My quest to build a 1979 Topps Rocky II high grade set all from self submissions
Constantine
Posts: 2,368 ✭✭✭
Growing up as a kid, I was always a fan of the Rocky movies. I have always wanted to focus on a registry set and build what I hope to be the finest set. Given my interest in the subject matter, and what is a relatively affordable option for vintage 1979 Topps, I set out to rip unopened and put together in card savers my finest examples for the 99 card set. I only want to do this set from self submissions, not interested in purchasing already graded.
Over the last 10 years I have slowly been buying unopened product when the price was right. Then opening and sorting out the 99 card set with gradable singles. I have opened 11 wax boxes and 3 vending boxes to date. Most of these were purchased years ago at $50-$60 a box. A few later boxes have been around $150-$200. I am pretty much done though buying as I still have 5 unopened boxes if need be that I am keeping. The condition of these cards right out packs are all over the place. Half the boxes were total dogs. Common theme is poor printing (ink) quality that is light, spotted, or has bled. Centering is all over the place, along with a common theme for a box where one of the same corners for most of the cards is dinged. I have my candidates in card savers and feel like my pool of graders is sufficient. Got some nice cards for sure.
I hesitated on grading during Covid due to the higher grading costs. Also still hesitated given what appears to be stricter grading standards for vintage (at least older cards compared to modern card stock). Naturally, I did not want to spend money on grading costs to get back a whole bunch of 8s on what I thought were some of my best singles for the set.
Last month I decided to start submitting. Figured that waiting was no fun and who knows anyway on what grades can be possible anyway. I have been strict over the years on what I call a "grader". I have 8 candidates of Rocky's "Rookie Card" which is card #1 in the set. This specific card is plagued by the typical off centering and red print spots that are very common for the set. Also corner dings are very common right out of the pack. I sent 3 examples to PSA in April for a Value Plus submission. One example was a true blazer and I had recently pulled it from a box I unopened the day before. My expectation was 8, 8, 9.
Got the submission back a couple of weeks ago. I still have about 60 cards across 3 submissions still in grading from the March Vintage Special. Split them up on purpose. We shall see on those. However, I am extremely happy with my three Balboa "Rookie Cards" that came back! Hopefully that is a good sign on my upcoming and future submissions. I know I will win some and lose some but #1 already came back big!
I plan to keep updating this thread on my journey to complete the registry set. I hope you enjoy.
Comments
Great looking cards! I also like how one of your serial numbers ends in "979" for a card from the 1979 set.
buying O-Pee-Chee (OPC) baseball
They made Rocky vending boxes?
I want one
Congratulations! Fun project!
I also had no clue either there was ever Rocky vending. All I know is that I bought all three from a seller on eBay a few years ago. Never seen any others before or after. They had the typical varying pattern that unsearched vending has. Condition was typical, not great printing or centering. However, the corners and edges were better than most of the wax. Collation was not good as it felt like only half of the 99 card set was represented. However, there was a loose pattern and sequencing became a bit predictable. I do not believe it was searched nor put together.
This is going to be fun to follow! I love the Rocky movies, remember buying packs of these from the local grocery store, great nostalgia.
Love this project! Congrats on the PSA 10 for the key card in the set. Off to a great start. Looking forward to seeing your journey on the submissions.
That 10 is a huge card.
Huger 2-3 years ago, so the grading delay may have cost you but still huge
HOF SIGNED FOOTBALL RCS
Just curious if anyone can tell: what is better about the 10 than the 9 at the top?
Fun project and will be amazing when complete. You are smart getting the most expensive one first!
I remember buying packs of this from the ice cream truck in the neighborhood
congrats!! nice start
should be fun to watch you build this one
good luck
collecting RAW Topps baseball cards 1952 Highs to 1972. looking for collector grade (somewhere between psa 4-7 condition). let me know what you have, I'll take it, I want to finish sets, I must have something you can use for trade.
looking for Topps 71-72 hi's-62-53-54-55-59, I have these sets started
Great start! this will be fun to watch!
