October 5, 2025 • 48 mins
Graig has a YouTube channel called MidLife Sports Cards and does a weekly Q & A episode. This episode posted there on 10/1/25. He covers a wide variety of topics this week.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:11):
What's going on everybody All right, it's Wednesday and and
the beauty of Wednesday, the beauty of these Q&A episodes is
it you all get to pick the topics.
Whatever you guys want to talk about, hear about, hear my
thoughts on, share your thoughtson it's all wrapped around what
(00:31):
you all come up with. So remember, if you have a
question or a topic you want discussed on an upcoming
Wednesday episode, submit it, submit it down below in the
comments. And I will absolutely put it on
the list and I will continue to work my way through the list.
And again, some weeks I get 10 submissions.
Some weeks I get 5. So it might be a week or two or
(00:55):
three before I get to him. Sometimes it might be that week.
It just kind of depends on what's submitted.
And but again, it's like, you know, when you have a channel
and you you put out videos, you're kind of just guessing on
what people are interested in. You don't really know.
(01:15):
I tend to put out things that I'm kind of interested in and
then I hope you all are interested as well.
But this is awesome because you all get to decide what it is
we're talking about. And because of that, each and
every week, it's a surprise to me.
It's a surprise to me what we'regoing to talk about.
(01:35):
And there are sometimes that there are questions that I get
really excited to answer. I'm like, oh, that's a really
good one. And then there are sometimes
that I'm like, huh, I wonder if there are a ton of people that
are interested in this or just afew.
Regardless, if you have a topic that you want brought up again
down in the comments, please bring it up.
(01:57):
Now, halfway through the week, middle of the week, we can get
there. We're we're closing in on the
weekend. So let's take a look at the
first question. And this is an interesting 1A,
really interesting one. Let's check out the first
question here, a question for your Q&A.
(02:19):
Why is it assumed that PSA's newharsh grading standard means
that the old standard was too lenient?
Maybe the old standard was just fine, but the new standard is
excessively tough and may not stay that way, a response in the
comments said. I've been thinking the exact
same. The old standards were better
(02:41):
from grade to grade. The new standards reflect
microscopic differences between grades seven through 10 and
massive differences between grades one through 4.
Why the huge disparity between the high and low grades?
They should go back to making itan even progression.
(03:01):
All right, grading controversy. This you know, I know that
people say, man, why is why do we talk about grading a lot?
It's not just grading like with the grading companies.
It's agreeing on conditions every day when there is a deal
being made, there are, there is a buyer, there is a seller and
(03:24):
they probably don't see the cards exactly the same.
They probably have a slightly different opinion of the grade,
the condition, the the value. As a result, what is mint, what
is near mint, what is near mint,what is X mint, what is poor,
what is good and everything in between.
And I know that people talk about, yeah, there's all this
(03:48):
controversy about grading. This is not a new topic.
This is not a new topic at all. And and that's part of the
intricacies of vintage cards because most modern cards,
they're eighths, ninths or tenths.
You know, there might be a, a printer line, there might be a a
(04:09):
touch on some corners, there might be some centering issues.
But the the deviation between a really nice modern card and a
not so nice modern card it's notthat much.
But the the difference in pre war cards and vintage carts is
so wide now. I was looking through this
(04:32):
Beckett monthly. This is from 1986 and I
referenced this the other day when I was on Hobby Hotline on
for Collectors Network with Doctor Beckett and there was an
article that he wrote. And again, this is August of
(04:52):
1986, and the article is called The Grading Controversy.
And he wrote a whole article about, you know, what is a mint
card, what is a near mint card, and the differences between
different companies and different graders and different
dealers. And he referenced his definition
(05:15):
of each. And then he referenced another
publication opinion. And you can see right here in
the dark grey boxes, they have the definitions of each.
But look it in the middle. He was hosting at the 1986
National. He hosted the basically a
(05:37):
discussion about grading. And that's that's part of the
thing about grading is 1 A person's definition of near mint
might be different than another's.
Now, a lot of the times people talk about PSA versus SGC and
the differences between the two.We have to keep in mind, and
(05:58):
I've done videos on this, but ifyou go side by side, what does
near mint mean? SGC versus PSA?
What does X mint mean, SGC versus versus PSA?
There are a lot of similarities.In fact, the verbiage is very
similar in some cases, but thereare differences.
So when people say, well, you know, or is SGC just going to
(06:20):
cross all of their slabs over toPSA at some point because you
know, if if SGC were to dissolve, well, probably not.
And and one of the reasons probably not is because a A4 is
not the same definition for SGC grading as it is PSA grading.
(06:40):
But that's not the question here.
It, it, it, it, it sets the stage though.
It's the prelude for the conversation here, because not
even grading companies have the same definitions.
Different grading companies havedifferent definitions.
And something that I brought up with Doctor Beckett, something
(07:01):
I've brought up with a few people is when you enter in new
technologies, it, it affects what you can see versus what you
can't see. And, and in some ways that might
make grading more accurate with the new technologies, but in
some ways it's putting a more stringent eye on a card that
(07:27):
might be seeing things that otherwise wouldn't have been
seen, which in my opinion means that grading is harder.
Now, again, I've mentioned all this before.
Now I want to put a card on the screen here.
So on this screen, I've got a dandy early win card.
(07:48):
Now keep in mind a couple of things.
Dandy cards went into potato chip bags.
So they commonly have grease stains.
They commonly have like a a filmy surface.
Because of that, they, they, they have some issues.
Now, this card was graded quite a while ago And, and I know that
(08:10):
because of the flip, which you'll see here in a second, but
I want you to look at this card and I'm telling you right now,
it was graded years ago. What grade do you think that
this card should receive and what grade do you think this
card did receive? OK, again, an early win dandy
(08:32):
card. Now what I want you to do is see
how it graded. Did anybody out there think that
that card was going to get a 5? Because when I look at it, I see
some paper loss issues on the front, I see some paper loss
issues on the back. I see substantial dirt and
(08:56):
grease on the back and the front.
I see quite a bit of damage to this card.
But years ago, this card got a 5.
Now did it get a 5? Because it's a dandy card.
And at that time when they were grading dandy cards, they said,
well, we know it's going to havegrease.
(09:16):
We know it's going to have surface issues because all of
dandy cards, not all most dandy cards have those sorts of
issues. So we're going to grade it per
the standard of what a dandy card is expected to have.
Is that what happened? Because I if you look on PS as
(09:36):
grading standards and you look at what A5 represents, that card
does not, is not described by what a 5 is on the PSA website.
So is it that they graded the card too easy?
(09:57):
Is it that they graded the card correctly and now we're just
grading too hard? And this question basically is
asking that that concept. Is it that back in the day they
graded them too easy and now is right?
Or is it that back in the day they graded them correctly and
now it's too hard? Ultimately, I think that's where
(10:22):
the consumer gets to come in. The the reason that you send a
card to a grading company or youbuy a card in a certain grading
companies holder is because you subscribe to their opinions.
You know, if if there are grading companies out there that
(10:44):
you don't trust, you probably don't buy cards in those grading
companies holders, right? I mean, they're a grading
company. They're smaller grading
companies that a lot of us, if you saw a card in a holder at a
in a case at a card at a card show, you probably would go, I
(11:04):
don't think I'm going to buy it just because I don't really know
what to think of that holder. And I don't know if that company
has some shenanigans. I don't know if that company is
legit. I don't really trust that
company. But if you buy cards in PSA
holders, to a certain extent you're saying I trust the
evaluation or I like the card a lot.
(11:29):
And I think that their evaluation took into account the
things that would concern me andrelief that concern from me.
