Toughest 1986 Topps Baseball Cards?
Seaverfan
Posts: 80 ✭✭✭
I've recently cracked about six sealed 1986 topps baseball rack cases. Cost per unopened case are pricey but not ridiculous, unlike the unopened 1985 rack cases. The overall quality of the card including the paper, color and overall centering has been good, again better than the 1985 Topps baseball, IMO.
As of yet, some of toughest raw high end cards I've found are # 28 Eris Davis, #100 Nolan Ryan and #111Roger Craig..... What been your experience with 1986 Topps baseball and what are your top three toughest high end pulls from this set?
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All your questions will be answered in this thread
I have come to re-appreciate this year and now find it to be my favorite Topps set of the decade, quality of rookie cards and value aside (because that is all anyone cares about now).
I agree with the Eric Davis and Nolan Ryan difficulty. The other major challenge is Ryne Sandberg. I have ripped about 5 vending cases and 4 rack cases and have yet to pull a PSA 10 worthy Sandberg. Here are the best Davis and Ryan I pulled…
Just send me that Puckett! ;-)
Eric Davis is a bear
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Fellas, leave the tight pants to the ladies. If I can count the coins in your pockets you better use them to call a tailor. Stay thirsty my friends......
Back in the 80's I purchased 100 1986 Don Mattingly's. Before the PSA pandemic shutdown, my son and I look at them carefully. None were worthy to send in. The centering or black borders weren't necessarily the problems, but a small printer dot that was over his right shoulder in the crowd on several of them . I am guessing they were from vending boxes.
Gretzky,Ripken, and Sandberg collection. Still trying to complete 1975 Topps baseball set from when I was a kid.
I'm gonna add a few more toughies....#1 Pete Rose (corners), #290 Carlton Fisk (centering), #570 Rusty Staub (image quality).....
Definitely Ryan and Sandbergs!...Here's a 10 in Ryan (Okay, it's a cello pack, but look at PSA 10 packs of 86 topps, only 19 out of 147 packs, even getting 10's there is hard
Work in progress - Unopened Racks/Cello/Wax with star power for Baseball, Football and Basketball
Collecting unopened 80's boxes and graded packs
I may be hoarding too much 80's junk wax but I like it!
I cracked 3 cases maybe 10 years ago. Got to gem mint 10 Nolan Ryan’s and didn’t even hit a single PSA 9 Sandberg. Print dots allows killed it. That was the toughest card IMO.
Collecting:
post world war II HOF rookie
76 topps gem mint 10 commons 9 stars
Arenado purple refractors(Rockies) Red (Cardinals)
successful deals with Keevan, Grote15, 1954, mbogoman
Frank Dipino still has no 10s. And probably never will.
Sandberg!!
CDsNuts, 1/9/15
Sandberg is very difficult!! Got to check my Dipino's out.
A few more of the tough... #231 Jim Frey (corners, top-bottom centering), #335 Don Sutton (print spots and snow galore), #651 Billy Martin (side to side centering nd fish eyes)
Is this Ryan 10 cello for sale ????
Sorry, it's NFS, pretty proud of this self sub awhile back
Work in progress - Unopened Racks/Cello/Wax with star power for Baseball, Football and Basketball
Collecting unopened 80's boxes and graded packs
I may be hoarding too much 80's junk wax but I like it!
Box bottom variant
I think the issue with Sandberg is the red print dot. I have ripped about a case of 86 OPC and only got one without the dot, unfortunately centering isn't where it needs to be.
With comic book a known printing defect almost never affects grading
I disliked the 1986 Topps design in my youth and still do, I've none in my collection. But yeah I can see how its condition sensitive. Lucky Topps printed a few million mega tons of them.
It's the singer not the song - Peter Townshend (1972)
Hard to beat 88 Donruss though !
Now collecting:
Topps Heritage
1957 Topps BB Ex+-NM
All Yaz Items 7+
Various Red Sox
Did I leave anything out?
And my vote for the toughest card in the '86 Topps baseball set is.... #72 Shawon Dunston (poor picture quality/focus, significant snow, rough gloss/surface charcteristics and centering issues)!