The top 9 has some minor print smears in the upper yellow border. You can see them better on the larger scan. While minor and not distracting, it should not be a 10. Otherwise centering and corners are right on.
The second 9 is very clean printing wise, along with corners. It is a overall near perfect condition wise, but held back on the left to right centering for a 10.
The 10 is a blazer. It just stands out from the other two when in hand. I purposely submitted it with the other two nice examples, to hopefully show the difference. It also has an extra tuft of cardboard on the upper right corner. As an old school PSA submitter from the 90s, I took that as a sign of good luck. I don't ever know for sure if it is true, but graders seemed to like those tufts and it shows originality too. That was my wild card on if it would get a 9 or 10.
I have 5 more #1s in the grading process. Various levels of what I consider "graders" (8/9/10). One of them is particularly clean so will be curious on that one.
To contribute to this awesome thread, this is my Rocky rookie I sent in from a wax pack from a full wax box I purchased 10 years ago.
Terry Bradshaw was AMAZING!!
Ignore list -Basebal21
Evening,
Many years ago (2000-2002) I Bought a Pallet of Unopened Wax boxes of 1979 Topps Rocky Two. Pallet was Cases of 12 or 24 boxes each, I think 24 Case's. Can't remember which, anyway for some reason I opened about 100 to 120 Boxes before I got totally bored! I threw the Cards away or lit Campfires with them, don't remember. But between the Colors of Burning 1990 Fleer Basketball Wax Box Cases or this, they were so almost as much fun! Believe it or not I would estimate I Burned 10-12 Cases of Rock II at numerous Campfires at the time. But I beat this with 1990 Fleer Basketball Wax Cases
Of course in the annuals of Bad purchases I've made, that you just want to go HHHMMMPPH?? Still Hanging on to that 1800 Count Box of 1976 Crane Football Discs of Alan Page of MN. I picked up for $60. Wonder why that was?
$ 60 what a Deal, or did I mean what a DipShiet! Anybody want it for $100 so I can make a Profit? 
So anyway I kept Dozens of Complete Sets of the 22 Card Sticker Sets, from packs to Team Bags, and much less compromised then the Cards. I still have 6 or 7 Complete sets in the Team Bags where they were originally put with many possible 10's.
If you would have any interest, let me know!
YeeHaw!
Neil
I recently had an order pop. March Vintage Special received by PSA on 3/29.
1979 ROCKY II 1 MEET "ROCKY" MINT 9
1979 ROCKY II 3 STICKBALL CHAMP! MINT 9
1979 ROCKY II 4 SULTAN OF STICKBALL NEAR MINT-MINT 8
1979 ROCKY II 6 THE CHAMP AND HIS DOG MINT 9
1979 ROCKY II 11 INSIDE THE MEAT FACTORY EXCELLENT-MINT 6
1979 ROCKY II 12 THE ROCK AT WORK MINT 9
1979 ROCKY II 15 ACTRESS TALIA SHIRE NEAR MINT-MINT 8
1979 ROCKY II 22 "YOU CAN DO IT!" NEAR MINT-MINT 8
1979 ROCKY II 26 SHAPIN' UP! MINT 9
1979 ROCKY II 30 SPLATTER THE STALLION! MINT 9
1979 ROCKY II 31 ACTOR BURGESS MEREDITH NEAR MINT 7
1979 ROCKY II 34 TUNING UP! MINT 9
1979 ROCKY II 36 FURY OF APOLLO MINT 9
1979 ROCKY II 38 NOTHING CAN STOP ME NOW! MINT 9
1979 ROCKY II 40 PHILLY'S FAVORITE! NEAR MINT-MINT 8
1979 ROCKY II 42 THE SQUARE JUNGLE MINT 9
1979 ROCKY II 48 IT'S NOW OR NEVER MINT 9
1979 ROCKY II 53 POWER OF APOLLO MINT 9
1979 ROCKY II 54 AGAINST THE ROPES NEAR MINT-MINT 8
1979 ROCKY II 58 BLOODY CONFRONTATION MINT 9
1979 ROCKY II 63 THE RAGING GIANTS NEAR MINT-MINT 8
1979 ROCKY II 81 ONE LAST CHANCE... MINT 9
Happy to see 9s. Especially this one that pays for everything:
I knew with that print dot that it shouldn't 10. Otherwise a blazer.
