1963 Topps baseball - official PSA thread
mariner
Posts: 2,603 ✭✭✭✭
This beautiful set deserves its own thread. This is a classic set that contains some of the very best multi-player cards. Bombers Best is one of my favorities. The colors in this set are magnificent. Of course, the bottom borders make it more difficult to obtain high grade cards.
I have seen quite a bit of interest in the '63 Topps baseball set lately, so it is appropriate to start a new thread on it. Here are a few gems to get things going. And, I mean that literally!!
By the way, all three cards came from my 1963 Topps Presentation Set.
I have seen quite a bit of interest in the '63 Topps baseball set lately, so it is appropriate to start a new thread on it. Here are a few gems to get things going. And, I mean that literally!!
By the way, all three cards came from my 1963 Topps Presentation Set.
Don
Collect primarily 1959-1963 Topps Baseball
set registry id Don Johnson Collection
ebay id truecollector14
Collect primarily 1959-1963 Topps Baseball
set registry id Don Johnson Collection
ebay id truecollector14
1
Comments
I'll drop a couple of scans here of my Koufax & Drysdale cards
* C. PASCUAL BASIC #3
* T. PEREZ BASIC #4 100%
* L. TIANT BASIC #1
* DRYSDALE BASIC #4 100%
* MAGIC MASTER #4/BASIC #3
* PALMEIRO MASTER/BASIC #1
* '65 DISNEYLAND #2
* '78 ELVIS PRESLEY #6
* '78 THREE'S COMPANY #1
WaltDisneyBoards
1957 Topps 99% 7.40 GPA
Hank Aaron Basic PSA 7-8(75%)
Collect primarily 1959-1963 Topps Baseball
set registry id Don Johnson Collection
ebay id truecollector14
Does it seem to anybody else that there are a lot of pics of pitchers rubbing up the ball in this set? The Estrada card and the Drysdale both have that, and so do several other ones, including the Spahn. It's cool, I just wonder if a particular photographer took all of those and made the same suggestion to each guy for his pose.
Bosox1976
Here are some of my favorites.
I can buy or trade (I've got about 200 NM doubles, and a dozen or so PSA doubles, plus many ex/mt's). Thanks!
Bosox1976
1. The photography is the best up to the time and still one of the best of all vintage sets.
2. Unlike 1958 and 1959 sets, there is full use of the photography (instead of a cutout against a bold, bright background which is limited to a small circular inset).
3. The colors are limited to the borders which does not distract from the photo.
4. Most of the colors they use on the border are wonderful shades. I particularly like the green, blue and red they chose - very pleasing shades of those colors.
5. Unlike the 1960 set, the printing with the color borders are very clean, clear and crisp - you can't go wrong with white and black against a color background (unlike a lot of other years).
6. The border around the photo is white which enhances the photo (unlike the 1962 set).
7. The back is one of the most readable backs of the vintage sets - clear black printing on an appealing yellow/orange shade. This is much better than the graybacks of the 50s and early 60s or the many of the darker (like 1967) or distracting (1964, 1968-69) shades of the 60s. 8. Even thought the floating heads leader and rookie cards make more use of a colored background, they do work for the most part since they make liberal use of a soft light blue, a very pleasing color to the eye esp. when enhanced by red or blue.
9. I like the team cards especially since two-color combinations are well-chosen. Just take a look at the Reds Team Card, a very nice combination of scarlet red and soft light blue with a yellow inset to balance them - plus the Reds uniforms provides a nice balance with the red border. Someone please post that card and you can see what I mean.
Steve, excellent observations about the '63 set.....thanks!
Thanks, all, for your posts.
Posting scans of a Dodger and three Yankees.
Collect primarily 1959-1963 Topps Baseball
set registry id Don Johnson Collection
ebay id truecollector14
Posting scans of a Met and three Yankees.
Collect primarily 1959-1963 Topps Baseball
set registry id Don Johnson Collection
ebay id truecollector14
The 9s and 10s you've shared with us are stunningly, beautiful cards. If you don't mind me asking, where/how did you acquire them? Any raw that you submitted yourself or were they all purchased slabbed?
Thanks,
paleo
Dan
Paleo....
I have submitted most of my '63's raw to be graded. They are from my 1963 Topps presentation set that I won in an auction in 1998.
About the presentation sets....
First of all, the cards came in 5 special boxes. Here is a scan of the back of two of the boxes so you can see what they looked like.
The raw cards were just put into the boxes. Due to that, some cards had dinged corners. Still, there were cards in the boxes that looked like they had never been touched. The PSA 10's above are good examples of that.
The card stock is the same but the printing process was done so that the presentation cards tend to have bolder and brighter colors. Some of the cards are so colorful, you need sunglasses on to look at them. They are gorgeous.
The cutting process for presentation cards was different. Paul Stark told me one time that they used a guillotine cutting process. Due to that, pres cards tend to be different sizes. When I first won the set, I was amazed at that. A brick of them together was not smooth....it was clear that they all varied in size to a small degree. Also, due to this, some of the cards are a little too small, so PSA will not grade due to them not meeting minimum size requirements.
Another amazing fact is that PSA can tell between a presentation card and a trimmed card. Some may ask how can smaller cards not be noted as trimmed by PSA, but the truth is that I have sent in several hundred for grading and not a single time has PSA noted one as trimmed. Of course, they are not, but many of them are a little smaller. All I can say is kudos to PSA for knowing theses cards are not trimmed even though many are slightly smaller.
