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Interesting purchase at a card show this weekend - 1962 Topps printing plates.
nam812
Posts: 10,540 ✭✭✭✭✭
As some of you may have saw in a thread last week, I was set up at a card show in N.Y. over the weekend. One of the dealers at a table near me had a few interesting items, and I bought a few from him. He said these were original 1962 Topps baseball printing plates, and if anyone here has any info about them I would love to know a little more about their origins/history/value. Here are the 4 that I picked up.
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Bosox1976
Also, they are very thin aluminum with blank backs.
Chris
My small collection
Want List:
'61 Topps Roy Campanella in PSA 5-7
Cardinal T206 cards
Adam Wainwright GU Jersey
Chris
My small collection
Want List:
'61 Topps Roy Campanella in PSA 5-7
Cardinal T206 cards
Adam Wainwright GU Jersey
I don't think I have ever seen any vintage printing plates .
I was trying to get out to Westchester last weekend , but the family didn't feel like the drive .
I thought the show I was at in Feb was really cool, with a decent amount of tables .
...and another.
Bosox1976
They Look the same to meeeee
<< <i>Maybe I don't know a lot about printing plates but shouldn't they be a mirror image of the card?
Chris >>
Chris
I'm with you - don't know much about printing - especially the Topps cards back then.
Ya gotta figure that they have to mount 132 plates on a roller to print a sheet.
Now - since I believe these are genuine - let me make a guess?
The sheets were printed using an offset process - which means the ink (a primary color) is applied via the plate to a rubber roller - which now would be the "reverse" of the plate - and that is applied to the cardboard - and thus will look like the plate. That's how offset printing is done.
Offset printing has the advantage of consistent high quality image production.
And - this would explain the potential of "registration" problems since there would have to be at least 3 total rollers for the primary colors?
Not sure about the total process - I'll have to research - I just wanted to potentially explain how the plate would look like the card.
mike
A lot of them had some type of corrosion on them
<< <i>Mid Atlantic had just about all of the plates for the 62's in the 80's and 90's.
A lot of them had some type of corrosion on them >>
Dan
Were they the guys that advertised in SCD for years? I bought original Topps art and stuff from them - I would guess they were a primary purchaser at the 1989 Topps/Guernsey auction?
I had nothing but good experiences buying from them in the early 90s.
mike
Ron
Buying Vintage, all sports.
Buying Woody Hayes, Les Horvath, Vic Janowicz, and Jesse Owens autographed items
<< <i>since there would have to be at least 3 total rollers for the primary colors >>
4 actually.
Normally (and I'd bet this was the case with Topps) it's a four color process- Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black. It's also referred to as CMYK (K being black, to avoid confusion with Blue).
I've seen these come up from time to time, and there is a guy that sets up at the National that usually has a stack of these and flexichromes from the late '50's Topps sets.
Always looking for Topps Salesman Samples, pre '51 unopened packs, E90-2, E91a, N690 Kalamazoo Bats, and T204 Square Frame Ramly's
Dimes: 54S, 53P, 50P, 49S, 45D+S, 44S, 43D, 41S, 40D+S, 39D+S, 38D+S, 37D+S, 36S, 35D+S, all 16-34's
Quarters: 52S, 47S, 46S, 40S, 39S, 38S, 37D+S, 36D+S, 35D, 34D, 32D+S
74 Topps: 37,38,46,47,48,138,151,193,210,214,223,241,256,264,268,277,289,316,435,552,570,577,592,602,610,654,655
1997 Finest silver: 115, 135, 139, 145, 310
1995 Ultra Gold Medallion Sets: Golden Prospects, HR Kings, On-Base Leaders, Power Plus, RBI Kings, Rising Stars
Dimes: 54S, 53P, 50P, 49S, 45D+S, 44S, 43D, 41S, 40D+S, 39D+S, 38D+S, 37D+S, 36S, 35D+S, all 16-34's
Quarters: 52S, 47S, 46S, 40S, 39S, 38S, 37D+S, 36D+S, 35D, 34D, 32D+S
74 Topps: 37,38,46,47,48,138,151,193,210,214,223,241,256,264,268,277,289,316,435,552,570,577,592,602,610,654,655
1997 Finest silver: 115, 135, 139, 145, 310
1995 Ultra Gold Medallion Sets: Golden Prospects, HR Kings, On-Base Leaders, Power Plus, RBI Kings, Rising Stars
Im not positive but I think they were all originally part of a large full size aluminum sheet (the same size as the uncut Topps sheets) and then later cut into individual card sized small pieces so they would be in more demand by individual player collectors and easier to sell.
There are usually 4 colors to the printing process.
I own a 1962 Bazooka Plate (Topps owns Bazooka) pictured below. On back of my 3 card print pannel is a piece of very old masking tape with the words "Light Blue" so this is obviously a piece of the original plate that printed the light blue pass of the printing process.
1962 Bazooka (Battey/Spahn/Thomas) "Light Blue" Print Plate
These print plates are not real tough to find, but overall they would be considered rare, especially if your looking for one individual player. Topps football plates are also known.
Nice pickup! I think that segment of the market is very undervalued.
I have seen only red and black so far, never the other colors.
If you don't mind me asking, how much did you pay for them?
I never knew they released the older ones.
Does that mean there are printing plates out there somewhere for all the cards since atleast 62?
those plates might as well be Easy Bake Ovens for Strawberry Shortcake.
zero value thanks to lee.
j
RIP GURU
Steve
<< <i>Stone is correct in saying the image wont be reversed. I have around 20 plates and all are facing the "normal" way with the only ones that are reverse are Bowman Chrome. >>
On the chrome.
That means that the plate come DIRECTLY in contact with the sheet as opposed to offset where the image is transferred from the plate to a rubber pad and then to the sheet.
I think it's time to have a printer chime in?
mike
Steve