NEW CATEGORY!

Vintage NON-Sport Cards

With a Mickey Mantle Rookie Card selling for $3 Million, a Wayne Gretzky Rookie selling for $1.5 M, a Pokémon Card selling for $250,000, and Three Stooges Cards for $20,000, etc,  I realized it was time to start posting my own High Grade Vintage Non Sport Cards that I've collected over the past 35 years. .   Now we are seeing the 1977 Star Wars Cards climbing and climbing !

But what makes a card valuable?  The first variable is RARITY!  The more Rare the higher the demand and value.  Collectors want what No one else has !  Exclusivity is King!.  Then of course there's Condition.  And the higher the graded condition, the more Rare as few cards from the 1960s and earlier survived in mint condition .  And even fewer cards were printed with the perfection that goes into a High Grade card.  A card can be in perfect condition, but if it has imperfections in the printing (off center, stains etc) the card will be compromised with the imperfection and noted on the card grade slab.  For example, an OC (off center) designation affcets  the card value, even if the card graded a 10.     

What do we like?   Growing up in the 60s and 70s, I personally love collecting the classic TV Show Cards like "Lost in Space", "Green Hornet", "Gilligan's Island", "Munsters" and "Three Stooges" to name a few. 

Even High-Grade cards from the 70s like Star Wars are skyrocketing in value.  It won't be long before Non-Sport Cards are commanding the six figure Sales as Rookie Sport Cards.  (Actually they already are.  Search for Pokeman sales results). 

Note:  In the world of card grading, PSA is the Gold standard.  And, although there are other grading companies, PSA has clearly established itself as the preferred grading company by seasoned collectors and auction houses  which is evident in how significantly More PSA graded cards sell for then from other companies.   This is true in most any collecting genre.  In coins the premier grading is PCGS. Collectors will pay More for an identical graded coin from PCGS  then one of the alternative grading companies. .   The other coin graders don’t command the same respect and prestige as PCGS.

The multimillion dollar cards like Mantle,  Brady, Jordan and Gretsky were ALL PSA graded.   

See or current Choice Vintage Non Sport Card categories below:
Three Stooges -1959
Elvis Presley - 1956
Gilligan's Island - 1965
Lost in Space - 1966
Green Hornet - 1966
Munsters - 1964
Star Wars - 1977


What are the most Rare High Grade Non-Sport Cards?   Based on the PSA Card Grade Index, below are the MOST RARE High Grade  (PSA 8-10) Condition Card Sets:

1. Gilligan's Island 1965:
   One of the most rare to find cards graded PSA 8-10.  As matter of fact, Grade 10 cards are almost non existent .  Compared to Star Wars 1977 Cards which record 17,818 (Grade 9) and 4095 (Grade 10) cards, as of 3-29-2021, Gilligan's Island records only 169 (Grade 9) and 17 (Grade 10) Cards.   Hence, PSA Grade 10 for most Gilligan's Island Cards are NON-Existent!  Note that Star Wars had 330 cards in all five sets whereas Gilligan's Island had 55 cards.  However, that doesn't even come close to account for the 100-400 times the population of High Grade Stars Wars cards compared to 1960s cards like Gilligan's Island, Lost in Space and Green Hornet.  .  

2. Lost in Space 1966 (LIS):
  Another 1960s issue that did not survive well.  Cards reaching a PSA Grade 10 are extremely Rare  (a total of only 32).   The population picks up at Grade PSA 8 and 9 (1576 & 330 respectively).  Slightly more then Gilligan's Island but one of the more Rare issues to acquire High Grade cards.   

3. Green Hornet 1966
   Of all the 1960s Non Sport (TV) issues, Green Hornet in High Grade condition may be the most rare.  With a record of only ten PSA Grade 10 cards, finding and acquiring a Grade 10 from the set will require a lot of patience and even more Ca$h!   When one does appear on the market, collector frenzy will hit the roof!   PSA Graded 9 Cards for this 1966 issue are very scarce as very few appear on the market. 

4. Elvis Presley 1956
   The first Elvis Presley card set ever released was in 1956 by Bubble Inc.    A set of 65 cards, high grade finds for this set are Very Scarce.  As  a matter of fact, ONLY FOUR PSA grade 10 exist. 
A popular set to collect for Presley fans, as they will find it difficult to acquire PSA Grade 8 and above cards.   But, there are some stunning cards here..

5. Three Stooges 1959

Although  there were 96 cards in the 1959 Fleer Three Stooges set, and a fair number of high grade cards on the market, vintage Stooges material has been HOT for the past 35 years and doesn’t seem to be waning at all.   Even the Stooges price guides and indexes rarely can get it right based on what collectors are paying for Rare Stooges cards.    Of the entire set of 96 cards, the Three Stooges checklists are the most sought after and valuable.  Cards #16, 63 and 64 were produced in a very small quantity with checklists on the back.  The number of checklist cards that have been graded is Very Low .  

For example, PSA has graded between 250-500 of each of the cards. However, the checklists for #16, 63 and 64  have a population of only 38, 31 and 32 accordingly.   With high grades (8 and above)  having recorded less than 10 each. Of the three Checklist versions, cards #63 and 64 are the most Rare and valuable.    In March of 2021, cards #63 and 64, graded PSA 8, sold on eBay for $9100 and $7350 accordingly. 

NOTE:  We could not find a Gilligan's Island, Green Hornet or LIS PSA Grade 10 that has sold in the past several months, except for a group of Six PSA 10 Gilligan's Island that sold for $9,000!  (that's one third of the entire population of Gilligan Island Grade 10s).

You always hear, "Invest in Gold".   But Gold appreciation over the past 30 years hasn’t even come close to choice sport and non sport cards.