1970's set to start

metsfan

I'm looking to start a 1970's set. I started collecting in 1973 and stoped in about 1981. Worked in a card store in the late 80's. Anyway I sold most of my sets to Mr.Mint.
So from reading the board I'm getting the itch. I would like to start a 1970's graded set. Money is tight right now but I realize its along term project.
I really like the '72 set but it seems too much. '73 has schmidt and mays' last card. I was thinking of maybe 74,77, or 78.
'74 is hard to find unopened, '77 has quality control problems and '78's have centering problems. I'm not crazy about 1975's or 1979's.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Wayne

bosoxphan

What grade are you going to try for? Makes a big difference cause some of the years are very expensive in 9, while most are pretty reasonable in 8 or less.

jaxxr

Your final three choices has 1978 as the most economical set, yet not cheap by any means. Which set do you have the most inventory in, as to possible submissions per the grade you want as a minimum? Perhaps which year do you have the key card or two available for grading? It's always more enjoyable to include, some cards you originally bought raw, in a graded set. Remember you don't have to have every last Joe Schmoe common graded to have a real nice set. If your set MUST be registered, then you may not use personal opinion grading and card holdering, or even a few cards graded by another more economical company. To me the 70's sets are the last true vintage ones out there, if Hendo ever retires we can add 1980 and then that's it, the industry/hobby changed forever. Best of luck, I'd be interested in knowing what your final choice eventually becomes.

Vargha

1973 is the last vintage year set (done in series) and has less competition than 1970, 71 and 72. The 1975 mini set is actually a scarcity since it was only distributed in select regions. Right now the competition for it is limited and offers you a great opportunity.

AdamM

The 78's are always on Ebay in 8 or 9. They seem to be easier to find in pack or vending form than the 77's. Like Bosoxphan said 8's are usually reasonable but 9's can usually get a little crazy. I'm not sure if they're still out there but there was a huge group of 9's out there a few days ago. I would stay way far away from the 77's (only because I'm collecting them and they are a pain to find).

Adam

Kurt

1977 is in my mind the next roughest from the decade to 71's. If you don't have the money 1977 is a bad idea. If you don't have the time 1977 is a really bad idea as the vast majority of this set has never been graded and likely will not be for a long time. The stuff is just plain brutal with some of the worst centering ever, with borders and corners usually in bad shape, to confidently send in to make profits on. At a minimum right now you will need just over $4000 in grading fees to get this set done in any grade, before even buying the cards. Example to the "all 9 guy" for 77 Topps only 138 different cards exist in a 9. You will need to slab a whopping 522 cards on your own to get this done. Assuming you send at $6 each that's $3132 not including S&H each way. That is also assuming you hit a 9 on all 522 you send the 1st time around. So even if you have the money to do this, which I do and maybe you do also, the time it will take to get it done all 9 or better should be your lifetime with the quality control on this set being so poor. So you must be psychotically patient to get this done. The three 9's in my set are 1 of 2, 1 of 2, and 1 of 7, making this a tough fight as I know of a few building this who have not registered. This means typically even the 138 different 9's if there is only 2, you can add to your total of what you will need to submit on your own. Over time the population on this set will rise, but in my opinion not as fast as any other 70's set because this set is almost as tough as 71 and doesn't have nearly the appeal to most as 71, thus not many dealers will make an effort to send these in. If they do well then great news, but I don't see it. My goal is 10 years just to hit all 7's or better(not so easy for this year honestly) and hopefully by then some lucky SOB will have some 10's I can buy from him

Kurt

By the way, 1977 Boxes are so tough to come by in comparison to 78 & 79 here is one on ebay:

Link to 77 box

If you are going to buy unopened 77 you better prepare to cough up a nice car payment or 2.

bosoxphan

I agree with Vargha. If cash is kinda tight, a 1973 set in PSA 8 is readily available and not terribly expensive. The Schmidt and Ryan cards are the only ones you'll have to shell out over $100 for. It was the last series set and contains the key rookie card of the 70's. I personally like the design, some don't. Good all around set IMO.

