Registry 1st: Completed 1970 Topps Sets in PSA 9 or Better - More Cards & Stories Included
70ToppsFanatic
Posts: 2,106 ✭✭✭✭
It's taken a while, but I have finally achieved a collecting goal that I have been working on for a long time. Finished off upgrading my 1970 Topps baseball
registry sets such that every card is now PSA 9 or higher (no qualifiers)! As best we know it is the first time a set has been achieved where every item in the
set is PSA 9 or better.
These sets will never be the #1 on the registry for their kind, as I did not focus on chasing the PSA 10s. There will always be several sets higher (the current
#1 is at 9.41), but some of the low pop cards are so scarce there wont be many that will be truly "complete" at PSA 9 level. About 6 years ago I started
hunting down the low pop 9s, only worrying about 10s when one fell in my lap or a unique one came up that was of special interest to me (e.g. #394 Gil Hodges).
Enough of the toughies came available during the 2009-2011 period, otherwise I doubt I ever could have made it in current times.
And I was also fortunate enough to snag a PSA 9 1970 wax pack to make sure that everything matched.
Only a minor glitch left, as my Billy Champion (#149, flip 16564727 PSA 9) is currently showing as registered in someone elses set. That blemish will be handled by the end of the week.
So now I need to find a new #1 project (I have several other registry sets in progress, so probably one of them will be next to finish off). But I won't be changing
my CU username. That is a permanent fixture, as 1970 will always be the first year I think of when it comes to my Topps cards.
I wish all of you the experience of reaching one of your major collecting milestones and feeling the sense of completing a difficult task that I am having right now!
Cheers
Dave
registry sets such that every card is now PSA 9 or higher (no qualifiers)! As best we know it is the first time a set has been achieved where every item in the
set is PSA 9 or better.
These sets will never be the #1 on the registry for their kind, as I did not focus on chasing the PSA 10s. There will always be several sets higher (the current
#1 is at 9.41), but some of the low pop cards are so scarce there wont be many that will be truly "complete" at PSA 9 level. About 6 years ago I started
hunting down the low pop 9s, only worrying about 10s when one fell in my lap or a unique one came up that was of special interest to me (e.g. #394 Gil Hodges).
Enough of the toughies came available during the 2009-2011 period, otherwise I doubt I ever could have made it in current times.
And I was also fortunate enough to snag a PSA 9 1970 wax pack to make sure that everything matched.
Only a minor glitch left, as my Billy Champion (#149, flip 16564727 PSA 9) is currently showing as registered in someone elses set. That blemish will be handled by the end of the week.
So now I need to find a new #1 project (I have several other registry sets in progress, so probably one of them will be next to finish off). But I won't be changing
my CU username. That is a permanent fixture, as 1970 will always be the first year I think of when it comes to my Topps cards.
I wish all of you the experience of reaching one of your major collecting milestones and feeling the sense of completing a difficult task that I am having right now!
Cheers
Dave
Dave
0
Comments
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stupid print dots
Doug
Liquidating my collection for the 3rd and final time. Time for others to enjoy what I have enjoyed over the last several decades. Money could be put to better use.
Jmaciu's Collection
http://www.unisquare.com/store/brick/
Ralph
Jeremy
Instagram: mattyc_collection
Thanks,
David (LD_Ferg)
1985 Topps Football (starting in psa 8) - #9 - started 05/21/06
I can't imagine putting together a 720 card set... forget in PSA 9 or better, and I suspect all of those are strong 9's too knowing how selective you are.
Do you have them all scanned in on the registry?
So what's the next project... what are the other sets you've been working on?
Congrats again!
Snorto~
For those of you who dont know me, my ties to New York baseball exist due to my father. He was the team physician for the Brooklyn
Dodgers in their last years in NY and their first years in CA. Although I am just a bit younger than those days, despite his departure
from the Dodgers he maintained very close ties to NL baseball in NY.