I added the following cards to my registry set. They are at least 9s and I currently do not have other specific candidates for these currently in grading. I can add the other 9s I received from this submission if I do not receive any 10s from my current submissions still at PSA. Happily, these below will make the set.
I know that I will see a handful of 8s in these submissions. So after the initial GRRR when I saw the grades, this is expected. Knowing this set, vintage stock, and current grading standards I will always be happy getting a 9. Now I am looking for another 10!
This is awesome. Thanks for sharing
I've really enjoyed reading your progress with this. Glad to see you got a few nines on the last sub!
I didn’t know these even existed and have really enjoyed seeing your progress and learning about them. So cool. Thanks.
Very inspirational...Purchased a wax box myself...the #1 Rocky cards are sweet for sure
Nice! Hope you get a #1. You should with a full box. It was only once or twice I did not receive one in a box. With that said, good luck with the common corner ding and centering
To the others who have responded, I am happy that you enjoy the progress and commentary. I have another order that I will be posting soon......
I'd just be happy to have a nice set to put in binder/pages. Did other Rocky movies get Topps sets?
D's: 54S,53P,50P,49S,45D+S,44S,43D,41S,40D+S,39D+S,38D+S,37D+S,36S,35D+S,all 16-34's
Q's: 52S,47S,46S,40S,39S,38S,37D+S,36D+S,35D,34D,32D+S
74T: 37,38,47,151,193,241,435,570,610,654,655 97 Finest silver: 115,135,139,145,310
73T:31,55,61,62,63,64,65,66,67,68,80,152,165,189,213,235,237,257,341,344,377,379,390,422,433,453,480,497,545,554,563,580,606,613,630
95 Ultra GM Sets: Golden Prospects,HR Kings,On-Base Leaders,Power Plus,RBI Kings,Rising Stars
I believe only Rocky IV. There was a set they put out in 2016 where you could pull a Stallone auto, but they are SUPER rare.
That's a real shame they didn't do Rocky 3. I mean they had both the main guys from the original Wrestlemania!
D's: 54S,53P,50P,49S,45D+S,44S,43D,41S,40D+S,39D+S,38D+S,37D+S,36S,35D+S,all 16-34's
Q's: 52S,47S,46S,40S,39S,38S,37D+S,36D+S,35D,34D,32D+S
74T: 37,38,47,151,193,241,435,570,610,654,655 97 Finest silver: 115,135,139,145,310
73T:31,55,61,62,63,64,65,66,67,68,80,152,165,189,213,235,237,257,341,344,377,379,390,422,433,453,480,497,545,554,563,580,606,613,630
95 Ultra GM Sets: Golden Prospects,HR Kings,On-Base Leaders,Power Plus,RBI Kings,Rising Stars
First of all, love the Rocky movies, it's one of the reasons I became a huge boxing fan. The movies really capture everything it takes to be a boxer, especially the Heart, to be able to take ungodly amounts of punishment and continue to fight back, no other sport requires you to dig as deep, boxing is the toughest sport there is. A few of my favorite moments from the Rocky franchise, in Rocky 3 when he loses Mickey and his title, he hits rock bottom and his wife Adrian and his old rival Apollo Creed are there for him and a great friendship is born with Apollo. In Rocky 4 when Apollo Creed is killed by Ivan Drago and Rocky feels he must avenge his friend Apollo's death, despite the fact that Adrian knows that he himself could be killed and doesn't want him to face Drago, Rocky goes right into the lion's den in Drago's own country to face him because he loves Apollo, and despite her anger and worry Adrian shows up in Russia because she loves Rocky and wants to be there for him when he faces the fight of his life. After Apollo died I don't think Rocky smiled once, he was laser focused on Drago and it showed when he climbed the mountain and yelled Dragoooooo. And when Drago made his entrance you could see the fear in Rocky's eyes, he knew how dangerous Drago was, that he could be killed. But my favorite moment of the entire franchise was when Apollo's trainer Duke got in Rocky's face before the final round against Drago and said, "Don't stop it now! We start, and we don't stop! All your strength, all your power, all your love, everything you've got! That was the moment that elevated him to avenge Apollo. Great stuff. I thought you might enjoy this, a real life Rocky type moment, in 2000, Danny Williams vs Mark Potter. In the third round, Danny Williams' right shoulder becomes dislocated and at the end of the third round his corner man pops the shoulder back in. Boxing promotor Frank Warren is begging Williams to quit but he refuses and continues to fight and in the sixth round his right shoulder becomes dislocated again and is completely limp and useless. His trainer wants to throw in the towel but Williams looks over at his corner and says no, all I need to do is land one shot with my good arm, here is the sixth round of that epic fight, you can't make this stuff up. Good luck with the set, awesome cards. 👍
They should've made cards from the 3rd movie. A shame.
