77 Topps Yankees complete! Yippee!

downgoesfrazier

It's finally done. I just got my grades back from PSA and added a Piniella 10 and a Fran Healy 9 to complete the 77 Yankees Topps set. I was able to do nearly the whole set (exception: Chris Chambliss PSA 10) from my own submissions which was a goal of mine. The orange doesn't perfectly match on every card yet and Carlos May could be a stronger 9, but after sifting through literally hundreds to thousands of vending-fresh cards of each player over the last four years--they're done. I was able to get the gloss and stock tones to be consistent. It was hard not bidding on the 10's that have been on eBay, but I really wanted this to get done by my own submissions and uniformity was important to me. I still have a couple dozen cards needed to finish the 660-card beast, but we'll get there...eventually. Any help is always appreciated. Thanks for reading this celebration of self...


dgf

WinPitcher

great job!

SDSportsFan

Nice job dgf

Completion is always good...it whets the appetite for more

Steve

Robby

DGF ,......................Nice set and GREAT accomplishment ! I do not know much about the '77 set ..........is there a big difference in tone and gloss in this set ? ............Robby

ctsoxfan

Congrats, DGF. I love the 1977 set, and plan to make it my next project (after my 1980 set is complete). Some of your 1977 10's are the nicest I've seen.

Bkritz

HEY! I sold you that Carlos May ! Congrats on the accomplishment! I still want a sweet raw 1978 set from you.

bkritz

briankritz@aol.com

estang

Great job. I think it would be very interesting and worthwhile for someone like yourself to document your in-depth knowledge and experience with a particular set -- card by card.

jimtb

Way to go. I really like your idea of completing the set with your own submissions. Building a set that way makes the challenge that much more fun.
Jim

magellan

Nice job dgf ! I'm building this set in 8's and I've noticed a huge difference in some of the 8's even. The cards in your sig are gorgeous !

downgoesfrazier

Brian,
I've upgraded that one, but alas, I am still not pleased. My Alomar is centered a touch too high as well. They'll get there. Thanks for the kind words guys. I'll make a monster post on the set when it's done.

dgf

sjeanblanc

Congrats DGF,

A lot of hard work and I'll bet a decent amount of coin went into that. Way to go!!

Scott Jeanblanc
jeanblanc@iconnect.net
Ebay UserId : sjeanblanc
---------------------------------------------
Collecting Nolan Ryan cards (68-94)

DirtyHarry

Great to hear. Starting mine now and guess I have a long way to go.

KING KELLOGG

Hey P...


CONGRATS!!!!!






Larry

CON40

dgf;

Congrats! You get an "A" for aesthetics! Well done.

downgoesfrazier

sjeanblanc,
Not as much "coin" as you'd think. Again, I beat the bushes for raw cards and submitted them myself. They were not cheap (the best rarely is), but my kids can still eat. With most commons from this set trading in the 2-3 hundred dollar range and Catfish and Munson and Guidry selling for upwards of 3 and sometimes 4 hundred bucks, it absolutely paid for me to do it myself...it just takes a bit longer. The cool thing is you wind up with great-lookin' cards that you're happy with versus buying a card off eBay that makes you wonder not only how PSA deemed it a MINT 9, but rather why anyone would submit such a piece of garbage in the first place. All true collectors have been there, I'm sure.


Robby,
Yeah, there can be a tremendous difference in gloss and brightness of the borders. I watch my case #'s pretty closely and typically know who I am buying from and what I want to break raw. It's an advantage a set builder has when he truly focuses efforts on only one set for years at a time. That's what makes Frank Smith's sets so amazing--he builds half a dozen at a time and keeps it all straight and only allows THE BEST cards in the set...not just certification numbers. The only way to practically do that is to submit a large portion of your sets yourself and get to know where the quality product is...


dgf

RobE

Congtats Phil on completing probably one of the most amazing team set runs in terms of quality from a set you probably have one of the best runs of in holders.

<<<The orange doesn't perfectly match on every card yet and Carlos May could be a stronger 9, but after sifting through literally hundreds to thousands of vending-fresh cards of each player over the last four years--they're done. I was able to get the gloss and stock tones to be consistent. It was hard not bidding on the 10's that have been on eBay, but I really wanted this to get done by my own submissions and uniformity was important to me.>>>

4 years to not only find the cards but for Phil it's up just a notch to find the Right cards.Consistent gloss and stock...I'm going to guess that set is pure snow white with no cream and sugar.

jackstraw

congrats phil! i just wish you would be doing this with 76'si would be bottom feeding your dup's but would be well worth it!here are a couple of three of my fav's from phil. that munson turns the motor in me everytime!

HartlandMan

Wow!

Dhjacks

dgf,
Fantastic. I am in awe of how high you set the bar for your set. I look forward to hearing more. Thanks.

FB

Great job dgf!!!!

But what do you mean "when you finish it"??? Nobobdy ever REALLY finishes a set - we might stop working on it - but is it really finished???

again great job - what next???

downgoesfrazier

DH,
Thanks for the very kind words. I'll post more on the set soon!

FB,
You're absolutely correct...it'll never REALLY be done As for what's next, I'll continue chasing down my childhood in as MINT as can be. I will also start to re-assemble either '53 or '57. I still have some nice NM & NM/MT copies--enough to get me to 10-15% from each year and I'll start hunting 'em down again. My problem is I like only premium condition cards and I'm not sure NM would satisfy my taste these days...of course on a coaches budget, it'll HAVE to do...The set I'd really like to do would be '87 action all-stars centered and sharp.

dgf