I think that if, if people feel that PSA is now grading much
harder than they used to, or if people feel that PS as grading
(11:54):
standards have gotten tougher, then what it might mean is and,
and what it means for me becausebecause I subscribe to the
theory that they are grading harder than they used to.
And one of the things that that did for me, it didn't make me go
well, I don't trust PSA anymore.I don't trust their old grades.
I only trust their new grades orvice versa.
(12:15):
What it, what it meant to me is cards during the tenure when
they weren't grading as harsh, Ineed a little bit of a higher
grade for it to be the, the standard that I'm OK with.
(12:36):
So like for example, in in a card from the 50s, maybe maybe
my threshold is in that 4 range like that X mint, you know, kind
of X mint VG sort of range. Well, if it was graded in 1995,
that might have been more like afive grade and now it might be
(12:58):
more like a three range. And so I have to, and I said
this at nauseam to me, the number, the number is a
suggestion. The number is 1 Series of
opinions based on some of the qualities about the card.
(13:20):
And then I have to buy a card that I like or don't like if
they're grading harder then, which I believe to be true.
I'm way more open minded to a lower number because to me a
lower number is still a better card than that number.
So there was a time where I'd say, you know, I want cards kind
(13:42):
of in that 6 range. The six range is kind of the
sweet spot to me because it's not super expensive.
It's got a lot of positive qualities to it.
But now because I feel that they're grading a little bit
more harsh, I'm more looking in the four range and that is a
very, in most cases, a really high quality card. 45 S again, I
(14:10):
don't think we should continue to get too caught up in the
number itself and the number that was assigned from the
grading company. Instead, what I think we should
be doing is focusing on the card, using the number as a clue
or a piece of information towardour own conclusion of the
(14:30):
quality of the card. And for me in the current
grading process that's happening, a card that is being
graded right now, I am very, very open to a card in in the
3-4 range from the 1950s, whereas maybe 10 years ago or 15
(14:52):
years ago, I would have been looking more in that 6 range.
So again, I think the number doesn't matter a ton.
I think as we move forward the number is going to matter less
and less and less and what we actually think of the card
itself, our own opinion of the card is going to be the primary
(15:16):
factor in determining the value and the demand of the card.
This one says hello, this is Roy.
I have been away from most card content for a while.
Here is a simple low impact question for you.
I am beginning to get interestedin some modern players.
There's a sweet spot in a star players career where interest
(15:39):
slacks off in their cards. I'm thinking right before a
player retires you could possibly pick a few key cards
well before any Hall of Fame hype.
All right, I think this is a super interesting concept.
I totally hear where you're coming from.
You're saying I want cards of guys that are going to be Hall
(16:00):
of Farmers and I want cards of guys when they're not red hot.
Now, years ago, Clayton Kershaw and Justin Verlander, for
example, were like absolutely dominating players, dominating
pitchers in the league. But over the last couple of
(16:23):
years, they are still active, but they have not been as much
in the forefront of this young races.
They've not been in the forefront of superstars, though
they're still quality players. They're not getting a lot of
attention at the moment. And what it sounds like what
you're saying is when a player is in the the core peak of their
(16:48):
career and when a player is entering the Hall of Fame or
just entered the Hall of Fame, there's a lot of attention
around them. And with that, attention tends
to be some demand. So I think what you're
suggesting is if you buy a future Hall of Famer of a guy
who's toward the end of his career, when he's not getting a
(17:10):
lot of attention and before the Hall of Fame attention comes in,
then you might get a pretty gooddeal on some of their cards.
I think to a certain extent that's true.
I think to a certain extent. But here's the thing.
I think we all know and have known that Albert Pujols was
going to make the Hall of Fame. I think we all know Verlander
(17:33):
and Kershaw are going to make the Hall of Fame.
We knew Ichiro was going to makethe Hall of Fame.
A lot of guys over the last 10 years that when it got to the
twilight of their career, we knew they were going to make the
Hall of Fame. We knew Derek Jeter would make
the Hall of Fame. We knew Mariano Rivera would
make the Hall of Fame. We knew that.
So I think personally, a lot of the Hall of Fame value has
(17:58):
already been baked into the price.
I think that people don't go, oh, I'm going to grab some
Ichiro cards before Ichiro makesthe Hall of Fame.
We all know he's going to make the Hall of Fame.
So people have already built that in, in my opinion.
So what I think happens is a lotof people who collect Hall of
farmers, what they do is they look out and they go, who's
(18:22):
going to make the Hall of Fame? And I want to get their card
before they make the Hall of Fame because it could make their
price go up. CC Sabathia, OK, I knew I wanted
ACC Sabathia card because I likeCC Sabathia.
Now. CC Sabathia was to me clearly
going to make the Hall of Fame. It was just a matter of whether
he was a first or second ballot Hall of Famer.
(18:45):
And three years ago, four years ago, he wasn't really getting
any attention. He wasn't getting, he wasn't in
the news, but then when he makesthe Hall of Fame, he's in the
news. And when he was pitching in the
playoffs, he was making a lot ofnews.
So there, there is a little bit of a lull.
I think the question comes down to or, or at least my question
(19:06):
back is are you looking to buy acard that you would want anyway
as a long term card in your collection, or are you trying to
speculate on a card that you think will go up in value when
they make the Hall of Fame? Because if what you're trying to
do is speculate for a guy who's going to make the Hall of Fame,
I think a lot of players, their cards don't really go up when
(19:28):
they make the Hall of Fame. I think that it's expected in
many cases, the guys who we don't know we're going to make
the Hall of Fame and then are kind of a surprise or guys that
are maybe he's going to make theHall of Fame and then they do
make the Hall of Fame. That's where there tends to be a
little bit of a bump. But when Ricky Henderson
(19:49):
retired, we knew he was making the Hall of Fame.
So when he made the Hall of Fame, his card probably didn't
move much. And, and I've done some episodes
on this concept, The guys whose cards jumped a lot were more
veterans committees, guys like when Minnie Minoso got in, when
(20:09):
Ted Simmons got in, when Gil Hodges got in, When guys like
that get in, it's sort of like, oh.
This guy made the Hall of Fame, and now Dave Parker's cards have
gone up, right? Dave Parker autographs and
autographed rookies have gone up.
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
Fame, it's not like suddenly he's a better player.
It's that there's more demand 'cause there are some people who
collect cards of Hall of Farmers, and if you're not in
the Hall of Fame, there are a certain number of people who
won't collect your cards becausethey only collect Hall of Famers
or they want all Hall of Famer cards.
(20:52):
And as soon as you make the Hallof Fame, then boom, all of a
sudden the demand goes up. And when the demand goes up, the
price tends to go up. But guys like Ichiro, Verlander,
Kershaw, stuff like that. I don't really think that
there's this like, great deal inLowell right now because I think
(21:12):
people know, yeah, Poo Holes is going to make the Hall of Fame.
So people have already bought uphis cards as if he was already
in. There might be a slight jump
when he gets in just because there's some attention and
people go, oh, yeah, pool Holes,I need to go get some of his
cards. But then I think that that kind
(21:32):
of lulls back down to where it was.
So I guess it kind of depends onwhat the point of it is.
If the point is that you want tobuy cards when they're not super
hot, but they're cards you want in your collection anyway,
totally makes sense to buy Verlanders right now and
Kershaw's right now and, and gotGoldschmidt's like that and guys
like that right now. But I don't think that there's
(21:55):
going to be this surge in value in a few years when they're Hall
of Fame eligible. But again, that's just my take.