Terry Bradshaw was AMAZING!!
Ignore list -Basebal21
Wow, that was incredible. His shoulder looked totally jacked.
One more video you might enjoy, the man that runs this YouTube channel added the perfect background music to this, it really symbolizes what this sport is about, there's just nothing else like boxing. Again, nice Rocky cards and enjoy your project!
Here are the results from my 3rd order I submitted back in March. I had grouped a bunch of these at the same time but had spread them out over a couple of weeks to get a different grader(s). Very happy with this as got a lot of solid 9s and even a 10! One thing that I am learning is that I will not likely be hitting a run of a 10s. Which is fine for vintage stock that has known printing and centering issues. So excited about the 10 and a nice run of 9s.
1979 ROCKY II 1 MEET "ROCKY" NEAR MINT-MINT 8
1979 ROCKY II 9 IT'S COLD OUTSIDE! NEAR MINT 7
1979 ROCKY II 14 DON'T MESS WITH THE ROCK! MINT 9
1979 ROCKY II 19 VISION OF VICTORY MINT 9
1979 ROCKY II 33 THE LIVING LEGEND NEAR MINT-MINT 8
1979 ROCKY II 53 POWER OF APOLLO NEAR MINT 7
1979 ROCKY II 54 AGAINST THE ROPES MINT 9
1979 ROCKY II 55 STAY IN CONTROL! MINT 9
1979 ROCKY II 59 A LEFT TO ROCKY'S CHIN! MINT 9
1979 ROCKY II 61 THE UNDEFEATED CHAMP MINT 9
1979 ROCKY II 65 IN OVER HIS HEAD! MINT 9
1979 ROCKY II 82 SUMMONING HIDDEN STRENGTHS NEAR MINT-MINT 8
1979 ROCKY II 86 DO IT ROCKY! GEM MINT 10
1979 ROCKY II 88 THE REELING CHAMP MINT 9
1979 ROCKY II 90 THE VICTORIOUS ONE! MINT 9
1979 ROCKY II 91 A HARD-FOUGHT BATTLE! EXCELLENT 5
1979 ROCKY II 94 BALBOA'S TRIUMPH NEAR MINT-MINT 8
1979 ROCKY II 97 FACE OF A CHAMPION MINT 9
1979 ROCKY II 98 HIGH SPIRITS MINT 9
1979 ROCKY II 99 WE DID IT ADRIAN! NEAR MINT-MINT 8
Actually, I remember this order now very well. As this is one of the first I put together, I did not want to risk a “good” Rocky #1 without having a better understanding of the grade possibilities. So I put one in that was not centered great and so the 8 on this is not a surprise at all.
The PSA Registry set is now 18.18% complete. GPA with Top Pop Bonuses is 9.61. Since I am doing the set only with 9s and 10s it will obviously end up as a very high grade set. I am realizing though that with the misses here and there on grades it is going to take a while to eventually complete it at 100%.
