Shaq is Rising up!

[bigjbasketball]

Originally Posted by boldon1

I bought 19 loose packs of fleer ultra and pulled 3 shaq rookie cards from this lot - they look pretty good and sharp. What made you decide to send yours for grading? With the associated costs, is it worth it? Thanks


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If they gem, it’s definitely worth it. I just looked at the centering (most Fleer Ultra cards from that year look pretty good, I haven’t seen many with bad centering issues), corners (razor sharp with no dings), edges (again, sharp with no roughness), and surface (no creases, indentations, discoloration, scuffs, etc.). If all those criteria looked good, then I sent it in. Right now here’s what I have either at PSA or on its way to PSA:

UD #1 Draft Pick (1)
Skybox base (2)
Skybox Draft Pick (1) - this one wasn’t perfect, I’m hoping for a 9
Ultra (1)
Fleer base (2)
Fleer Slam Dunk (1)
Hoops base (2)

So that’s 10 total cards, with grading at $20 per card in a group standard submission. If I can get 2 or 3 gems out of the 10 then that will more than pay for the grading. But factor in the cost for the boxes (not super expensive), and I’ll probably need about half of them to gem. Unless the Fleer base both gem (or the UD, but I’m not counting on that), then I’ll make money even if the rest of the lot grade horribly.

So far, my gem rate with modern cards is really good. I used the same criteria for these that I would with any modern card, and I didn’t submit cards that didn’t hit all the specifications that I think will get them to gem (so far, I submitted less than half the Shaqs I pulled from packs). However, this is my first experiment with grading older cards, so I don’t know yet if the ones I subbed are good enough to get 10s. And honestly, this was so much fun opening these old packs and prepping these cards for grading, that I’m not overly concerned about turning a huge profit. If I can break even, that will work for me. I’ll be sure to post a full breakdown here of all my costs and card values once I get all these back.

Originally Posted by artiearens

I'm sitting on some 1992 Shaquille stuff and I'm debating on getting it graded as well. I have a feeling that A LOT of 1992 Shaquille stuff is sitting around at both PSA and BGS right now due to the price increases, and we are going to see a huge increase of these cards in the coming months. The issue with the 1992 Shaquille Ultra is unless it comes back a PSA 9 or 10, you are going to be out money if you aren't planning on keeping them for yourselves. Even 9's might have you breaking even after Ebay fees/grading cost.

You’re probably right, I’m sure many other people are doing what I’m doing now, but most of these cards already have fairly large pop reports (not including the UD or the Fleer base), so I don’t think there’s going to be some massive flood on the market that will instantly drive these prices down. I think PSA 10s should stay pretty valuable. However, the value between a 9 and a 10 is huge. So if you don’t get a 10, you’re probably looking at breaking even at best.

[boldon1]

Originally Posted by bigjbasketball

If they gem, it’s definitely worth it. I just looked at the centering (most Fleer Ultra cards from that year look pretty good, I haven’t seen many with bad centering issues), corners (razor sharp with no dings), edges (again, sharp with no roughness), and surface (no creases, indentations, discoloration, scuffs, etc.). If all those criteria looked good, then I sent it in. Right now here’s what I have either at PSA or on its way to PSA:

UD #1 Draft Pick (1)
Skybox base (2)
Skybox Draft Pick (1) - this one wasn’t perfect, I’m hoping for a 9
Ultra (1)
Fleer base (2)
Fleer Slam Dunk (1)
Hoops base (2)

So that’s 10 total cards, with grading at $20 per card in a group standard submission. If I can get 2 or 3 gems out of the 10 then that will more than pay for the grading. But factor is the cost for the boxes (not super expensive), and I’ll probably need about half of them to gem. Unless the Fleer base both gem (or the UD, but I’m not counting on that), then I’ll make money even if the rest of the lot grade horribly.

So far, my gem rate with modern cards is really good. I used the same criteria for these that I would with any modern card, and I didn’t submit cards that didn’t hit all the specifications that I think will get them to gem (so far, I submitted less than half the Shaqs I pulled from packs). However, this is my first experiment with grading older cards, so I don’t know yet if the ones I subbed are good enough to get 10s. And honestly, this was so much fun opening these old packs and prepping these cards for grading, that I’m not overly concerned about turning a huge profit. If I can break even, that will work for me. I’ll be sure to post a full breakdown here of all my costs and card values once I get all these back.



You’re probably right, I’m sure many other people are doing what I’m doing now, but most of these cards already have fairly large pop reports (not including the UD or the Fleer base), so I don’t think there’s going to be some massive flood on the market that will instantly drive these prices down. I think PSA 10s should stay pretty valuable. However, the value between a 9 and a 10 is huge. So if you don’t get a 10, you’re probably looking at breaking even at best.

Thank you both - great insights!


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[bigjbasketball]

Just pulled a TRUE 1/1 Shaq auto out of a 17/18 Essentials box! Posted a link in the Box Breaks section of the forum...

[boldon1]

Originally Posted by bigjbasketball

Just pulled a TRUE 1/1 Shaq auto out of a 17/18 Essentials box! Posted a link in the Box Breaks section of the forum...

Saw the video on youtube. That was pretty nice!! Congratulations!!

I’ve always wondered what good stuff one can pull from those essentials packs. I’ve seen hangers on shelves before and now always see them on clearance but never gotten the courage to buy and open one myself


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[bigjbasketball]

Originally Posted by boldon1

Saw the video on youtube. That was pretty nice!! Congratulations!!