I disliked the 1986 Topps design in my youth and still do, I've got over 10,000 in my collection.
How can you not like the 86 design??? black top border, team names in bright, bold colors, classic framing, several really nice portraits... Look at the Sandberg, Ryan, and even the Brett cards...just so sharp when they are well centered. There are even some neat action shots. The Bo Diaz shot is one of my favorite cards of all time. Gooden looks just menacing with his delivery. To me, 1986 is the transition year from old school Topps to new school. The production numbers were starting to ramp up exponentially, but the card stock was still basic, packs still came with gum, there were no crazy inserts, and most every big HOF player from the era is present. It also has one of the highest number of HOF player cards of any Topps set, ever. I think 1975 might have edged it out slightly, but am willing to be corrected.
I agree on the Sandberg and Ryan being tough to find in nice condition. The Davis is also a bear.
kevin
What’s the total over under for how many 1986 t baseball cards that will be graded in the next 10 years?
200?
To me as a kid, 1986 Topps equated to the best second year card checklist of all time. Much the same way 1985 checked in as best rookie card checklist of all time. I own a ton of it unopened, but have opened very little because I don’t have a big connection to it. The unopened has appreciated quite a bit over past couple years, but what hasn’t?
I do think the design is very different, but it has grown on me.
The Eric Davis card is awesome. Not Mattingly or Winfield awesome, but awesome.
John
Does anyone have a rule of thumb they use for top/bottom centering for 1986 Topps? I find of all the 1980s sets, the top/bottom in '86 plays the most tricks on my eye. Even using a centering grademaster I feel like I find some variance between what a good top/bottom centered card looks like across the set, perhaps because of how the name on the bottom was printed? Any thoughts greatly appreciated!
I always considered 1991 the last of the old guard of Topps cards based on the card stock.
Kiss me twice.....let's party.
I agree 100%.
I don't disagree with either of you. I think my thought was more nuanced and certainly less evidence based.
1991 was the last of the old card stock, and the end of actual wax paper wrapping cards and gum. But things started changing in 1986-1987. Production started to get out of control, and by 1988-1989, was wildly out of control. 1991 saw Topps insert old cards into its packs, so you had a frantic push to rip cases of wax to try to find 50's and 60's stars (though about all anybody seemed to get was a lousy 1984 Topps common!) I don't disagree at all that 1991 is an easy line when you consider the card stock. But there is just something about 1986 that "feels" older, while 1988-1989 always felt newer. It's not a hard, disciplined, evidentiary case I'm making. More of a "feel" to me than anything.
kevin
I started in 87, so it’s easy for me to say that is the beginning. But I see your point Kevin. By 1987 the hobby was blown wide open, but Donruss and Fleer were still tough to come by at retail price. By 1988, all bets off and the production/distribution was so much bigger that it put boxes of the big 3 on every horizontal surface at a retail outlet. Plus Score joined the mix.
John
From a Topps perspective nothing is different in 1987 except for print runs which I would argue were still monumental in 1986. 1991 also had the gold parallels. It was a complete shift.
When thinking of cards in general this is how I think if it:
I thought 1981 was a new era of cards because the hobby moved from just Topps.
In 1986 Sportflics came in and was the first premium card with only 3 cards in a pack (most people forget this and credit 1989 Upper Deck). In 1988 Score came in and made backs having a photo a thing. Then in 1989 Upper Deck brought in an unheard of price point (though actually lower than Sportflics on a per card basis) for a regular card which led to premium brands like Ultra and Stadium Club in 1991. Everyone follows suit, then super premium like Flair and Finest starts in 1993. So much happened right around that time that I think the 90s are considered the next delineation for cards.
In my opinion:
1957-1980 the Topps Era
1981 - 1989 the 1980s Boom
1990 begins the modern era with “differentiation” of cards (lots of sets with varying price points from the same company).
