You are looking at a 1988 Topps Cal Ripken Jr. This is the regular base version (not the glossy) and there are millions of them, including thousands in your very collection. It’s also been graded (*cough SCAM cough*) and been given a perfect score.
How much would you pay for this card?
1. Nothing, I have 20 of them already
2. I collect Ripken and don’t have that card, $3.50
3. I know nothing about cards, I’d pay $20.00!
4. OMG! It’s a “Gem Mint”, $107.50!!!
TO VIEW THE FINAL PRICE, CLICK HERE!
You could buy six or eight boxes of 88 Topps wax for that price and probably get five Ripkens in that same condition.
I don’t have that card… and Ripken’s my all time favorite.
That seller has been around along time with a huge following!! They have people with deep pockets standing in line to buy cards from them! I think if i were to sell that card i wouldnt get as much as they did…But for my money that is a MUCH better investement than some Joba insert card or auto rookie.
I have one somewhere back home if my mom didn’t throw them all away! HMM maybe I should get it and put em on ebay
It really is a nice card though.
Here is the racket Mario. The seller is big time and probably gets thousands of cards graded by PSA a year. If I got that exact card graded I would get a PSA 9 and it gets me $15 bucks not worth grading the stupid think. But this guy is constantly getting 10’s on there. No one can convince me it’s not a racket.
By the way I have a Jose Canceco BVG graded 8.5 Topps Traded Tiffany Rookie if you are interested. It is Mint, I pulled it from a sealed pack this spring, but I’m not a “big boy” in the industry so I get an 8.5.
Blah!
I’d pay… one MILLION dollars!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Drevil_million_dollars.jpg
A “Vintage” Canseco rookie? Is there such a thing? I don’t consider cards graded from the ’80’s as “Vintage.”
The amount the 1988 Topps Ripken card sold for seems ridiculous but I don’t know the population report of the card either. The amount the Ripken card is enourmous though, and how many have yet to be opened? I recently remember a 1993 Score Select Nolan Ryan graded PSA 10 ( I believe) selling in the $90 ranger.
I guess it all depends on population report? I’ve only got two cards graded in my life, by Beckett, and I still have them both.
Funny thing, before I clicked on the link I said to myself, “I bet the seller is from Mass.!” The I saw this:
Item location: Sharon, Massachusetts, United States !
God I hate it when my people screw others.
I wouldn’t pay a cent for it…as a matter of fact..if anyone needs 35 or 40 1987-1995 Ripken base cards, I can hook them up and still have enough to stretch from here to East Alaska.
I’m completely dumbfounded. Did they pay that just because it was graded 10? I mean, so what? There are probably a million in the same condition. Hell, I think I have 3 of them.
I’m still trying to figure this hobby out. I left for a while and came back and its like I’m on Mars. This only adds to my confusion.
Next to choice 4, you forgot to put “/Don West”
I don’t know about BVG or other grading companies, but I know that the graders at PSA do not know who submitted a card when they are grading it. That is why PSA has the most integrity of any grading company in my eyes. I have yet to see a PSA graded card that had a grade that I disagreed with.
I was feeling a little wasteful for dropping 220. on 44 singles of 88′ topps cloth last week. However, this just cleared that up for me. Hell, the cloth was rarest set of the 80’s and I thought I was going overboard. This is f’n ridiculous! I should be able to by a bulk lot of a thousand 88′ Ripkens on “the bay” for less than fifty bucks and find two tens in that.
This is why grading is a scam and a sham. I was in the shop recently of a big ebay seller who deal mostly in graded. I happened to overhear (snoop on) the two guys behind the counter talk as they busted boxes. The owner was basically explaining to the new guy that you never send any of their grading lots into Beckett in groups less than 50 cards. Out of groups of 50 he would always get back 1 or 2 “10’s”. Even better, he explained, was to wait till he had 100 to send in. Then he was guaranteed at least 4. He stressed to he new employee that he was never to send in individual cards, no matter the value, as a single card would never get a “10″. “Beckett always gives better grades to the big customers.”
Listening to these conversations (more than once) is what brought my belief that the only times I care about grading is when it is a card that is heavily faked (Rose, Gretzky, Jordan Rc’s, etc) and I can’t visually inspect it. Otherwise, it’s just a fancy card holder.
Good call Justin.
I’ve heard stories like Justin’s too. That’s why I only trust PSA.
People are SOOOOO stupid
a – that’s a crazy price for a 1988 Ripken no matter what it’s graded.
b – it’s disappointing that grading services aren’t more objective
So it’s graded do i really care isn’t the card what i want not the number 10 next to it?
Damn, I’m late to the Wax Heaven party so the link is no longer valid… how much did it go for???? I HATE ebay auctions for stupid ass cards (though it should be noted that I certainly do not hate the stupid ass card itself), especially when said stupid ass card is graded. What a waste. Good for that guy for selling it, I guess.
I’ve got a sweet gem mint 10 (probably) 87 Topps Odibie McDowell, if anyone is interested. I’ll take just $20…