Topps' latest 150th Anniversary of Baseball cards produced from artwork by Graig Kreindler are out--and there's an option for signed Ken Griffey Jr. cards. A few different parallels are being sold with lower numbered colors costing more. Unsigned cards are also available for $7.99, along with 150th Anniversary cards of Willie Stargell and Juan Soto. As of early … [Read more...]
Revenue, Submissions, Backlog Still Growing at PSA
Collectors Universe, the parent company of PSA and PSA/DNA, reported record revenues for fiscal year 2019 on Wednesday. The company took in $72.5 million in fiscal 2019, which ended June 30. That figure includes a record $5.4 million, or 25% increase in trading card and autograph authentication revenues. Revenue from trading card and autograph submissions in … [Read more...]
Diving into Population Reports of T206 Hall of Famers
Population reports from grading companies can tell us quite a bit about baseball cards. While they are not perfect, they certainly give us an inside look on things like perceived rarity of certain issues compared to others. T206 is arguably the most famous baseball card set of all time. The set's popularity is such that it is even collected to some degree by those that do … [Read more...]
While Helpful, Population Reports Have Limitations
Among the services third party grading companies provide to collectors are the free population reports maintained by each entity. A population report is essentially an accounting of the cards the companies have graded. It allows you to see how many, say, T205 Cy Young cards one of them has graded. Even beyond that, pop reports also detail how many cards in a particular … [Read more...]
PSA “Conducting Own Investigation” Into Altered Cards
PSA has made its first public comments regarding the ongoing revelation of doctored sports cards made in an online hobby forum. A small group of collectors on the Blowout Cards message boards have spent the last few weeks offering before and after pictures of cards that had been purchased online, then altered to improve their appearance before being graded and sold again to … [Read more...]
Another Record Quarter for PSA as Submission Backlog Continues
The grading and authentication business continues to boom. PSA and PSA/DNA say they shipped over 620,000 collectibles in the third quarter of the 2019 fiscal year. “The PSA and PSA/DNA business set another all-time revenue quarterly record for the division and eclipsed last year’s Q3 revenue by roughly $1.3 million, a 24% increase year-over-year,” Joe Orlando, … [Read more...]
Grading Companies Give Much Needed Boost to Junk Wax Era
Broadly defined as baseball cards produced from the late 1980s through the early 1990s, the "Junk Wax Era" is often cited as a primary reason for the crash of the industry felt in the late 1990s. The gist is that cards produced during that time were usually printed in far greater quantities than many collectors believed. As a result, supply became much greater than demand. That … [Read more...]
PSA Making Changes Aimed at Improving Submission, Communication Processes
PSA will announce several changes to its submission processing platform on Tuesday and provide customers with an update on efforts to combat slower than normal turnaround times. Company president Steve Sloan says some of those changes will include: A "Turnaround Times" feature on the PSA website that will update current turnaround times each Monday "using actual order … [Read more...]
Great American Collectibles Show Launches Jimmy Fund Fundraiser
The Great American Collectibles Show featuring Red Sox Hall of Famer, Rico Petrocelli, and hobby author/ radio host Tom Zappala, is launching a fundraiser in support of The Jimmy Fund/ Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. The show has partnered with The National Sports Collectors Convention, PSA and eBay for Charity to raise money for the organization. … [Read more...]
PSA Announces New Pricing Structure
Still deluged by submissions, PSA is changing its pricing structure for several service levels beginning January 1. While collectors and dealers who submit orders of 50 or more cards for grading and encapsulation and those who use the company’s regular 15-day service won’t see any changes, those who want faster turnaround times will notice some significant price … [Read more...]