1957 Topps Baseball Slugfest

Mantlefan · February 21, 2003 9:14AM

Great battle for the 2003 Set Registry award for 1957 Topps Baseball going on now. Romano has supplanted Branca with a magnificent set full of PSA 9's and 10's. He's only missing one card [I know which one, but I'm not telling]. Unfortunately, he has decided to hide his set, but that's understandable given the recent bidding wars on 1957 cards. Should be an interesting year. Anybody with PSA 9 57's should roll them out on EBAY now!

1957 Topps BB Registry

Davalillo · February 21, 2003 10:05AM

Wall Street vs. Hollywood--what could be better? GO WALL STREET!

Davalillo

CDC4 · February 21, 2003 10:29AM

Frank,

I'm taking Nick on this one....there aren't enough 9's out there.....Unless John finds the 1957 Ted Williams PSA 10, which is in a collection right now, it's going to be hard to accumulate that many 9's...cause Nick isn't the only one buying 9's....Scorehouse buys many 9's as well ....and I believe Charles Merkle is in on some 9's at certain points as well....It's going to be interesting...all I know is that my set doesn't even come close so count me out of the slugfest.....lol.........

Carlo

Virtualizard · February 21, 2003 10:39AM

I really wish my father hadn't sold his complete set of '57s (along with several other complete sets from the mid to late '50s) in the late '80s - I had stopped collecting cards at that time. I think he got something like $4,000 for them all.

JEB.

Skycap · February 22, 2003 1:53AM

Not knowing much about either Nick Romano or John Branca, I was curious to know what is meant by Wall Street vs Hollywood?

Anyway, I'm also wondering why Branca -- known as bruinkid75 in ebay -- sometimes doesn't bid on certain 1957 cards I believe he needs to upgrade. For example, earlier this week Romano -- kr522 in ebay -- won the only PSA 10 of Del Rice, and Branca didn't even bid. Also earlier this week there was a beautiful PSA 9 Gil Hodges, a card that Romano already has but I believe Branca doesn't, yet why didn't he bid?

Whose 1957 set in the registry belongs to scorehouse?

Skycap

Basilone · February 22, 2003 2:31AM

Who knows...maybe Branca has been busy with a particular client of his these past couple of weeks. I heard his client had a couple of televised interviews on national TV the last couple of weeks.

John

Virtualizard · February 22, 2003 2:42AM

<< <i>...Anyway, I'm also wondering why Branca -- known as bruinkid75 in ebay -- sometimes doesn't bid on certain 1957 cards I believe he needs to upgrade. For example, earlier this week Romano -- kr522 in ebay -- won the only PSA 10 of Del Rice, and Branca didn't even bid. Also earlier this week there was a beautiful PSA 9 Gil Hodges, a card that Romano already has but I believe Branca doesn't, yet why didn't he bid?...

Skycap >>

Maybe he started sniping and the snipes have just come up short? That would explain why you don't see him in the bidder list.

JEB.

CDC4 · February 22, 2003 3:01AM

I don't believe scorehouse's set is on the registry unless he is the "Best of 57's" with a rating of 9.01 and is about 30% complete.

Skycap- John Branca works in Hollywood so I think that is what is meant by Hollywood vs. Wall Street.

Its tough to say what John's feelings are on the 57 set since he doesn't post here. He has so many other amazing sets the 1957 set ratings may not seem as much of a competition to him as other people think it is.

Carlo

Skycap · February 22, 2003 4:01AM

Carlo, what you say makes sense. Branca collects several sets and doesn't focus on a singular one like Romano does.

JEB, I don't think it's a case where Branca is sniping and is coming up short, and therefore his bids don't show. A check into his bidding tendencies reveals that he never snipes. Although he sometimes bids in the final hour, more frequently he bids several hours or even days in advance. It's clear that he does not subscribe to a sniper service; rather, he just bids when he feels like logging onto his computer. Nick Romano, on the other hand, is a pure sniper, typically bidding within the last 10 or 15 seconds.

Skycap

acowa · February 22, 2003 5:11AM

With so many cards coming and going on EBAY, completing/competing for cards you need would be a full time job. I am sure that dealers sometimes know what he needs just as well or better than he does.

Regards,

Alan

Skycap · February 22, 2003 6:27AM

So if John Branca is "Hollywood" because he is an agent or lawyer for entertainers, then why do they call Nick Romano "Wall Street"? Is he the Gordon Gekko type?

