1961 Topps Baseball Collectors

dalew

He's only selling one, but looks like he has a box of them. Anyways, wouldn't be something to find old unopened boxes of cards? I once was in the basement of a mom and pop drug store and they had some old cards that were still in the boxes and never opened. You know, when they didn't sell out of an item, they stashed it in the basement. I wish I would have bought them, but I didn't.

Anyways have fun.
1961 Topps Baseball Unopened Pack

Galveston

Seems under priced. What series is it? I bet someone can tell.

curmudgeon

The card "showing" is a manager card, meaning it is numbered somwehere 131-139 or 219-226. Therefore, the series is too high for a Maris, and too low for a Mantle. A nice item, but for card collectors, as opposed to unopened material collectors, you'd probably have to pull all 9s to make it worth what he wants for it.
Regards....................Todd

Buckwheat

<< <i>The card "showing" is a manager card, meaning it is numbered somwehere 131-139 or 219-226. Therefore, the series is too high for a Maris, and too low for a Mantle. A nice item, but for card collectors, as opposed to unopened material collectors, you'd probably have to pull all 9s to make it worth what he wants for it.
Regards....................Todd >>



I've looked at all 4 pictures, and I don't see it. Where is the card "showing".

I agre that this is for pack collectors. the odds are way against being able to cover the asking price with the cards alone.

curmudgeon

Rob,

If you look at the back of the pack (supersized), near the top, you can see the card showing through the white wrapper. The card has a distinct blue, white and red vertical stripe pattern, which is the pattern associated with the manager cards from 1961. Looking at it more closely now, I see a hint of orange in the space not covered by the wrapper. I believe that the card has to be either Paul Richards or Danny Murtaugh, probably the former.
That being said, I need to fudge a little on my earlier remarks. I was only 2 in 1961 so obviously didn't collect that issue then. I seem to recall, however, that at least in the late 60's cards were released two series at a time, meaning that more than a hundred different were available in any one box. I can't recall if cards from different series were available in the same pack within that box, but if so, then in theory a Maris might be found in a pack from the second series. Perhaps someone else can shed light on this.

Happy Holidays.............Todd

toppsgun

Unopened packs are bad ideas if you ever open them. Consider this: Assuming it's not been tampered with (big assumption), out of five cards, at least two have gum stains which won't come off the back and may not come off the front of a card after 41 years. The wax would likely be on the front of a third card. The centering is probably off on at least 1 or 2, and maybe miscut.

So, out of 5 cards, you could very well get zero, zip, zilch, nada.

Now if you can pick up the entire box in the basement of the mom-n-pop store for peanuts, you can become the seller and make a killing. The seller of these things clearly has the upper hand. The buyer bears the greater risk with uncommensurate potential return.

curmudgeon

One more thing to throw out for discussion. It has always been my theory that the 1961 Magic Rub-Offs were inserted in the high-series packs, since far, far fewer of them are seen than the stamps. This pack's advertisement for the stamps in a low series does not hurt my theory, but I would like to hear other's recollections or thoughts on the issue. I suppose it's also possible that each series contained both stamps and rub-offs, although surviving specimens would hint that the ratio would have been very one-sided.

I am somewhat curious about the box's advertisement for an "extra feature" in every pack, rather than stamps. Seems Topps contemplated having two different types of inserts when it went to press. Does anyone know if the 5-cent boxes for this year's set were the same during the release of all series?

Just my luck--catching a bird in the a.m. for a 10-day vacation away from {he gasped} the Internet, so will have to wait for what develops.
Todd

Buckwheat

Tod,

I see it now. I hadn't supersized right. I believe you are right. I believe it is the Richardson with the Oriole on the front of the cap. If you were to get a 137 Dressen PSA 8, it would go for $250. But overall, it is a losing bet. We will do better in Atlantic City.

Mantlefan

Todd,

Having collected the 1961 set in 1961, I can tell you that the series were not mixed that year. It was torture, waiting for the next series to appear. I remember riding my bike to distant "candy stores" in Queens, NY searching for the "new series".

Agree with Toppsgun..I've opened several 1960 and 1961 packs recently. The cards were all either stained or off-center.

toppsgun

I know someone who opened a 1963 sixth series pack. I think he paid $350 for it. It had six cards. Only one worth grading and I think it pulled a 9. Of the other five, one had wax stains, one had gum stains, two were miscut, the other severely o/c. It was a Dodger, #502-Spencer. He just gave it to me as a reminder to never buy unopened packs. It was gorgeous, but 90/10 or so. I submitted it to round out an invoice. It came back 8 o/c.

I just penned a second verse to a famous song down here in Texas:

"Mamas, don't let your babies buy unopened packs..."