Registry Set Registry Set Registry THE WATCHLIST

THE FOLLOWING Q&A WITH SUPER BOWL TICKET COLLECTOR DEAN MACCHI (AKA “THATSMYTICKET” ON THE PSA SET REGISTRY) IS A COMPANION PIECE TO A MUCH LARGER FEATURE ARTICLE THAT INCLUDES DEAN (“STUB CLUB”) IN THE MARCH 2023 ISSUE OF PSA MAGAZINE .

PSA BUYER’S GUIDE: What was your latest hobby acquisition and why was it important?

DEAN MACCHI: “I'm currently working on a complete set of NBA Slam Dunk Tickets and only have three to go. The hardest one to find of the remaining three was the 1985 NBA All-Star Saturday. I eventually found it and purchased a Full Ticket PSA 5 from Heritage Auctions. Dominique Wilkins won that year’s NBA Slam Dunk contest but the primary significance of the ticket and what makes it more valuable than many of the other tickets in the set is that 1985 marked Michael Jordan's first appearance in the Slam Dunk competition.”

PSA BG: What is the next SB ticket you hope to acquire, or any ticket in general?

DM: “Fortunately, I have a full set of PSA-graded Super Bowl tickets so I'm good there though I could always use a few upgrades. I'd actually like to get a Super Bowl LVI ticket from last year even though they are just commemorative; they were issued by the NFL and help to keep set collecting somewhat alive. Otherwise, I'm looking for quite a few different tickets. Chief among them would be the 1990, 2016 and 2017 NBA All-Star Saturday Slam Dunk Tickets to complete that set. Seems strange to me that it's been such a challenge to find the 2016 and 2017 tickets. I’m also looking for a ticket from the NFL’s very first AFC Championship Game which occurred in 1970 when the Oakland Raiders visited the Baltimore Colts.”

PSA BG: What’s the one ticket that constantly eludes you?

DM: “Without a doubt, the 1980 NBA All-Star Game which marked Larry Bird and Magic Johnson’s first All-Star game appearances. I've seen quite a few of these over the years but I just keep missing them. I'm working on a set of NBA All-Star Game tickets so this is one of the holes I need to fill.”

PSA BG: What is the "grail" item you hope to own one day?

DM: “That answer is easy: a Jerry Rice NFL Debut Ticket. I'm working on a full run of each of his games played tickets and am now about 80% complete. The Rice ticker is obviously the most important one. I've only seen one of them out there. I have all the other key tickets in this set, which includes Terrell Owens and Kurt Warner’s NFL debuts.”

PSA BG: What was your best auction steal?

DM: “Up until about a year or two ago you could find steals but with so many people now getting into ticket collecting, it's hard to steal much these days. But rest assured, I keep trying.”