Need an opinion regarding the NEW 2004 Topps auto's

boggs301012

I have been for about a year buying Wade Boggs autographed cards From 1983 thru 1990 not many but a few. I am going to send them in to PSA/dna for authentication and grading.I want all three rookies graded and an example of each year any CO.

Now along comes topps and Buybacks start popping up (they have in the past but mostly Rookie years) Now I am seeing 85-thru 88 so far on ebay. When and If I buy these and have them graded the year will read 2004 on the flip since they were repacked and stamped. And what will happen is my 1985 card will have 2004 on the flip. Ok I can handle that , I guess but is buying the Buybacks cheating and or taking some of the hunt out of it? What you my fellow collectors do or think?

I now this isnt a serious issue but I was thinking do I take the easy way and live with the flips reading 2004.


JAMES

peterredshoes

The sheer volume of buyback issues produced in the last few years has led me to treat them as a totally separate classification of card. After Donruss Timelines came out earlier this year I essentially threw my hands up and decided to stop collecting them altogether because there were 22 different Alan Trammell Recollection Collection autographs inserted in that set, all numbered to 89 or less, and most numbered to well under 50. To make it even more entertaining, the '85 Donruss buyback, numbered to just 2, featured one of the two with the foil stamp put on upside down, leading to two 1/1 variations for that issue!

If I was in your position, I'd probably opt to try for non-buyback autographs. An additional detractor besides the purism of it is having to crack the buybacks out of the case that Topps is putting them in, although from the ones I've handled from other sets maybe it isn't so tough to do that.

I could, however, see the attraction of building the set you described entirely out of buybacks, assuming that's possible. It would put a different dimension on the set that could be fun. I probably wouldn't want to mix and match, though--symmetry has too high an asthetic value for me.

The beauty, of course, is that you can do whatever you want.

For the curious, Trammells from this set that I've seen on eBay so far are '79, '81, '84, and '87.

Peter G.