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Population stats for 1956 Topps bb

Before I give you the figures that the title suggests, I want to give you a little background.

Just over 4 years ago, I sat in my den looking over my raw 1956 bb set. I had built it as a kid right from wax packs that I or some of my friends, with whom I traded, had busted; the only handling was from pack to folders by teams. Don't get me wrong, I still had kid fun -- wisely flipping just the dupes, dinged, and poorly centered cards that I couldn't trade.

It was 57 cards shy of a complete set, and my hopes for completing it were dim as I had only been able to find 2 suitable (pack-fresh, nicely centered) additions in the previous 20 years (1979-1999) from local shows and card shops.

Alas, then came the internet, and with it, ebay (I became a member in Feb 1999); finally a way to finish. BUT, I soon found out what most of you vets already know....buying raw is a tedious, expensive lesson in futility if you are building a NM/MT or better set, and I would accept nothing less.

Alas, card grading!! I could secure my cards in permanent holders, while at the same time getting an expert opinion of my cards. So I bought the remaining few cards I needed already graded and then sent my raw cards to PSA (which was the best of the grading choices). After getting them back, I only had to upgrade 22 cards that were either oc, 7's, or less (FYI, I only got 5 PSA 9's and no 10's).

I finished (technically I still to upgrade 1 card) about 6 months ago; here is where the crux of this winded post comes. I have downloaded and printed pop reports for this set every 3 months for the last 18 months (except the last quarter of 2002) just to keep an eye and pulse on this set as it is a pretty large investment (though some here dispute that card collecting is in this category).

Here are the numbers:
DATE..........PSA7.......%...........PSA8...........%..........PSA9.........%...........TotalGraded.............increase%

9/2001........12716....29.5......17235......40.0..........1094.......2.5............43177......................----------
12/2001......13872....29.8......18475......39.7..........1154.......2.5............46513..........................7.1
4/2002........15168....29.9......19317......38.1..........1188.......2.3............50628..........................8.1
7/2002........15369....30.0......19469......38.0..........1209.......2.3............51261..........................1.2
10/2002......17073....30.1......20224......35.6..........1242.......2.2............56715..........................9.6
4/2003........18942....30.3......21376......34.1..........1268.......2.0............62519..........................9.3

Analysis:

1.) Percentage of each grade to total has remained relatively constant which shows consistancy of grades.
2.) Total amount of cards submitted has started to slow over the last 6 months (9.2 % increase for the last 6 months as opposed to 9.6% increase in previous 3 months); though I am surprised that there are still that much nice raw stuff out there.

If anyone has pop numbers on other years, I am sure some of us statistical wackos would be very interested.

I have sifted through SGC charts somewhat, but the numbers are too small to be of any additional value; and I am sure BVG and GAI would have even less.
building 1956 Topps PSA 8/9

Comments

  • aconteaconte Posts: 2,053 ✭✭✭
    Great analysis.

    I have something similar with red man cards. But it is not broken down a consistent time
    interval as yours. Plus it is not on any current spreadsheet I have kept up to date.

    I'll see if I can dig anything up.

    aconte
  • purelyPSApurelyPSA Posts: 712 ✭✭
    It's interesting to note the way the overall percentage of 8s and 9s have dropped over the years. It's only going to get worse, which leads me to believe that as more people pile into collecting graded material, there's a lot of upside here with the 8s and 9s.
  • These are 1956 NRMT/MT cards! Awesome.
    I agree that the likelyhood of 8'and 9's POPs going south on a pct basis compared to lower grades is fairly certain and with 1956 it seems your set will continue to rise in value.
    It would be interesting to take a similar approach with POP percentages for say 1972 and see if this type of analysis held up. I would guess not. Itwould be likely it seems that 8 and 9 pct would be growing in relationship to other grades as raw material became more prevalent. Anybody with any thoughts on that?
    RayB69Topps
    Never met a Vintage card I didn't like!
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