Larry Fritsch's 1970's sets

edmundfitzgerald

Anyone ever hear of anyone who bought 1970's sets or vending from Larry Fritsch.
I'm think of his 72 & 75 sets he has for sale.

Aric

I have a 76' football set that was purchased from Fritsch around 1987.

jmoran19

I've bought a bunch of his specific series sets (1970 bball series 2, 1972 baseball high #'s, etc) around 15 years ago. Corners are usually sharp but centering is all over the place and you usually get a couple stinkers. I did luck out though, the Maravich RC came back as a PSA 8 John

ymarea

I've bought (2) 1972 OPC CFL sets from them. Great service, overall very nice cards.

Nathaniel1960

Are the prices coming down on those sets? Their adverts show crazy prices for all 70's sets. $1000 for a 75 EX-MT. Come to think of it, don't their adverts always qualify the sets as EX-MT?

Mickey71

Prices are absolutely crazy. I've heard that most things were overgraded. I believe that is the reason for so many cards yet they graded very few. Old school dealer grading--looks decent ...NM

jivan

<< <i>Are the prices coming down on those sets? Their adverts show crazy prices for all 70's sets. $1000 for a 75 EX-MT. Come to think of it, don't their adverts always qualify the sets as EX-MT? >>

Even like 30 years ago fristsch's prices were a lil on the high side.. has tons of great stuff and guess he will sit with it until he gets his price

Nathaniel1960

You mean his heirs will sit on it. I am waiting for them to start to move product in high volume, particularly if they are not into cards like their daddy and at the advice of skiddish financial advisors and estate planners.

footlong

I think his son, Jeff, took over the business. Please advise if I'm misinformed here. The 70s sets sets were put together from vending cases so good luck with near mint sets.

gumbyfan

You are correct. His son is running the business now. His prices are high, but I've picked up some great oddball stuff over the years.

edmundfitzgerald

His 1975 topps baseball set is advertised for 600.00

I think there are 660 cards in the set. That doesn't sound too bad to me, but I don't know the value of that set.

Nathaniel1960

HMMM....its come down quite a bit. If its NM-MT, its a deal. If its EM-MT, you get three for that price on ebay.

proofer2

Bought a couple 1st series vending runs from him back in 1982. Corners were brilliant, gloss was outstanding, but centering sucked on most of them. At that time, that wasn't as big an issue as it is now

ElToroLoco

They have some nice stuff but I'm waiting for them to open the vault on some of it. I would imagine that they've got more than a handful of packs of late 60's and 70's sets

heritage

I would think the set will be very nice but centering will be O/C on some of the cards for sure.

julen23

website is circa 1987.....

j

baseballfan

i think i got the newsletter yeasterday that had sales on some 70's sets, check on that they be cheaper now and he had unopened as well.

blades3

I've always been impressed by the quality of the sets from the 1970s. Like others have mentioned, corners are perfect, surfaces and gloss look like they were pulled from a pack yesterday and centering is the only issues, but if you open a wax box from anywhere in the 1970s centering is always the issue. If you are wondering if they are picked over, the answer is absolutely not. The business is in his son's hands (Jeff) and he's just as attached to the cards as Larry was and about as honest of a guy as you'll find in this hobby. I also wouldn't hold your breath on that liquidation thing.

gemint

Actually they did open their vaults a few years back. Mastro sold a bunch of their vending boxes. I didn't buy any but I believe 'treetop' bought a 1971 vending box and didn't have great luck with it. I think that vending box probably came from Fritsch's stash.

jimq112

I bought a 75 set, cards were like new but centering was terrible. The Yount and Brett cards were both miscut, not just offcenter. I guess if you get a good price and don't mind upgrading some cards you could get a nice start on a good set.

Treetop

<< <i>Actually they did open their vaults a few years back. Mastro sold a bunch of their vending boxes. I didn't buy any but I believe 'treetop' bought a 1971 vending box and didn't have great luck with it. I think that vending box probably came from Fritsch's stash. >>



I did purchase one from a Mastro auction, GAI graded and it was searched. Cards out of series and groups of cards upside down in box. it was a HUGE waste of $$$$

Still pissed!