FB

Actually,

72 may not remain as competitive as it has been over the last year or so. The really heavy PSA 8 players are all over 50% at this point so we're starting to see a lot more commons available for $10 - $12 than 6 months ago. Just my two cents - have to keep this pyramid scheme going somehow!!!

carkim

Frank,

Actually you make a good point. With the FAB 5 at or over 60% completed there are many 1972 deals out there on eBay. In my view there are two major reasons for this.

1) The FAB 5 has sent in many cards to be graded and sometimes doubles of each. After all the trading is done we put them on eBay.

2) A few dealers saw the eBay 72 craze and started submitting a ton of 72 cards to cash in. Some dealer don't list on eBay as soon as they get there cards back. They post them on their web site at an inflated price. If they don't sell soon they will probably start listing them on eBay to move some inventory.

For these 2 reason and many more to list...I feel the 1972 set is the best collectable set of the decade.

Carlos

Just my $.02

thegemmintman

Carlos, I think the '72 "Fab Five" sounds better.

carkim

Edited: Saturday February 23, 2002 at 1:16 PM by carkim

To the collector formerly known as “z”,

I edited my post just for you.

Carlos

thegemmintman

You see, now doesn't that have a better ring to it?

AdamM

Kurt,
I'm not in any hurry to complete this set that's why I'm looking to pick up all the 9's I can right now. I also know there aren't a ton of them out there but I'm not going to settle for lesser grades if I can have these. Once I move to a larger area I plan on traveling to bigger shows again and picking up raw copies. I don't plan on having an all 9 set because I know that will be virtually impossible but I also don't plan on registering 7's either. I did see that box on Ebay (over $800 with an hour to go) and kick myself in the arse for not buying the one Dave & Adam's had for $700. You are right that there's a few guys out there not registered that are bidding on this stuff and it definitely makes it more competitive but I guess that's half the fun (or frustration) of it.

Adam

helionaut

I've recently gone through this myself. Pretty much any year is good, but I came down like this: 70 and 71 borders are tough and I was born in 70 so I have no specific memories of them. 72 has a lot of people competing and 787 cards is too many for me. 74 is definitely boring (no offense). 76 is close but has no real landmark RCs (Eckersley is best), which to me is important. 77, 78, 79 are all nice in their way but just don't grab me aesthetically and again, a dearth of really major RCs (Murphy, Dawson, Molitor, Ozzie are good but not great). That leaves 75 or 73. 75 was the first set I had a good quantity of as a kid and so has great memories for me. But after quickly dismissing it initially (even those collecting it tend to diss it in the set registry page), when I started looking through local dealers' common inventories, I had to take a closer look at the 73 set.

Design-wise, it has dramatic horizontal photos that are lacking in the sets after 1974. While easily dismissed as boring, the design actually grew on me quickly, a definite relief from the gaudiness of the more popular 72 and 75. I now feel it's a cool, sleek, 'classic' design.

Player-wise, I think the 73 set bridges distinct eras of baseball better than any other set, from the 50s 'Golden Age' with Aaron, Mays, Kaline and Clemente, through the 60s and 70s to the free-agent 80s with Schmidt, along with Ryan, Rose, Bench, Carlton as a Phillie, etc. I haven't counted exactly, but I think the 73 set has close to 30 HOFers in it, including the RC of the best 3b of all time. Not many sets can claim to include the RC of the best ever at any position.

For ease of completion, you definitely won't have as much competition as with other sets, but there isn't as much graded overall. On ebay, at least, there are typically fewer PSA graded 73s in total than PSA 7s or 8s alone from other years. So unless you network pretty well, or submit a lot yourself, it'll be a chore.

metsfan

In terms of inventory I have the '73 set minus schmidt and ryan. It looks it would grade PSA 6. I also have a decent amount of 1977's,I havent looked to close at them.

If the 1972 set is affordable I might try that. I'm looking for PSA 8's right now, I can always upgrade later. The 1978 murray and molitor's are about $50 in 8's. This is in my price range.

Still thinking right now. I dont like starting something and then changing my mind.

Wayne.

Kurt

Adam, I like your plan of 8's and above. My murphy returned a 7, and I don't know why but it doesn't let me register the card. Maybe that is a sign? Good Luck to you and when I end up with some extra 9's i will certainly let you, know.

carkim

74 is definitely boring (no offense).

None taken.

Carlos