kyberforged
Forum Replies Created
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Buccaneers, Reds, and Bulls I’d say are always my targets when I go shopping lol
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I think the 90s football comparison is the really interesting part. Basketball has already shown that there’s a ton of appetite for those 90s-era inserts and designs, and football has so many cards from that same period that still feel relatively affordable.
If Shaq, Jordan, etc. are pulling more attention toward 90s basketball, I could definitely see collectors eventually looking at the football equivalents and realizing they can get some pretty iconic cards for a lot less. Sanders, Rice, Manning and Moss seem like the obvious names to watch.
And I completely agree on Frank Thomas. Griffey and Bonds getting the attention makes sense, but Frank feels like one of those guys where the gap could eventually close. He was an absolute monster and has plenty of those great 90s inserts to chase.
Now you’ve got me wanting to go digging through some 90s football cards.
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Oh man, the wrong order in sequential grading might actually hurt worse.
A 9 is disappointing, but at least you can tell yourself, “Okay, I know exactly what I got.” The cards coming back out of order would have me staring at the slabs like, “Did PSA just decide numbers are optional?” lmao
Although if that Bulbasaur was supposed to be a 10… yeah, that one might win the pain contest.
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That’s pretty much where I’m at too. The shop guy had me feeling pretty confident about it, and looking at it myself I’m having a hard time finding anything that would knock it down.
If it comes back a 10, I’m going to be VERY happy I decided to take the shot. Even a 9 wouldn’t hurt too badly, but obviously I’m sitting here hoping PSA agrees with us. Now comes the hardest part of grading: forgetting you submitted it until the email shows up. 😆
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Yeah, that pretty much confirms that one day at National is nowhere near enough. 😂 If you can spend the entire day there and still not even get close to every table, you almost have to treat it like a multi-day vacation.
Two days sounds like the sweet spot. One day for the “I need to find these specific cards” mission and another day to slow down, browse, talk to dealers, and actually take in all the crazy stuff you otherwise blow past.
And getting an Airbnb with friends would make the whole thing even better. National weekend is officially becoming a multi-day operation! 😂
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I think that’s a huge part of it. Shaq crossed over from being an athlete into being a recognizable pop-culture figure. Someone who couldn’t name five NBA players probably still knows who Shaq is.
That kind of mainstream recognition has to matter eventually in the card market. You’re not just selling the basketball player — you’re selling a personality and a piece of someone’s childhood.
Jordan obviously has that on an even bigger level, but Shaq is probably one of the few basketball players from that era who can reach way outside the actual basketball-collecting audience. That could be part of why the market is suddenly waking up to him.
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I’m with you on PCA. I think we’re getting to the point where waiting for the hobby to fully catch up could mean paying a lot more later. I’d rather grab a few cards now and be wrong than wait until everyone suddenly decides he’s a superstar. 😂
And the Pokémon situation is crazy. I have zero interest in fighting someone in a parking lot at 6 AM over a box of cards. 😂 I’ll happily let the scalpers do their thing, wait for the market to settle, and pick up the singles I actually want afterward. Much less stressful way to collect.
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Yeah, that’s where vintage gets dangerous for the wallet. 😂 A PSA 1 still being a five-figure card really puts into perspective how different the vintage market is from modern.
But I actually like having those “maybe someday” cards on the list. You don’t have to own everything immediately. Sometimes the fun is slowly working your way toward the cards you never thought you’d be able to own.
And getting that Jackie Robinson run completed would be one heck of a collection goal. That’s a serious grail hunt.
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That’s probably the approach I’d take too. I’d rather own a lower-grade vintage card and actually enjoy having it than wait forever trying to afford the perfect copy.
And with some of the really big vintage cards, even a PSA 1 or 2 is still a significant card. At that point the grade is almost secondary to simply owning a piece of hobby history.
Plus, there’s something pretty satisfying about upgrading a card later. Start with the beat-up copy, enjoy it for a while, then eventually find a nicer one and move the original along. Gives you a reason to keep hunting.
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That’s an incredible vintage wishlist. I really like that you’re not limiting yourself to one sport either. There’s something special about building a collection around the icons of each era.
The 1953 Topps set is one I completely understand wanting to build. Those designs are just timeless, and putting together a set slowly through individual pickups would be a pretty awesome project.
And I hadn’t really considered vintage non-sports much, but the 1931 Walt Disney is exactly the kind of card that could pull me down another rabbit hole. 😂 Vintage collecting has a dangerous way of turning “I’ll just look into this one thing” into a whole new PC.
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That’s the kind of card I’d want to show off too. There’s something really cool about having one card in the case that isn’t necessarily the most expensive, but has the best story behind it.
And honestly, the “why?” is probably more fun than just saying what it’s worth. Those are the cards that turn a quick conversation at a show into a 20-minute hobby conversation. Definitely sounds like a true forever-PC card.
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Yeah, that’s pretty much how I’ve been looking at it too. The raw price by itself doesn’t tell the whole story. I’m really looking at the spread between an 8, 9 and 10 and whether that spread is big enough to justify the grading cost and wait.
For a PC card, I’m a lot less concerned about the math. If I want it protected and slabbed, I’ll grade it even if there isn’t much financial upside.
But if I’m grading with the intention of flipping, the numbers have to make sense. A card that goes from $30 raw to $40 as a PSA 9 probably isn’t worth the trouble. A card that goes from $30 raw to $200+ as a PSA 10? Now you have my attention lol
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That’s probably the smarter way to approach the Pokémon releases. Let everyone else fight over the initial wave, then come back once the hype and FOMO have cooled off and see where the singles actually settle.
And PCA is exactly the kind of player I’d be watching right now. If he keeps producing, the market eventually has to catch up. I’d much rather buy a guy while people are still debating whether he’s “for real” than after everyone has decided he’s the next big thing.
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Same here. I’ve gotten to the point where I almost automatically look at centering, corners, surface and edges when I’m buying something I might eventually grade.
It’s funny how you can go from “I really like this card” to holding it under the light like a forensic investigator five minutes later. 😂
The dangerous part is when you convince yourself you’re looking at a PSA 10 and then PSA has other ideas.
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The Pokémon release market can be absolutely ridiculous when people are racing to preorder everything and flip it immediately. I’d probably rather wait for the initial insanity to settle down and buy the cards I actually want instead of spending all day trying to beat the scalpers. And I really like the Pete Crow-Armstrong call. He’s getting harder to ignore at this point. He just hit his 30th homer of the season and already has another 30/30 season, so the “he’s getting better” argument is looking pretty strong. That’s actually the kind of player I like buying before the hobby completely decides he’s a star. If PCA keeps this up and starts getting serious MVP consideration, I think his cards could get a pretty healthy bump.