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15 Year Anniversary of the 1975 Topps Mini Case Break…
fmclaug11
Posts: 325 ✭✭✭
Found this box tonight at the bottom of a tote with other miscellaneous stuff…hard to believe it’s been 15 years. Anyone else remember being a part of this break? How’d you do?
Guess I did ok on my 6 packs…centering was tough. Had good intentions of not opening them all, but I was weak and they didn’t last a week lol.
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Beautiful! I love those 75s!
i never joined any of the breaks, but i used to love reading through all of the threads. it seems like there used to be so many but it has all slowed way down.
i wonder why?
George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.
Those were the days. That's what got me into vintage boxes. We were big rollers back then!
Because unopened material has become prohibitively expensive.
I remember taking part. I can't remember much about it though other than all of my cards where off centered. I can't remember how many I bought. I may have just bought one pack. Does anybody remember how much they were per pack? I still have a wrapper for my wrapper collection! Whoo hoo!
I had no idea it had been 15 years!
Shane
Same
My collecting blog: http://ctcard.wordpress.com
Yep - mostly way off centered cards - but looking through the old thread, Zef and Julen were always a hoot.
Bosox1976
Believe they were $43 a pack, still have my PSA 8 pack with some Royal rookie 3rd baseman showing on the back 😃
Current obsession, all things Topps 1969 - 1972
So this was the mini break before the Gary fiasco?
Think I was in on a couple of packs and most were oc. I remember sending in some for grading and thinking they got 8's and maybe a couple of 9's.
I tried to read the Gary fiasco thread and it is a really difficult slog. Was there any ultimate resolution to the situation, or did he just continue denying and it just kind of fizzled?
Is there a "Cliff Notes" version to the Gary fiasco?
I don't recall if that was the break with the Gary debacle. Here's my recollection of the sequence of events without revisiting the old threads to jog my memory...
I still have the box I bought from the case break as well as two others including one FASC. I don't think Steve was wrapping them at that time because my box from this case break didn't come wrapped and I probably would have done so if he offered the service at that time...or I was too cheap to pay for the wrap and didn't understand the future value of the service back at that time. I'm glad I bought them when I did. One recently sold for $9,300. I think I bought the FASC box for around $1,000.
@gemint Thank you for relating the story. That's the only foul break I've heard of here. Thanks again.
I remember now him wanting to line his table with wrappers.
Shane
I remember way back in the day in a Beckett Readers Write letter where someone wrote in wondering if there is such a thing as a card shrinking! To which they jokingly replied "If you washed it and put in a dryer on high heat, it's possible. Otherwise you have a 1975 Topps Mini."
This may be a fairly unpopular opinion around here but I very very VERY much prefer the regular size 1975's.
Dimes: 54S, 53P, 50P, 49S, 45D+S, 44S, 43D, 41S, 40D+S, 39D+S, 38D+S, 37D+S, 36S, 35D+S, all 16-34's
Quarters: 52S, 47S, 46S, 40S, 39S, 38S, 37D+S, 36D+S, 35D, 34D, 32D+S
74 Topps: 37,38,46,47,48,138,151,193,210,214,223,241,256,264,268,277,289,316,435,552,570,577,592,602,610,654,655
1997 Finest silver: 115, 135, 139, 145, 310
1995 Ultra Gold Medallion Sets: Golden Prospects, HR Kings, On-Base Leaders, Power Plus, RBI Kings, Rising Stars
Didn't he claim he was going to make a display for the top of the bar in his house? Like putting the wrappers under the glass top?
Yes. I think some suggested this was a cover story to explain why he was buying so many wrappers.
That break was a little before my time as I joined the CU boards 10 years ago. I did, however, buy a 1975 Topps mini box in 2012 for $1,300. The intention was to hold it for 5 years and then sell. I ended up opening a bunch of packs very quickly and submitting a bunch of packs and some singles to PSA for grading. I sold all of the graded packs, built a really sharp set that I still have and made a few hundred dollars profit. I do miss the days when '70's packs were affordable.
Great memories! I believe Gary was exposed right before the 1978 baseball case break.
I believe it was Lee (cdsnuts) who posted the initial thread bringing the revelations to light.
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.
Correct.
Was his guilt conclusively proven?
Yes, as far as I can recall.
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.