Here at the cards that have made the set:
Great results and congrats on your first 10 with your self submissions. This has been a fun project to watch. It almost makes me want to buy a box and rip it!
Jeremy
Rip it, Rip it good.
Wait a minute….i just realized they put the horizontal cards upside down in the holders!
Nope, that is the normal direction from what i've seen. Flip on the right for side cards. But I see what you mean with the Rockey II logo upside down....
No, they do not holder the Rocky cards that way normally. They do it Rocky logo right side up, not upside down.
I noticed that too. PSA mistakes.
Terry Bradshaw was AMAZING!!
Ignore list -Basebal21
D's: 54S,53P,50P,49S,45D+S,44S,43D,41S,40D+S,39D+S,38D+S,37D+S,36S,35D+S,all 16-34's
Q's: 52S,47S,46S,40S,39S,38S,37D+S,36D+S,35D,34D,32D+S
74T: 37,38,47,151,193,241,435,570,610,654,655 97 Finest silver: 115,135,139,145,310
73T:31,55,61,62,63,64,65,66,67,68,80,152,165,189,213,235,237,257,341,344,377,379,390,422,433,453,480,497,545,554,563,580,606,613,630
95 Ultra GM Sets: Golden Prospects,HR Kings,On-Base Leaders,Power Plus,RBI Kings,Rising Stars
Well not sure what happened here as this is a big disappointment. This is the same group of cards I had put together back in March to then spread out over multiple orders. I did not screen or do anything different with this order. It proves a strategy to me that it is safer to spread out cards in orders. Imagine how discouraged I would have been if I had sent the 75 cards all at once and they were graded in this round?
This completes the 3 orders I grouped at the same time and sent at the end of March. I still have 3 orders sent in June and am hoping things get back on track.
1979 ROCKY II 8 HITCHED NEAR MINT-MINT 8
1979 ROCKY II 17 MRS. BALBOA EXPECTING! NEAR MINT-MINT 8
1979 ROCKY II 25 THE ROPE EXERCISE EXCELLENT-MINT 6
1979 ROCKY II 49 THE WORLD'S CHAMP NEAR MINT-MINT 8
1979 ROCKY II 56 MAN OF DESTINY MINT 9
1979 ROCKY II 67 ROCKY GETS RILED! EXCELLENT-MINT 6
1979 ROCKY II 72 IN THE ROCK'S CORNER NEAR MINT-MINT 8
1979 ROCKY II 74 BALBOA'S DREAM NEAR MINT 7
1979 ROCKY II 75 THE FINAL ROUND EXCELLENT 5
1979 ROCKY II 76 CREED CREAMED! NEAR MINT-MINT 8
1979 ROCKY II 77 DEVASTATING SOCK! EXCELLENT 5
1979 ROCKY II 83 HANG IN THERE, ROCKY! EXCELLENT 5
1979 ROCKY II 85 FOUR...FIVE...SIX! EXCELLENT-MINT 6
1979 ROCKY II 86 DO IT ROCKY! MINT 9
1979 ROCKY II 93 NOW... NUMBER ONE! NEAR MINT-MINT 8
There is one card that will make the set. While #86 Do It Rocky! came back a 9, I received a 10 in a prior order.
Here are some of the lesser grades. I fully understand the subtle differences between an 8-9-10. I have not been able to discern a reason as to why the grades are substantially lower in this submission vs the prior submissions based on viewing the condition of the cards.
That's a bummer.
I'm with you because I've learned my lesson too. I no longer sub any orders more than 20 or so, because I've been burned by weird graders.
For a company/industry that depends on a sterling reputation of consistency I've found there's very little.
must be spider wrinkles/surface crease
Afternoon,
Must be PSA giving out Crap Grades!
YeeHaw!
Neil
Looks like the low grader put the cards in right side up in the holder at least.
Grades aside, having part of the set facing left and some facing right would bother me.
Wow. The 5's and 6's look like 8's and 9's. Tough grader. That's why I quit sending to PSA 15 years ago. I always get consistent grades with other companies.
