1981-1982 Topps Basketball Set

RemynSkyler

Hello Everybody,

Does anyone agree that this set is very underappreciated? Although the only rookie card contained in the set really worth mentioning is Kevin McHale it does contain the second year cards of in my opinion the best point guard(Magic Johnson) and small forward(Larry Bird) of all-time. These two cards are also much nicer than their rookie cards from the 1980-1981 Topps set. The cards in this set are very colorful, vibrant, and have some great action shots. Since this is the last basketball set Topps would issue until 1992 it contains the last Topps cards of HOF's Nate Archibald, Bob Lanier, Dan Issel, Kareem, Calvin Murphy, Dr. J, George Gervin, Elvin Hayes, Alex English, and Moses Malone. Does anyone believe this set will eventually grow in popularity? Another question I have if one were to purchase a vending box of these cards will it contain the East, West, and Mid-West subsets? If anyone can help me out on this it would be greatly appreciated because I am thinking of purchasing a couple of these boxes.

Thanks, Mark

P.S.

Has anyone had any luck pulling PSA 9's and 10's out of wax boxes?

ToppsCo1lector

Eventually it will be a very desired set. Topps collectors as well as bkb fans will eventually pay big bucks for high grades.

ldferg

mark,
definitely underappreciated. vending boxes are a crapshoot as far as condition is concerned. several factors weigh in on that (handling, stored environment, etc...)

i have busted around 8 wax boxes over the last 2 years and 1 mid-west cut card case (still waiting on a few grades from the cut case). i've yielded a handful of 10s and mostly 9s from the wax. the bottom border (normally chipped), centering and ink fading are your key factors to a GEM graded card from this set....not to mention the wax/gum stains on top/bottom cards from the wax packs. i've never purchased a vending box of this product but have in the baseball realm and as stated above, it's hit/miss with what you may receive. i've been watching a few of the 81t basketball vending auctions and at the right price, may be nice.

from a selling standpoint, the 9s have went up a little the past 2-3 months selling around the $7 range on average (minor stars and commons) whereas there was a time you could get some commons and minor star 9s for $3 each from dealers like 4 sharp corners....i sold some 9s this past month for as little as 3.99 and if you are interested in starting a set i can offer some of my doubles in 9s and i have a plethora of 8s. some of the 10s will set you back some change.

hope this helps.

RemynSkyler

Thanks for the info LD_Ferg. Actually I just purchased some PSA 9's from you a couple of weeks ago. I'd be interested in your PSA 9's you have available if the price was right. I am currently #17 on the registry trying to make my way up slowly. I just won 3 mid-west complete sets from someone who said they were "mint". The sets only cost me $8.50 so I figured what the hell. It might be worth a shot for that much! I noticed in the population report that it looks like the mid-west cards are the hardest to come by in high grades. There are no PSA 10's in many of these. I also failed to mention what makes this set so special is that it contains the last card of Billy Paultz AKA The Whopper.

Thanks again,

Mark

ldferg

rem,
i just went thru a cut-card case and pulled a few for grading. i'm curious to see how the grades pan out from this.

i'll see what i can do on the other 9s i may have that you need.