I don't think he ever flat out admitted to it but he was completely busted. His reseal jobs weren't even at amateur level and he was the only one who handled the packs in the 80s pack run group break after they shipped from BBCE before we received them. So nobody else could have resealed them. Then he started showing off star cards that were possible in the 80s pack run we all had purchased. I hope he's completely out of the hobby now.
This is one of those threads that should remind people just how long the vintage wax reseal game has been going on. People always seem to think that just because they bought their packs on eBay long ago it protects them from this sort of fraud as they can't imagine people were doing this sort of thing way back then.
My high school English teacher (who was a part time dealer at shows) told me in 1984 that his Biology teacher co-worker was re-sealing 1952 baseball packs.
I didn't participate - so I just read - and don't remember responding to any of it.
Here's a thread a bit later entitled - What Ever Happened to Gary? Where he tries to justify himself.
LINK
Just a note.
I found a few threads next to the one I linked - one had to do with RichG e.g. - these threads went on forever! I realized back around 15 yrs ago? I spent way, way, way too much time here. It was a different time tho in that the board had way, way more participants in any given hour.
This thread takes the cake - I think I used more words in my responses here than I did on a college thesis!
LINK - if you have time - sad - RichG died in a car accident. I think I was pretty hard on him at times.
Just read through the "Will Clark cards" thread mostly because I have no life and get up early for no other reason to have an hour or two of coffee drinking and eBay!! Funny and sad stuff at the same time!
ON ITS WAY TO NEWPORT BEACH, CA 92658
I don't collect unopened. however there was a psa board 75 mini break of at least 2 boxes originally from steve hart. FASC.
I am guessing about 5 years ago.???
I bought 2 packs. I think they were $75 each. Many guys opened them and posted results. No brett or yount
It was the same guy who handles many box breaks. Many of the unopened guys here participated.
The packs were team bagged next to a top loader.
1948-76 Topps FB Sets
FB & BB HOF Player sets
1948-1993 NY Yankee Team Sets
I remember when I was 12 years old in 1987 buying some 1987 Topps packs from a flea market dealer for $0.50 each. And I remember them being very difficult to open because they were.... Wait for it....super glued! I remember thinking... This dude resealed these and took all the stars out! I was a bit too shy then to call him out on it! Never bought anything from that guy again!
Shane
I remember one like that Jay - but it was around 2014 based on the wrapper.
I wasn't gonna participate but they needed some to buy to close the deal is what I remember - so I decided to jump in.
This is how mine was packed.
I'm with ya Shane - I never had any good fortunate going to flea markets.
I remember a guy saying to me - if ya don't see it? Let me know. I'll find it for you.
That was taken right out of one of Mr Mint's book
These were sealed in the team bags by the guy who broke down the box.
I have nor even taken the packs out.
I guess people can tell who is on back or front. I dunno
1948-76 Topps FB Sets
FB & BB HOF Player sets
1948-1993 NY Yankee Team Sets
Very nice. Expos team card is face out on back of the pack on the right.
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.
Received six packs on September 6, 2006, for $245. Lots of fun to open , but as you can see the centering was hellish. Here were my "highlights":
Pack 1
Pack 2
Pack 3
Pack 4
Packs 5 & 6
Graded only one of them - the Yaz/Cepeda '67 MVPs got an "8."
What was scary about the wrapper guy was he would jump in threads, especially group breaks and ask for any leftovers, and people sent him wrappers and boxes. Luckily you all got on him about resealing.
Successful card BST transactions with cbcnow, brogurt, gstarling, Bravesfan 007, and rajah 424.
I was in on the group break Gary handled with football packs. Got absolutely nothing in the 70's packs, but he must have skipped resealing the 81 football because I got a Montana PSA 9 from that one.
I wasn't part of that one, but I participated in 2009 or 2010. I bought two packs with the intention of ripping one and keeping one. The first pack yielded zero Pirates, so I fell to the pressure. Sure enough, I scored a Dock Ellis. There was also a super Nolan Ryan in that second pack.
Collector of Pittsburgh Pirates cards for a slightly less stupid reason.
My Pirates Collection
I think it was maybe a $1,000 card at the time. I sold it to a board member at a discount.
Collector of Pittsburgh Pirates cards for a slightly less stupid reason.
My Pirates Collection
My cards were destroyed by bad centering.
Late 60's and early to mid 70's non-sports
Great memories!
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.
What a sweet Ryan. I pulled a lot of OC as per usual!