Winner Announced in PSA’s Race to 100,000 Promotion

A baseball card collector from St. Paul, Minn., is the grand prize winner in the PSA and PSA/DNA Set Registry "Race To 100,000" sweepstakes. Mark Kreynest was the recipient of a 1915 Cracker Jack Christy Mathewson card (No. 88), graded PSA NM-MT 8, and valued at approximately $12,000.

Launched on Aug. 3 at the PSA Set Registry luncheon during the National Sports Collectors Convention near Chicago, the sweepstakes resulted in more than 16,000 additional sets being added to the Registry in only 33 days.

"The number of sets registered had been growing rapidly this past year even before we announced the 'Race To 100,000.' But reaching that number on Sept. 5 happened a lot faster than I imagined," said PSA President Joe Orlando.

"In a very strong year, we may add 10,000 sets to the Registry, but in just over 30 days we added over 16,000. It created a lot of goodwill and attracted even more attention to the popular Set Registry program. It was great to hear so many hobbyists talking about this and participating."

Kreynest enjoys collecting Tony Gwynn cards, 1963 Topps Baseball cards and unopened wax packs. He said he's surprised and happy about winning the PSA sweepstakes, but admits he almost didn't pick up the phone when Orlando personally called to tell him he'd won the top prize.

"I heard him start to leave a message that I'd won on the answering machine, and I was shocked and picked up the phone and said, 'Did I just hear what I think I heard?' He said, 'Yes, absolutely. Congratulations!' I'm still kind of shocked," said Kreynest. "It goes to show that collecting cards can pay off in more ways than one."

Drawings were also held at the 87,500, 90,000 and 95,000 tiers.

After the first drawing, Darren Boyles of Greenup, Ky., won two PSA-certified baseball cards, a 1968 Topps Pete Rose PSA NM-MT 8 and a 1971 Topps Johnny Bench PSA NM-MT 8, with a combined value of approximately $500.

"It feels great to be the first threshold prize winner in the Race To 100,000 Sweepstakes," Boyles wrote to PSA after being notified of his win.

"Mr. Orlando and PSA tailored the prize to my collecting needs, just another example of PSA's benchmark customer service. We, as collectors, are very lucky to have the Set Registry Program to keep track of inventory and manage our collections. PSA, you are the measuring stick of authentication and grading. Keep up the great work."

Henry Moon of Duluth, Ga., received a 1963 Fleer Roberto Clemente card, graded PSA Mint 9 and valued at $1,000, when the registry reached 90,000 sets. Greg Clemons of Lakeside, Calif., received a 1960 and a 1969 Topps Mickey Mantle card, each graded PSA NM-MT 8, with a combined value of approximately $2,500 at the 95,000-set tier.

"When I called the first three winners to tell them they'd won, I tailored the prizes to their specific interests, so PSA could help each winner continue to build their collections," Orlando explained. "All four prize winners are long-time Set Registry members, but during the sweepstakes we had also had many new participants sign up and register their sets for the first time. The PSA Set Registry was launched in 2001 and has become an increasingly important part of the market for certified collectibles."

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