This question says if a card is cracked out of a slab and
resubmitted, the grading companywould be obligated to regrade
the card even though they can identify that they have already
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
during the slab cracking processso it would need to be re
evaluated. Now it does beg the question,
should the card be able to receive a higher grade than the
one it previously assigned? If so, how many grade points
above the previous grade would be acceptable?
(22:41):
Is the is it fair if there was atrue mistake when the original
grade was assigned? This is such a complicated
question. There are so many variables
here. I agree with your point about
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
because it's possible that the card got damaged during the
crackout process. And so I could see a card going
down in number because it was cracked out.
So just because the card has cracked out and resubmitted does
not mean it should get at least the same grade that it got
before. As long as we have a human being
(23:24):
using their judgment and some fairly vague descriptions of
what qualifies for certain grades, there's always going to
be a variance from one grade to the next.
I could take a card, I could crack it out, I could resubmit
it, and it could get a a huge swing up or down.
Again, we know this, they know this, they talk about this, we
(23:48):
talk about this. But the point, the take away, in
my opinion, the take away from this right here is everything.
Here's the take away. That is the reason that we
shouldn't give so much validation and credit to the
grade. The fact that the grade could
(24:10):
change is is the fact that the grades do change is what makes
it insane when a card goes from an 8 to a nine, how the price
just goes through the roof on a vintage card.
On a vintage card, if a card gets an 8 versus a card gets a
nine, that the value of that card goes exponentially higher.
(24:35):
And if a card goes from A9 to A10, exponentially higher,
especially for vintage cards, which is again the the take
away. The point is that is crazy
because on a given day, that 10 could be an 8 or a nine.
(24:55):
It it could that nine could be a10 or an 8.
Yet the amounts that people are paying for the premium from one
to the other when there may not be a difference, I mean
literally except for how the card was viewed on that
particular day. So I don't really know what is
(25:19):
acceptable for a card to go up or down.
I mean, again, ideally, see whenyou go to McDonald's and you get
a Big Mac and you get a Big Mac and you're in Kansas City, MO,
or you go to Seattle, WA and youget a Big Mac or you go to
(25:41):
Anaheim, CA and you get a Big Mac, it's pretty similar because
their standards and and their processes for how they put the
sandwich or the burger together is very, very similar.
The ingredients are the same, the portions are virtually the
(26:02):
same. But there are sometimes you go
to a McDonald's, you go. That wasn't a very good one.
That was not a very good one. They were kind of lazy on that
one. That bread was a little bit old
on that one, Whatever it is. So there's always going to be a
variance whenever a human is involved in the process.
(26:22):
So what is what should be allowed?
Again, if we want, just like balls and strikes, if we want
balls and strikes to be called perfectly, then a computer can
do it. But if we want a human being to
do it, there are going to be times where there are mistakes.
So do we want a mistake free computer based system?
(26:48):
We have tag, at least for modern, we have tag.
If you want a human being to do it, we have some other grading
companies. So I am certainly not defending
the grading companies. I have issue with A7 being
cracked and resubmitted and coming back at 9 or vice versa.
(27:09):
I have issues with that. But ultimately, the reason it's
such a big deal, the reason it'ssuch a big deal that a card goes
from A7 to A9 or A9 to A7, that really shouldn't matter that
much. The reason it matters is because
we, the second secondary consumer, the third party
(27:32):
consumer, the person who comes along the line after the fact,
is willing to pay so much more because it has a nine instead of
because it has a 7. That's the reason it's a big
deal. Ultimately, it's our fault if we
bought cards with our eyes, if we bought cards that we liked
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
to a nine. If if people were were buying
cards without looking at the grade, therefore it's the same
card. You should be just as willing to
buy the card that has a nine, which you don't know it's a nine
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?
What if the grading companies didn't put the number on the
slab? What if the grading companies
just had it where if you looked up the serial number, then you'd
see the grade? Wouldn't that be better?
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
Mantle. And then you run the serial
number and you go, ah, never mind, it's just a three.
Wouldn't that be crazy if you looked into a case and you
didn't know the grade? I think it's interest.
(29:01):
I think it's an interesting thought.
There was one more piece from this that I wanted to.
Is it fair that they make actualmistakes?
I've thought a lot about this too.
I've thought, well, wait a second.
If if I have a four and I crack it out and I send it back in and
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
them to regrade a card that theylater acknowledge is wrong by
three grades? Wouldn't wouldn't it be in the
grading company's best interest to grade harshly?
(29:46):
Because if they grade harshly, you might crack it and resubmit
it to be graded again. And then maybe when he gets
graded again, maybe that time itgets graded more accurately or
more fairly. If you're the grading company,
what is better for your business?
(30:07):
What is better for your submissions?
Is it to give you a good grade where you're like, great, it got
a nine. I'm not cracking this out
because it looked like A7 to me.Or if it's the seven that they
give a 5, because if it should have gotten A7 but they give it
a 5, aren't you more likely to crack it and try it again?
(30:29):
Aren't you willing to go back upand pay a second time to have
that card get evaluated? I actually think for repeat
business's sake, it's actually better for them to grade harshly
because then you're more willingto resubmit it to them.
The only way to break this cyclethat we're in, this snowball,
(30:53):
this circle, this hurricane, this Blizzard of, is if we
finally start going, I don't care that that card has a nine
on it. It looks like A7 to me.
So I'm only going to pay 7 prices.
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.
Until that happens, the grading companies will continue to have
a ton of power over us and that's on us.
That's not on them, that is on us.
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
hours drive. Strongsville is only 7 hours
which makes it a nice weekend getaway.
So many professional and minor league teams in the area.
Plus fall is beautiful this timeof year.
Anyway. If you were setting up, you're
at your first big card show. Which cards would you get to
(32:03):
fill your cases? Your mission is to sell the
cards at their fair market valueand to sell at least 95% of your
inventory. Which cards would you choose
that are very popular and alwaysin demand?
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
had to sell it at comps. Now there are a lot of
assumptions in here and a lot ofthings I don't know so I feel
like I don't have all the information in order to give the
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.
Like where I live, I would fill my cases with Steph Curry cards,
refractor Curry's, insert Curry's refractor and insert
Jordan's refractor and insert Brock Purdy's refractor and
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.
And I think I think that your question is like, OK, you're
going to the national a major show.
There's going to be tons of traffic.
There's going to be people with money.
What would you fill your cases with to make sure that you sell
95% of your inventory at fair market value?
(33:31):
Now, the first thing is what is fair market value?
Is it fair market value for the grade or is it fair market value
for the I appeal I'm at since most people consider the comps
based 99% on the grade, I'm going to go with that.
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
National, how could I sell out my cases at the National?
Here's what I would do. I would have centered and I
would have high. I appeal centered.
(34:14):
Jackie Robinson's, Ty Cobbs, Cy Young's, Babe Ruth's, Lou
Gehrig's, Mickey Mantels, Hank Aaron's, Willie Mays's Did I say
Jackie yet? Jackie Robinson's if I didn't
say Jackie yet. Centered, high colour, high eye
(34:36):
appeal. If I took those cards of those
players and Walt, OK, I'll, I know I'm going to get yelled at
for leaving. Walter Johnson, probably 2.
Christy Mathewson 2. I know I'm leaving out a big
(34:57):
name or two, but Joe DiMaggio centered well.
Good color, good eye appeal. If I took out a bunch of Cobbs,
Ruth's, Gehrig's, Jackie's, Mantels, Mazes, Aaron's,
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
for the grade, I'd sell out. I would absolutely sell out of
all of those guys. Now there are other, there are
other players that are popular, There are other players that are
good. There are players I didn't
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
players. And if if the card is centered
and the card has high eye appealand you have it priced with
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
national that that's what I would do.
