Baseball Cards: Collecting Topps Cards

Video Transcript

"This is a Mickey Mantle. Now what you'll notice is different about this particular Mickey Mantle, this one is a 1968 TOPS brand. There's different brands of baseball cards so we can't cover it all in these segments but as you start to do some research you'll see this is a 68 and it is number 280. Baseball cards are graded from 10 to 1. 10 being the best, 1 being the worst. And so when we look at our baseball cards we may not have them professionally graded. Let me tell you a bit about professionally graded. I decided that professional grading cards is a great, great idea because grading is so subjective. It's such a subjective thing. So if I were to look at this Mickey Mantle card that I showed you previously, some would say "oh no, it's not bad, it's just got a little crease, it's good." And you say, no, I'm arguing with you. Even though they defined in these guides what the grading is. And I'll go into those components. But this is a PSA sports company that does grading. Other companies do grading. And they charge you to legitimize the condition of your card. They put it in this plastic case and they say this is a number 4. 4 meaning, 10 being the best, that isn't the greatest. So if this card had been a 10 it would be worth $280. Now we're looking at approximately $75. And I'll tell you what downgrades cards. We'll get into those specifics next. But it's still a great Mantle card. For a new collector especially. You build up to the better later. Better quality. Start with a lesser quality graded card."