General Forum

If it's the 1980-81 set that has the first cards of Magic Johnson and Larry Bird...one of the more expensive cards in the NBA. If it's 1981-82 that's just a crazy price because it's not a rare set and shouldn't cost more than $100 to complete. Just one year for an NBA set does not give enough information. 

I used to buy from their website- like 10 years ago- and found the cards to be accurately graded and very fair pricing. That said, their pricing on COMC is exorbitant; haven't checked their website to compare but I would guess the pricing is similar. 

Thanks for your feedback. Nice to meet you. Phil

They are one of my pet peeves, so I must pile on. I have never bought from Dean's Cards. I never will. But I haven't blocked them, because I'm fascinated by the stuff they pull and that people still buy from them. Aside from their ridiculous prices, the thing about Dean's that annoys me the most is the bait and switch tactics. They will advertise "near complete set" and have something like 323 of 540 cards. That is not a "near complete" set; that's a "lot." Or they'll call something a set: "Cubs team set." But it will be 14 of 23 cards, or something. That's not a set. It's a partial set. And they have their own grading system, so if you're not paying attention, you could think a card has been graded a six, but that just means Dean looked at it and said it was a six. I admit, that's not much worse than other grading systems, but at least PSA and SGC put the card in an "unbreakable" plastic case. Dean just declares it a six. And has this weird, complicated "weighted value" (or something like that) system that I completely don't get. Nope. Will never buy from them. And would genuinely like to hear from someone who does. And why. 

v3

Thanks.

I did some comparison shopping over the past two days for some cards off my 1958-1962 Want Lists with a couple of financial thresholds: up to $3.00 for commons, $3.25 for HOFers, and $4.00 for Felipe Alou RC. Condition was not a concern, and I  only "purchased" one of each card within those parameters. My focus was all-stars from 1958-1959, Rookie Stars from 1959-1960, Baseball Thrills from 1959, Don Mueller and Felipe Alou from 1959, and Colt 45s from 1962-1963. The total price including shipping and taxes was used to calculate the average price per card.

• Dean's Cards - 20 cards for $28.44 ($3.99 shipping) with APC $1.42
  • Six 1958 All-Stars
  • Nine 1959 and two 1960 Rookie Stars
  • One 1959 Baseball Thrills
  • Mueller
  • One 1963 Colt 45s
• Sportlots - 25 cards for $46.62 ($7.75 shipping) with APC $1.86
  • Eight 1958 All-Stars
  • Two 1959 and two 1960 Rookie Stars
  • Mueller and Alou
  • Two 1962 and Nine 1963 Colt 45s
• COMC - 31 cards for $41.06 ($4.99 shipping) with APC $1.32
  • Eight 1958 All-Stars
  • Nine 1959 and two 1960 Rookie Stars
  • One 1959 Baseball Thrills
  • Mueller
  • Two 1962 and Eight 1963 Colt 45s
• AU Sports (via Beckett Marketplace - 22 cards for $23.40 ($3.95 shipping) with APC $1.06
  • Four 1958 All-Stars
  • Six 1959 and Ten 1960 Rookie Stars
  • One 1959 Baseball Thrills
  • Mueller

So there you have the comparisons. I could have gotten more off my Want Lists via Sportlots and Beckett Marketplace, but I'd have had to buy from different vendors and the shipping would have been a waste of money in my estimation. The Colt 45s card remain elusive as does the Alou RC for the most part - of course that's because I refuse to go over budget on them.

I'd venture to say that I've bought from AU Sports more than any other online card shop because they have free shipping after $25.00, which I've taken advantage of frequently. I fell about $6.35 short, but if I expanded beyond the parameters of this exercise I could easily make the APC much less than the others. The less attractive part of it is the lack of Colt 45s.