tough 1957 cards/commons to know about?

Lothar52

im a 1956 topps collector who is 2 cards away froma complete 56 topps set- the 2 checklists. I realize with the 56 set the 3rd series is the toughest with irv noren and many others being "tough" expensive commons. My question is, for those veteran 57 set builders out there....what is the tough series and what are the tough cards/commons for the set. i know the checklists for 57 are nearly impossible and as such are not included in the actual set like they are in 56.

Loth

highend

by no means do claim to be an expert on this set. i did finish a clean well centered exmt or better set in 2002. i had a large base of cards to work from and had a bunch of the nm- nm-mt type cards graded for the purpose of selling. many received PD qualifiers due to "snow" which can be a problem and will often cause a down grade. if your adverse to the "snow" which i was you have to be wary of PSA 6's and psa 7's particularly the cards with darker backrounds as you'll find will often have varying degrees of snow. i don't know what the pop report reflects but the BUNNING RC was a real bugger i ended up settling for a 50/50 psa 5 which i cracked and placed in the set.

the semi high series is 265-302 is the tough one, the high numbers 302-407 were relatively easy as opposed to the first series 1-88. looking at my checklist the last cards i added and the toughest for me were:

15- robin roberts (snow & centering)
108- byrne (snow)
171- red sox team (?? )
300- garcia (snow)
391- terry (snow)
and alas 298 irv noren (i remember paying ALOT more for this card on ebay than i did for the very popular BOBBY RICHARDSON RC card and the noren is double print) having said that expect to pay a significant premium for any YANKEE or DODGER from 265-302 carey, collins johnson. as far as the dodgers, the podres and cimoli cards have brighter backrounds and are seemingly less prone to "snow" .

good luck and enjoy building the set it is as nice as the earlier topps efforts and easily more collectible as there are no huge rookies the frank and brooks robinson are not that tough to come by for a reasonable price you'll probably have a tougher time tracking down a nice colavito or bunning.

Lothar52

i must have been lucky......i got a 50/50 bunning in psa 5 as well...and i have a complete yanks set in psa 6-8 apart from the power hitters card (not in short supply though expensive). i also bought a garcia psa 6 with no snow for 20 bucks and have a nice koufax. I did not know the noren in 57 was at tough as it was in 56. though this set is only 65 cards or so more then the 56 set...it seems HUGE in comparison.... i will continue to collect it one ex to ex-mt card at a time

Loth

MorrellMan

My set is raw, also, but I found 283 Covington and 284 Zimmer to be very tough - the semi highs actually run up to 352, which explains the scarcity/high price for the Bunning and BRobby rookies. Highend - I'd never heard that the 303-352 semis were easier than the rest - I recall there were some semis that were easy to get and I spotted them over and over again, but I can't recall that they were mostly 300s.

Mantlefan

The semi-highs are the toughest...Garcia and Naragon are impossible to find in PSA 8. Cards like Billy Goodman and some of the Yanks...Carey, Collins, Terry etc have brought big bucks in PSA 8 on EBAY. The Red Sox Team is also tough in PSA 8.

Some of the low numbers....Hector Lopez, Don Mossi, Johnny Logan are also very expensive in PSA 8 [$300-$500].

Surprisingly, a fair number of PSA 9's from this set have been showing up on EBAY lately. The low pop semi-high series cards have been bringing $1000-$1200. There's also a PSA 9 Bill Skowron up now which should bring over $2K.

scottsusor

If we're talking PSA 7 and above, the #280 Alex Kellner ranks at the top of the low pop list. It is probably the toughest card to find with decent centering -- especially top/bottom.

Scott

CDC4

Bob Thurman #279 is another one that is very tough.

I think they should add the checklists to the registry, since I have them in PSA 8

Griffins

My set is raw as well, but I had the toughest time with the later contest cards and the Bakep error.

Lothar52

i got the bob thurman as well...got it offline in GAI 6 well centered for 30 bucks...it does have some snow in it but snow onlybothers me when it distracts alot ...otherwise i can live with it.

Loth

- looks like i have quire a few of the toughies down??

yanks set almost down, alot of the dodgers down as well.

jaxxr

The 57 set is a classic, first one to use the now "standard" size for the printed cards.

I have a raw set in decent shape, from ex to nm/mt average. The Mike Garcia and Don Besset were/are the toughest for me.

I had some better dupes graded and found one to be a big ticket item, Chuck Tanner. I sold mine and one other went the same week on Ebay, around 3 or 4 months ago. Both PSA 8s and sold for a bit over $ 300.00 each. Well over 4 times the SMR, I was kind of amazed. But I guess nothing is too unusual in this hobby.

Lothar52

yep...a testament to why I will only build vintage sets in psa 6-7....300 for a 8 which many times can look like a 7 depending on the grader is just ludicrous to me. oh well....just as long as everyone is happy

Loth

Lothar52

what am i talking about...for 57 i even have dipped to accepting well centered 5's just as long as they dont have creases or too much snow and look great.

anybody got any raw well centered psa 5-6 57's they dont want to get graded...let me know....id love to own them for my set either now or in the future if your not in a hurry.

Loth

CandyFactory

Hey all

I have a 1957 PSA 7 NQ Clemente. I'd sell it to a board member for less than SMR.
If any are interested, let me know and I'll send scans.

Ryan
ryan_waller@yahoo.com

Lothar52

im interested, send a scan to r4_Ryan@hotmail.com

thanks lothar52