About to start, I think

helionaut

I've been lurking here about a month or so, and I'm thinking about committing to starting a slabbed set, specifically 1975 Topps. I have been cruising eBay for 7s or better and see a lot of variation in price among commons, especially in 8s and 9s. Is this due, do you think, to low pops or their teams or special notoriety, or all of the above?

Also, I'm not a PSA member yet, so I don't have access to the population report. I'm probably going to join but I don't really want to commit the money if it's going to turn out to be a project I won't be able to finish. If someone can front me one for the 1975 set, I'd be very appreciative. For instance, just appearing on eBay this morning was a bunch of 8s, including a Dusty Baker that someone snapped up for $27.50 Buy-it-now. But it says in the description that no other Baker has graded as high. Can someone confirm that and say if that's a typical price for low pop or unique cards, even though Baker isn't strictly a common?

Vargha

It's only $4.95 for a one month subscription to SMR and the Population Report. I don't know about others, but it doesn't seem like modern PSA 7's are worth the purchase price.

HECK55

The population report shows 15,363 total graded 1975 topps baseball cards - not sure but I belive this includes the qualified cards now as well. There are 3808 PSA 7's - 7705 PSA 8's - 1098 PSA 9's - 20 PSA 10's. #33 Dusty Baker has (1)-7, (3)-8's, (0)-9's, and (0)-10,s. For comparison: Rod Carew in PSA 8 books for $22.00 and Thurman Munson in PSA 8 books for $27.00. 9's and 10's would be very tough in this set with the solid colors on the borders. David is probably absolutly correct in saying most modern 7's are not worth the investment - I am guessing that the book value if it were listed would be less than $10.00 per common. However to make enough progress to keep from feeling overwhelmed by the number of cards (660) and slow progress if funds are not plentiful - maybe best to add 7's to keep the fire burning and upgrade later using the old 7's for generating a little working capital to help later. Just my thoughts - everyone has to go about it a little different pace - planned goal of reaching those last cards. I would for sure try to buy 8's over trying to buy raw cards and have them graded - may loose some of the excitement but it will be more economic. Have Fun!! Rick Heckler

helionaut

Thanks, both, for the info. I didn't realize they sold member access by the month, and I wasn't excited by the idea of spending $90 for it even with the gradings and other stuff.

Yes, my plan is to get the HOF star cards and key RCs in 8 or better, but there's a significant (to me) price difference on ebay, which is where I'd be getting most of them; common 7s go for about $5-6 while 8s go for $10-12, with some going for double that. Saving about $5 per common would let me have that much more to spend on a star 9 occasionally, and I think I'd rather have a 9 Bench or Aaron than a bunch of common 8s. Star 8s go for about 3x what 7s do, although the 8s are still within my price range. The 7 grade seems to be where some noticeable problems start creeping in, mostly deep off-centering or diamond-cutting, but paying close attention will let me find higher-end 7s that I can live with. And, of course, this would be a very-long-term, virtually-never-finished project, so upgrading in the future is inevitable.

I have my own 75 set that I've been upgrading on and off for over 10 years now, so I may submit a few from there. I think it's pretty nice overall, but from what I've seen they would probably grade a pretty uniform 7-8, maybe a 9 here and there, so I don't think it would really work out to any great benefit to slab my own cards except the nicer stars.

mcastaldi

There are a few of us building graded 1975 sets. Right now, the actual market for PSA8 commons is in the $8.50 to $13 range. The going rate for PSA9 commons is in the $24 to $50 range.

I would also say don't place too much weight on SMR. It's often a ways off on 75s. While Heck55 mentioned that the PSA8 Munson has an SMR of $27, I can assure you that you'll be lucky to find it in an 8 for less than $40. Star 9s are even more dramatic. I seem to remember a PSA9 Yaz recently going for $225-$275 (SMR is $110) and about the same for Seaver.

Keep watching eBay as there is generally reasonable traffic in PSA-graded 75s. If you still want to build your set with commons in PSA7, then let me know and I'll be glad to sell you the 7s I have.

Mike