Also, the set had its share of off centers and a few mis-cuts. The first series has some snow too. It also has its share of PSA 9's, but so far, I have been extremely pleased to pick up three 10's as well. I have not graded all the grade-able cards yet. Most of the stars that I have graded have come back PSA 8. The Maris was 9PD and I got 9's on Stargell, Snider and Marichal.
As I understand it, Topps produced these sets to present to executives and others as a special gift. I have no idea how many presentation sets exist in total, but rarely does one come along.
I won mine in an auction in 1998 from Scott Goodman who did business as Sports World in Staten Island. I have no idea if he is still in business or what. Maybe Frank or someone else knows him. He used to have his auction fliers appear in SCD. Anyway, I went for this one, won it and have never regretted it. I can not say that I have seen a '63 pres set up for auction since then. There may have been one, but I have not seen it.
Collect primarily 1959-1963 Topps Baseball
set registry id Don Johnson Collection
ebay id truecollector14
My ebay listings
Dave C.
John Ambeck's 1963 Topps BB Article
For a while a tried to put together a "set" of the combo cards in this set in well-centered PSA 8. I have all the expensive ones (i.e. Buc Blasters, Bombers, Big Three, etc) but the "commons" are a bear. I might try to get back into it. Does anyone here have any extras for sale?
Dave, thanks for the link to the John Ambeck article.
RedHeart, I don't have any extras at the moment, but ebay is a good place to pick up some, many times at very reasonable prices. You are right, the Rose rookie is definitely one of the most recognizable rookie cards.
Collect primarily 1959-1963 Topps Baseball
set registry id Don Johnson Collection
ebay id truecollector14
Collect primarily 1959-1963 Topps Baseball
set registry id Don Johnson Collection
ebay id truecollector14
Collect primarily 1959-1963 Topps Baseball
set registry id Don Johnson Collection
ebay id truecollector14
IMHO, the following.....for HOF'ers, the Yogi Berra has to be the toughest....
Commons....Pedro Ramos, Marty Keough, Dick Schofield, Bob Miller, Don Rudolph, Jim Brewer, Joe Gaines, Jack Sanford and Dom Zanni.
Collect primarily 1959-1963 Topps Baseball
set registry id Don Johnson Collection
ebay id truecollector14
link to the thread in the Vintage forum
Most of the cards listed are for sale at 75% of SMR. It pains to have to sell this set but I hope others can appreciate these cards as much as I have.
Thanks.
Collect primarily 1959-1963 Topps Baseball
set registry id Don Johnson Collection
ebay id truecollector14
Bosox1976
1963 Fleer
Lou Brock Master Set
But as stated prior by ROBBY , the one on the left has a little more color and also a whiter border.
Both look nice, you just have to see what you personally prefer and what your tradeoff will be.
Website: http://www.qualitycards.com
Bosox1976
-Mike
(If you want peace, prepare for War).........Semper Fi
(If you want peace, prepare for War).........Semper Fi
Collect primarily 1959-1963 Topps Baseball
set registry id Don Johnson Collection
ebay id truecollector14
Collect primarily 1959-1963 Topps Baseball
set registry id Don Johnson Collection
ebay id truecollector14
Collect primarily 1959-1963 Topps Baseball
set registry id Don Johnson Collection
ebay id truecollector14
Are all from the Pres. set? I see some close cert. #'s (1144xxxx). Nice clean cards.
Bosox1976
Collect primarily 1959-1963 Topps Baseball
set registry id Don Johnson Collection
ebay id truecollector14
My ebay listings
Looks like you totally hit the jack pot when you purchased that presentation set a few years back.
Those cards are just lights out gorgeous!!
Kurt, I have not had the guts to crack a 9 to try to get a 10. I have cracked a few 8's to get 9's before if I really thought PSA missed it. I have actually had pretty good luck with that.
Collect primarily 1959-1963 Topps Baseball
set registry id Don Johnson Collection
ebay id truecollector14
Collect primarily 1959-1963 Topps Baseball
set registry id Don Johnson Collection
ebay id truecollector14
221, 175 and 265 Pinson.
I would trade all three for a psa 7 54 or psa 7 51 bowman card that I need, or any vintage psa 7+ (50s) or psa 8 60s Dodgers that you do not want. Also, a psa 9 70s star would do it trade wize. Or $17 delivered if you want to buy them.
Bkritz
The first and second series had some cards with print snow. Some were moderate snow, not really bad, but some were pretty bad. Of course, some of the bad ones were tough low pop cards. I would estimate that about 40 cards in the first and second series had snow to a varying degree. The one that I cried about the most was the Maris card. It was gorgeous except for snow. It graded PSA 9PD.
Collect primarily 1959-1963 Topps Baseball
set registry id Don Johnson Collection
ebay id truecollector14
I was just curious.
<< <i>Does anyone know what causes snow on cards during the printing process?
I was just curious. >>
Under a 10x loupe it looks like paper loss to me (meaning the sheet or card stuck to the one above it), but I can't feel it when rubbing my finger across the top of the card so I don't really know.
<< <i>Does anyone know what causes snow on cards during the printing process?
I was just curious. >>
Learned long ago ... It was caused by dirty/worn rollers as the card sheets went through their final printing process. My guess is that black was the final step in the 4-color (blue, red, yellow, black) printing process, which is why black areas are more often affected than colored areas.
Scott