Great Memory Gem!

gemint

<< <i>

<< <i>Actually they did open their vaults a few years back. Mastro sold a bunch of their vending boxes. I didn't buy any but I believe 'treetop' bought a 1971 vending box and didn't have great luck with it. I think that vending box probably came from Fritsch's stash. >>



I did purchase one from a Mastro auction, GAI graded and it was searched. Cards out of series and groups of cards upside down in box. it was a HUGE waste of $$$$

Still pissed!

Great Memory Gem! >>



Do you recall if it was from the Fritsch vault? They listed those vending boxes in a separate section of the catalog with reference that the items came from his inventory.

Edited to add - I've heard that over the years, Fritsch raided the factory complete series subsets and vending to sell singles and fill other sets. So people would get the complete sets or series' and they'd be missing a few cards.

Treetop

<< <i>

<< <i>

<< <i>Actually they did open their vaults a few years back. Mastro sold a bunch of their vending boxes. I didn't buy any but I believe 'treetop' bought a 1971 vending box and didn't have great luck with it. I think that vending box probably came from Fritsch's stash. >>



I did purchase one from a Mastro auction, GAI graded and it was searched. Cards out of series and groups of cards upside down in box. it was a HUGE waste of $$$$

Still pissed!

Great Memory Gem! >>



Do you recall if it was from the Fritsch vault? They listed those vending boxes in a separate section of the catalog with reference that the items came from his inventory.

Edited to add - I've heard that over the years, Fritsch raided the factory complete series subsets and vending to sell singles and fill other sets. So people would get the complete sets or series' and they'd be missing a few cards. >>



It was from larry - I even exchnaged emails with him about it and spoke with Mastro. They both pointed at GAI and GAI never returned an email or call.

gemint

<< <i>
It was from larry - I even exchnaged emails with him about it and spoke with Mastro. They both pointed at GAI and GAI never returned an email or call. >>



Wow, that's pretty crappy. I guess that was a sign of things to come at Mastro. So Larry sells a searched box he's owned since new from the factory and blames GAI for not catching the fact that he searched it. I'm glad I've never bought anything from him.

blades3

I'm surprised to hear the story about the searched box. I know they are very picky once something is out of their hands and the seal is broken about any kind of return since you never quite knows who you are dealing with (no, i'm not saying you searched it). I know that's why they don't do returns because of the mess with people getting the boxes, pulling a few cards out and then trying to return it and that's probably why they used GAI so much for items sold.

I also wouldn't confuse this at all with a liquidation. They sold a few boxes through Mastro. When the the US Mint sells a few gold bars out of the millions they have, it's not called a liquidation.

Mickey71

I'm thinking like 71's and older they probably don't have that much unopened material. Has someone in the past few years ever seen their inventory? Do they have cases of stuff from the 50's and 60's unopened? I doubt it. I've heard they have alot of 75's.
Also the 71 box that went to GAI---it's sad. I would never buy unopened stuff anyway. I can't figure out why people buy this stuff. I've heard topps would put 1973's in 1972 wrappers and so on. Knowing these inconsistancies how could one become comfortable with unopened packs and boxes. JMO.

WinPitcher

I was under the impression they have mainly 70's stuff.


Steve

footlong

mostly late 60s early 70s vending.would make no sense to buy any amount of wax.back then vending cases were about $30/case of 12,000 cards plus shipping from Duryea,Pa. he was buying these primarily to make up series, then sets.

Morgoth

I think the implication was that the boxes were untouched by Frisch and someone at Mastro or GAI searched them.

Barfvader

One of my favorite pics.

Nathaniel1960

I'm not trying to bash this company, and I have enjoyed scanning their ads over the years, but seriously, 1986 Topps FB set for $235?

http://www.fritschcards.com/football/toppssets.html

I don't get it.

diamondman

<< <i>mostly late 60s early 70s vending.would make no sense to buy any amount of wax.back then vending cases were about $30/case of 12,000 cards plus shipping from Duryea,Pa. he was buying these primarily to make up series, then sets. >>



In the old days 1990 and before, the only thing a dealer could buy from Topps was vending cases and update sets (1981), Wax boxes /cases were bought through candy/food wholesalers/ distributors.

