39:56
It might because there's like a there's isn't there like ATV
39:58
show, unlike TLC where they go into like hoarders houses and
40:02
the people are just like just there's just rats everywhere and
40:06
stuff. If that's the case, that a
40:10
hoarder style of collector to me is not intended to be a
40:15
disrespectful thing. If it is, then we need to come
40:18
up with a new term, a broad collector versus a narrow
40:21
collector. Maybe, I don't know, but it's
40:25
not that a, a person who collects broadly like Chris and
40:30
Mike, they're not doing it wrong.
40:34
So maybe it's the term, the connotation behind the term of
40:39
hoarder that sounds like a negative thing.
40:41
That is not a negative thing. I love that.
40:44
I love that Keith of lonely basement Baseball cards.
40:48
I love that he wants to collect like every card of every Yankee.
40:52
That's fantastic. That's not for me, but that's
40:56
fantastic that he does it that way.
40:59
There are some people who like to collect lots of different
41:02
sets and some just certain players.
41:04
To say that Theo Clemente Collector is collecting wrong
41:07
because he 95% of his collection is Clemente.
41:11
He's not wrong. He's having fun.
41:14
So I feel like I'm kind of defending myself in the question
41:20
and it's not intended to defend. I I don't, there's nothing to
41:24
defend it. It's just a different way of
41:28
doing it. If you want cards that are
41:31
ungraded, fantastic. If you want cards that are
41:34
graded, fantastic. If you want STC, great.
41:37
PSA great. Some people care about grading.
41:40
We just had two questions of the five this week about grading
41:44
questions and some people like, I don't care about grading.
41:46
Grading is the devil. Well, great.
41:48
Fast forward through those responses because you don't care
41:50
about those things. That's fantastic.
41:54
I love Wednesdays because Wednesdays you all get to tell
41:59
me what you all are interested in hearing about.
42:02
And I think that if you want to hear my take or other people's
42:06
takes or start a discussion down in the chat down below in the
42:10
comments about these topics, that's that's fantastic.
42:15
So to answer the rest of the question, and I typed it out
42:19
because I'm like you, you seem like I was going to be skipping
42:23
some things I'm going to try. Is the passion and the time
42:25
carefully curating a collection? Is it the passion and the time
42:29
being carefully curating the collection?
42:33
I don't know if a person who has a broad collection or a narrow
42:38
collection, I don't think that one is curating more than
42:42
another. Like for me, I'm super picky
42:45
with the cards that I add to my collection.
42:48
So there have been many, many times that I've passed on cards
42:51
that other people why didn't. Why didn't you buy that one?
42:53
I didn't. I didn't like the looks of it.
42:55
I'm curating differently than Keith when he's going through
42:59
1/4 box looking for some 1986 Topps Yankee cards that he's
43:04
missing. It's a different type of
43:06
curation and his is not better and mine is not better, he said.
43:14
Have you ever held onto cards that you don't like longer than
43:18
you should have? I think that there are times
43:25
that I have been afraid that if I sold the card I would regret
43:32
selling it, and so I hold on to it so I don't have regret.
43:38
Do I have actual examples of that?
43:43
So when my, my dad went through, so a lot of you all have seen
43:47
the, the episode where my dad was at an estate sale and he
43:51
came home with a shoe box full of cards and that he bought.
43:56
And he ended up selling some of them and keeping some of them
44:00
and sending some to SGC. And it was like this, you know,
44:04
estate sale find. And at the end of after the
44:10
cameras were off and stuff, I went through the cards and I
44:14
bought a couple of the cards from my dad, like just said,
44:18
Hey, you know, what do you want for this card?
44:20
What are you going to keep this card?
44:21
No, OK, What would you sell it for?
44:23
I don't know. And one of the cards I bought
44:25
was a 58 tops Sandy Koufax. OK, and it's a really nice.
44:33
The color on the card is fantastic.
44:34
I should have grabbed it, but I didn't.
44:37
It color on. It's really nice.
44:39
It's a great picture of Sandy Koufax.
44:41
I really like Sandy Koufax and I sent the card in to SGC and I
44:48
think it came back a 4.5. I kind of thought it might be
44:51
higher, but it's about 7525 centering.
44:57
And so it came back as a four and a half and it a four and a
45:04
half 1958 Sandy Kovacs of that kind of color is got some value
45:08
and that and you asked me for facts, Andrew, I'm giving you an
45:12
exact example. And so part of me is like this
45:17
card doesn't really fit with how I'm collecting right now.
45:22
I'm going heavily after rarer things, centered things.
45:31
A lot of the cards from the 50s and 60s that I had, I've
45:35
liquidated to buy some of the T2O6 cards I'm going after and
45:40
some of the other sets that I've been putting together some of my
45:43
pirate cards. So like a lot of the cards from
45:46
the 60s I sold, I used the money to buy some of the pirate cards
45:49
that when I was building that pirate set.
45:52
And so the Sandy Koufax card doesn't really fit with what I'm
45:56
doing anymore. And part of me is like, I kind
45:59
of want to sell it because I don't know, let's say it's a,
46:02
let's say it's a $200 card in a 4.5 I, I'm like, I'd rather put
46:10
that $200 towards something else.
46:13
Like something else, Like I want to Hank Aaron rookie someday.
46:16
I'd rather take that $200 to put toward a Hank Aaron rookie.
46:20
But I'm afraid that I'll regret selling the card that I have
46:28
from that memory of that day with my dad.
46:32
And so sometimes the emotional attachment to a card prevents me
46:38
from selling a card because that card means more to me than the
46:43
value that that card could result my pocketbooks with.
46:53
So should I have sold that card? A lot of you are saying no way
46:57
you can never sell that card. Some of you are saying, well,
47:00
yeah, of course you should sell the card.
47:02
If it doesn't really fit with your collection, liquidate it
47:04
and put it towards something that does.
47:07
Neither one of you is wrong. So have I hung on the cards
47:10
longer than I should have? I think historically speaking,
47:15
the cards that people hang on to longer than they should have.
47:19
Our prospect cards. I don't have any Wander Franco
47:22
cards, but if I did, I hung on to him too long.
47:26
I don't have any Todd Van Popple cards.
47:28
I don't have any Ben McDonald cards.
47:31
I don't have any Matt Noakes cards.
47:33
I don't have any. I don't who else?
47:38
I mean, we can all go to Kevin Moss, Jerome Walton.
47:42
There are a lot of guys that if I still had their cards, you
47:46
could make the argument I hung on too long.
47:50
But I don't have a lot of those cards.
47:53
So I don't think I've hung on to any cards too long because for
47:57
me, once the card means more to somebody else than it does to
48:02
me. That's usually when I sell, and
48:05
I do sell from time to time. Did I answer everything?
48:12
I I think I answered everything. I hope I gave you some facts.
48:16
I hope I did a good job. Thank you.
48:21
If you're still listening to me today, it's gone a little long
48:24
today. You're still listening.
48:26
I appreciate a little long today.
48:27
I know, I know. It's just this is this is what I
48:30
do. If you have a question for an
48:33
upcoming episode down in the comments, please leave your
48:36
question. I would be happy and honored to
48:40
take the opportunity to share my thoughts about that topic.