Posted on

Card Collecting Starts with Dad… Part 4

If you recall from my last collecting post, Card Collecting Stars with Dad … part 3, I did my first submission with PSA (Professional Sports Authenticator), I got a soul-crushing grade on a Jeter SP rookie, other low grades, but did score a nice Jordan Graded 10. For more on that submission check out the post.

Thatsdadstuff.com @thatsdadstuff 

After educating myself more on the grading process, what graders look for, how they grade, etc, I decided to put myself through this again and send a submission to SGC (Sportscard Guaranty Corporation). This time I submitted 20 cards to SGC. This collection consisted of this year’s baseball rookie class, several duplicates of Anthony Rizzo Rookies, and a Mike Trout 2012 Topps.

So how did I do? FANTASTIC. The six Anthony Rizzo Rookies were received some of these worse grades. I received a couple 8.5s and 9s. However, I did get a 10!. So That’s a keeper!

The Trout was a 9.5…NOT BAD!

Various Card Grading.

Two of the superstar rookies this year were Pete Alonso and Fernando Tatis Jr. I am happy to say, I received several 9.5s and 10s. What’s really great is that I received a Pristine 10 in the 2019 Topps Tatis, and a Pristine 10 Alonso Bowman insert.

I’m very happy with this submission. I plan on selling the duplicates and the ones that scored under 10 to help recoup some of my money. The total investment was $170. I should be able to get most of that back with the ones I plan on selling.  If you are interested in any, let me know. Check out the pics! SGCs turnaround time and customer service was very good. Bulk submission pricing is very competitive and I will definitely use them again on my next submission.

Once I sell and recoup some of my money, I will do another submission! Stay tuned.

Make sure to check out the recurring Collecting Dad posts at thatsdadstuff.com.

Card Collecting Starts with Dad…Part 3

Posted on

Card Collecting Starts with Dad… Part 3

image

A kid’s card collecting starts with Dad. Continuing from my previous post… So after all the drama with the lost package, my cards finally arrived. I submitted 5 Michael Jordan cards, 2 Ryne Sandberg Rookies, 4 Derek Jeter rookies, 2 Ken Griffey Jr Rookies, and a Dennis Rodman Rookie.

Thatsdadstuff.com @thatsdadstuff 

What Did I Get?

Remember from my previous post, one of the Derek Jeter cards I submitted was a 1993 Upper Deck SP Foil Rookie. A Gem Mint 10 sold for $100,000!!!

The grade I received… after all the shipping drama… after all the waiting… all the grade guessing, … after thinking about what I was going to buy when I sold my card…. my card was graded at a …

5

WHAT!? IT can’t be! A FREAKIN 5!!? Man, what a gut punch. I was so disappointed. Actually, to be honest, I was pretty pissed. In my opinion that card was flawless… come to find out, there were some surface scratches that ruined the grade. My other Derek Jeters graded at a 9, not bad. I’ll take those.

So what about the other grades? One Griffey Jr graded at a 9, the other at a 6.

One of my Ryne Sandberg rookies came back as an 8 and the other as a 9.

Anything Good?

My Rodman was a 9 as well. My Jordans all came back as a 9 except for one… The Fleer Ultra Nicknames “Air” Jordan Card, came back as a perfect Gem Mint 10.

As bummed as I was, I finished going through my cards and now all I could think about was, can I sell a couple of these to help offset the cost of grading. (By the way… WOW is it expensive!)

After researching eBay sold listings, I realized I could sell my Jeter SP rookie for $100, one other Jeter rookie for $30, a Griffey Rookie for $30, and one of my Jordans for $50. So with selling 4 cards, I was able to recoup most of my money. Not all of it, but most of it. I also decided NOT to sell my Jordan Gem Mint 10…

I learned a lot from this experience. Obviously, I need to be more careful when inspecting my cards before sending them off to be graded. The slightest little ding, or scratch, or the slightest bit off-center can really ruin the grade.

But guess what?! Those frustrations didn’t stop me… I did it again… the next submission should arrive this week… Wonder what grades I got… stay tuned.

That’s Dad Stuff

Collecting Starts with Dad Part 2

Posted on

Card Collecting Starts with Dad… Part 2

image

Card Collecting Starts with Dad… Part 2

Continuing from my first post about card collecting … So…. fast forward twenty-some years… and here we are. I read an article about a Derek Jeter card that sold for a cool $100k. When I saw that card, my heart picked its pace up a bit… and thought to myself… I HAVE THAT CARD!.. After work, I ran to my basement, I dug out my cards and there it was… The 1993 Upper Deck SP Foil Derek Jeter Rookie. So I did some research, joined some forums and Facebook groups, why was this card worth so much?

Thatsdadstuff.com @thatsdadstuff

What I didn’t know about that card was, the card that sold was “graded.” So since the time I collected, and in order to get the best price for your card, or to drastically increase the value of your card, you now need to send your card to a 3rd party grader. The card that sold was a perfect 10, my card… not so much. I know it wouldn’t get a 10. I researched more, asked around in some FB groups, what to do, who to send it to, how much, etc. Once I got my answers, I sent it off with 14 of my best cards. I got my tracking number and I waited…

I knew to go into this grading adventure it was going to take some time, 30 days! Thirty days of impatiently, anxiously waiting. After a week, I checked my tracking number, and it said in transit. A couple more days later… in transit. It’s still in transit? It was only going to take three days. The next day the tracking said status pending. Rut Roh! I called the shipping company… IT WAS LOST. Fifteen of my best cards were lost!

I went back to the location I shipped the package from, asked them for help, they contacted their regional manager, I had 2 different people from the 1800 customer service working it from their angle. After 3 weeks, the customer service team said to consider the lost and to file a claim. I was crushed…. CRUSHED. Then my wife came up with a great idea…

In the world of social media, we went to the shipping company’s Facebook and Twitter pages and asked for help. After some basic interactions, no new information. My wife did some internet searching and came across the CEO’s email address. I instantly sent him an email documenting the whole issue. Then the unthinkable happened…

Within an hour of my email, I got a phone call from the CEOs office. Go figure, I didn’t have the phone close to me, and it went to voicemail. I was told they escalated my case and had their top tier team looking for it. By the end of the day, they found the package, and it got to its destination 2 days later.

Now the question remains… What grades did I get?

That’s Dad Stuff

Card Collecting Starts with Dad part 1