Aoki is really getting involved in trading cards. He has his own Topps release '2020 Topps X Steve Aoki' which features not only his own autographs, but seems to be a sports card release as well. He has his own breakers channel: https://www.aokiscardbreaks.com/ which tweets at https://twitter.com/aokiscardhouse

Who knows where it goes, but he has the money and time to. . . do something.

Yep, Steve Aoki autograph card. I'm writing that right on top of my want list now and putting it in the round file.

I feel a bit behind the times since I never heard of Steve Aoki.

That makes two of us.

Look at this auction.

20 Marvel 1990 Diamond promo cards. Only $3,500.00.

Were these cut from the sheets ?


https://www.ebay.com/itm/Compl...f:g:nq0AAOSwOK9gFdNH

This is where it gets iffy
Blowout forum posts lately have had members complaning about too many buyers asking to be able to return raw cards that they have purchased that do not come up to grading standards.
And because of this they are asking members to block these buyers .
They are hoping to get good money for these cards but when there is a complaint that the item is not as described they are up in arms
I hope this situation dose not get into the Non Sports realm
But i am sure it will happen and very soon

quote:

Originally posted by piko:
This is where it gets iffy
Blowout forum posts lately have had members complaning about too many buyers asking to be able to return raw cards that they have purchased that do not come up to grading standards.

What this is at its heart is a get-rich quick scheme and it has nothing to do with actual non-sport card collectors, unless non-sport card collectors become convinced that only graded cards count.

They are selling raw cards to people who only want to grade and re-sell. If the cards grade high, the buyer becomes a seller and makes a profit. But if the raw card comes in under a 9, it wasn't worth the grading fee and has limited demand, so the buyers blame the sellers for misleading them. It's not as though they want the card themselves, they just want to find someone else that pays more.

Now the end user of all this is supposed to be a card collector or at least a card investor. With sports cards it is unquestionably true that the really big money cards get graded, so that has become the accepted standard.

The reason why graded cards have not become the accepted standard in non-sport cards is simply because a majority of non-sport card collectors don't give a fig about them. There are also way, way less individual non-sport cards that are valued anywhere near the top tiered sports cards.

However the pressure to get non-sport card collectors to come around to this way of thinking is obvious and is coming from sellers who are looking to cash in either on the raw to graded end or the flipping of high graded cards end. It is happening already, but it will only take hold when enough actual non-sport card collectors start to buy into it.

To be clear, I believe that there is a place for graded cards. Expensive vintage cards, cards prone to counterfeiting, cards suspected of repair, truly high valued cards, all make be good reasons to have a third party condition grade or authentication. As a money making scheme it shouldn't be tolerated and non-sport card collectors are right to resist. In the end it only makes cards more unaffordable to the true collector.

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:


However the pressure to get non-sport card collectors to come around to this way of thinking is obvious and is coming from sellers who are looking to cash in either on the raw to graded end or the flipping of high graded cards end. It is happening already, but it will only take hold when enough actual non-sport card collectors start to buy into it.

I totally disagree.

I don't see anyone pressuring existing entertainment card collectors.

I don't see anyone posting on Card Talk or other boards trying to 'convert' people to grading.

I see a lot of people who are just doing the grading themselves and talking about current and future values.

The reality is that I don't think the people who are grading cards give a hoot about any of the people who are anti-grading. In places where they talk about grading I never see any discussions about converting anti-graders, or even anyone caring what anti-graders are doing. . .

What I'm seeing is new or expanding segments of the hobby.

Come on Jon, you don't like me to disagree with you, but you keep quoting my posts and finding fault with my opinions. We don't have to agree, but please don't misrepresent what I said.

I did not know I was an anti-grader. Sounds like an anti-vaccinator. I specifically said there are good reasons to grade cards. Doing it for the sole purpose of making money on cards that don't need to be graded is not one of them. That is a scheme.

My idea of pressure is what you might better like to call hype. The title of your thread is "Common cards now worth thousands". Where is that exactly? Is that not hype to join the ranks of the gem-mint hunters? Common cards are commons, unless you pump them up with a high grade slab and try to sell them to someone else on the theory that they are suddenly worth that much more.

Card collectors want to keep the cards they have bought because they like them. Anything that makes cards less affordable to the average collector isn't good for that collector. "Speculators ruin collectible markets", that one belongs to pcetodd.

I'm not against your seeing new and expanding segments of the hobby. Go for it. Just look at the big picture and understand what the consequences will be.

Oh, I see the pressure. Seeing that card sell could have been just another crazy, isolated sale but several cards have sold like that. Anyone with a Marvel Universe set and some loose singles lying around is going to at least think about looking through their cards for apparent examples of perfection and then consider seeing how they grade out. A single that was worth a dime or less last year may be worth at least a few hundred dollars now. That's real money in a time of COVID weirdness.

People who are grading cards don't have to convert anybody. Some of these final auction prices are already doing all the talking.

Non-sports card grading isn't new. It has been expanding. It's not just Mars Attacks and older cards that have been sent in for grading. It's become a thing with 70's cards. A couple of years ago, there were articles in "The Wrapper" about how difficult it is to find high-grade cards of some numbers from Donruss' "Space 1999" and Topps' "Moonraker" boxes. A few years ago, I saw isolated graded 90's promos and I still don't see many, but if graded 90's base cards are selling for hundreds of dollars, it won't be long before we see slabbed chase cards and promos more often.

