Raw 1976 Topps Set Purchase from ebay - Grades are in... Scans Added!

Bosox1976

Paid about $205 delivered for a set described as from vending with varying centering. There are some gorgeous cards in here (many 9-ish), some o/c and miscut, and (sadly) at leat one trimmed. All in all, pretty happy. Buying vintage on ebay without scans can be russian roulette - but you expect some issues and bid accordingly.


Here are "the Good"

BunchOBull

Hopefully the bad aren't as bad as the good are good.

Bosox1976

Here are "the Bad" - not so bad, but given the corners and edges... (some easy 8's and maybe a 9 or two)

Bosox1976

Here is "the Ugly"...

A poorly trimmed Eck RC that was probably NM/MT to start with... anybody want to buy 96% of a nice Eck RC?

BunchOBull

That's a shame on the Eckersley Rookie...but all in all, you must be pretty happen with the purchase. Nice pick up.

nam812

Mike

That Eck is a hatchet job, but from my view the "good" are pretty darn good. Nice pickups.

Bosox1976

Thanks guys, it was truly all over the map - the nice cards are really nice. Most (600+) cards are NM/MT and better as far as corners/edges/surface go. Centering varying from 50/50 to miscut (as shown). The trimmed Eck must have been switched in at some point, because I can't believe whoever built/collated this set wouldn't have noticed.

digicat

That Eck might be a miscut. I just ran a J-Ruler down the scan, and the l/r at the top is the same width ad the l/r at the bottom.

If the scan isn't distorted, the top and bottom measurements line up with the Bench card you've got for comparason. Looks like the middle right bows out a bit.

I've got a factory set of 1985 Donruss that I opened up a while back with similar issues. 3 straight edges, and one curved.

mmsportscards

bo- boy at least you landed A most centered set, at 205 thats a steal.

gator

mmsportscards

I REALLY DONT SEE NO UGLY WITH THAT CENTERING ON STARS

Bosox1976

digicat:

you may be right; while there is a huge disparity from the center of the Eck to the corners - it really is about the same width as any other card in the set. Factory miscut is not out of the question. Maybe I should change my quote above to "who wants to buy 104% of an Eck RC?"

ajw

Personally, it looks like you did pretty well to me. Those "good" cards look really nice, and you knew you were taking a gamble going in.

Bosox1976

<Personally, it looks like you did pretty well to me. Those "good" cards look really nice, and you knew you were taking a gamble going in>

Agreed, esp. if the Eck isn't trimmed (digicat was right, it is larger at the center than the rest).

SDavid

The strangest factory cuts usually come from vending IME. A lot of times it's difficult to discern a trim job from a vending card, even if it is trimmed.

Estil

I'm looking to get a nice 1976 set myself at some point to upgrade the one I have. Yours for the most part seems to make the grade.

As for buying vintage sets on Ebay being "Russian Roulette", what other choice do you have if there are no card stores nearby (besides BBCE)? It's not like just buying singles of your favorite players where you have the option of simply getting them in whatever PSA grade you want.

earlycalguy

if that ryan's a nine you just paid for the set

ArnyVee

That Ryan definitely looks like a 9 candidate to me.

Good luck on that one!

GDM67

<< <i>Personally, it looks like you did pretty well to me. Those "good" cards look really nice, and you knew you were taking a gamble going in. >>



Agreed. That looks like a nice haul

Isn't that "bowing" phenomenon something of a problem with a lot of Brett cards in this set?

RonBurgundy

Nice Ryan and Rose! All in all, not bad. Did you measure up the Eck?



Ron

Bosox1976

Yes Ron, I did measure it. It turns out it is full sized plus a little extra (the bowed cut on the right goes out from normal corners). Maybe I could sell it as a 1/1 - "the largest Eck rookie ever made".

rube26105

looking sweet to me bo, buying raw on ebay is like russian roulette though lol-i dont unless i have absolutely have to,and i m only working on one set that 100%,so i just buy upgrades that are slabbed

ahkmedbinladen

The eck comes like that quite often as does the Brett card. Nice pick up on the set.

Bottom9th

Sweet set. I think you'll do all right with this purchase!

Stingray

Love that set, always a favorite, that Williams card it great!! That set will look great in a binder!!

Hoopster

Stingray,

Where is that clip from? It is a curious looking episode, I want to see what that is about.

It looks like the one lady took that punch pretty well...caught totally by surprise and right in the nose. At the very end it looks like she was about to drop though. I am curious to see the aftermath.

I also noticed the one younger chick walking away with the attacker.

Stingray

I am not 100% sure, but I believe it has to do with a court case between the two and this was outside the courtroom.

Morgoth

Hey Perk, I need some commons and Semis to finish my set, any for sale?

stevek

If you get the grades mentioned, you got a very nice deal on this, and even if the grades are a little less than expected, it still wasn't a bad buy at all.

grote15

I think you did very well. The Ryan alone is almost worth the purchase price, and some of the other star cards look very nice too, some 8s and a couple 9s (Stargell also looks like a 9). The Ryan definitely looks like a 9 to my eye.

Bosox1976

I think the Ryan will be a high end 8.

Schmidt, Guidry, Stargell, Morgan, Yount and Carlton are more 9-ish - hopefully 3 or 4 will come through.

