1970 Topps All Stars - Sleeping Giants?

MattyC

So who's our resident expert on these cards-- and can shed some light on why some of them are so highly valued? It seems that in high grade they tower in price above their counterpart regular issues. I'm not familiar with these and just curious. Is there some printing defect that routinely plagues them, etc.? Came across these while preparing to do an article on the most expensive PostWar to Present cards in each grade tier-- had no idea they were worth so much.

CW

Are you referring to the All-Star cards within the 70 Topps set, or are you thinking of Topps Super?

Please post some examples if you have them. Also, in which grade tier do these become some of the most expensive?

MattyC

I'm referring to the AS Star Cards within the main set, not the supers. Specifically the Rose, Aaron, Yaz, Reggie, and Bench. They really leap out at you in terms of cost in PSA 9 grade, often commanding more than the regular issue, which is kind of rare.

otwcards

The centering on the All-Star subset is a bear keeping the population numbers in higher grade lower than most others in the issue. Lower pops tend to equal higher prices.

cpamike

Scott nailed it as usual. I've been working on a raw 1970 set for about 6 years now and those are the toughest cards to find decently centered. I'm down to around 66 cards or so to finish the set in NM to NM-MT condition, but I still only have half those all star cards.

MattyC

Ah, so it's the centering that beats these down and keeps the pops in high grade suppressed. Was really curious; those PSA 9 prices really leap out at you.

ThoseBackPages

Also, arent they in the higher series?

otwcards

<< <i>Also, arent they in the higher series? >>



Mid and semi-series. None in the High # series.

70ToppsFanatic

They are 4th and 5th series (450-469).

I'm down to Bench and Alou to close out the sub-set in my
PSA registry set. Planning to post scans when I complete the
run.

The centering issue is caused by the positioning of the cards in the
full 132-card sheets. Every year has similar issues for certain cards
(e.g. 1971 Munson, Jackson and Rose are also tough to find centered,
as well as 1973 Ruth/Mays/Aaron, Schmidt/Cey, 1976 Briggs, etc.)

WalterSobchak

Agree with all who said these are particularly tough cards to find well-centered. I have found the Bench, the Alou, and the McDowell to be the toughest among them.

53BKid

I agree with MattyC's header. The 70Topps All Stars are attractive, with 11 Hall of Famers, and, yes, finding them centered is very, very difficult, especially Bench and McDowell.

Nikklos

Not only are they often OC, many times they come back from PSA as Miscut, even if they do not readily appear miscut.