94 Dow--1957 C.W.S. Western Stars Completed in PSA 8 or Better

Davalillo

My 94th set completed with each card graded PSA 8 or better comes once again from non-sports collector Steve Lucas. As Steve has described to me, he is changing his focus in non-sports collecting to some of the 1930s sets and fortunately for me he approached me to purchase this set intact. Thank you Steve.

And what a spectacular set it is. Just 24 cards but it contains cards of Forrest Tucker(I believe of F Troop fame), Ernest Borgnine(of McHale's Navy fame) and the legendary Roy Rogers. What really distinguishes this set though is its condition. There are 9 PSA 10s, 14 PSA 9s and 1 PSA 8. The set rating is 9.33 which unbelievably only places it second on the PSA Set Registry behind Dave's set. I will let it rest at this level.

This also represents the 18th non-sport set in my collection and the 94th overall in PSA 8 or better. The goal remains 100 vintage or semi-vintage sets in PSA 8 or better. I appreciate the help of all collectors and dealers in helping me achieve my goals.

Completed sets in PSA 8 or better are as follows:

BASEBALL(39):

1936 S&S
1941 Play Ball
1948 Bowman
1951 Bowman
1951 Topps Red Back
1952 Bowman
1954 Bowman
1954 Red Heart
1954 Topps
1955 Bowman
1956 Topps
1957 Topps
1958 Topps
1959 Fleer
1959 Topps
1960 Fleer
1960 Topps
1961 Golden Press
1961 Nu Card Scoops
1961 Topps
1961-62 Fleer
1962 Topps
1963 Fleer
1963 Topps
1964 Topps
1964 Topps Giants
1965 Topps
1966 Topps
1967 Topps
1967 Topps Red Sox Stickers
1967 Topps Pirates Stickers
1968 Topps
1968 Topps Game
1969 Topps Super
1970 Kelloggs
1970 Milton Bradley
1970 Rold Gold
1970 Topps Super
1974 Deckle Edge

FOOTBALL(24):

1950 Bowman
1951 Bowman
1953 Bowman
1954 Bowman
1955 Bowman
1955 Topps All-America
1956 Topps
1958 Topps
1959 Topps
1960 Mayrose Franks
1960 Topps
1961 Fleer
1961 Nu Card
1961 Topps
1962 Fleer
1962 Kahn's Weiners
1963 Fleer
1963 Stancraft Playing Cards
1964 Philadelphia
1965 Philadelphia
1967 Topps
1968 Topps
1968 Topps 4-in-1
1976 Wonder Bread

BASKETBALL(8):

1948 Bowman
1957 Topps
1961 Fleer
1969-70 Topps
1970-71 Topps
1971-72 Topps
1972 Icee Bear
1976-77 Topps

HOCKEY(3):

1962-63 Parkhurst
1962-63 Topps
1963-64 Parkhurst

MULTI-SPORT(2):

1933 Goudey Sport Kings
1954 Sport Oddities

NON-SPORT(18):

1935 C&T Bridgewater
1936 Gallaher Film Episodes
1938 Ogden's Actors Natural and Character Studies
1939 Gallaher My Favourite Part
1945 Mutoscope Artists Pin-Ups
1952 Dixie Cup Nelson's Ice Cream
1955 Barbers Tea Cinema & TV Stars
1955 Movie Stars of MGM
1956 Jibco Tea Screen Stars, Second Edition
1956 U.S. Presidents
1957 C.W.S. Western Stars
1968 TV Westerns
1960 Fleer Spins & Needles
1962 ABC Colorstars
1962 Barratt & Co Warriors Through the Ages
1962 Topps Civil War News
1966 Leaf Good Guys and Bad Guys
1967 Who Am I?

Griffins

I think it's about time to start selling squares for the 100th set completion pool.
The end is in sight.

Well done Jim!

calaban7

Nice set Jim. The set has plenty of Fame-power. I can't wait to see all these cards one day.---- Sonny

Davalillo

Anthony,

I'm sure you remember the skepticism on this board 7 or 8 years ago when I announced my intention to build 100 graded sets.

With so many sets just a couple of cards from completion(I may just have a couple of more sets to announce shortly) I can actually say I am confident I can get there this year. Probably never would havw happened though without the support from fellow collectors and friendly bdealers who provided help and support along the way.

Sonny,

Thanks for you support. As I have said, you are welcome to see the collection anytime.

Jim

mikeschmidt

Congrats, Jim, great accomplishment!

Would be interesting to see a time series analysis of the contribution shift...e.g. how many baseball sets have been added over the past 2-3 years versus non-sport? How many sets from the 1950s versus the 1960s?

M

qualitycards

Jim Great Job!
Sent you an Email w/ some '69's you need.
Checked your '60 Fleer FB set as I have a bunch, you only need Woodard (in an 8 or higher)
to complete that run, so I expect that set will be done shortly.

Davalillo

From my good buddy Jay Wolt

"Checked out the Fleer Football set(1960) as I have a bunch--you only need Woodard(in an 8 or higher) to complete the run, so I expect the set will be done shortly."

Jay,

That is the only card in that set I have needed for years. It is a pop 2 in PSA 8 with 1 PSA 9(and I think only 1 PSA 7). Dealer-collector Nearmint(Mike Thomas) has 1 of the 8s and I have been unable to talk him into selling it to me. Hamlet Prince of Denmark has the other. I have no idea who has the 9. If anyone could get me this card I would be eternally grateful.

Keep praying for Jay guys in his health struggles. He is one of the all-time great people you would ever meet.

Marc--I will respond when I get the time to put the information together.