By the way, I sense that Romano decided to obscure his 1957 Topps card list after realizing that everyone could see it -- plus the fact that his ebay bidder identity of kr522 was made known here (confirming that he reads these mesage boards). Although I don't collect the 1957 set, I do sometimes buy the high-grade PSA 8, 9 or 10 cards, and so I printed out a copy of his card list immediately when it was posted several days ago. Ironically, we should remember that quote by Michael Douglas (Gordon Gekko) from the movie "Wall Street" -- "Information is the most valuable commodity I know."

Skycap

Davalillo · February 22, 2003 8:34AM

By Hollywood vs. Wall St--I think it is well known that one of John's clients is Michael Jackson and is office is in L.A.-hence Hollywood.

Nick's e-mail address says andorcap.com or something like that--I presume that means he works for andor capital --one of the leading money management firms in nyc--hence Wall St.

It used to be that the lawyers--Merkel and Fogel-- had the big money collections--now Wall St. and Hollywood are getting into the act.

As to why he doesn't bid on everything on ebay--I would doubt he checks ebay much--as was said he probably gets alerted by certain dealers when there are 9s in his sets he does not have--sometimes things fall between the cracks.

Davalillo

mikeschmidt · February 23, 2003 5:18AM

Often it helps to deal with these players directly -- so that you don't lose out there bids because they don't play the EBay game (Trust me, people -- many of the big players in this hobby work 60 - 80 hour weeks some days, leaving Ebay a free-time novelty). Besides the inconvenience factor of Ebay versus a direct sale.

At any rate -- I have opted to sell out my 1957 Philadelphia Phillies partial team set (minus the PSA 10 common I own). I have already contacted Nick Romano and have come to a mutually agreeable deal with him for three examples. I will probably be contacting Mr. Branca in the next few weeks and offer him three examples, too. The other 9's I have will probably hit Ebay -- personally I feel that personally contacting the people works well. Of course, sometimes I throw things to the wind, like the 1950 Bowman PSA 9's I've recently listed.

MS

Vargha · February 23, 2003 9:21AM

John was a very fair person to deal with when I sold cards to him. He is an attorney, however -- one of the most noted intellectual property attorneys around and certainly tops in the entertainment industry. He is also the nephew of Ralph Branca (Brooklyn Dodgers).

helionaut · February 23, 2003 11:11AM

I check out the 57s on ebay a couple times a week (wow, 4 tens auctioned at once last week), and things seem to be on the upswing there. But I think most areas go through ups and downs. Common 8s seem to be averaging about $30-$50 each, which is the highest I can recall.

I can't read Branca's name without thinking of that old Bill Cosby routine "Fernet Branca". Very funny.

CDC4 · February 23, 2003 11:21AM

I think the highest I've seen 57's is back in September through late October cards were going for big prices then....the 57 market is very strong.....

spacktrack · February 23, 2003 11:36AM

57 Topps is a great looking set and to see some of these cards in high grade is astonishing. It's no wonder the market is so strong.

Buckwheat · February 23, 2003 3:59PM

Now that is an awesome set that Nick has. He has it viewable again. While Barnca's set is incredible, it is no where near Nick's, trailing by .30 As those of you know who try to move your rating from 8 to 9, it takes about 10 common upgrades from 8 to 9 to get your rating up .01.

Alan, I like your tagline. I went to see the movie today. It is very well done, particularly the battle at Fredricksburg. I am not a Civil War expert, but have read quite a bit. I never realized how large and insurmountable the field the Yanks had to cross was. No wonder Burnside was canned. I recommend the movie to anyone who likes history and the Civil War.

acowa · February 23, 2003 9:56PM

<Alan, I like your tagline. I went to see the movie today. It is very well done, particularly the battle at Fredricksburg. I am not a Civil War expert, but have read quite a bit. I never realized how large and insurmountable the field the Yanks had to cross was. No wonder Burnside was canned. I recommend the movie to anyone who likes history and the Civil War.>

Fredricksburg was almost as big of a slugfest as the 1957 Topps set battle

In all seriousness, it is a great movie from a historical perspective about Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson. I think Ted Turner spent 80 million on making it.

Regards,

Alan

1957 Topps Baseball Slugfest

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