1967 B Robby, 1970 bench rarity?

parkerj

When I was a kid in the 70s building sets, I remember it was always stated that the 67 B. Robinson, 1970 Bench, and 72 carew were quite rare cards and were very difficult to find, thus the high price. I guess I always believed this, but recently I think I read on another thread here (I think) that it was really an urban legend or a myth (my words) and that those particular cards were no more difficult than other cards from the same series. I believe that current ebay prices for them bear this out - they are not too much more expensive today than they were in 1986 for a raw ex,ex-mt card. Obviously, with grading these days, the higher grades provide a more quantifiable idea of rarity. But I am referring more to the rarity of the card itself, not the conditional rarity.

I'd appreciate thoughts from the group - as your collective and individual experience is far superior.

thx, jim

baseballfanatic

Dont forget the 1971 Steve Garvey.
I think in order to keep the prices as high as they were, rumor had it that a collector had hoarded up thousands of each of the above cards and they were destroyed in a fire.
I believe it to be just another of the cardboard legends that keeps the hobby going.
Still an interesting rumor to this day....

parkerj

Yes, fascinating! And I forgot the 71 garvey, maybe the 72 garvey was in same category? These are just my recollections from being a kid in the 70s - I was 11 in 1979 when I got the first sport americana beckett price guide and was exposed to these "older" cards.

Kid4hof03

The cards mentioned (excluding the 1971 garvey) were simply high numbers and the series were tougher to find. No mystery or urban legends that I'm aware of.

jrinck

I remember the '72 Garvey as having some sort of mistique about it. This was in the early '80s when I started collecting. I just noticed that the '72 Garvey had an unusual price spike that I could never justify.

parkerj

yes, clearly these particular cards were priced higher than other hi# cards of stars from the same series....as if they had some sort of extra rarity associated with them.

MantleMarisFordBerra

What about the Tom Seaver Rookie Card? That was listed as a "SP" (single print) for years. Anyone else remember that? How about the 1966 Tigers Team card, or the Gaylord Perry from the same set, are they still considered rare?

GDM67

The '66 Perry is a high number, and (like the '67 Tommy John), is the last card in the set, so it's more liable to have been subjected to rubber band indentations than other high numbers. Couple those factors with the fact that it's a nice card of a popular HOFer and you have the premium price.

SDSportsFan

In addition to the afore-mentioned cards, there are the 1966 Robin Roberts, 1967 Maury Wills (his first regular-issue Topps card) and 1972 Rod Carew (In Action).


Steve

QUITCRAB

A truely rare card-1968 topps tigers team.....I think the 71 garvey was the hardest to find as a kid-the 72 garvey and carew where there....the 72 aaron in action is a easy card to find but impossible to find 50/50 centering left to right.

vintagetoppsguy

I am looking at an old "Baseball Cards" magazine from October of 1990 and the 1971 Steve Garvey is listed at $80.00, the second highest price card in the set behind the Ryan ($90.00). The 1972 Carew is $70.00, the second highest price card in the set behind the Fisk/Cooper RC ($100.00). The 1970 Johnny Bench $150.00 the second highest price card in the set behind the Ryan ($300.00). The 1967 Brooks Robinson is $200.00, tied for 3rd (with Mantle), behind the Carew rookie ($400.00) and Seaver rookie ($1250.00). I remember those rumors as well and it looks like they were still around in 1990 according to the prices!

Buccaneer

You guys are right. I was working the Southern California shows in 1983-1984 and the 71 Garvey, 72 Garvey and Carew, 70 Bench and Ryan as well as the 69 Jackson were sky high (relatively speaking). I can't speak for 1990 but I recall everything was ridiculously overpriced.