Common, Minor Stars, & Semistars - how do you tell?

1bbnerd

I have Beckett Baseball Cards Plus and since i'm mostly collecting 1964 Topps, I was wondering how you can identify the Commons from the Minor Stars, from the Semistars? So, Beckett shows Common #1-#196 value in NrMt at 1.50 - 3.00 and #197-#370 price at 2.00 - 4.00. Then it lists Minor Stars #1-#370 in NrMt at 3.00 - 6.00. And then Semistars #1-#370 in NrMt at 4.00 - 8.00. Is there a better listing that shows the exact number and/or name of player cards as being considered Common, Minor and Semistars?

Buccaneer

What I have put into my database is a "Type" field which identifies series and within the series, commons, minor, semi, etc. (stars receive a type = 0). The way I determined is simply look through the big SCD book. In a given series, all of the commons would be priced at a fixed amount (say, $2). Within that series, I would look for the cards around $3 - those would be minors, and those at around $4 would be minors. Here's an example from 1964 Topps:

Number Name Type
1 NL ERA LEADERS 0
2 AL ERA LEADERS 11
3 NL PITCHING LEADERS 0
4 AL PITCHING LEADERS 12
5 NL STRIKEOUT LEADERS 0
6 AL STRIKEOUT LEADERS 12
7 NL BATTING LEADERS 0
8 AL BATTING LEADERS 0
9 NL HOME RUN LEADERS 0
10 AL HOME RUN LEADERS 12
11 NL RBI LEADERS 0
12 AL RBI LEADERS 12
13 HOYT WILHELM 0
14 DODGERS ROOKIES 1
15 ZOILO VERSALLES 1
16 JOHN BOOZER 1
17 WILLIE KIRKLAND 1
18 BILLY ODELL 1
19 DON WERT 1
20 BOB FRIEND 1
21 YOGI BERRA 0
22 JERRY ADAIR 1
23 CHRIS ZACHARY 1
24 CARL SAWATSKI 1
25 BILL MONBOUQUETTE 1
26 GINO CIMOLI 1
27 METS TEAM 12
28 CLAUDE OSTEEN 1
29 LOU BROCK 0
30 RON PERRANOSKI 1
31 DAVE NICHOLSON 1
32 DEAN CHANCE 1
33 REDS ROOKIE STARS 1
34 JIM PERRY 1
35 EDDIE MATHEWS 0
36 HAL RENIFF 1
37 SMOKY BURGESS 1
38 JIM WYNN 11
39 HANK AGUIRRE 1
40 DICK GROAT 1
41 FRIENDLY FOES 11
42 MOE DRABOWSKY 1
43 ROY SIEVERS 1
44 DUKE CARMEL 1
45 MILT PAPPAS 1
46 ED BRINKMAN 1
47 GIANTS ROOKIES 11
48 BOB PERRY 1
49 BILL HENRY 1
50 MICKEY MANTLE 0
51 PETE RICHERT 1
52 CHUCK HINTON 1
53 DENIS MENKE 1
54 SAM MELE 1
55 ERNIE BANKS 0

Key:

1 = Series 1 commons
11 = Series 1 minors
12 = Series 1 semis
0 = Stars