Topps Tiffany Baseball HOF RCs

doog71

I am much more of a vintage collector but do try to track down Topps Tiffany RCs of HOF/future HOF or players I just like. Guys like Griffey Jr, Thomas, Chipper, Mattingly, Puckett, etc.

Gotta say - finding nicely centered high grade examples of those cards can a lot tougher than finding nice examples of 50s-60s HOF RCs. Not necessarily PSA 9 examples of 50s/60s (definitely rare), but psa 6 and psa 7 type examples.

I'm not commenting on the rarity necessarily of these different era cards, but rather how often they come up on Ebay. Those centered, graded Tiffany RCs can be a bear to find...

Gemyanks10

I love the Tiffany sets. I haven't started collecting singles of these sets yet, but I do have factory sealed sets. What I like about these are not only are they a lot rarer then their regular issue counterparts, but Topps publicly stated the print runs of them unlike the regular Topps print runs. For instance, 1984 Topps Tiffany was publicly stated to have 10,000 sets made. That means there's only 10,000 chances to own a nice Don Mattingly rookie, or 1985 where supposedly only half of the production was made at 5,000 sets. So only 5,000 Roger Clemens, Puckett, or Mcgwire cards can exist. It definitely ups the rarity factor, and it seems that the quality control was somewhat better than regular Topps, but Tiffany was far from perfect. I can only see HOF rookies from this era becoming a good investment just based on the rarity factor, and the fact that after all these years, how many sets are still out there untouched and unsearched? Scouring Ebay lately, hardly ever do I see early Tiffany sets come up for auction or BIN anymore.

Jimmy

Big80s

I broke a ton of Tiffany sets this year, and was extremely disappointed by the results. For example, I opened six sealed sets of 1984 Topps Tiffany and didn't pull one Mattingly that even had a shot at a psa 9. I think picking up the cards you're looking for in a PSA 9 or 10 now, is the way to go - instead of gambling on sealed sets. Just my two cents.

Gemyanks10

Not to hijack the thread, but I've also noticed looking on Ebay now that there are some older Tiffany cards in PSA 10's that are "yellowing" so to speak. Is this normal for that era? Or is it something that has happened maybe over time? I know they have a glossy coating so maybe that's starting to "rot" for lack of better words? It doesn't seem that PSA deducts for this, but it does seem to hurt the eye appeal just a little...

Jimmy

Stingray

<< <i>Not to hijack the thread, but I've also noticed looking on Ebay now that there are some older Tiffany cards in PSA 10's that are "yellowing" so to speak. Is this normal for that era? Or is it something that has happened maybe over time? I know they have a glossy coating so maybe that's starting to "rot" for lack of better words? It doesn't seem that PSA deducts for this, but it does seem to hurt the eye appeal just a little...

Jimmy >>



I am pretty sure that 85 had that issue, not sure on others.

totallyradd

I bought an 86 Tiffany Canseco for the private signing set up a few months ago, and when it arrived in the mail, it was definitely yellowing along the borders, it didn't show up well in the scan, but it was pretty obvious in person. I was able to return it and found another one, but yellowing does exist in the 86 set.

In my only experience with Tiffany otherwise was when I got a sealed 87 regular and traded set and got a 10 on a Maddux. Still have to bust open the complete set and see what Bonds, Bo, Larkin, and a few others look like.

digicat

There is some mild yellowing throughout the run of Tiffany cards, but it's most severe in 1985.

1985 Topps Tiffany was probably the worst looking of all the Tiffany sets. A combination of the yellowing and the tenancy for the colors to fade a little. 1986 shares some of the muddy look too.