Thoughts on "First Graded" ? 77 Topps Carews
bobbybakeriv
Posts: 2,186 ✭✭✭✭
Hi all. I am back in the game. I got out for a while but never stopped collecting. I am currently sitting on over 1000 1975 thru 1980 cards that I feel are 8 or above (hopefully above). My first 15 card renewal sub is gonna be fifteen ’75 Topps Roses (#320). I have about 35-40 more of these that I personally consider gradeable but these are some of my best ones IMHO.
Anyhow, here is my question for the board. I am not a GAI guy but I do buy their stuff sometimes if I think it is a crack out candidate for PSA or unopened material. I have two 77 Carews (GAI 9, 9.5) that I am considering cracking out. The 9.5 is really nice and I think it would have a chance at a 10 .It originally was a DGF card (i.e., Phil A) and I know he was quite picky. Does the term "first graded" mean anything in the collecting world? I have never really put much stock in it but again, I am no GAI expert by no means. Sorry for the poor pics but my scanner is out of commission. I will fix that issue soon! Great to see so many of you still around on here!
Thoughts and opinions are very much appreciated! Bobby
Comments
It looks like they may have labeled each for a given card. I was thinking maybe it was the first 77 Carew, but with both having that label, they obviously did that for different grades of the same card.
I don't see how anyone could possibly care about that whatsoever, other than it could literally be considered a "variation" for that truly crazy collector who needs ANYTHING, but I'm sure there is a small percentage of people that feel it is worth something more than a regular 9.5 or 9.
That is a great card. Both AS first base men got great cards that year (Garvey in NL).
Yeah, the 77 Garvey is one of my all-time favorite cards!
That notation designates first graded for that card and grade pop. I actually like the L/R centering better on the 9 vs the 9.5
Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
First of all, welcome back. If memory serves you were very passionate about the 1977 all star subset (maybe even all years of all stars) in high grades.
Would love to see a picture of the fifteen 1975 Rose cards you are going to send in. Good luck with your grades.
While not always the case, ‘First Graded’ often correlated to ‘early’ in the days of GAI.
In the interest of brevity, the work they did early on was considered pretty credible with their later work a bit less credible.
Hope it helps...
Curious about the rare, mysterious and beautiful 1951 Wheaties Premium Photos?
https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/987963/1951-wheaties-premium-photos-set-registry#latest
GAI was very reputable when the ex head grader of PSA started the company. Mike Baker was a top grader in his time. I own about a dozen early GAI cards and I would have no problem crossing to PSA and getting the same grade or close.
"I spent 50% of my money on alcohol, women, and gambling. The other half I wasted.
Thanks Gents. I appreciate the helpful information. If I get a scanner prior to sending in the Roses, I will share. Right now all I have is my phone to take pics and it sucks.
I still love the 77 AS cards (75 thru 80) actually. Good memory sir!
Welcome back! We corresponded a fair share back in the day. I was "Williplett" until something got screwy with the board and I had to create a new log in.
Our collecting niches were basically the same. The 77 baseball all star subset was my bread and butter, but I branched out to 75-81 all stars as well and ended further branching out to All Pros and All Stars in all 4 sports for those years.
My life changed a bit and my passion began to become traveling to see MLB games around the country. I sold most of my cards to finance that love. I have been getting back into collecting more as I am now in a place financially to do both.
My big collecting deal has been the 1976 All Pros. I love the 1976 Topps FB set, and with 46 All Pros that year, it is a nice crop to collect.
Again, welcome back!
Thanks Bobby24. I do remember you. I have a stack of raw 76 All-Pros as well. If you need something difficult (aside from the Lambert), let me know and I can look to see what I have. Once I get my scanner going, I can send good photos. I am only concentrating on the Youngblood and Tom Mack (which I have about 60 raw good ones right now). I'm happy to help if I can. Bobby
I have all the 1976 All Pros in PSA holders with a slew of raw. The best of those raw will go to PSA with the 15 subs I got from joining again.
Tom Mack must have been in a nice spot on the 1976 sheet as finding really nice examples is pretty easy. Youngblood is a little harder, but not too bad. I have the Lambert nicely centered in PSA 8 and I have a raw copy that is dead centered that I will be sending in. Centering is my jam. I will a dead centered 7 over a 60/40 9.
The 76 All Pros that have been tough for me are:
130 John Dutton. Hard to find centered AND without print issues. I have found some with okay centering with print issues and some with clear printing, but poor centering.
250 Isaac Curtis. Not a lot of them out there. Prone to fish eyes.
270 Jack Tatum. I have a PSA 7 coming that is okay, but this is a tough card.
Hi again. I went through my 76 Topps APs. I have a lot of graded 8s including Tatum, Dutton, and Curtis. I don't think they are great though. I have 10 raw Curtis cards that are pretty nice, 1 Dutton, and 1 Tatum. The Tatum is pretty nice as are several of the Curtis's. The Dutton is an 8 IMHO. Like I said, I don't have a scanner right now but I could scan something on Wednesday when I go to the office. I am not looking to sell or make money or anything like that. I just have picked these up over the past several years. I have a few 9s too (e.g., Ken Houston, Yary, Gilliam) that are good cards. I agree about the Mack and Youngblood. I have two gem mint versions of each so far. For some reason, the Rams were my team back then even though I lived in Oklahoma.
Oh one more thing, I have about 20 of the infamous "Holiday Rack Packs" with 76 APs on the front. I know these are a crap shoot but Iv'e had some luck in the past. Just looked, two Tatums and even a Dutton. I just stockpiled these for the future in case I got bored.
Awesome Bobby! I bought one of those holiday rack packs to get a centered Kunz and Harris.
Where are you at with 10’s in the 77 AS subset? When we last spoke, I think you had just picked up a Randy Jones in gem mint.
Nam812,
Here is a sample of the Roses. All 15 are about like these ones. Maybe I am superstitious/paranoid, but I don't like "showing off" my cards prior to grading.
I am sitting at 5 of 18 currently. I got up to 15/18 but sold a lot of them when I thought I was done collecting (my divorce didn't help). LOL I actually had multiple 10s of many. I am hoping to work my way up to 18/18 prior to my funeral.
Those look very sharp Bobby. Good luck with your grades.
Bobby, what were your 3 missing 77 AS PSA 10's? I am guessing the Garvey and the Munson and maybe the Bird?
I was missing the Fiddy, Garvey, and Concepcion. I now have Luzinski, Lynn, Leflore, and Harrah in Gem Mint. I thought I had Grich too but nope.
I've just sent in a few nice Garveys, Carews, Roses, and Fidrych.
First graded GAI cards were graded when Mike Baker ( ex head PSA) was there. I’d trust those enough to purchase them at the GAI discount. Weather they cross or not is a crap shoot in any holder. PSA experiments have shown crack and submit from PSA slabs to PSA bring grades from PSA 6,7,7,8.5,9 and min size. You never know
"I spent 50% of my money on alcohol, women, and gambling. The other half I wasted.