I would just absolutely clean up.
But I think the people who bought from me, who bought those
players centered high eye appealat middle comp for the number,
(36:29):
those people would do better than I would do because I think
long term those cards are going to continue selling more and
more and more than their same grade counterparts.
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
you were hoping for me to answerit.
And Andrew says, hi Greg, I was wondering when you sell carts or
get rid of, does it make you appreciate your collection more?
You mentioned in the midlife live stream about quality versus
(37:14):
quantity. So what do you find and believe
the difference to be in a collector versus a hoarder?
Is it the passion and time beingcarefully curated the
collection? Have you ever held on to cards
that you don't like longer than you should have?
Hoping to hear facts, but will accept your opinions.
(37:37):
However, I can't be responsible for how other people will
perceive them. Thanks, Greg.
All right, Andrew, so I feel like there's a few things I want
to make sure that I'm clarifying.
First of all, I don't think thatthere's a right or a wrong way
to do this. This hobby.
(37:58):
I, I, I really don't, I really don't have any.
I have so much respect for a guylike Chris from Missouri who
wants to have every card of every Hall of Famer.
I believe Chris has every Hall of Fame rookie card post WAR, I
believe, and he has most cards, the full runs of most Hall of
(38:23):
Famers post WAR. Mike Moynihan said the other
day, a couple of weeks ago, his goal is to have every TOPS card,
every base TOPS card ever created.
Now that collecting that way doesn't work for me, that does
not mean that their way of collecting is an incorrect way
(38:46):
to collect. I love that they collect that
way. I think that's fantastic, but
that's not for me. For me, I want to have a number
of cards that I'm able to enjoy.And when I have boxes and boxes
and boxes and boxes and binders and binders and binders of
cards, that's too many for me with my lifestyle, with my
attention span, with my brain capacity to be able to actually
(39:11):
enjoy. So for me, I am more of a
collector who would, who would like to have a couple of 100, a
couple 100 to 50 like cards thatI really like those than to have
thousands and thousands and thousands of cards.
(39:33):
That doesn't make me better thananyone.
That doesn't mean that I'm doingit the right way and someone
else is doing it the wrong way. One of the things that came up
on the live stream was, you know, the hoarder style of
collecting for for whatever reason, that term is, is thought
of as like a negative connotation.
(39:56):
It might because there's like a there's isn't there like ATV
show, unlike TLC where they go into like hoarders houses and
the people are just like just there's just rats everywhere and
stuff. If that's the case, that a
hoarder style of collector to meis not intended to be a
disrespectful thing. If it is, then we need to come
(40:18):
up with a new term, a broad collector versus a narrow
collector. Maybe, I don't know, but it's
not that a, a person who collects broadly like Chris and
Mike, they're not doing it wrong.
So maybe it's the term, the connotation behind the term of
(40:39):
hoarder that sounds like a negative thing.
That is not a negative thing. I love that.
I love that Keith of lonely basement Baseball cards.
I love that he wants to collect like every card of every Yankee.
That's fantastic. That's not for me, but that's
fantastic that he does it that way.
There are some people who like to collect lots of different
(41:02):
sets and some just certain players.
To say that Theo Clemente Collector is collecting wrong
because he 95% of his collectionis Clemente.
He's not wrong. He's having fun.
So I feel like I'm kind of defending myself in the question
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
doing it. If you want cards that are
ungraded, fantastic. If you want cards that are
graded, fantastic. If you want STC, great.
PSA great. Some people care about grading.
We just had two questions of thefive this week about grading
questions and some people like, I don't care about grading.
(41:46):
Grading is the devil. Well, great.
Fast forward through those responses because you don't care
about those things. That's fantastic.
I love Wednesdays because Wednesdays you all get to tell
me what you all are interested in hearing about.
And I think that if you want to hear my take or other people's
(42:06):
takes or start a discussion downin the chat down below in the
comments about these topics, that's that's fantastic.
So to answer the rest of the question, and I typed it out
because I'm like you, you seem like I was going to be skipping
some things I'm going to try. Is the passion and the time
carefully curating a collection?Is it the passion and the time
(42:29):
being carefully curating the collection?
I don't know if a person who hasa broad collection or a narrow
collection, I don't think that one is curating more than
another. Like for me, I'm super picky
with the cards that I add to my collection.
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?
I didn't. I didn't like the looks of it.
I'm curating differently than Keith when he's going through
1/4 box looking for some 1986 Topps Yankee cards that he's
missing. It's a different type of
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
you should have? I think that there are times
that I have been afraid that if I sold the card I would regret
selling it, and so I hold on to it so I don't have regret.
(43:38):
Do I have actual examples of that?
So when my, my dad went through,so a lot of you all have seen
the, the episode where my dad was at an estate sale and he
came home with a shoe box full of cards and that he bought.
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,
estate sale find. And at the end of after the
cameras were off and stuff, I went through the cards and I
bought a couple of the cards from my dad, like just said,
Hey, you know, what do you want for this card?
What are you going to keep this card?
(44:21):
No, OK, What would you sell it for?
I don't know. And one of the cards I bought
was a 58 tops Sandy Koufax. OK, and it's a really nice.
The color on the card is fantastic.
I should have grabbed it, but I didn't.
It color on. It's really nice.
It's a great picture of Sandy Koufax.
(44:41):
I really like Sandy Koufax and Isent the card in to SGC and I
think it came back a 4.5. I kind of thought it might be
higher, but it's about 7525 centering.
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
and that and you asked me for facts, Andrew, I'm giving you an
exact example. And so part of me is like this
card doesn't really fit with howI'm collecting right now.
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
liquidated to buy some of the T2O6 cards I'm going after and
some of the other sets that I'vebeen putting together some of my
pirate cards. So like a lot of the cards from
the 60s I sold, I used the moneyto buy some of the pirate cards
that when I was building that pirate set.
(45:52):
And so the Sandy Koufax card doesn't really fit with what I'm
doing anymore. And part of me is like, I kind
of want to sell it because I don't know, let's say it's a,
let's say it's a $200 card in a 4.5 I, I'm like, I'd rather put
that $200 towards something else.
(46:13):
Like something else, Like I wantto Hank Aaron rookie someday.
I'd rather take that $200 to puttoward a Hank Aaron rookie.
But I'm afraid that I'll regret selling the card that I have
from that memory of that day with my dad.
And so sometimes the emotional attachment to a card prevents me
(46:38):
from selling a card because thatcard means more to me than the
value that that card could result my pocketbooks with.
So should I have sold that card?A lot of you are saying no way
you can never sell that card. Some of you are saying, well,
(47:00):
yeah, of course you should sell the card.
If it doesn't really fit with your collection, liquidate it
and put it towards something that does.
Neither one of you is wrong. So have I hung on the cards
longer than I should have? I think historically speaking,
the cards that people hang on tolonger than they should have.
Our prospect cards. I don't have any Wander Franco
(47:22):
cards, but if I did, I hung on to him too long.
I don't have any Todd Van Popplecards.
I don't have any Ben McDonald cards.
I don't have any Matt Noakes cards.
I don't have any. I don't who else?
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
could make the argument I hung on too long.
But I don't have a lot of those cards.
So I don't think I've hung on toany cards too long because for
me, once the card means more to somebody else than it does to
me. That's usually when I sell, and
(48:05):
I do sell from time to time. Did I answer everything?
I I think I answered everything.I hope I gave you some facts.
I hope I did a good job. Thank you.
If you're still listening to me today, it's gone a little long
today. You're still listening.
(48:26):
I appreciate a little long today.
