Tax refund arrived! I'm ready to get a 1976/1977 Topps baseball set if anyone can help me.

Estil

Okay, our tax refund just arrived. I currently have $370 to spend to achieve my quest (I hope it'll be enough). This is what I'm looking for:

1. No PSA or other graded cards please. I don't want to pay extra for them and I don't want to take a chance on cracking the holder and possibly damaging the card (I have no way of storing slabbed cards either).

2. Corners should preferably be of vending/pack fresh quality.

3. No stains of any kind, not even gum or wax. Most definetly no creases.

4. I'm not THAT picky about centering, but it should be reasonable. That is, most definetly no miscuts or "hairline" borders. This is especially true for the 1977 Topps set, because those neat billboards on the back just don't look right miscut.

5. Obviously the key cards are especially important condition wise (luckily these years you just have Eck in 1976 and Hawk/Murphy in 1977) but I like a consistent NRMT or better (though NRMT/MT is preferable); including blue chips, HOFers, minor stars, and commons. I don't mind say, 5-10 commons needing a minor upgrade, but I'd prefer to keep the upgrading needs to a minimum.

Again, I want the very best raw NRMT to NRMT/MT grade 1976 and 1977 Topps baseball sets I can find. Good luck!

Jdurg

Congrats! My tax refund this year helped pay for my recent run of purchases without digging into my normal bank account. I was able to pick up quite a few things because like yourself, I could give a rat's ass about graded cards. The stuff I'm interested in isn't stuff that is readily counterfitted and I'm not looking to make a profit on my cards so I'm just happy to get the cards I need.

jackstraw

Good luck , if you decide to go piece meal I can help you out in the 1976 Topps arena. I have a couple hundred nm mt commons and maybe more?

Estil

<< <i>Good luck , if you decide to go piece meal I can help you out in the 1976 Topps arena. I have a couple hundred nm mt commons and maybe more? >>



No, I want to buy the complete sets outright. Though the couple hundred NRMT/MT commons might be useful for upgrading? I used to have both sets a few years ago (sold my original 1976-79 Topps sets to help pay off some of my student loan) but this time I'm gonna get sets even better than before!

blindflyer

Congrats, Estil!

... must be nice to get a "refund" .... I've been putting off my meeting with my accountant, but I'm just about positive I'm going to be owing Uncle Sam quite a bit this year...

now, the real questions --- how to you plan on finding the best raw sets out there? I imagine it'll be pretty tough given so many folks cherry pick for gradeable commons and stars.

-t

yankeeno7

I know BBCE has a NM/MT 1978 set for 150 on the website. You can ask Steve for a scan of the Murray and Molitor rookies...he's done it for me before. It's a fair price but as always, a good idea to find a nice lot to go along with it for upgrades.

Estil

<< <i>Congrats, Estil!

... must be nice to get a "refund" .... I've been putting off my meeting with my accountant, but I'm just about positive I'm going to be owing Uncle Sam quite a bit this year...

now, the real questions --- how to you plan on finding the best raw sets out there? I imagine it'll be pretty tough given so many folks cherry pick for gradeable commons and stars.

-t >>



But you have to understand that most people who "owe" taxes also make a lot more than I do (I only make a little over $7/hr ). As for your other questions, you have to remember that not everyone does that whole PSA thing. I personally have thought about doing it myself for say, my top 20 or so 1980s blue chips (key rookies/second years) since a lot of them have a good chance at a 10. But it'll be my luck I'll spend all that grading money and get only 7s/8s (and thus no profit from selling 10s).

Alfonz24

Estil,

Sounds like you have a good plan for collecting. Best of Luck.

Estil

<< <i>Estil,

Sounds like you have a good plan for collecting. Best of Luck. >>



I'll need it; thanks!

blindflyer

<< <i>

But you have to understand that most people who "owe" taxes also make a lot more than I do (I only make a little over $7/hr ). >>



That must be tough! Congrats again on the refund and upcoming purchases. Enjoy those sets! Let us know how they turn out.

-t

5STAT

But you have to understand that most people who "owe" taxes also make a lot more than I do (I only make a little over $7/hr ).

Too bad you're not near me!! Heck I pay my kids $10/hr to sort and scan...

Estil

<< <i>But you have to understand that most people who "owe" taxes also make a lot more than I do (I only make a little over $7/hr ).

Too bad you're not near me!! Heck I pay my kids $10/hr to sort and scan... >>



Sort and scan your cards? Can you hire me? It beats ringing up groceries for a living.

Estil

Okay, the tax refund arrived and I redid the topic post to indicate about what I'm looking for conditon wise.

digdug

Let us know where you get these from and show scans if possible. exciting.
My new employees all get bumped to $7.50 in Illinios as m.wage increases July 1st.

Estil

Well, I would show you guys ones on Ebay I think might look promising, but I'm afraid if I do that, someone else will buy it!

williplett

I bought a 77 set on Ebay awhile back for $99 that was described as Near Mint. It was closer to Ex-Mt. I hope you get what you are asking for, although it is kind of a tall order since the 77's especially seem to have a lot of centering issues. If you could teleport yourself back to 77 and buy a brand new set, I doubt your criteria would be met. A majority of the cards would have real questionable centering.

TJMAC

I bought a 77 set a few years ago that was described NRMT/MT for about $160.00 with shipping. When I got it, I needed to upgrade about 25 cards. The set was a beauty. However, centering is extremely tough that year. Also, the paper quality is bad, so look out for the dreaded surface wrinkles.

jmbkb4

Estil, I know what you mean. If it weren't for eBay, we'd be in the poor house right now. Residents make about $10/hr.

Estil

<< <i>I bought a 77 set on Ebay awhile back for $99 that was described as Near Mint. It was closer to Ex-Mt. I hope you get what you are asking for, although it is kind of a tall order since the 77's especially seem to have a lot of centering issues. If you could teleport yourself back to 77 and buy a brand new set, I doubt your criteria would be met. A majority of the cards would have real questionable centering. >>



That would explain why my first 1977 set needed serious work, even though I tried my damnest to find the best one. Luckily I am working out a deal with someone to get both sets in one purchase. And I must've picked a good time cuz I've seen one really nice one end on Ebay for $230 and one that was INCOMPLETE (missing about six commons) go for a bit over $200 as well. Maybe it's gone up a bit due to it being on its 30th birthday?

Wabittwax

Not that it's any of my business, but I noticed that you said you paid off student loans and now you make $7 an hour. Sounds like something went wrong there.

Estil

<< <i>Not that it's any of my business, but I noticed that you said you paid off student loans and now you make $7 an hour. Sounds like something went wrong there. >>



I WISH I paid off my student loans in full! Where did I say that?