A good deal of my youth was spent at Shea stadium, and in ways that were much more than simply going to games. There were many trips to
the Mets clubhouse, on the field pre-game, etc. which could never occur in present day. There were one-on-one interactions with my heroes (the
Miracle Mets of 1969). There was Bud Harrelson teaching me how to take grounders at short, getting to shag balls when they took batting practice,
meeting some ATG opponents when there were rainouts, etc.
But the one who stood above them all in my eyes wasnt even a player! The man whom I was most enamored over was the manager, Gil Hodges. He was my
dad's friend, and by extension a very special friend to me. As a 5 year old when I got down to the clubhouse he was the guy who would pick me up, give me
a giant bear hug, take the cap off his head and put it on mine and then take me out to the field to "help" him oversee pregame activities. He was the nicest, most genuine person. It was almost like he was family. A few years later when he died I was devastated. It was like losing my grandfather and worse.
Anyway, Gil's 1970 card is a tremendously difficult "9", and I never imagined that I would ever see it in a "10". Lo and behold, one day I was trolling eBay
and this one comes up as newly listed with a BIN or BO (it had been there less than 10 minutes). It was listed for a ridiculous price, but given my personal
history with Gil there was no way I was going to let this one get away. I submitted a BO, got a counteroffer and accepted it. No way was I going to chance that someone else would beat me to this card (yes, its a 1-of-1).
So for me, this will always be at the very top of my list of favorites. In honor of my friend, who was a great player and a down-to-earth nice person who always treated everyone with respect and kindness. Whether he ever makes it into the HOF at this point I don't know (he certainly deserved it based on his career), but no matter what he was a first-ballot electee to HOF of "humanity".
Dave
Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
Congrats
<< <i>As a 40 year Mets fan, your post has me misty-eyed. Your anecdote really underscores what motivates collectors to pay big bucks for a little piece of cardboard. >>
I would have ended up paying the full listing price anyway if the BO/counter-offer had not worked out. That's how much the man meant to me at that stage of my life (and the example he set has stayed with me 45+ years later).
Dave
Congrats on an amazing achievement!!!
Jim
Bosox1976
Great story about Gil Hodges as well.
Awesome card, and a great story about Mr. Hodges. What a way to start my day.
Jeremy
Anyone that has met Dave knows his enthusiasm for the 1970 Topps Baseball set. I can still recall seeing some of his favorites at last year's National. And I've read only great things from guys who played with and for Gil so your description of your interactions with him reinforce those stories. Looking forward to catching up with you at the end of July. It will be here before we know it.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep."
"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans."
Collecting:
Any unopened Baseball cello and rack packs and boxes from the 1970's and early 1980s.
Matt
I collect: 80’s Rookies and 86 Fleer Basketball
Current obsession, all things Topps 1969 - 1972
Tremendous accomplishment !!
Mark
T206 Set - 300/524
5+ months in, this receives my TOTY vote!
you'll never be able to outrun a bad diet
Bowman Baseball -1948-1955
Fleer Baseball-1923, 1959-2007
Al
Thanks for sharing Dave, awesome finish. The Dude.
so I won't repost those here:
This one is kinda obvious. I was 6 years old in 1969 when the Miracle Mets won it all, and we were there in the upper deck
of Shea about two seats from the edge of the end of the seats in left field (and a few rows from the top) for game 5. There
was just no words to explain the euphoria that a child experiences in a situation like that. Not only was it "my team" and my heroes,
but these were people who I actually knew. It was unreal!
After the game it took a long time to finally get down to the field. We walked out on it along with what seemed to be everyone else
who was at the game. No one left for quite a while. 45-k-50k complete strangers going completely wild and crazy in celebration.
These next two not because of who they are, but because of who they came from. Mark (TheDudeAbides) reached out to me in a PM
when he figured out that we were similarly obsessed with building the 1970 set in PSA 9. He was way ahead of me at that point, but
he had a few extra PSA 9s that I needed. Since that initial exchange he has become a kind of collecting "soul mate" and trusted friend.
We've helped each other find cards we each need, and tried to share anything that the other might find helpful. It was one of the
highlights of National 2013 getting to actually meet each other in person.
