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PSA 10 is the absolute most perfect rating a baseball card can get for its condition. A 10 is very hard to achieve. Absolute sharp corners. Laser perfect centering. Brand new surface.
But Justin Reed on Facebook points out: “Some of the borders are off. Can’t believe they’re all 10’s!” (via Sports Collectors Daily Facebook post) Are these cards really the most pure mint condition? I created the animated gif of all 40 cards to show how the color changes across the cards. I’m not sure if this is variation in the scanner, but shouldn’t they all look the same if they are perfect-perfect?
Here at 57hits.com we love the visceral nature of cards. Real objects. Real textures. Real cardboard. The PSA 10 card holds quite an elite status in the card world. Their rarity introduces a new element of collect ability for the mass-produced cards of the 80s.
The rarity of the PSA 10 Ripken is explained by Scott Glenn, “He is saying this represents approximately 10% of the total population of PSA 10 1982 Ripken’s which means there is close to 400 but there is actually 338 of them so he has more than 10% of the total population.”
If the condition is so gentle on these pieces of cardboard, then how would one ship them? Would the outside weather potentially damage the cards?
What do you think of this collection of PSA 10 Ripken rookies? Its it really cool to see this amount of cards together? Or does it demonstrate how the baseball card hobby has gone crazy?
“The value in modern era baseball cards is dead. This is ridiculous….its ripken not mantle” says George Stutter Andrews. Tim Murray states, “professionally graded cards are the dadaism of collecting.”
Do you agree?
Please leave your thoughts in the comments or on your favorite social media channel. This blog post appears on Reddit, Twitter, Google Plus, Tumblr, and Pinterest.
JV19 of reddit says:
The only way ’80s cards can be valuable is if they’re 10s. They’re worth less than the cardboard they’re printed on, with a few exceptions. But even the Griffey is barely worth much now.
My response:
True. However, value can be subjective. If a ripken rookie card is worth $10, that’s valuable to me. Cards don’t have to be $200+ to be valuable to everyone. (of course, that’s obvious; but there’s something to behold and enjoy with higher-run cards)
Joe Mays of Google Plus commented: Suspicious. Not hard to counterfeit cards from that era. I hear that the Jordan Rookie counterfeit card even has some value to it, just not as much as the real card.?
My reply: Yeah, it makes me wonder how airtight the PSA rating system is. Or perhaps even the PSA stickers are counterfeit too. ?
Erik Maldre of pinterest comments: unreal
My response: I feel like they should all start speaking at once in unison, in a robotic voice.
It is possible that back in 82 someone purchased several 100 count lots of Ripkens. I remember the days of 50 and 100 card blocks. Before inserts, when if you liked a rookie, say that Wally Joyner guy, you had to purchase quantity. This lead to pages of the same player. There was no better way growing up to overcome ocd than to only have seven of the same cards on a nine card page. The good old days! Great blog!
How many 1989 Jerome Walton’s upper deck do you have? Are they still in 9 pocket pages? Great blog! I miss this era of collecting.