Looking to Buy some 1960's Topps Baseball Sets

joltinjoe

There are quite a few sets on eBay that look like bargains under $1,000. If only a few cards are graded how can I be sure the others aren't trimmed?

joltinjoe

For instance

CDsNuts

The condition of the corners on the cards pictured definitely don't suggest trimming, and the Ryan and Mantle both have wicked creases. I'm not sure why the McCovey is pictured; maybe the guy just looked at Beckett and didn't realize the white letter variation is the valuable one. This set probably grades 2-3 and went for a wee bit more than what it's worth. If the Ryan or Mantle didn't have a crease I'd say it's a good price.

Lee

joltinjoe

how could one tell if a card is trimmed just from a picture?

CDsNuts

You can't for sure, but the cards are so rough that why would someone trim them to look like that? Also, a trimmed rounded corner would not be completely rounded like the ones in the photos. if you can't picture what I'm taling about, take a cheap card with a rounded corner and cut the edge with a razor and straight edge; you can see that it's impossible to hide unless you trim both edges of the corner, which would significantly decrease the size of the card. In the case of these cards, you would have to trim all the edges to increase the grade, making the card much smaller and the trimming much more noticeable.

Lee

JonB

joltinjoe,

you should turn on your private messaging feature so people can PM you.

Onlypsahockey

that 69 set is g-vg at best from the scans. A set like this wouldn't likely be trimmed. It's the nrmt-mt sets, "been in a binder for 40 yrs!" sets where you have to look for trimming.

JMO, Bob