So here are my pair from my CU forum friend Mark:
This was the first major 1970 star I got in PSA 9. I got it long before I completed the PSA 8 version of the registry set. It was probably one of my
major inspirations in driving me forward to upgrade the set from PSA 8 to PSA 9.
These next two were my greatest "projects" in building this set. These are each the 4th PSA 9 I owned before I finally found ones that I was
truely satisfied with. Have never submitted them for review, but have been considering it as I was uncompromising on the centering and quality
of both sides more than any other cards in the set (and I am usually pretty compulsive and picky about centering to begin with, so these received
unparalleled scrutiny).
This next one is the one card that I just had to have when I first became aware of baseball cards in 1970. The one I had from childhood
actually survived and was submitted for grading and received a PSA 8. But this upgrade just blew it away.
This was the "star" card I remember flipping and winning from the kids in the neighborhood (I still have that card, which shows plenty of the
signs of the treatment received before I got it when my Auerlio Rodriguez bounced off the wall and came face up to win the stack (because
my opponents previous "last" flips had landed face down). YES!!!!!
This one was a special favorite when I was a kid. My cousin lived in Ohio and was a huge Reds fan. We had a tremendous rivalry (Mets fan versus Reds
fan). I used to tease him mercilessly that the manager of his team couldn't even find a RED hat to wear! LOL. When he came to visit, guess who's card
was prominently displayed in multiples in my bike spokes (several copies in each tire, along with several other series 1-4 Reds)! Sorry Mark (cincyredlegs):
These next 3 were the ones that were toughest to find (and probably what have prevented most of the other high entrants on the registry from getting
to complete 9s and higher):
And this one was the one I was most patient in waiting for a nice one. All of the copies I saw until this one had a black print spot in the blue background
next to the right of Scott Reid's cap. These have been listed on eBay all the time but that print spot jumped out at me and I couldn't stand it so I waited,
and waited, and waited (almost 3 years) before pulling the trigger on this one.
These next two are probably my favorite stars in terms of their incredible quality which I didn't have to keep upgrading with better and better 9s. They were
first (and last) 9 I ever wanted for these cards
And lastly (for now) my all-time favorite Met player (he was a very close 2nd to Gil as my favorite Met of all). Bud Harrelson was my childhood idol. I
was a shortstop because it was Bud's position. Every time I went to Shea he always found time to throw with me and see if I was practicing everything
he had shown me. But it didn't end back in the 1970s. In 2009 I was working a project in NYC (where many in my family still live) and my dad and my brother
arranged for all of us to go to a 40th anniversary event at the Cradle of Aviation Museum where Bud Harrelson, Ed Kranepool, Ron Swoboda, and Ed Charles
talked about the season for an hour with a moderator, then took questions and finally had a meet-and-greet at the end. During the meet-and-greet my dad and I went over to Bud (who I had not seen since about 1975 when I was 12). Little did I know what my father had in store for me.
As we got over to Bud, he turned and he immediately knew that he knew my dad from somewhere. He asked and my dad told him who he was. The second he
heard the name he immediately looked at me and gave me a huge bear hug (I was 46 years old now) and said, "This is David!" It was like I was going back in a time machine. We had an amazing time catching up for a few minutes. I wish it could have been longer, but there were so many people who wanted a chance to
speak to the players that we couldn't monopolize his time. I will always treasure that reunion (and yes, if I ever see a PSA 10 1970 Harrelson available I will be on it!).
So that's it for now. I have one more very special card from 1970 and a story that goes with it but I'll save that for another thread in the future.
Hope everyone enjoys the cards and the background info about my 6 year journey to completing this set as much as I enjoyed putting it all together.
Dave
"Molon Labe"
So no surprise that I really appreciated the background, Dave, especially in light of your relationship with the Mets organization.
It's going to be hard for you to top this project.
Snorto~
Congrats on completing this set. An absolutely monumental collecting accomplishment. As others have already said, thank you for sharing the cards and the backstory behind the cards. This thread is a true example of this hobby at its finest.
aconte