Sometime in the 80's (1988?) Topps said dealers could buy wax cases from them, but the minimum was like 50 to 100 cases (20 box case) and delivery wasn't till late March early April. All candy dist. received their cases in late December early January. LOL

Dealers in the late 60's early 70's were true pioneers, and Larry Fritsch was one of them and as honest as they come.

what was that old saying ? Strong hands? I can't remember the rest.

But I am glad that the remaining unopened (example) 1986 fleer basketball boxes are in strong hands, otherwise they might be selling for 800 a box instead of 8 to 11 thousand a box. Put in anything like stocks/muscle cars/coins ect ect and be happy that there are some strong hands left in what ever hobby/business you are in to. JMHO

Treetop

From what Larry told me, some "suits" (guys from Mastro) came and picked up all the vending boxes. then I'm sure Mastro had them graded, by GAI. I just have a hard time understanding how they went through the entire process and no one knew the box was searched. My guess is someone possibly at Larry's pulled cards out looking for a card or two to fill sets. possibly looking through a few boxes (different series) and sticking cards back any which way, then placing the boxes back on the shelf. Or, at the topps factory, they had done the same, or took loose cards to fill a few boxes, sealed it and out the door to larry, either way, I truely believe larry knew nothing about the boxes being tampered with.

edited to add, everyone wants to call themselfs an expert, until sh_t happens, then they know nothing.

mj23kg21

I was buying directly from Topps, Fleer and Donruss back in the 80's. In regards to Topps, like diamondman said you could buy wax cases but the minimum order was 50 cases. I believe that figured out to a minimum order of $10,000. You could also by Rack Pack cases. The minimum order for those was $3,000. The minimum order for Vending cases was $1,000 which I believe was around 8 cases. The thing that stunk about buying wax cases was the timing of delivery. You would get your shipment about the time the baseball season started. All of the candy wholesalers received there shipments in late December.

As far as Larry Fritsch and now his son I think they are about as honest as they come. I remember going to his place many years ago and just being in awe of the quantity of quality stuff he had. They were mainly set up to handle mail orders but they showed me around and I couldn't believe all they had. I am not sure who was giving me the tour but I remember him saying these are 1968 baseball cases. These are 1972 football cases. These are 1972 basketball cases. These are 1975 baseball cases. The list went on and on. I'm sure a lot of this has been sold through the years but I know the quantity they had was pretty impressive.

Bunker

One of my favorite pics

That is a cool picture!

Barfvader

<< <i>One of my favorite pics

That is a cool picture! >>



The amazing part is where it says he got a shipment of 4.8 million new cards each year.

Treetop

<< <i>

<< <i>One of my favorite pics

That is a cool picture! >>



The amazing part is where it says he got a shipment of 4.8 million new cards each year. >>



Just think of all those mis-cuts!!!!!

Cooptown

A bit off topic, but Larry very briefly opened up a baseball card museum in Cooperstown in the early 1990s. I want to say it was 1991. To me, that place was like heaven, as it showed off all of his vintage stuff. Never saw a baseball card collection like that in person, and probably never will.

From what I can recall, the admission price was cheap, and it included a pack of 8 of his own trading cards. The cards had pictures of his top 8 finds, and on the back had the story of how he aquired them. Even had what he paid, and what they were currently worth. I wish I had thought of asking Larry to autograph one of them at the time.

The museum didnt stay open long....one year....MAYBE two. I remember going back to Cooperstown one year to see that it was closed, and I was heartbroken. Every year after I would always walk by just hoping it would re-open, but it never did.

Two years ago my father and I walked by it again (beautiful building, still vacant, located a block off of Main St going towards the Lake) and commented on how we liked that Museum.

I came across his 8 card set earlier this summer. I will try to find it again and post some pictures.

