As apparently everyone else at the time did, I collected cards during the late 80s and early 90s. I realize this was the age of mass production and the vast majority of it is barely worth the cardboard it's printed on.

However, I have a handful of cards that I think are worth getting graded, with probably the crown jewel being the '87 Fleer Jordan pictured below. These have been stored in cases since the early 90s, but I've never had anything graded before. Any advice on this? Particular service anyone would recommend?

Card grading overview.

Card grading company breakdown.

The complete service can cost more than the card is worth (depending on the card submitted, of course). Also, if you have any cards you want to get rid of, please let me know: https://texags.com/forums/50/topics/3187189/replies/58891744

Good luck!

Thanks for the links. I'll take a look.

I may have some stuff you might be interested in. Saw on the other thread that you're looking for unopened packs. I've got close to a complete box of unopened 1989 Fleer basketball somewhere. I'll see if I can track it down.

I've never submitted cards for grading, but I don't think you'd have a problem recouping the expense on that Jordan card.

And as long as the cards are in good condition, I'm likely interested, regardless of open/unopen status. Thank you.

What's my 1990 Shawn Kemp nba hoops rookie worth? Was my crown jewel.

I used to be big into cards. Like the OP mostly from the era when they were mostly worthless.

I do remember my friends dad buying a couple 86 Fleer Jordan's. I think he was paying about 5k each. I hope he held on to them....

I have an Upper Deck Ken Griffey Jr rookie card from the complete set box purchased as a kid (just like thousands of other kids back then). Probably not worth much until everyone else throws away their cards.

A couple of years ago I was looking thru my cards and saw a Tommy John card (Topps '88). Does he get a cut of the money anytime the surgery is performed?

EDIT: my complete set was the 1990 Upper Deck, so not the rookie card for Griffey

If you have any Pirates cards you don't want, please let me know

Somewhere in my collection I got a later year Clemente and a Dave Parker rookie card, oh and a willie Stargell rookie card

It's been a while since I've had cards graded, so some of my advice might be dated.

Beckett and PSA are typically the best and most desired. PSA is generally more lenient, but only does whole numbers. Beckett is usually harder grading, but will do half grades (7.5,8.5,9.5). That can mean a lot if you have a card that is borderline.

I believe it is about $75 to grade a card, so you want to make sure that the value of a graded card is much higher than that or you are wasting money. Even at a PSA 7 that Jordan card will pull about 10x that.

Do not be afraid to send in a card like this multiple times. They are being graded by a human. The difference between an 8 and 9 are minor, but could be a large jump in value. You may get a hard grader the first time and an easier grader the second time and gain $200 in value. Again, look at sold auctions to see the value jump.

Things to check before determining if it is worth sending a card in: Obviously no bends, creases and tears, sharp corners, no 'white' edges, centering of any pictures (make sure borders are equal size), no markings, no fading, etc. There are tolerances, so it doesn't have to be absolutely perfect to get a 10.

Like I said, it's been a hot minutes since I've had cards graded so a lot of this might have changed. All of the services are typically pretty open about their grading.

My crown jewel card is one I still have packed away in the crawl space, 1991 Pro Set Derrick Thomas error card (Bills logo on front)

My favorite card is a 1962 autographed Roger Maris , it's in crappy condition but it's one you don't see every day.

Steve Largent rookie card
Joe Montana rookie card
Jerry Rice rookie card
Barry Sanders rc
Bo Jackson rc
I think I had every 80s top set from 1980-1989

Another Doug said:

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My 401k is 100% invested in Billy Ripken "**** face" cards, need to resubscribe to Beckett to see what they are worth now.

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Ah yes, THE card every true card collector needed in their collection. I never got mine.

Electrical_Ag said:

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Another Doug said:

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My 401k is 100% invested in Billy Ripken "**** face" cards, need to resubscribe to Beckett to see what they are worth now.

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Ah yes, THE card every true card collector needed in their collection. I never got mine.

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There were like 3 versions of the "correction" too