I know, I know. It's just this is this is what I
do. If you have a question for an
upcoming episode down in the comments, please leave your
question. I would be happy and honored to
take the opportunity to share mythoughts about that topic.
What's going on everybody All right, it's Wednesday and and
the beauty of Wednesday, the beauty of these Q&A episodes is
it you all get to pick the topics.
Whatever you guys want to talk about, hear about, hear my
thoughts on, share your thoughtson it's all wrapped around what
(00:31):
you all come up with. So remember, if you have a
question or a topic you want discussed on an upcoming
Wednesday episode, submit it, submit it down below in the
comments. And I will absolutely put it on
the list and I will continue to work my way through the list.
And again, some weeks I get 10 submissions.
Some weeks I get 5. So it might be a week or two or
(00:55):
three before I get to him. Sometimes it might be that week.
It just kind of depends on what's submitted.
And but again, it's like, you know, when you have a channel
and you you put out videos, you're kind of just guessing on
what people are interested in. You don't really know.
(01:15):
I tend to put out things that I'm kind of interested in and
then I hope you all are interested as well.
But this is awesome because you all get to decide what it is
we're talking about. And because of that, each and
every week, it's a surprise to me.
It's a surprise to me what we'regoing to talk about.
(01:35):
And there are sometimes that there are questions that I get
really excited to answer. I'm like, oh, that's a really
good one. And then there are sometimes
that I'm like, huh, I wonder if there are a ton of people that
are interested in this or just afew.
Regardless, if you have a topic that you want brought up again
down in the comments, please bring it up.
(01:57):
Now, halfway through the week, middle of the week, we can get
there. We're we're closing in on the
weekend. So let's take a look at the
first question. And this is an interesting 1A,
really interesting one. Let's check out the first
question here, a question for your Q&A.
(02:19):
Why is it assumed that PSA's newharsh grading standard means
that the old standard was too lenient?
Maybe the old standard was just fine, but the new standard is
excessively tough and may not stay that way, a response in the
comments said. I've been thinking the exact
same. The old standards were better
(02:41):
from grade to grade. The new standards reflect
microscopic differences between grades seven through 10 and
massive differences between grades one through 4.
Why the huge disparity between the high and low grades?
They should go back to making itan even progression.
(03:01):
All right, grading controversy. This you know, I know that
people say, man, why is why do we talk about grading a lot?
It's not just grading like with the grading companies.
It's agreeing on conditions every day when there is a deal
being made, there are, there is a buyer, there is a seller and
(03:24):
they probably don't see the cards exactly the same.
They probably have a slightly different opinion of the grade,
the condition, the the value. As a result, what is mint, what
is near mint, what is near mint,what is X mint, what is poor,
what is good and everything in between.
And I know that people talk about, yeah, there's all this
(03:48):
controversy about grading. This is not a new topic.
This is not a new topic at all. And and that's part of the
intricacies of vintage cards because most modern cards,
they're eighths, ninths or tenths.
You know, there might be a, a printer line, there might be a a
(04:09):
touch on some corners, there might be some centering issues.
But the the deviation between a really nice modern card and a
not so nice modern card it's notthat much.
But the the difference in pre war cards and vintage carts is
so wide now. I was looking through this
(04:32):
Beckett monthly. This is from 1986 and I
referenced this the other day when I was on Hobby Hotline on
for Collectors Network with Doctor Beckett and there was an
article that he wrote. And again, this is August of
(04:52):
1986, and the article is called The Grading Controversy.
And he wrote a whole article about, you know, what is a mint
card, what is a near mint card, and the differences between
different companies and different graders and different
dealers. And he referenced his definition
(05:15):
of each. And then he referenced another
publication opinion. And you can see right here in
the dark grey boxes, they have the definitions of each.
But look it in the middle. He was hosting at the 1986
National. He hosted the basically a
(05:37):
discussion about grading. And that's that's part of the
thing about grading is 1 A person's definition of near mint
might be different than another's.
Now, a lot of the times people talk about PSA versus SGC and
the differences between the two.We have to keep in mind, and
(05:58):
I've done videos on this, but ifyou go side by side, what does
near mint mean? SGC versus PSA?
What does X mint mean, SGC versus versus PSA?
There are a lot of similarities.In fact, the verbiage is very
similar in some cases, but thereare differences.
So when people say, well, you know, or is SGC just going to
(06:20):
cross all of their slabs over toPSA at some point because you
know, if if SGC were to dissolve, well, probably not.
And and one of the reasons probably not is because a A4 is
not the same definition for SGC grading as it is PSA grading.
(06:40):
But that's not the question here.
It, it, it, it, it sets the stage though.
It's the prelude for the conversation here, because not
even grading companies have the same definitions.
Different grading companies havedifferent definitions.
And something that I brought up with Doctor Beckett, something
(07:01):
I've brought up with a few people is when you enter in new
technologies, it, it affects what you can see versus what you
can't see. And, and in some ways that might
make grading more accurate with the new technologies, but in
some ways it's putting a more stringent eye on a card that
(07:27):
might be seeing things that otherwise wouldn't have been
seen, which in my opinion means that grading is harder.
Now, again, I've mentioned all this before.
Now I want to put a card on the screen here.
So on this screen, I've got a dandy early win card.
(07:48):
Now keep in mind a couple of things.
Dandy cards went into potato chip bags.
So they commonly have grease stains.
They commonly have like a a filmy surface.
Because of that, they, they, they have some issues.
Now, this card was graded quite a while ago And, and I know that
(08:10):
because of the flip, which you'll see here in a second, but
I want you to look at this card and I'm telling you right now,
it was graded years ago. What grade do you think that
this card should receive and what grade do you think this
card did receive? OK, again, an early win dandy
(08:32):
card. Now what I want you to do is see
how it graded. Did anybody out there think that
that card was going to get a 5? Because when I look at it, I see
some paper loss issues on the front, I see some paper loss
issues on the back. I see substantial dirt and
(08:56):
grease on the back and the front.
I see quite a bit of damage to this card.
But years ago, this card got a 5.
Now did it get a 5? Because it's a dandy card.
And at that time when they were grading dandy cards, they said,
well, we know it's going to havegrease.
(09:16):
We know it's going to have surface issues because all of
dandy cards, not all most dandy cards have those sorts of
issues. So we're going to grade it per
the standard of what a dandy card is expected to have.
Is that what happened? Because I if you look on PS as
(09:36):
grading standards and you look at what A5 represents, that card
does not, is not described by what a 5 is on the PSA website.
So is it that they graded the card too easy?
(09:57):
Is it that they graded the card correctly and now we're just
grading too hard? And this question basically is
asking that that concept. Is it that back in the day they
graded them too easy and now is right?
Or is it that back in the day they graded them correctly and
now it's too hard? Ultimately, I think that's where
(10:22):
the consumer gets to come in. The the reason that you send a
card to a grading company or youbuy a card in a certain grading
companies holder is because you subscribe to their opinions.
You know, if if there are grading companies out there that
(10:44):
you don't trust, you probably don't buy cards in those grading
companies holders, right? I mean, they're a grading
company. They're smaller grading
companies that a lot of us, if you saw a card in a holder at a
in a case at a card at a card show, you probably would go, I
(11:04):
don't think I'm going to buy it just because I don't really know
what to think of that holder. And I don't know if that company
has some shenanigans. I don't know if that company is
legit. I don't really trust that
company. But if you buy cards in PSA
holders, to a certain extent you're saying I trust the
evaluation or I like the card a lot.
(11:29):
And I think that their evaluation took into account the
things that would concern me andrelief that concern from me.