Terry Bradshaw was AMAZING!!
Ignore list -Basebal21
In the last three years I've sent maybe 300 cards to be slabbed. Two years ago I just said Never F$#$cking again, not one since and never again, I'm not doing this anymore, you know the old saying " The epitomy of Stupidity is to perform the same action over and over, that got you 10 beatings, and then think you'll only get 5 next time!
What a waste of time and money! Hope you all enjoy your future endeavers with PSA, I wouldn't let then Authenticate a Pre-Historic Cave Man Crap Pile!
Oh and a Random observation, Having Steve Grad on Pawn Stars has shown me what a Blantant disreguard they have for accuracy and the BS program they put out!!! I've watched him (Grad) 1/2 dozen times at least that the Thing he just Authenticated, just came back POS! called Fake, Not Real, Forged, don't hear about that do you?
YeeHaw!
Neil
I cannot figure out how those are PSA 6. Are there any tiny surface bubbles/pimples on the front that were common for that production era? They will look like a small blister on the surface, but won’t break the color or gloss. Those can lead to a PSA 6 sometimes, while other times I have seen them in PSA 9 holders.
Okay so we are back on track here! Just like in the Rocky movies we were down on the mat but got up before the end of the count….and have come back swinging. This is what I was looking for with solid grades and the cards are all properly placed in the right direction in the holders this time.
So the previous 3 orders up above were all put together by me at the same time in March but spread out over 3 submissions. This order below is part of 3 submissions that I put together in June and spread out over a few weeks. Therefore, this is the first one back, with 2 remaining with PSA.
1979 ROCKY II 1 MEET "ROCKY" NEAR MINT-MINT 8
1979 ROCKY II 1 MEET "ROCKY" MINT 9
1979 ROCKY II 2 ROCKY'S GIRL, ADRIAN MINT 9
1979 ROCKY II 5 YO, BUTKUS! MINT 9
1979 ROCKY II 6 THE CHAMP AND HIS DOG MINT 9
1979 ROCKY II 7 ROCKY POPS THE QUESTION MINT 9
1979 ROCKY II 23 FISTS OF FURY N8: MISCUT
1979 ROCKY II 25 THE ROPE EXERCISE MINT 9
1979 ROCKY II 30 SPLATTER THE STALLION! GEM MINT 10
1979 ROCKY II 46 THE GLADIATORS MINT 9
1979 ROCKY II 48 IT'S NOW OR NEVER MINT 9
1979 ROCKY II 50 FORMIDABLE FOE MINT 9
1979 ROCKY II 52 THE SLUGFEST CONTINUES! MINT 9
1979 ROCKY II 58 BLOODY CONFRONTATION MINT 9
1979 ROCKY II 59 A LEFT TO ROCKY'S CHIN! MINT 9
1979 ROCKY II 63 THE RAGING GIANTS MINT 9
1979 ROCKY II 65 IN OVER HIS HEAD! MINT 9
1979 ROCKY II 70 BRUISED BUT NOT BEATEN! GEM MINT 10
1979 ROCKY II 85 FOUR...FIVE...SIX! MINT 9
1979 ROCKY II 90 THE VICTORIOUS ONE! GEM MINT 10
I had two Rocky #1s (Rocky’s RC and key to the set) in this submission. The first one is not centered well enough top to bottom for a 9 so it coming back an 8 is exactly what I expected. The second one came back at least a 9 which was my intention. It is specifically a very strong 9 and would be fine sitting in a 10 holder. However, we know how tough that is to pull off. A PSA 9 Rocky #1 pays for the whole grading, so gotta love that.
There were quite a cards that came back as a 9 or 10 that will make the set (see below). The registry set is currently at 35.35% so over a third done. Very happy for the bump in the set thanks to this submission. Given previous and future 8s that I will likely be receiving, along with duplicate 9s, I will be starting a second registry set that will be all 8s and 9s. As noted, still have two submissions with PSA to get back. They total 30 cards. My plan is to get the grades on these 30 cards then go back to my well of “graders” and start filling in the blanks.