Easiest set of the sixties to complete in high grade PSA???

miami3

I have been working on completing 1959-1963 Topps sets in psa 8 or 9 grade for the last couple of years and have found it to be very challenging and at times very difficult.

It seems that each year has its "toughies" that either you can not find raw in nice shape or when they are graded and put up on ebay they will go for big bucks.

My question is- are there any other sets in the 1960's that are easier than others to complete in high end PSA 8 or 9 grade?

Any thoughts would be appreciated!

Thanks!

Jim

Fuzz

Jim,
Not counting some of the itty-bitties like the 64 Giants, 1968 Topps BB is by far the easiest in 8 or better. In fact, I believe it to be relatively straightforward in about 8.5 and better. 10's are plentiful compared to other sets. 9's can be had in the $25 - $30 range with some frequency and most 8's are very easy.
You have picked some of the nastiest sets to work on. I believe 60 and 62 regualrly pop up as the "low pop" kings in every analysis I have done.
67 may also be much easier and there does not appear to be a lot of competition on that at the moment though there are a lot of high $ hi number stars and rookies.
Fuzz

ZodiacMindwarp

Jim,

I agree with Fuzz; the 1968 set is readily available in PSA 8. I had thought that I might start that set next so I started tracking e-bay sales. I gave up because 1) there were too many sales and 2) I am not going to be finished with my 1969 set for quite some time.

If you do decide to start the 68 set, let me know. I will mail you a copy of the sales that I recorded in order to give you a game plan to start.

Good luck with whatever you choose.

Michael

gemint

Definitely 1968 baseball.

jimtb

Do the 1968 Tigers make the 68 set more challenging? I've been putting a set of these together for awhile and am consistently surprised at what even the commons sell for.
Jim

DrNguyenVanFalk

'68 Tigers do seem to sell at quite a premium, as do '67 Red Sox. I'm a little surprised that there are enough team set collectors to keep the prices up, but I guess Detroit and Boston fans can be pretty rabid, and the '67 and '68 seasons were memorable for those long-suffering fans.

ejguru

As someone who has been building 1967 and 1968 for the past several years, I can share what little I've observed. 1967--Much harder to find raw 8+'s, both compared to 1968 and compared to 2 years ago at shows. If there has been a let up in the competitiveness, I haven't seen it. To me, it has remained constant.

1968--Obviously much more plentiful in 8/9/10 than any other set from the era, but have noticed fewer raw submittable examples over past year or so. I've noticed even stronger competition for 9's in the past 3-5 months. A few new collectors seem to have gotten involved and now only the ridiculous high pop 9's remain around $25. More and more that had been $30-35, are now typically going $40-$45. You would have to ask Dave or Ron on PSA 10 prices--they are beyond my reach.

As with any grading year, you get better as you learn what typically earns a 7 and what will rule out a 9 (other than obvious centering or stains). Submission percentages for me usually range from 70-80% psa 8 or better, but not the first (or second) time out. Even if you have submitted other issues, there are quirks with each set that are usually identifiable. Best of luck--

miami3

Thanks guys for your responses.

From what I can see the 68' set is by far the easiest to complete in psa 8 of better grade.

How would you rank the major Topps baseball sets from toughest to easiest to complete in the sixties?????

Based upon my experiences, I would rank them as follows from toughest to easiest:

# 1- 1962
# 2- 1963
# 3- 1960
# 4- 1961
# 5- 1966
# 6- 1965
# 7- 1967
# 8- 1964
# 9- 1969
#10- 1968

Anyone have any thoughts?????

Jim

ZodiacMindwarp

If you want to compare the number of current sets with a set rating of 8.00 or better, the results are as follows:

1961.....7
1968.....7

1963.....5

1967.....4

1960.....3
1965.....3
1969.....3

1964.....2
1966.....2

1962.....0

srs1a

Someone (virtualizard, maybe?) recently posted the total number of cards graded by year and the % at 8 and better -- I seem to remember that this showed that '68 was the most plentiful in 8 and better...and '61 was the 2nd most plentiful...consistent with the set data above.

JEB, was this your data? If so, it would be nice to see again.

Basilone

I ran some numbers back on 12/8/03 for PSA 9's

I just ran thru the updated POP reports for the Topps Baseball 1960's mainstream sets....and calulated the percentage of submissions that came back as a psa 9.

1960 - 1402/53237 = 2.63%
1961 - 3301/70919 = 4.65%
1962 - 1433/42625 = 3.36%
1963 - 1888/50705 = 3.72%
1964 - 2576/38150 = 6.75%
1965 - 3152/44784 = 7.03%
1966 - 1934/30435 = 6.35%
1967 - 3836/43102 = 8.90%
1968 - 12853/63811 = 20.14%
1969 - 7572/47779 = 15.85%

I was surprised to find that the 1960 % was so low.

The rest of the thread can be found: HERE

OhioTaz

Those percentages are interesting and helpful. I collect most of the years in the 1960's either actively or passively.
I would say that in PSA 8 1965 is relatively prevalent. Some of that may be selection bias as several sets have recently been broken up.
1964 has many low pop 9 cards and a paucity of 10's compared to the later years in the decade. 8's are not that expensive but 9's frequently break $60-$100 per card.
1966 seems to be fairly unpopular and I hear from some dealers that they have good raw stuff but with little demand have not been pushing to grade it. Even though this is my rumor, I rate it as almost worthless information as it is 2nd and 3rd hand.

Taz

mariner

Jim...

I would rank 1962 as #1 toughest and 1960 as #2.

RobE

Generally speaking - If you set an expectation of the plan to build certain sets( with GPA and all that jazz),just be prepared for the stone wall you'll hit at 85%.Every set has an example of what I'm trying to get at here.

However,which ever set your building just find other ways to make building it fun when you can't find what you need to finish it.