I think that if, if people feel that PSA is now grading much
harder than they used to, or if people feel that PS as grading
(11:54):
standards have gotten tougher, then what it might mean is and,
and what it means for me becausebecause I subscribe to the
theory that they are grading harder than they used to.
And one of the things that that did for me, it didn't make me go
well, I don't trust PSA anymore.I don't trust their old grades.
I only trust their new grades orvice versa.
(12:15):
What it, what it meant to me is cards during the tenure when
they weren't grading as harsh, Ineed a little bit of a higher
grade for it to be the, the standard that I'm OK with.
(12:36):
So like for example, in in a card from the 50s, maybe maybe
my threshold is in that 4 range like that X mint, you know, kind
of X mint VG sort of range. Well, if it was graded in 1995,
that might have been more like afive grade and now it might be
(12:58):
more like a three range. And so I have to, and I said
this at nauseam to me, the number, the number is a
suggestion. The number is 1 Series of
opinions based on some of the qualities about the card.
(13:20):
And then I have to buy a card that I like or don't like if
they're grading harder then, which I believe to be true.
I'm way more open minded to a lower number because to me a
lower number is still a better card than that number.
So there was a time where I'd say, you know, I want cards kind
(13:42):
of in that 6 range. The six range is kind of the
sweet spot to me because it's not super expensive.
It's got a lot of positive qualities to it.
But now because I feel that they're grading a little bit
more harsh, I'm more looking in the four range and that is a
very, in most cases, a really high quality card. 45 S again, I
(14:10):
don't think we should continue to get too caught up in the
number itself and the number that was assigned from the
grading company. Instead, what I think we should
be doing is focusing on the card, using the number as a clue
or a piece of information towardour own conclusion of the
(14:30):
quality of the card. And for me in the current
grading process that's happening, a card that is being
graded right now, I am very, very open to a card in in the
3-4 range from the 1950s, whereas maybe 10 years ago or 15
(14:52):
years ago, I would have been looking more in that 6 range.
So again, I think the number doesn't matter a ton.
I think as we move forward the number is going to matter less
and less and less and what we actually think of the card
itself, our own opinion of the card is going to be the primary
(15:16):
factor in determining the value and the demand of the card.
This one says hello, this is Roy.
I have been away from most card content for a while.
Here is a simple low impact question for you.
I am beginning to get interestedin some modern players.
There's a sweet spot in a star players career where interest
(15:39):
slacks off in their cards. I'm thinking right before a
player retires you could possibly pick a few key cards
well before any Hall of Fame hype.
All right, I think this is a super interesting concept.
I totally hear where you're coming from.
You're saying I want cards of guys that are going to be Hall
(16:00):
of Farmers and I want cards of guys when they're not red hot.
Now, years ago, Clayton Kershaw and Justin Verlander, for
example, were like absolutely dominating players, dominating
pitchers in the league. But over the last couple of
(16:23):
years, they are still active, but they have not been as much
in the forefront of this young races.
They've not been in the forefront of superstars, though
they're still quality players. They're not getting a lot of
attention at the moment. And what it sounds like what
you're saying is when a player is in the the core peak of their
(16:48):
career and when a player is entering the Hall of Fame or
just entered the Hall of Fame, there's a lot of attention
around them. And with that, attention tends
to be some demand. So I think what you're
suggesting is if you buy a future Hall of Famer of a guy
who's toward the end of his career, when he's not getting a
(17:10):
lot of attention and before the Hall of Fame attention comes in,
then you might get a pretty gooddeal on some of their cards.
I think to a certain extent that's true.
I think to a certain extent. But here's the thing.
I think we all know and have known that Albert Pujols was
going to make the Hall of Fame. I think we all know Verlander
(17:33):
and Kershaw are going to make the Hall of Fame.
We knew Ichiro was going to makethe Hall of Fame.
A lot of guys over the last 10 years that when it got to the
twilight of their career, we knew they were going to make the
Hall of Fame. We knew Derek Jeter would make
the Hall of Fame. We knew Mariano Rivera would
make the Hall of Fame. We knew that.
So I think personally, a lot of the Hall of Fame value has
(17:58):
already been baked into the price.
I think that people don't go, oh, I'm going to grab some
Ichiro cards before Ichiro makesthe Hall of Fame.
We all know he's going to make the Hall of Fame.
So people have already built that in, in my opinion.
So what I think happens is a lotof people who collect Hall of
farmers, what they do is they look out and they go, who's
(18:22):
going to make the Hall of Fame? And I want to get their card
before they make the Hall of Fame because it could make their
price go up. CC Sabathia, OK, I knew I wanted
ACC Sabathia card because I likeCC Sabathia.
Now. CC Sabathia was to me clearly
going to make the Hall of Fame. It was just a matter of whether
he was a first or second ballot Hall of Famer.
(18:45):
And three years ago, four years ago, he wasn't really getting
any attention. He wasn't getting, he wasn't in
the news, but then when he makesthe Hall of Fame, he's in the
news. And when he was pitching in the
playoffs, he was making a lot ofnews.
So there, there is a little bit of a lull.
I think the question comes down to or, or at least my question
(19:06):
back is are you looking to buy acard that you would want anyway
as a long term card in your collection, or are you trying to
speculate on a card that you think will go up in value when
they make the Hall of Fame? Because if what you're trying to
do is speculate for a guy who's going to make the Hall of Fame,
I think a lot of players, their cards don't really go up when
(19:28):
they make the Hall of Fame. I think that it's expected in
many cases, the guys who we don't know we're going to make
the Hall of Fame and then are kind of a surprise or guys that
are maybe he's going to make theHall of Fame and then they do
make the Hall of Fame. That's where there tends to be a
little bit of a bump. But when Ricky Henderson
(19:49):
retired, we knew he was making the Hall of Fame.
So when he made the Hall of Fame, his card probably didn't
move much. And, and I've done some episodes
on this concept, The guys whose cards jumped a lot were more
veterans committees, guys like when Minnie Minoso got in, when
(20:09):
Ted Simmons got in, when Gil Hodges got in, When guys like
that get in, it's sort of like, oh.
This guy made the Hall of Fame, and now Dave Parker's cards have
gone up, right? Dave Parker autographs and
autographed rookies have gone up.
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
Fame, it's not like suddenly he's a better player.
It's that there's more demand 'cause there are some people who
collect cards of Hall of Farmers, and if you're not in
the Hall of Fame, there are a certain number of people who
won't collect your cards becausethey only collect Hall of Famers
or they want all Hall of Famer cards.
(20:52):
And as soon as you make the Hallof Fame, then boom, all of a
sudden the demand goes up. And when the demand goes up, the
price tends to go up. But guys like Ichiro, Verlander,
Kershaw, stuff like that. I don't really think that
there's this like, great deal inLowell right now because I think
(21:12):
people know, yeah, Poo Holes is going to make the Hall of Fame.
So people have already bought uphis cards as if he was already
in. There might be a slight jump
when he gets in just because there's some attention and
people go, oh, yeah, pool Holes,I need to go get some of his
cards. But then I think that that kind
(21:32):
of lulls back down to where it was.
So I guess it kind of depends onwhat the point of it is.
If the point is that you want tobuy cards when they're not super
hot, but they're cards you want in your collection anyway,
totally makes sense to buy Verlanders right now and
Kershaw's right now and, and gotGoldschmidt's like that and guys
like that right now. But I don't think that there's
(21:55):
going to be this surge in value in a few years when they're Hall
of Fame eligible. But again, that's just my take.
This question says if a card is cracked out of a slab and
resubmitted, the grading companywould be obligated to regrade
the card even though they can identify that they have already
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
during the slab cracking processso it would need to be re
evaluated. Now it does beg the question,
should the card be able to receive a higher grade than the
one it previously assigned? If so, how many grade points
above the previous grade would be acceptable?
