Summer of Slabs 06 - Sets, etc.

The "final boss" of my card collecting career is the 1956 Topps set. My original plan was to get every single card in PSA 5 grade or better. Here's the latest acquisition, a Rip Repulski 6: 

Down to 48 cards, which means most of what remains is either a hall of Famer (Mays, Reese, Doby, etc.) or a tough common that rarely appears in mid-grade. A fully slabbed set probably wasn't feasible before 2020, and it makes even less sense now. I've filled in some spots with ungraded cards whenever I can find an affordable option. In some cases, the ungraded copies are even pricier than slabbed singles.

Here's a Walter Alston I'm watching. The Dodger tax is real with this one. 

When this ends, it will likely be over $75 total. For those who think graded cards are a waste of money, here's a copy of the Alston card that would have fit my needs:

That's about as much as I would want to pay for a Manager card, even if it is a "RC" of a Hall of a Famer. 

I'm hoping to pick up at least a few '56s from Greg Morris this weekend, but the bidding is always competitive. That's why I prefer to use Buy It Now.

Picked up this Joker RC for under $200. It's a lot for a Donruss card, but I got one really cheap on COMC a few years ago and flipped it for a nice profit. I'm building a bit of of a current/recent greats RC collection, and usually buy Chrome or Prizm because anything higher is out of my budget. However I went with the Donruss RC for Nikola Jokic because I preferred the price and the action shot over his posed Prizm photo. 

Also because I have the complete 2015-16 Donruss basketball set. 

I love graded cards. and I love building sets. A lot of collectors avoid slabbed singles because they're old school set builders and want to have every card in its pack pulled, natural state. I totally get that.

A lot of people buy graded singles as an investment. The authentication gives the owner some peace of mind. They're easier to resell if you suddenly have financial issues because of a natural disaster, or family illness, or because you have two kids who are approaching college age and you're no longer a two-income household. I totally get that, too.

My slabs and my sets are mostly separate. Except when they're not.

Here are three (more) graded singles in my collection that I can't sell because they are part of a complete set:

2018 was the last year I collected more than one baseball set, and it's a good thing I did. I have complete sets of Topps, Topps Opening Day, Big League, and Stadium Club along with Topps Chrome. Much of the appeal of those sets is tied to the Shohei Ohtani RC, and it's unlikely that someone looking for this Chrome RC would be interested in the whole set when they can just buy this one card.

This Michael Jordan All-Star card is one of a handful of slabbed 1988-89 Fleer singles in my collection. I do not currently have the complete set of this; I sold my base MJ (PSA 7) to raise funds for an upgrade. One of the other cards in that consignment was a Dominique Wilkins PSA 9, which I didn't really need in PSA grade. I'll pick up a 'raw' copy for a couple bucks, eventually.

The 1988-89 Fleer set looks a bit off in my basketball binder, because I've got empty pockets for those half-dozen singles in the PSA box. My 2000 Finest baseball set has a space for the Johan Santana RC, and I've considered selling the BGS copy to pick up an ungraded card for the binder. Maybe one day.

Which leads me to 1993 SP, one of my all time favorite sets. I've got the baseball and football sets completed in one binder. Except for the Derek Jeter RC, which was also sold with the intent to upgrade.

I can't possibly afford a PSA 9 copy of this iconic card, and I'll probably pay more than I want to for an 8. But there's another card I'm tempted to upgrade. Not nearly as iconic, but a staple of my teen years - and in my opinion, a nicer looking foil SP RC:

I grew up in New England during the Drew Bledsoe era. I remember when Bill Parcells joined the Patriots, when Robert Kraft bought the team, when they updated their uniforms, and when they drafted Drew. The franchise was a laughingstock through the late '80s and early '90s, and there was a ton of excitement over the new-look Patriots. 

A couple years later, when Bledsoe started resembling Dan Marino, this card blew up. I had a dealer come to my house and personally deliver a copy to my door. I think I paid $65, a "friend" price (they were selling for $75!)

It's tempting to pick up a PSA 9 copy for this card for my PC. The foil edges are just as condition sensitive as they are on the Jeter - and it's a fraction of the price!

Can't justify it though. I already have this card. And I need to set aside cash for the Walter Alston :/

Thanks for reading!




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