Toughest 1956 Topps White Backs

Brian_S

Hey everyone! I was looking at 1956 topps sales recently and saw that Frank Thomas' white back sells for a ridiculous premium over the gray back. I know that 101-180 white backs are all tougher than the gray, but the Thomas sells for well over five times as much as the Killebrew white, which is his second year card and he is a hall of famer and one of the greatest players of his generation...
This got me interested in trying to find out which other "common" white backs sell for a big premium. Can anyone share what the most valuable and toughest 56 white backs are? (please don't say Mantle or Mays...I know they are worth something haha) Thanks for any help you can provide!

ElMagoStrikeZone

I believe the '56 Topps Frank Thomas WB you are referring to is a PSA 6.5 example which sold on February 1st for over $3800 in a GMC Graded auction. The Killebrew WB, graded PSA 6, sold for $1182 the same night. The Thomas rarely sees market activity, whereas the Killebrew has seen several other graded examples sold over the recent years.

If you view the PSA Population report, you can see which of the rare white backs have fewer graded examples, which would of course affect pricing. Some of them are impossible to acquire in high grade, so that affects pricing when a rare example hits an auction site, the high stakes bidders will circle like sharks.

olb31

Mantle is a huge difference, but Mays is not. They sell for about the same price. It's the opposite for the 1 -100 (gray is tougher) and Ted sells for about the same too, not much difference.

so it looks like basically the mantle matters to collectors and none of the rest the cards seem to matter.

I was going to paste a thread about this. Thanks for beating me to it.

Brian_S

@ElMagoStrikeZone said:
I believe the '56 Topps Frank Thomas WB you are referring to is a PSA 6.5 example which sold on February 1st for over $3800 in a GMC Graded auction. The Killebrew WB, graded PSA 6, sold for $1182 the same night. The Thomas rarely sees market activity, whereas the Killebrew has seen several other graded examples sold over the recent years.

If you view the PSA Population report, you can see which of the rare white backs have fewer graded examples, which would of course affect pricing. Some of them are impossible to acquire in high grade, so that affects pricing when a rare example hits an auction site, the high stakes bidders will circle like sharks.

Yeah I did see that Thomas sell. I scanned one on the ebay card scanner to see if it was just one of those scenarios where it sold for alot because of low population. Turns out that one sold around $400 recently raw in vg shape, and the past 2 years of sales shows basically the same price in that shape. Really low grades even sell for at least $100. Pretty crazy.

Brian_S

@olb31 said:
Mantle is a huge difference, but Mays is not. They sell for about the same price. It's the opposite for the 1 -100 (gray is tougher) and Ted sells for about the same too, not much difference.

so it looks like basically the mantle matters to collectors and none of the rest the cards seem to matter.

I was going to paste a thread about this. Thanks for beating me to it.

I think there are a few white backs besides the Mantle that collectors seem to want alot. Ones that seem to carry a premium that I have found so far are Frank Thomas ($300+ in lower grade), Virgil Trucks ($200+ in lower-mid grade), Clint Courtney (around the same as Trucks), Pirates Team ($100 ish in low grade), Gil Hodges (around the same as Pirates team).

Canes8387899101

170 Bill Virdon PSA 3 sold for $50 recently. A PSA 8 went for $1591, so my 6 is somewhere between $50-$1591.

olb31

brian that's interesting. wonder why no interest in the big boys except mantle?

olb31

ted pop for gray 2400 for white 5,300
jackie gray3,400 white6,900
aaron gray 3,300 white7,500
clemente gray 2,700 white 6,200
sandy gray 2,600 white 5,900
willie gray 7,200 white 900

MantleFan23

One thing that could skew pop count on 1-100 is that when PSA was originally grading 1956 topps cards, they did not differentiate between white and gray back. Everything defaulted to white back.

olb31

good call mick..that should make willie's white cards even more valuable then. 8-1 difference

Brian_S

After studying the pop report for '56 Topps, here's some interesting stuff I found:
1-100 gray backs are almost always a 1:3 ratio to white backs (there is one very interesting exception...keep reading)
101-180 white backs have a larger range of ratios, ranging from about 3% of gray to 12%+. Of course though, when it comes to commons, people are most likely grading the majority of white backs and not their gray backs. This would explain why the lowest percentages are all hall of famers (Rizzuto, Hodges, Minoso, Killebrew, etc.). This leads me to believe that just looking at TOTAL graded for the 101-180 whites is better in determining their rarity, versus looking at ratios.
Another thing that caught me off guard is that the team cards 1-100 with the date on the front are virtually nonexistent with a gray back. PSA has graded only 1 of each total. So, if you have one, wow.

Canes8387899101

After looking at some of the pop reports, if PSA did not designate between white and gray backs early in their grading, people should re-holder those. I never realized how low those populations are on the white backs. The one I mentioned Bill Virdon #170 PSA 6 was a pop 17 with 12 higher. The eight that sold recently for $1591 was a pop 2 with none higher. People are definitely battling it out for those top pops on their 1956 master sets.

ElMagoStrikeZone

@Brian_S said:

Another thing that caught me off guard is that the team cards 1-100 with the date on the front are virtually nonexistent with a gray back. PSA has graded only 1 of each total. So, if you have one, wow.

85 Indians, 90 Redlegs, 95 Braves & 100 Orioles, each in a lower grade between 3 and 5. I'd guess they all belong to the same person.

coinkat

I have not focused on the W v. G backs or even the differences in the Team Cards- I recall having both a W and G back Banks. I suppose I should look for others

Brian_S

@coinkat said:
I have not focused on the W v. G backs or even the differences in the Team Cards- I recall having both a W and G back Banks. I suppose I should look for others

Definitely look. In case you did not see above, gray backs are harder to find for cards 1-100 and white backs are harder to find 101-180. The 1-100 grays are typically not great unless it is jackie robinson or any other high tier hall of famer. The 101-180 white backs are all valuable so definitely keep an eye peeled for those. Good luck!

olb31

The mays is the one that really stands out to me, since he is possibly a top 5 card of the whole set in general (maybe 2). 8-1 is off the hook.

JoeBanzai

Here's the best Killebrew I have been able to acquire. I was aware of them at least 20 years ago.

I might have been the person to have it added to the Harmon Killebrew Master set.

Only 9 grade higher.

coinkat

Looked at the set- which is about halfway complete...

Only 2 whitebacks after 100- card 154 and Herb Score (140).

Apparently I have had better luck with the pre 100 Greybacks. A somewhat close split at 44 W and 38G with Spahn, Banks, Kaline, Boyer, and Rosen being among the better players in Grey. Phillies and Braves Team cards center name greybacks.

mintonlypls

Here is a gray back variation in my collection: PSA-8.5 (MBA - Silver Diamond)

sjjs28

Here is my one and only White Back - Obviously mis-labeled. Not going to let PSA touch it to repair their mistake!
Maybe if I try for a bump somewhere down the road, it can be addressed

ElMagoStrikeZone

Raw '56 Topps #117 Virgil Trucks White Back being auctioned by GMC

https://www.ebay.com/itm/137124075511

olb31

@sjjs28 said:
Here is my one and only White Back - Obviously mis-labeled. Not going to let PSA touch it to repair their mistake!
Maybe if I try for a bump somewhere down the road, it can be addressed

Sweet card..