Comments: For Schmidt, it's been 1978 from the beginning when I purchased my first copy, a raw Topps NM-MT card in 1999 off eBay. I upgraded to a PSA 9 with another win in June, 1999. In May, 2001 I picked up another PSA 9. In July, 2006 I decided to swap the Topps card out for an OPC example after winning a PSA 9 from Sherry Harvey (itsgood2besherry). I watched a PSA 10 sell for $1000 in May, 2010 from seller 4 Sharp Corners - amazing. PSA 9s can be purchased at a fraction of that price. So, I purchased another PSA 9 in March, 2011 and another in August, 2012. I may buy a few more and crack them out to see if I can score a TEN on a submission…..we'll see. In July, 2013 I won an auction for a BVG 9.5 copy that is absolutely gorgeous. I've since learned that it was most likely cut from a sheet and it's not an original 1978 factory cut. But, the card is still amazing.

UPDATE: On 6/8 as I was going through my eBay searches I came across a PSA 10. Unfortunately, the item ended a week later at $445.52, just too much for me.

In June 2016, a PSA 10 was listed on eBay by PWCC.  I was a buyer but on the last night of the auction bidding climbed over my ceiling on the card and ended at $445.52.  With several mint copies in my possession at 1/10 of the price of a GEM card, it just wasn’t worth the upgrade IMO.  I backed off.  Instead I purchase another PSA 9 with perfect centering at a BIN price of ~$30 w shipping:

I figure one of these days I’ll send a group of the cards to PSA for review in hopes one of them will be bumped to a 10 rating.