My buddy's father has a '55 and a 56' topps baseball set in 9 pocket toploader mylar...

TimeMachine

They are both raw and BEAUTIFUL. My buddy Paul brought me downstairs to his dad's Lionel train set display one summer day back in '86 after some fierce whiffle ball in his cul-de-sac. He pulls out two different law-size 3-ring binders from an old trunk from underneath the mini-town's skirted table and then proceeds to show off his pop's treasures. Even then I could not believe what I was seeing. Every card, in order, looking as if they'd each been pulled and stored the same day 30 years before. By the immaculte condition of his trains and his '66 Chevelle in the driveway, it is safe to say that Paul's pop was and is a stickler for quality.

"Why isn't there a '55 Mantle ?" I ask, not knowing much about the vintage stuff at that point. Paul informs me that he was wondering the same thing and calls his dad at work to get the answer. We both marvel at his dad's knowledge of the cards informing us that Clemente's and Koufax's rookies are in that same set and we gasp when he tells us their 1986 value... to this day Paul's dad is yet to grade a single example, and from my best recollection, I remember noticing how well-centered and pack-fresh they all looked.

The guy is a collector from the old school and isn't particularly interested in a 3rd party's opinion of his cards according to Paul... I just wonder how many other hard-core raw collectors took the care to preserve their collections/sets...

The book value on the cards has to be in the $25,000 to $40,000 range imo. Simply amazing to me to this day. I just reunited with my old whiffle ball pal at a local watering hole last weekend and we caught up. His folks moved away to VA (from MD) a few years ago and according to Paul his dad still has the sets and said he has heard of grading but doesn't see the value since he has no intention of selling the cards.

Paul says he gets the sets according to his dad's will and I for one will push Paul to get them graded when they become his.

just thought I'd share a neat story about two classic Topps basebal sets I saw as a youth...

smallstocks

I would die to see that '55 set. My favorite of all time.

Mike

Stone193

<< <i>"Why isn't there a '55 Mantle ?" >>


TM
Mantle was under contract with Bowman at the time.

mike

WinPitcher

I did not think that 55 and 56 topps fit into 9 pocket pages. The sets I have always seen were in 8 pocket pages cuz of the size of the cards.

???

edited to add are you sure they aint in 8 pocket pages?

Nice set, and in any event. mine would grade out at between 5 and 7 I do though have a PSA 8 Koufax.....and this:

Steve

TimeMachine

Now that you mention it, my memory may be foggier than a two lane English country road at midnight. 8 sounds correct, as I remember that the cards fit their repective slots, somrhting that wasn't possible back in '86 in 9 pocket pages apparently. Of course I now am aware of the reason that there was no '55 Topps Mantle smallstocks. Just thought I'd share a genuine personal viewing of two complete NM-MT+ key 50's baseball sets with the rest of the community when I was a young'un. I have resumed contact with my buddy and will lobby to take a trip to his folks new house in VA to get a more updated impression of the basic miracle I witnessed back on that hot summer day in '86 hopped up on kool-aid and dreams of playing shortstop for the Orioles.

It still sticks with me like a promising young virtuoso viewing an authentic stradivari for the 1st time...

TimeMachine

That is a sweet '55 Kaline, winpitcher. I bought the '56 PSA 9 with 50-50-50-50 centering from Mile High's November auction, along with the PSA 9 Alcindor RC they offered. My friends laughed when they saw the name "Al-Kaline" but I won them over when I explained the rarity of such an item surviving for nearly 50 years in that kind of condition.

I bot a raw '67 Kaline @ a local card shop 2 years ago for $15 along with a "67 Yaz for only $40, only to have them both grade PSA 8 on a recent submission... I have no real intention of selling either now as I watch '67 prices on the rise, and instead continue to marvel at the fact that they made their respective ways into a card shop in such condition.

Again. sweet 2nd year Kaline...

IJustLoveCards

oh the 55's...everybody always focuses on the stars...while I agree they are awesome..heres the real beauties of the set..some of which will go way past a star price due to toughness..I think these are the backbones of the set...and yes there are others
just a few from my collection..

Stone193

Here's the 56T Kaline and one of my favorites...



Interestingly, back in the early 90s Tuff Stuff used to give small critiques of the sets in the price guide and listed the 55 and 56T horizontal design as "unpopular" with collectors. Not anymore.

mike

edit: as you notice, Topps "recycled" a lot of their photos...saving money? Probably.

Stone193

<< <i>...while I agree they are awesome..heres the real beauties of the set..some of which will go way past a star price due to toughness..I think these are the backbones of the set...and yes there are others >>


IJLC
I totally agree. I collect nicely centered 52T's because I really like the design and the commons define the set...the stars are often out of the reach of most average collectors.





mike

CrazyJoe

i was at my friend from college's house up in upstate NY last weekend and we ended up talking about Baseball cards. So then we whips out a complete 1958 Topps set, in MINT condition, I mean PSA 8's-10's if he was to get it graded. He had no idea what the hell grading was when i told him he needed to send them in. I ended up talking to his father about it and he wanted nothing to do with it. He wants to keep them as they are and keep passing them down the line of his family. I offered to buy them off him and he wanted nothing to do with it..

WinPitcher

I agree, the backbone of sets are the commons and I too have a few.

oaktown

Stone - Pretty neat to see such nicely centered 52 Topps...definitely a rarity!