Jim

Davalillo

Marc,

There has been an increased contribution of non-sports sets to my set completions. My first non-sports sets was completed in mid-to-late 2007 and represented the 63rd non-sports set in my collection. In early 2009 I decided to materially step up my interest in non-sports with the idea that I would open a museum in Georgia when I retired(not in the cards yet) and would have a room dedicated to non-sports. The number of non-sports sets now stands at 18. Thus since then 17 of my last 33 sports sets or about half have been non-sports. I would not expect the percentage to rise but who knows. There are other non-sports sets I think are cool and if I have the opportunity to buy complete sets of what I am interested in I will do it. I also have about 20 non-sports sets in progress but many are pre-war and there are not many cards around. By comparison, I probably have over 100 sports sets in progress.

Football the percentage has not grown. I an still very interested in completing my sets and buying any complete graded sets before 1970. I am down to a very small number of cards in a lot of the key vintage sets(1948 Bowman, 1952 Bowman Large and Small, 1963 Topps, 1964 Topps, 1957 Topps, 1966 Topps, 1964 Kahns, 1960 Fleer, 1962 Salada, 1969 Tresler, 1970 Topps just to name a few).

As far as the 50s and before vs 60s and later breakdown is concerned, I don't think the breakdown has changed materially. A clear majority of the sets I am working on are before 1960 but these sets are more difficult to complete on balance. Anwway, below is a summary breakdown. If you want more details I have that as well.

Regards,

Jim

2010--8 sets completed

4 non-sports
3 baseball
1 football

2009-13 sets completed

9 non-sports
2 football
1 baseball
1 basketball

2008-10 sets completed

4 baseball
4 non-sports
2 football

2007-10 sets completed

5 baseball
3 football
1 basketball
1 non-sports

2006-22 sets completed

9 baseball
8 football
2 multi-sport
2 hockey
1 basketball

2001-2005--33 completed

18 baseball
10 football
4 basketball
1 hockey

PSASAP

Jim, why is your 1957 Topps Hit Stars set omitted from your list?

Oh, I see why. There are a few cards that don't make the 8 cutoff. Still, mighty impressive nonetheless. :-)

Davalillo

Not that many 1957 Hit Stars come up for sale.

The pops in 8 or better don't seem real low for the 6 psa 7 or 9 oc cards I have but nonetheless the cards don't seem to appear?

Jim

mikeschmidt

Interesting data, Jim; clearly there were some early easy wins with Baseball and to a lesser extent football, but after a certain cut-off point, it is really easy to get close in a lot of the other sets, but hard to finish at 8 or higher given the rise of set specialists. Also given a desire to keep budget in check, as I'm sure there are very clear trade-offs in finding a card you need in 9 or 10, or waiting for the 8, and getting 8s for other sets.

Still are some big wins left in baseball -- 1952 Topps, 1953 Bowman. The 1933 Goudey SK set is absolutely phenomenal, particularly combined with the story that when in to trading for the last few you needed!

Davalillo

Marc,

There are some sets where you just get hung up on 1. For example on both the 1966 and 1957 Topps FB sets I have neesded just the checklists for some time. For 1950 Callahan I need one of the museum exterior variaions, 1951 Topps Blue Back I have needed just the Waitkus for some time. Still though very few of these don't exist(one which does not exist is the 61 Essex Meats Sihugo Green) and as long as they exist there is hope.

While I spend a lot of money annually on cards I do have a budget and there are some sets I have a good start on such as 1952 Topps where I have about 345 PSA 8s but the last 60-plus are prohibitively expensive when they do appear. The Mantle and Pafko alone would each be around $100K so that may be a 7/8 set. However I plan to finish a lot of other big sets in 8 or better such as 1934 Goudey where I need 14, 1934-36 Diamond Kings where I need 12, 1939 Play Ball where I need 5, 1953 Bowman Black & White where I need 8, and 1953 Bowman Color and 1953 Topps where I need about 25 apiece.

What I find the most surprising is how difficult some of the 1960s football are to complete such as 1962 and 1965 Topps where I need quite a few and 1963 and 1964 Topps where I need 2 and 1 respectively.

Lastly for those of you who haven't heard the story I completed about 4 years ago what I believe to be the largest sports card trade ever(over $100,000 on each side) when I traded a fair number of my low pop psa 8 T206s and some PSA 9 T206s to Hall-of-Fame collector Don Louchios in return for about 10 1933 Goudey Sport Kings in PSA 8 I needed to virtually complete my set including the Cobb, Ruth, Bobby Jones and Holman. The Cobb later bumped to an 8.5. I would use more of my T206s for trade(I still have about 130 PSA 8s) to help complete many of my other vintage sets.

Jim

vorthian

Jim,

I'm glad I could help with your collection! As much as I've enjoyed certain sets, I find myself gravitating towards the earlier years of the NS realm. Your 100-set quest is nearing fruitation, what happens when you complete that goal? Will you continue to upgrade and add sets to your collection?

Davalillo

Thanks for posting Steve. I appreciate your selling sets that no longer meet your collecting goals and interests to me. In addition to the complete 8 and better sets that Steve has sold me he also sold me a couple of others that are very close to completion in PSA 8 or better. However finding that elusive last upgrade or two is going to be a challenge.

What happens when I reach 100? As you can tell, I have enormous passion for collecting and for the hobby. My plan is to continue to try to complete sets in PSA 8 or better. I never intended for 100 to be a stopping point but I do best when I set goals. Ten years or so when I set the goal of 100 sets it seemed so far in the future that it wold take me 15-20 years to get there, but as I approach it my enthusiasm for collecting is still there. I don't have an end game yet but hopefully at age 56 I have some time before I have to figure that out.

Regards,

Jim