I've got two #1 Aaron RB's that I got in the same rack (that I just purchased form a board member) last week, so I won't have to pick up another. Like to upgrade the other Aaron, the Ruth and Ted Williams, (all for centering) and the Eck.

After those couple upgrades and replacing 7 or 8 m/c commons, it would be fair to call it a NM/MT+ set all the way through. The more I look at this set, the better it seems. Hopefully PSA will agree.

bri2327

Nice pickup Mike, you did very well with that one.

Should you have any doubts over your purchase I would be more than happy to take it off your hands for what you paid

Bosox1976

Well, grades are in. Am pleased with most of the 1976 grades - I had them pretty well pegged. Mostly nice 8's, a few 9's and a 10. Couple of klunkers that either I missed or somebody bent. The second half of the sub was disastrous - maybe I'll post them elsewhere (after my blood pressure drops). I threw in some cards from a 76 rack too - incl. the Aaron #1's - which looked like and 8 and a 9 (truly must have been damaged somehow). Anyway...

LINE # CERT # CARD CARD CO. CARD # CARD NAME VARIETY GRADE
1 09192533 1975 TOPPS 3 '74 HIGHLIGHTS BOB GIBSON 9
2 09192534 1975 TOPPS 183 MEL STOTTLEMYRE N/A 9
3 09192535 1975 TOPPS 309 STOLEN BASE LEADER B.NORTH/L.BROCK 8
4 09192536 1975 TOPPS 430 LUIS TIANT N/A Not Holdered, Did not meet Minimum Size Requirements
5 09192537 1976 TOPPS 1 HANK AARON N/A 5 (WTF?)
6 09192538 1976 TOPPS 1 HANK AARON N/A 7 Grrrr!
7 09192539 1976 TOPPS 10 LOU BROCK N/A 9
8 09192540 1976 TOPPS 148 STAN THOMAS N/A Not Holdered, Miscut
9 09192541 1976 TOPPS 230 CARL YASTRZEMSKI N/A 8
10 09192542 1976 TOPPS 240 PETE ROSE N/A 8
11 09192543 1976 TOPPS 268 DEL UNSER N/A 8
12 09192544 1976 TOPPS 270 WILLIE STARGELL N/A 9
13 09192545 1976 TOPPS 294 ED KIRKPATRICK N/A 8
14 09192546 1976 TOPPS 295 DAVE CASH N/A 9
15 09192547 1976 TOPPS 316 ROBIN YOUNT N/A 8
16 09192548 1976 TOPPS 316 ROBIN YOUNT N/A 8
17 09192549 1976 TOPPS 330 NOLAN RYAN N/A 8
18 09192550 1976 TOPPS 330 NOLAN RYAN N/A 8
19 09192551 1976 TOPPS 355 STEVE CARLTON N/A 8
20 09192552 1976 TOPPS 355 STEVE CARLTON N/A 9
21 09192553 1976 TOPPS 375 RON FAIRLY N/A 8
22 09192554 1976 TOPPS 420 JOE MORGAN N/A 8
23 09192555 1976 TOPPS 430 JOSE CARDENAL N/A 6
24 09192556 1976 TOPPS 448 TOM JOHNSON N/A 10
25 09192557 1976 TOPPS 455 DICK ALLEN N/A 4
26 09192558 1976 TOPPS 480 MIKE SCHMIDT N/A 8
27 09192559 1976 TOPPS 481 RUDY MAY N/A Not Holdered, Miscut
28 09192560 1976 TOPPS 500 REGGIE JACKSON N/A 8
29 09192561 1976 TOPPS 525 BILLY WILLIAMS N/A 9
30 09192562 1976 TOPPS 533 LEE RICHARD N/A 6
31 09192563 1976 TOPPS 573 BILL TRAVERS N/A 8
32 09192564 1976 TOPPS 599 ROOKIE PITCHERS N/A 9 (Guidry)


Date Received: 11/09/2007
Date of Grades Posted: 11/15/2007
Date Shipped: 11/15/2007

smallstocks

Guidry rookie PSA 9 - sweet!

jrinck

Regarding the Eck, I would have said "one trimmed, all trimmed", but clearly the rest of the cards didn't display evidence of trimming, and the grades pan that out.

RonBurgundy

Good work on the 9's the 10, and the Guidry!

Regarding the lower grades, PSA always has to throw you a few curveballs, don't they?




Ron

usmc1986

Great cards! Love the '76s.....

Estil

If you get a 5 on a card you expected to get 8 or above, it's most likely because the grader caught a surface wrinkle that you didn't. Look over that Aaron very carefully and you'll see I'm right.

Bosox1976

I'll get back to all pm's tonight. Thanks.

WinPitcher

Very nice!

Steve

Bosox1976

I may break up the set on Sunday; please check the buy/sell/trade board Sunday afternoon if interested.

Here's some scans of the better cards...

ldferg

bos,
that 75 gibson is gorgeous...great job.

Ichiro51fan

some really nice cards there... looks like good results from that $205 investment on the 76's. I was going to post this before, but sure enough... that Ryan looked like a sure-thing 9, so it makes sense that it got an 8 Other than that, do you feel the grading was mostly fair? I've got a lot to send in but am fearlful at some of the horrid results lately (especially for 80's stuff).

Bosox1976

Thanks guys. The grading on the 1976 wasn't too bad. I think the Schmidt should have been a 9, and maybe a couple of the low pop commons too - but not terrible. The 1981T I sent in were much more harshly graded.