(22:41):
Is the is it fair if there was atrue mistake when the original
grade was assigned? This is such a complicated
question. There are so many variables
here. I agree with your point about
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
because it's possible that the card got damaged during the
crackout process. And so I could see a card going
down in number because it was cracked out.
So just because the card has cracked out and resubmitted does
not mean it should get at least the same grade that it got
before. As long as we have a human being
(23:24):
using their judgment and some fairly vague descriptions of
what qualifies for certain grades, there's always going to
be a variance from one grade to the next.
I could take a card, I could crack it out, I could resubmit
it, and it could get a a huge swing up or down.
Again, we know this, they know this, they talk about this, we
(23:48):
talk about this. But the point, the take away, in
my opinion, the take away from this right here is everything.
Here's the take away. That is the reason that we
shouldn't give so much validation and credit to the
grade. The fact that the grade could
(24:10):
change is is the fact that the grades do change is what makes
it insane when a card goes from an 8 to a nine, how the price
just goes through the roof on a vintage card.
On a vintage card, if a card gets an 8 versus a card gets a
nine, that the value of that card goes exponentially higher.
(24:35):
And if a card goes from A9 to A10, exponentially higher,
especially for vintage cards, which is again the the take
away. The point is that is crazy
because on a given day, that 10 could be an 8 or a nine.
(24:55):
It it could that nine could be a10 or an 8.
Yet the amounts that people are paying for the premium from one
to the other when there may not be a difference, I mean
literally except for how the card was viewed on that
particular day. So I don't really know what is
(25:19):
acceptable for a card to go up or down.
I mean, again, ideally, see whenyou go to McDonald's and you get
a Big Mac and you get a Big Mac and you're in Kansas City, MO,
or you go to Seattle, WA and youget a Big Mac or you go to
(25:41):
Anaheim, CA and you get a Big Mac, it's pretty similar because
their standards and and their processes for how they put the
sandwich or the burger together is very, very similar.
The ingredients are the same, the portions are virtually the
(26:02):
same. But there are sometimes you go
to a McDonald's, you go. That wasn't a very good one.
That was not a very good one. They were kind of lazy on that
one. That bread was a little bit old
on that one, Whatever it is. So there's always going to be a
variance whenever a human is involved in the process.
(26:22):
So what is what should be allowed?
Again, if we want, just like balls and strikes, if we want
balls and strikes to be called perfectly, then a computer can
do it. But if we want a human being to
do it, there are going to be times where there are mistakes.
So do we want a mistake free computer based system?
(26:48):
We have tag, at least for modern, we have tag.
If you want a human being to do it, we have some other grading
companies. So I am certainly not defending
the grading companies. I have issue with A7 being
cracked and resubmitted and coming back at 9 or vice versa.
(27:09):
I have issues with that. But ultimately, the reason it's
such a big deal, the reason it'ssuch a big deal that a card goes
from A7 to A9 or A9 to A7, that really shouldn't matter that
much. The reason it matters is because
we, the second secondary consumer, the third party
(27:32):
consumer, the person who comes along the line after the fact,
is willing to pay so much more because it has a nine instead of
because it has a 7. That's the reason it's a big
deal. Ultimately, it's our fault if we
bought cards with our eyes, if we bought cards that we liked
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
to a nine. If if people were were buying
cards without looking at the grade, therefore it's the same
card. You should be just as willing to
buy the card that has a nine, which you don't know it's a nine
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?
What if the grading companies didn't put the number on the
slab? What if the grading companies
just had it where if you looked up the serial number, then you'd
see the grade? Wouldn't that be better?
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
Mantle. And then you run the serial
number and you go, ah, never mind, it's just a three.
Wouldn't that be crazy if you looked into a case and you
didn't know the grade? I think it's interest.
(29:01):
I think it's an interesting thought.
There was one more piece from this that I wanted to.
Is it fair that they make actualmistakes?
I've thought a lot about this too.
I've thought, well, wait a second.
If if I have a four and I crack it out and I send it back in and
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
them to regrade a card that theylater acknowledge is wrong by
three grades? Wouldn't wouldn't it be in the
grading company's best interest to grade harshly?
(29:46):
Because if they grade harshly, you might crack it and resubmit
it to be graded again. And then maybe when he gets
graded again, maybe that time itgets graded more accurately or
more fairly. If you're the grading company,
what is better for your business?
(30:07):
What is better for your submissions?
Is it to give you a good grade where you're like, great, it got
a nine. I'm not cracking this out
because it looked like A7 to me.Or if it's the seven that they
give a 5, because if it should have gotten A7 but they give it
a 5, aren't you more likely to crack it and try it again?
(30:29):
Aren't you willing to go back upand pay a second time to have
that card get evaluated? I actually think for repeat
business's sake, it's actually better for them to grade harshly
because then you're more willingto resubmit it to them.
The only way to break this cyclethat we're in, this snowball,
(30:53):
this circle, this hurricane, this Blizzard of, is if we
finally start going, I don't care that that card has a nine
on it. It looks like A7 to me.
So I'm only going to pay 7 prices.
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.
Until that happens, the grading companies will continue to have
a ton of power over us and that's on us.
That's not on them, that is on us.
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
hours drive. Strongsville is only 7 hours
which makes it a nice weekend getaway.
So many professional and minor league teams in the area.
Plus fall is beautiful this timeof year.
Anyway. If you were setting up, you're
at your first big card show. Which cards would you get to
(32:03):
fill your cases? Your mission is to sell the
cards at their fair market valueand to sell at least 95% of your
inventory. Which cards would you choose
that are very popular and alwaysin demand?
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
had to sell it at comps. Now there are a lot of
assumptions in here and a lot ofthings I don't know so I feel
like I don't have all the information in order to give the
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.
Like where I live, I would fill my cases with Steph Curry cards,
refractor Curry's, insert Curry's refractor and insert
Jordan's refractor and insert Brock Purdy's refractor and
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.
And I think I think that your question is like, OK, you're
going to the national a major show.
There's going to be tons of traffic.
There's going to be people with money.
What would you fill your cases with to make sure that you sell
95% of your inventory at fair market value?
(33:31):
Now, the first thing is what is fair market value?
Is it fair market value for the grade or is it fair market value
for the I appeal I'm at since most people consider the comps
based 99% on the grade, I'm going to go with that.
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
National, how could I sell out my cases at the National?
Here's what I would do. I would have centered and I
would have high. I appeal centered.
(34:14):
Jackie Robinson's, Ty Cobbs, Cy Young's, Babe Ruth's, Lou
Gehrig's, Mickey Mantels, Hank Aaron's, Willie Mays's Did I say
Jackie yet? Jackie Robinson's if I didn't
say Jackie yet. Centered, high colour, high eye
(34:36):
appeal. If I took those cards of those
players and Walt, OK, I'll, I know I'm going to get yelled at
for leaving. Walter Johnson, probably 2.
Christy Mathewson 2. I know I'm leaving out a big
(34:57):
name or two, but Joe DiMaggio centered well.
Good color, good eye appeal. If I took out a bunch of Cobbs,
Ruth's, Gehrig's, Jackie's, Mantels, Mazes, Aaron's,
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
for the grade, I'd sell out. I would absolutely sell out of
all of those guys. Now there are other, there are
other players that are popular, There are other players that are
good. There are players I didn't
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
players. And if if the card is centered
and the card has high eye appealand you have it priced with
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
national that that's what I would do.
I would just absolutely clean up.
