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1980 Topps Hockey question

Hank36Hank36 Posts: 175 ✭✭
in PSA Set Registry Forum
I recently purchased a PSA 9 card from the 1980-81 Topps Hockey set--the set with that black rub-off stuff. It arrived today, and I was surprised--I guess I'd assumed that on a card that had graded that high, the black stuff would be relatively...what's the word...uniform? Yet on this card, the black stuff is noticibly, if slightly, scratched--thin "swipe lines" where the yellow below the black stuff is showing through. I'd passed on other raw 1980 Topps hockey cards I've seen on Ebay because although the rest of the card (corners, certering, etc.) looked great, the scans still revealed small swipe trails in black stuff. I do have at least one 1980 Topps that I've planned to submit because the black stuff is thick and consistent, with no yellow showing through, but if this particular card grades as a PSA 9, I have other cards from this set that might grade higher than I had originally assumed.

Does PSA apply any particular grading standards for this set in regards to the (for want of a better term) black stuff?

Comments

  • RedHeart54RedHeart54 Posts: 2,277 ✭✭✭
    I'd have to see it but I guess as long as the card isn't completely "scratched" PSA will grade it.
  • johnny1976johnny1976 Posts: 440 ✭

    I think if you search older hockey threads this was brought up in one of them. It's a thread that is pretty old and I think it stated that if the puck was scratch off it wouldn't grade higher than an 8. However I think PSA is not as strict with a scratch line that shows a little yellow.
  • Hank36Hank36 Posts: 175 ✭✭
    Here's a scan of the card. Again, I'm not unhappy with the card, as I am now revising my opinion of other raw 1980 cards.
  • ludedudeludedude Posts: 146
    Most of my cards look like yours, I have a PSA 9 "165" and it looks almost identical to yours. I'm extremely picky and I learned a long time ago that this is normal and believe they came from the factory that way.
    See picture below for a few examples. The second one looks alot like yours.

    http://www.checkoutmycards.com/Cards/Hockey/1980-81/Topps/165/SimmDionneSittler_LL/119039
  • Hank36Hank36 Posts: 175 ✭✭
    I do have a really nice 1980 Topps Sittler where the puck is about as perfect as I've seen--solid black. I haven't submitted it yet, but I'm anxious to see how it comes back. I'm just paranoid about some of that black stuff getting rubbed off when it gets taken out of the inner sleeve. That said--would PSA check to see that some sort of new black stuff hasn't been somehow retrofitted to the surface of the card?
  • ludedudeludedude Posts: 146
    I never bought Topps as a kid, we had O-PEE-CHEE in Canada. So I always assumed they came out of the pack that way. Can anyone confirm this?
  • Hank36Hank36 Posts: 175 ✭✭
    Maybe I shouldn't be surprised--as a US hockey issue, it probably flew under the radar for many--but since it was a weird idea that Topps apparently never tried again, I figured that more collectors would voice problems and/or complaints about the set, thirty-one years later.
  • RedHeart54RedHeart54 Posts: 2,277 ✭✭✭
    Hank36, your card is fine. You may see other 1980s with a more solid black but yours is definitely not scratched in the way it defaces the value.



    << <i>I never bought Topps as a kid, we had O-PEE-CHEE in Canada. So I always assumed they came out of the pack that way. Can anyone confirm this? >>



    OPC sold their cards with the names "revealed". Topps, for its 1980-81 hockey (scratch off pucks) and basketball issues (three-card panels), got kind of gimmicky (and probably because hockey and b-ball sales sucked). The hockey cards were essentially trivia cards: You read the info on the back and then tried to guess who the player was before you scratched off the puck with a coin. The player's name does not appear anywhere on the card's reverse.

    You still have to be careful when you buy '80 Topps, even from PSA: there was completely scratched Gretzky residing in a PSA 9 holder on ebay for a while.
  • ludedudeludedude Posts: 146



    << <i>You still have to be careful when you buy '80 Topps, even from PSA: there was completely scratched Gretzky residing in a PSA 9 holder on ebay for a while. >>




    I almost bought a Guy Lafleur that was scatrch off and was in a PSA 9 holder.
  • ludedudeludedude Posts: 146


    << <i>I never bought Topps as a kid, we had O-PEE-CHEE in Canada. So I always assumed they came out of the pack that way. Can anyone confirm this? >>





    << <i>OPC sold their cards with the names "revealed". Topps, for its 1980-81 hockey (scratch off pucks) and basketball issues (three-card panels), got kind of gimmicky (and probably because hockey and b-ball sales sucked). The hockey cards were essentially trivia cards: You read the info on the back and then tried to guess who the player was before you scratched off the puck with a coin. The player's name does not appear anywhere on the card's reverse. >>



    My question was "Can anyone confirm that they came out of the packs with those scatches? I assume they are from the printing process or handling the cards before the ink was completely dry?"
  • johnny1976johnny1976 Posts: 440 ✭


    I remember opening these packs back in 1980, I still have the cards, yes they did come with little scratches on them. However they never came scrached enough that you could read anything under the black.
  • ludedudeludedude Posts: 146

    Thanks "johnny1976" for the info.
  • Hank36Hank36 Posts: 175 ✭✭
    Did the black stuff ever rub off on another card in the pack, sort of like a gum stain?
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