The hobby makes another delineation into ultra-modern but I fail to understand what changed from the 1990s to now. To me parallels started with ToppsGold in 1991, autos started with Upper Deck Reggie, serial numbers started with 1991 Donruss (Elite), redemptions started in 1993 with ToppsBlackGold, refractors started in 1993 with Finest and relics started with 1996 Press Pass NASCAR and 1997 Upper Deck. What makes ultra-modern different than the 1990s?
I know the conversation is sticking mostly to the baseball issues, but the 1992-93 Upper Deck basketball with the Shaq redemption was a definite game changer in the history of the hobby. I believe Skybox basketball from that same year had a whole draft pick set that you could pull as a redemption, as well.
Back to 1986 Topps baseball, I wasn't a big fan of the design upon it's release in 1986, and effectively boycotted it and spent my money on 86 Donruss when I could find it, which was rarely. I ended up buying a complete set of 86 Topps from the J.C. Penny's Christmas catalog, and then several of the 86 Topps traded sets just because of all of the hot rookies. The design has grown on me over time, and is now one of my favorite issues from the 80s. There have been several specific cards mentioned in this thread as being aesthetically pleasing. I would add that I'm a big fan of the Kirby Puckett card (this is not mine).
That Puckett card is as good as it gets
Wasn't 1983 Fleer the first with photos on the back?
I thought it was 1971 Topps & OPC baseball, not 1983 Fleer
E.T.A.: I think 1988 Score was maybe the first card with Color photos on the back, aside from 1987 Sportflics?
I did mean full color - and I did forget about 1987 Sportflics. Yes 1971 has photos on the back as did 1983 Fleer.
I do wish to understand what delineates ultra-modern from the 90s and early 2000s. Google tells me ultra-modern starts in 2017.
I could be wrong but I thought "Ultra-Modern" was a term that PSA created in CY2020 in order to separate grading pricing tiers, and at the time referred to cards from 2018 through present, with the intention that each successive year would bump one, such that in 2021 Ultra-Modern would be 2019-2021, and then 2020-2022, and so on.
I remember about 8 years ago when I thought I had become really skilled to subbing cards a few years back into the hobby. One night ripping 3 boxes and pulling all the stars. Then going through and wittling down the best ones. Then again, and again, until I decided that my Nolan Ryan was the strongest of them all. Well centered, no chipping. I think I even had a loupe at the time. Was very excited that I had a chance at a 10. Came back an 8. LOLZ
Thanks for the explanation. So ultra-modern is essentially “current” with current being the last three years.
Here are images of some of the '86 "toughies" with the toughest "toughie" last... If you find one in a 9, I suggest grabbing it. A 10 whooo!
Here's mine, just arrived today.
>
That's a 10 all day!
Crazy that these get 9s vs what sits in some of 10 holders today for other sets. I understand a renewed commitment to your standards, but there also needs to be some nod to the past and what was permitted imperfection for a 10
Kids today don't know or follow anyone who didn't play last night.
1986 Topps lacks a major RC to anchor it. For a short time ii looked like Cecil Fielder could be that but he faded. Then there is the disaster of Lenny Dykstra. There is literally nothing worth mentioning after that. If not for the awesome partial black borders and overall cool design 1986 Topps would be the gigantic dud of the 1980's. So the design has floated it as a cool endeavor that can still be broke by the case without breaking most wallets.
ISO 1978 Topps Baseball in NM-MT High Grade Raw 3, 100, 103, 302, 347, 376, 416, 466, 481, 487, 509, 534, 540, 554, 579, 580, 622, 642, 673, 724__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ISO 1978 O-Pee-Chee in NM-MT High Grade Raw12, 21, 29, 38, 49, 65, 69, 73, 74, 81, 95, 100, 104, 110, 115, 122, 132, 133, 135, 140, 142, 151, 153, 155, 160, 161, 167, 168, 172, 179, 181, 196, 200, 204, 210, 224, 231, 240
That Ryan is awesome, at least from the photos. Those black tops are really tough. I'd say Sandberg is the most difficult I've seen.
Love to talk baseball cards! Super fan of vintage 70's and early 80s cards.