I’ve always wondered what good stuff one can pull from those essentials packs. I’ve seen hangers on shelves before and now always see them on clearance but never gotten the courage to buy and open one myself


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Thanks! Those Essentials hanger boxes in stores aren’t very good. I think you can hit autos, but it’s pretty rare. I pulled this Shaq from a hobby box that guarantees 2 autos per box.

[bigjbasketball]

I’m on a Shaq hot streak...just pulled a Shaq Beam Team out of a box of 92-93 Stadium Club. The box had two Beam Teams, and the other one was Kevin Johnson. I also pulled 3 base Shaq RCs and 4 of the Members Choice cards. Out of those 7, only one base and one MC seemed grade-worthy, so both of those and the Beam Team are on their way to PSA right now.

[bmf]

Has anyone seen the Shaq 1/1 base rainbow from 03-04 exquisite?

[MattMiller]

His PSA 9 Regular Beamteams are well over $1000 now! And PSA 10's MO is over $8k... Looks like I should buy some psa 8's... this is new money not manipulation..

[heatdawg]

Shaq is being pumped by a couple investment channels right now, he will come back down a little like all of the rest. But overall these channels are creating a new floor each time, still making that $

[MattMiller]

Originally Posted by heatdawg

Shaq is being pumped by a couple investment channels right now, he will come back down a little like all of the rest. But overall these channels are creating a new floor each time, still making that $

How does this work? I do not see any losses at all on these, they keep going up? Are you saying a group is buying the from each other over and over? I have been following user Jesusonlysaves and he or her has sold many with different serial numbers to many different buyers. The only ones I see is the PSA10 relisted probably due to non payers...

[Retail Fool]

Originally Posted by bigjbasketball

I’m on a Shaq hot streak...just pulled a Shaq Beam Team out of a box of 92-93 Stadium Club. The box had two Beam Teams, and the other one was Kevin Johnson. I also pulled 3 base Shaq RCs and 4 of the Members Choice cards. Out of those 7, only one base and one MC seemed grade-worthy, so both of those and the Beam Team are on their way to PSA right now.

Big J, you are def cooking with Shaq

[bigjbasketball]

Originally Posted by MattMiller

His PSA 9 Regular Beamteams are well over $1000 now! And PSA 10's MO is over $8k... Looks like I should buy some psa 8's... this is new money not manipulation..

The one I pulled definitely won’t gem, but there is a chance it may get a 9...I’ll find out in a few months.

Originally Posted by Retail Fool

Big J, you are def cooking with Shaq

Yeah my Shaq luck has been crazy lately, and I still have some 92-93 UD boxes to open!

[bigjbasketball]

I recently got my PSA order back and the Shaq UD RC I pulled got a 9. I thought there may have been a very slim chance it could gem, but I knew it was a long shot, so I’m happy with the Mint 9. Also, I opened two more 92-93 UD hobby boxes and I pulled zero Shaqs, so this is definitely not an easy card to hit. I have tons of other Shaq rookies at PSA right now, so hopefully some of those come back as 10s!

[shu4040]

Found these in a box which I had forgotten about!

Also the rare: maybe worst mislabeling ever?! Time to resend to psa






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[Jasondr91]

I saw the 96 Topps reprints refractor (unpeeled, and a reprint of the 92 Topps rc) bring $150+ in a live auction that ended yesterday.

[brothertona]

Gary Vee said he was undervalued months back, and investment channels followed suit by going ham on his stuff.

[duron]

Gary Venereal disease

[bigjbasketball]

1996 Hoops hahaha that labeling is ridiculous. eBay 1/1! Sell it for $5K! Really nice find though, definitely will keep increasing. I pulled a Shaq Beam Team and that’s at PSA right now. It won’t gem but I’m hoping for a 9.

[asujbl]

Originally Posted by duron

Gary Venereal disease

1 out of 10

[duron]

Originally Posted by asujbl

1 out of 10

[shu4040]

Originally Posted by bigjbasketball

1996 Hoops hahaha that labeling is ridiculous. eBay 1/1! 9.

LOL




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[messier2]

Shaq rising again?

[Wade Mulroy]

Love following this thread. Shaq and MJ were the two biggest hobby darlings when I first started collecting as a kid in the 90s. Lots of great stuff in here - wish I had more in the collection!

[bigjbasketball]

My grades just popped for the first batch of Shaqs I sent in for grading. Not great overall, but the gems I got were actually on the more valuable ones, so that was nice:

Skybox RC x2: both PSA 9
Skybox Draft Picks: PSA 8 (I knew this wouldn’t gem and was hoping for a 9 at best)
Hoops x2: both PSA 9
Ultra: PSA 9
Fleer Slam Dunk subset: PSA 9
Fleer base x2: both PSA 10

I still have 4 more at PSA: Stadium Club base, Stadium Club Member’s Choice, Stadium Club Beam Team, and Topps base. I know the Beam Team won’t gem (really hoping for a 9 but an 8 wouldn’t surprise me), and I think the others have a chance to gem, but based on my first round of grades, I won’t be surprised if they get 9s.

I pulled all these cards out of boxes myself over the past couple months, and I was really picky about which ones I subbed for grading. I probably only sent in about 20-30% of all the Shaq rookies I pulled, so these are not easy gems. People complain about QC issues now, but it was just as bad back in the early 90s!

[uclakersfan]

Beam Team psa 10 members only is the best card
going for 20-30K now