1975 Topps Minis vs. standard (collecting & value)

scashaggy

Is there a better set to collect or is it just a preference? As far as value, is one over the other or do they equal out?

YogiBerraFan

The mini cards bring more money most of the time. I personally like the regular cards better. The smaller cards also tend to have more centering problems.

Sean1125

Kinda need to go against what berrafan said... mini's USED to bring more money, now I see them pretty equal out.

MattyC

Minis are, over the course of the entire 660 card set, tougher to find centered/high grade. Fewer minis are grade worthy; just useless right out of the pack due to centering. Low pop PSA 9s and 10s routinely bring $400-$600.

grote15

Low pop regular size card values are no match for low pop mini commons. As Matt said, you can get upwards of $500 and in many cases well more for a low pop common.

Edit to add: The mini set also has a much more hard core group of set registry collectors. Just look at the 75 mini thread over on the set registry thread, which is one of the longest on this entire forum and compare it to the regular 75 thread.

That said, if you're looking for unopened product, regular size packs are about 2x the cost of the minis despite the minis perceived scarcity. The value of PSA graded mini cards is really based on the realization at how tough it is to find well-centered mini cards right out of the pack. In some cases, you can go through an entire box without pulling one Mint 9 caliber card.

MattyC

Grote is spot on. There are a ton of mini packs out there because people see how OC the cards are coming out, and just decide it's better to keep the packs sealed.

Griffins

I think the scarcity of mini's is overblown. While they were only distributed in CA and Michigan, the price in '75 was astronomical in comparison to the regular set and has come down slowly ever since.
I found unopened regular size much tougher than mini's, and while Charlie Conlon trickled out mini boxes when he passed away a few years ago the market was flooded with cases of them.
Agreed that there are more mini collectors, but think over time they will prove to be less expensive than the regular series. I think the packs have already gotten there.

fiveniner

I know that I have purchased the last of my mini boxes and have had just moderate success with grading as the majority of the cards are off center,miscut,short cut however I have found many of the star cards but many grade around PSA 7.I am going to work on completing this set at a 7.5 to 8 condition however I will just purchase them already graded.The quality control on these cards barely exist.The large 75s are a bit better condition wise IMO.

grote15

I found unopened regular size much tougher than mini's,

As far as finding unopened product, I'd agree completely with this statement, which is why a regular size pack (or box) commands more than 2x the price of a mini pack or box. However, if you're looking to pull higher grade cards right out of the pack, minis are a much tougher proposition, especially with regard to centering. That's why the low pop PSA 9 and PSA 10 minis go for moon money when they go up for sale. And as mattyc, who is one of the top collectors of this set said, that is just one of the reasons why mini unopened product is more plentiful, as collectors don't want to take the risk of opening packs that are more than likely to contain poorly centered cards. After all, if you open five or six packs of a box and all the cards are junk, are you going to keep opening packs or cut your losses and sell the rest of the unopened packs?

I don't think the regular size set will ever eclipse the popularity of the minis, though, and the mini collectors are definitely more avid about this set than their full-sized counterparts.

Stone193

I have a 75T mini Ryan #500 - and was under the impression that the regular issue sells for much more money in the same grade and centering - am I incorrect?

grote15

have a 75T mini Ryan #500 - and was under the impression that the regular issue sells for much more money in the same grade and centering - am I incorrect?

I believe you are correct with regard to the Ryan card, Mike, but I think that is also due to the Ryan collectors more than mini collectors. I was looking for a PSA 9 1975 mini Rose and a regular size Rose sold for $165 on ebay recently while the mini version went for $225.

The primary difference in value between these two sets, though, is not so much the star cards as it is with low pop PSA 9 and PSA 10 commons. The tougher and toughest mini cards go for big bucks, upwards of $500 or more. If a PSA 9 Frank Tanana or Claudell Washington that filled the holder ever went up for sale, I wouldn't be surprised to see it go for $750+.

Stone193

<< <i>have a 75T mini Ryan #500 - and was under the impression that the regular issue sells for much more money in the same grade and centering - am I incorrect?

I believe you are correct with regard to the Ryan card, Mike, but I think that is also due to the Ryan collectors more than mini collectors. I was looking for a PSA 9 1975 mini Rose and a regular size Rose sold for $165 on ebay recently while the mini version went for $225.

The primary difference in value between these two sets, though, is not so much the star cards as it is with low pop PSA 9 and PSA 10 commons. The tougher and toughest mini cards go for big bucks, upwards of $500 or more. If a PSA 9 Frank Tanana or Claudell Washington that filled the holder ever went up for sale, I wouldn't be surprised to see it go for $750+. >>

Thanx - makes sense.

MattyC

Grote is again right. It's true: it's much, much easier to find unopened mini packs and boxes-- but it is also much, much harder to find PSA 9 and 10 mini examples.

Unopened mini packs and boxes tend to stay unopened because collectors know what OC junk likely lies inside, and anyone new who opens a few packs learns quickly. So in a way the extreme difficulty of finding high grade minis is feeding/maintaining the ready availability of the unopened mini product. Bottom line: in no way should one confuse the seeming availability of unopened mini product with a waiting flood of PSA 9 and PSA 10 minis.

So it all depends what kind of set one is looking to assemble. A PSA 8.00 mini set might be a very doable proposition in the wake of the Conlon/REA auction, yet a PSA 9.00 set would cost tens of thousands. For despite all the new cards that hit the market in the last couple of years, there are at least a hundred cards in the mini set (including almost all the big stars and notorious commons) that are tough and experienced little to no pop increase. A POP 8-ish Cecil Cooper just commanded around $200. A pop 4 Bill Greif went for $579 I think, as I was underbidder-- I still kick myself for not putting in a higher snipe on that one.