With that said, I think having a graded card or two will still be more of a novelty for most non-sport collectors. I've seen some highly-graded and overpriced 70's stickers go unsold for months. It's like the collector who specializes in 60's sets and who might have just a type card of one or two test sets. You won't go for the full set because it's expensive but you might go for a good deal on an example. I don't have a graded card yet but there have been a couple of times when I thought about it because the card was uncommon and still at a reasonable price.

Jess

It's impossible for non sport collectors to get stung by this sort of rubbish unless they allow themselves to be. People can grade what they like and put thousands on it and it is a waste of time until somebody buys into it, literally.

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:
Come on Jon, you don't like me to disagree with you, but you keep quoting my posts and finding fault with my opinions. We don't have to agree, but please don't misrepresent what I said.

You literally said:

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:
However the pressure to get non-sport card collectors to come around to this way of thinking is obvious and is coming from sellers who are looking to cash in either on the raw to graded end or the flipping of high graded cards end. It is happening already, but it will only take hold when enough actual non-sport card collectors start to buy into it.

I haven't seen a single seller, or buyer or collector trying to pressure anyone into doing anything.

I am sorry if you feel that is a misrepresentation.

For the record, I'm not getting any cards graded, I'm not looking to buy any graded cards and I'm not selling any graded cards. I think the only graded card I own is an often forged autograph that I bought graded for authenticity purposes.

I'm not hyping or pressuring, all I'm doing is pointing out things that are happening outside of Card Talk -- to try to initiate more conversation on Card Talk and make it a more vibrant/active community.

I was reading about Game Stop stock today and immediately thought of the card that started this thread.

I do not have a single graded card myself but..... I may in the future as a card seller has an autograph card graded I need put me 1 card away from a master set I have worked on for almost a decade. Also, my son has many graded cards. He has been grabbing up 1966 Batman cards and sometimes find good deals on "lower" scoring cards. I think the only riddler back cards he has are graded.

quote:

Originally posted by mykdude:
I was reading about Game Stop stock today and immediately thought of the card that started this thread.

Funny you mention that -- when I saw this story about GME I thought about the potential collectors on Card Talk who could be cashing out:

https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyl...r-saw-233017159.html

For reference it was just a few years ago I was unable to sell MU1 sets for $15, now it seems like they would be easy to sell at $100.

quote:

Originally posted by mykdude:
I was reading about Game Stop stock today and immediately thought of the card that started this thread.

Have to ask what you mean by that comment?

Game Stop went through the roof for awhile because of the coordinated effort to organize mass buying, fueled on social media, of a fairly poor stock that the hedge funds were shorting. The "investors' that drove up the stock to an insane price made a lot of money, IF THEY GOT IN AND OUT.

Many people did not cash out in time and they got stuck when the restrictions came in two days ago to curtail it for the good of Wall Street. Now the "investors" are holding stock that is down about 60% and falling. Either they sell, and drop the prices faster, or hold on and take the whole ride back down. Some people are losing everything they made and maybe their own money if they came in on the upswing. There will be lawsuits and it will bring investigations into the whole business of shorting stocks and buying on options.

I'm not sure how you are comparing this to what we are talking about. Whether you think its a good or bad thing for people to risk money on crowd driven movements, whether its stock picks or graded cards or whatever?

The only thing I would say is don't get greedy and don't hang around too long.

quote:

Originally posted by webjon:

quote:

Originally posted by mykdude:
I was reading about Game Stop stock today and immediately thought of the card that started this thread.

Funny you mention that -- when I saw this story about GME I thought about the potential collectors on Card Talk who could be cashing out:

https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyl...r-saw-233017159.html

For reference it was just a few years ago I was unable to sell MU1 sets for $15, now it seems like they would be easy to sell at $100.

Hahaha! Exactly! If your $5 dollar common card gets a hype price of $1000 ya better be smart enough to sell it.

quote:

Originally posted by webjon:
I'm not hyping or pressuring, all I'm doing is pointing out things that are happening outside of Card Talk -- to try to initiate more conversation on Card Talk and make it a more vibrant/active community.

Thanks to everyone for helping to initiate more conversation!

Can definitely see a difference in point of view from more “seasoned” collectors that were collecting in throughout the 1990’s and those that maybe have started and/or returned within the last few years.

There’s definitely room for a new segment within the hobby that collects graded cards and are willing to pay a premium price for Graded 10 versions. There’s still going to be those slightly off centered raw cards that will still be in the common boxes for people to collect.

quote:

Originally posted by Heroes For Hire:

There’s definitely room for a new segment within the hobby that collects graded cards and are willing to pay a premium price for Graded 10 versions. There’s still going to be those slightly off centered raw cards that will still be in the common boxes for people to collect.

I would say that segment has been around for awhile. For me it is not a question of a premium price for grade 10 but paying a completely unrealistic price for a grade 10.

The print process from 90's Impel was solid. I think if we could magically grade every Marvel Universe Series 1 #30 card today (30,000? 40,000?) that the majority of them would hit 9 or 10. Of course then the hype grade 10 prices now would drastically decline and the grading company wins again.

I am not opposed to grading/authenticating services but there is a fundamental flaw in our hobby when we pull a card out of a pack, ask what it's worth and the answer is "I don't know, let's ask PSA"

It has certainly created a bubble that will eventually bust.

Now leave me alone....I need to go find my sealed 1991 Halloween Marvel hand out to safe kids packs and get them over to Beckett as soon as possible!!!!