Treetop

<< <i>A bit off topic, but Larry very briefly opened up a baseball card museum in Cooperstown in the early 1990s. I want to say it was 1991. To me, that place was like heaven, as it showed off all of his vintage stuff. Never saw a baseball card collection like that in person, and probably never will.

From what I can recall, the admission price was cheap, and it included a pack of 8 of his own trading cards. The cards had pictures of his top 8 finds, and on the back had the story of how he aquired them. Even had what he paid, and what they were currently worth. I wish I had thought of asking Larry to autograph one of them at the time.

The museum didnt stay open long....one year....MAYBE two. I remember going back to Cooperstown one year to see that it was closed, and I was heartbroken. Every year after I would always walk by just hoping it would re-open, but it never did.

Two years ago my father and I walked by it again (beautiful building, still vacant, located a block off of Main St going towards the Lake) and commented on how we liked that Museum.

I came across his 8 card set earlier this summer. I will try to find it again and post some pictures. >>



Coop, would love to see those and scan the backs so we can read the stories!!!

Thanks!

Morgoth

I was in college in 1992 and went to Cooperstown on the way to Ithaca. I went to his museum and remember he had alot of T cards he showed us as well a complete 70s vending run, he was selling also at that time out of the museum.

I also remember going to see Mickeys Sports Cards and it was the most impressive card shop I have ever been in.

justmichael

Mickey's is almost all commercial now.All clothing and barely any cards.
Mike

Bosox1976

I am resurrecting this old thread, as my curiosity (coupled with a holiday sale) got me to purchase 1974 and 1975 topps baseball sets from Fritsch just before Thanksgiving. I thought it would be an interesting experiment, and certainly had my expectations in check.

I did the whole transaction old school; mailed in a check with the order form to avoid the surcharges. It took about a month for the two sets to arrive (today). They were well-packed.

Anyway, here is the description for the 1975 set, which was the better of the two:

The 1975 set is one of the best and most colorful of all time and is loaded with Hall of Famers like Hank Aaron, Reggie Jackson, Johnny Bench, and Steve Carlton to name a few. Included are rookie cards of Robin Yount, George Brett, and Fred Lynn. These are cards that were purchased from Topps in the given year and have been in our warehouse since. The numbers in parenthesis indicate the number of cards in the set. These cards have been virtually untouched by human hands, although printing and cutting flaws do exist. We grade these cards in at least excellent-mint to near-mint condition.

Complete Set (660 Cards) $765.00

SPECIAL- $595.00

Probably about right on the description....Here are the key cards - which are indicative of the condition of the whole set:

Bosox1976

The 1974 scans are coming - having a photobucket problem.... Here was the description of the set:

These are cards that were purchased from Topps in the given year and have been in our warehouse since. The numbers in parenthesis indicate the number of cards in the set. These cards have been virtually untouched by human hands, although printing and cutting flaws do exist. We grade these cards in at least excellent-mint to near-mint condition.

Complete Set (660 Cards) $610.00

SPECIAL-$459.95

Anyway, thought you guys might want to see the results of the experiment.

Wink

Hey Mike,

Some very nice cards in there. Hope 74's are good too. Great idea and wish I could.....

Jim

Bosox1976

Thanks Jim - I wish the 74's were better centered... anyway, not a complete disaster - but probably overpaid a little unless I get lucky on a grade or two - not seeing much that has a shot at a 9 though...

A pretty good Aaron, Ryan, and Winfield here:

Bosox1976

So there you have it - if anybody else ever wondered about Fritch's raw sets.... not bad, not great. About as advertised.

Cheaper than a rip, but more than I'd pay on ebay. Maybe 7 or 8 from each set heading to PSA.

dberk12

All-time great set and the cards present very well. Hope you had good luck with the '74 set as well.

Thanks for posting the pics.

Big80s

Those look pretty nice to me, Mike. Thanks for sharing your experience.

Nathaniel1960

It would be a neat feature if every Sunday night someone resurrected an old thread - ones started at least five years ago.

We could call it Sunday Threads For You, or STFU for short.

Dboneesq

Mike ... thanks for sharing. Good luck with your submissions.

grote15

Winfield looks like a winner, Mike!