June was a productive set-building month. Joining the collection are a Dominque Wilkins rookie, an above average condition Hank Bauer, a half dozen new 1993 refractors, and a seventh that replaces a lower grade card. I even picked up a copy of the film Moneyball.
New Additions:
- 1986 Fleer Dominique Wilkins
- 1954 Topps Hank Bauer
- 1993 Finest Refractor Al Martin
- 1993 Finest Refractor Dave Fleming
- 1993 Finest Refractor Ken Hill
- 1993 Finest Refractor Gregg Olson
- 1993 Finest Refractor Kevin Young
- 1993 Finest Refractor Juan Guzman
- 1993 Finest Refractor Craig Biggio
The Wilkins rookie reunites me with one of the two ’86 Fleer cards I had while growing up. The Bauer matches one I had signed as a kid when he made an appearance at a local military installation. The refractor purchases effectively cleaned out the inventory of one of my preferred sources. I’m expecting purchases to tail off over the next few months as inventories are replenished and I wait for other sources to open up. One pick-up I am happy about is the Dave Fleming card. While I already had a copy, it was far from being in an attractive condition. This card has much brighter colors, sharper corners and, most importantly, hasn’t turned green.
Quarterly Changes in PSA Graded Populations
I follow the fluctuations in graded populations for several of the sets I collect. Below appear the observed changes of the past three months.
| SET | Q1 PSA POP | Q2 PSA POP | QUARTERLY CHANGE | POPULATION INCREASE % | NOTE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 Finest Refractors | 25,630 | 25,668 | +38 | +0.1% | Momentum continues to slow with nearly half the print run already graded. One of the 38 reviewed in Q2 was a Charlie Hayes card I submitted. |
| 1986 Fleer Basketball | 271,869 | 284,872 | +13,003 | +4.8% | 806 Jordan rookies were graded in Q2 (almost 9 per day) |
| 1991 Donruss Elite | 903 | 940 | +37 | +4.1% | Odd…the Andre Dawson population actually shrank by 2 cards |
| 2001 Finest Origins Refractors | 106 | 108 | +2 | +1.9% | New Jeter/Rodriguez PSA 9’s appeared |