But I think the people who bought from me, who bought those
players centered high eye appealat middle comp for the number,
(36:29):
those people would do better than I would do because I think
long term those cards are going to continue selling more and
more and more than their same grade counterparts.
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
you were hoping for me to answerit.
And Andrew says, hi Greg, I was wondering when you sell carts or
get rid of, does it make you appreciate your collection more?
You mentioned in the midlife live stream about quality versus
(37:14):
quantity. So what do you find and believe
the difference to be in a collector versus a hoarder?
Is it the passion and time beingcarefully curated the
collection? Have you ever held on to cards
that you don't like longer than you should have?
Hoping to hear facts, but will accept your opinions.
(37:37):
However, I can't be responsible for how other people will
perceive them. Thanks, Greg.
All right, Andrew, so I feel like there's a few things I want
to make sure that I'm clarifying.
First of all, I don't think thatthere's a right or a wrong way
to do this. This hobby.
(37:58):
I, I, I really don't, I really don't have any.
I have so much respect for a guylike Chris from Missouri who
wants to have every card of every Hall of Famer.
I believe Chris has every Hall of Fame rookie card post WAR, I
believe, and he has most cards, the full runs of most Hall of
(38:23):
Famers post WAR. Mike Moynihan said the other
day, a couple of weeks ago, his goal is to have every TOPS card,
every base TOPS card ever created.
Now that collecting that way doesn't work for me, that does
not mean that their way of collecting is an incorrect way
(38:46):
to collect. I love that they collect that
way. I think that's fantastic, but
that's not for me. For me, I want to have a number
of cards that I'm able to enjoy.And when I have boxes and boxes
and boxes and boxes and binders and binders and binders of
cards, that's too many for me with my lifestyle, with my
attention span, with my brain capacity to be able to actually
(39:11):
enjoy. So for me, I am more of a
collector who would, who would like to have a couple of 100, a
couple 100 to 50 like cards thatI really like those than to have
thousands and thousands and thousands of cards.
(39:33):
That doesn't make me better thananyone.
That doesn't mean that I'm doingit the right way and someone
else is doing it the wrong way. One of the things that came up
on the live stream was, you know, the hoarder style of
collecting for for whatever reason, that term is, is thought
of as like a negative connotation.
(39:56):
It might because there's like a there's isn't there like ATV
show, unlike TLC where they go into like hoarders houses and
the people are just like just there's just rats everywhere and
stuff. If that's the case, that a
hoarder style of collector to meis not intended to be a
disrespectful thing. If it is, then we need to come
(40:18):
up with a new term, a broad collector versus a narrow
collector. Maybe, I don't know, but it's
not that a, a person who collects broadly like Chris and
Mike, they're not doing it wrong.
So maybe it's the term, the connotation behind the term of
(40:39):
hoarder that sounds like a negative thing.
That is not a negative thing. I love that.
I love that Keith of lonely basement Baseball cards.
I love that he wants to collect like every card of every Yankee.
That's fantastic. That's not for me, but that's
fantastic that he does it that way.
There are some people who like to collect lots of different
(41:02):
sets and some just certain players.
To say that Theo Clemente Collector is collecting wrong
because he 95% of his collectionis Clemente.
He's not wrong. He's having fun.
So I feel like I'm kind of defending myself in the question
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
doing it. If you want cards that are
ungraded, fantastic. If you want cards that are
graded, fantastic. If you want STC, great.
PSA great. Some people care about grading.
We just had two questions of thefive this week about grading
questions and some people like, I don't care about grading.
(41:46):
Grading is the devil. Well, great.
Fast forward through those responses because you don't care
about those things. That's fantastic.
I love Wednesdays because Wednesdays you all get to tell
me what you all are interested in hearing about.
And I think that if you want to hear my take or other people's
(42:06):
takes or start a discussion downin the chat down below in the
comments about these topics, that's that's fantastic.
So to answer the rest of the question, and I typed it out
because I'm like you, you seem like I was going to be skipping
some things I'm going to try. Is the passion and the time
carefully curating a collection?Is it the passion and the time
(42:29):
being carefully curating the collection?
I don't know if a person who hasa broad collection or a narrow
collection, I don't think that one is curating more than
another. Like for me, I'm super picky
with the cards that I add to my collection.
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?
I didn't. I didn't like the looks of it.
I'm curating differently than Keith when he's going through
1/4 box looking for some 1986 Topps Yankee cards that he's
missing. It's a different type of
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
you should have? I think that there are times
that I have been afraid that if I sold the card I would regret
selling it, and so I hold on to it so I don't have regret.
(43:38):
Do I have actual examples of that?
So when my, my dad went through,so a lot of you all have seen
the, the episode where my dad was at an estate sale and he
came home with a shoe box full of cards and that he bought.
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,
estate sale find. And at the end of after the
cameras were off and stuff, I went through the cards and I
bought a couple of the cards from my dad, like just said,
Hey, you know, what do you want for this card?
What are you going to keep this card?
(44:21):
No, OK, What would you sell it for?
I don't know. And one of the cards I bought
was a 58 tops Sandy Koufax. OK, and it's a really nice.
The color on the card is fantastic.
I should have grabbed it, but I didn't.
It color on. It's really nice.
It's a great picture of Sandy Koufax.
(44:41):
I really like Sandy Koufax and Isent the card in to SGC and I
think it came back a 4.5. I kind of thought it might be
higher, but it's about 7525 centering.
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
and that and you asked me for facts, Andrew, I'm giving you an
exact example. And so part of me is like this
card doesn't really fit with howI'm collecting right now.
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
liquidated to buy some of the T2O6 cards I'm going after and
some of the other sets that I'vebeen putting together some of my
pirate cards. So like a lot of the cards from
the 60s I sold, I used the moneyto buy some of the pirate cards
that when I was building that pirate set.
(45:52):
And so the Sandy Koufax card doesn't really fit with what I'm
doing anymore. And part of me is like, I kind
of want to sell it because I don't know, let's say it's a,
let's say it's a $200 card in a 4.5 I, I'm like, I'd rather put
that $200 towards something else.
(46:13):
Like something else, Like I wantto Hank Aaron rookie someday.
I'd rather take that $200 to puttoward a Hank Aaron rookie.
But I'm afraid that I'll regret selling the card that I have
from that memory of that day with my dad.
And so sometimes the emotional attachment to a card prevents me
(46:38):
from selling a card because thatcard means more to me than the
value that that card could result my pocketbooks with.
So should I have sold that card?A lot of you are saying no way
you can never sell that card. Some of you are saying, well,
(47:00):
yeah, of course you should sell the card.
If it doesn't really fit with your collection, liquidate it
and put it towards something that does.
Neither one of you is wrong. So have I hung on the cards
longer than I should have? I think historically speaking,
the cards that people hang on tolonger than they should have.
Our prospect cards. I don't have any Wander Franco
(47:22):
cards, but if I did, I hung on to him too long.
I don't have any Todd Van Popplecards.
I don't have any Ben McDonald cards.
I don't have any Matt Noakes cards.
I don't have any. I don't who else?
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
could make the argument I hung on too long.
But I don't have a lot of those cards.
So I don't think I've hung on toany cards too long because for
me, once the card means more to somebody else than it does to
me. That's usually when I sell, and
(48:05):
I do sell from time to time. Did I answer everything?
I I think I answered everything.I hope I gave you some facts.
I hope I did a good job. Thank you.
If you're still listening to me today, it's gone a little long
today. You're still listening.
(48:26):
I appreciate a little long today.
I know, I know. It's just this is this is what I
do. If you have a question for an
upcoming episode down in the comments, please leave your
question. I would be happy and honored to
take the opportunity to share mythoughts about that topic.
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