slum22's 1961 Fleer Basketball Set (Officially complete PSA 7 or better! Updated 7/7/15) Scans of fu
slum22
Posts: 2,594 ✭✭✭✭
It's funny how you remember things (or forget). I first started collecting this set in February of 2012. I had just gotten back into the hobby by submitting 20 1986 Fleer cards (I had bought back when I was collecting years ago) to BGS using a voucher I had been given for subscribing to Beckett Sports Card monthly. I did well on that submission and liked the idea of submitting cards to be graded. For the first time in about 20 years I decided to buy something outside of 1986 Fleer basketball and decided to start collecting 1961 Fleer. My hopes was to get this set in a grade of Near Mint 7. I started this set in early 2012 by buying raw cards from ebay from seller: Battlefield (the scans in the listings looked so great and every item was described in the title as "outstanding" or "sharp". Getting this set graded would be easy with sellers of fine raw cards like this on eBay I thought to myself. Of course, I ended up returning a third of the order when I received them because the cards mysteriously arrived in worse shape than they appeared in the listing. Maybe this would be harder than I thought after all.
I was about to quit my job and start a new business, so I took a break from collecting for about 7 months. I kept buying raw card lots for my first few purchases to varying degrees of success. Several of these cards would actually end up going to PSA later and would get graded (my eye wasn't too bad as the range of grades I received for these early card purchases was between 6 and 8). The problem was several of the cards I purchased also were smaller than the other cards (my introduction to trimming). My first graded card purchase for this set was a Cliff Hagan PSA 7 (I would later upgrade it to the 8 seen below). I bought it in September 2012 right before I officially opened the doors to my business. Around the same time, I joined the Beckett message boards in hopes of learning more about this set and the hobby in general. The guys on that board were very nice but they mainly talked about modern cards (the vintage collectors on there talked about 1986 Fleer). That is when I started coming onto the CU forum. While there aren't a lot of threads about vintage basketball cards on here, the discussions of the hobby and older cards in general helped my understanding greatly. I read for months quietly on here before my first post in January 2013! With my business growing, I began to have less time to search eBay for raw cards and decided to start purchasing more PSA graded cards (I had figured out by now by that for this set PSA would be a better choice of TPG to collect than BVG). Oh, what a slippery slope!
Early on I bought any card that was a good deal that was graded PSA 7. I didn't pay attention to centering or eye appeal or anything like that. I was just collecting labels at the time. After some time on here, I learned by reading threads how to be more selective when buying cards within a grade and the difference between low, mid and high end cards within a grade. Fast forward to today and my most recent purchase is below, the Bill Russell PSA 7, which was an upgrade on the one I had previously in the set (this one has better L/R centering and much better T/B centering than my previous 7). I have countless members of this board to thank, many of whom I have bought, traded and sold cards from this set. And countless others whom I have had the pleasure to become friends with online here via PM. It is great having people who share the passion for this hobby we all care about so much (maybe too much at times). I read countless more threads than I post on and I thank (most) everyone for their shared insights and humor.
It has been slow going the last few months on this set as I am 6 cards away from completion in my goal of 7 or higher. The cards I am missing have not been popping up on eBay in the eye appeal/value ratio I seek so I am learning patience. Below is my update in pictures on where I am in the set. The missing cards are left blank in the slots they should be in.
**UPDATE ON 2/18/15**
The last two cards I need for completion are #13 David Gambee and Sam Jones #23. I also would like to upgrade the two cards I have now in PSA 6: Jerry West IA #66 and Bob Boozer #6. If anyone has any leads on some nice 7's please PM me. Hopefully they are filled in 2015!
**UPDATE ON 4/01/15**
Just got the last card in the mail the other day. Sam Jones RC PSA 8 fills in the last gap in the set. Very happy to have the set completed. There is still work to be done though as I still want to upgrade my two PSA 6 cards to PSA 7 or higher. Thanks to everyone who has followed along!
**UPDATE ON 4/24/15**
I completed the checklist on my last purchase with the Sam Jones. I snagged one of the two cards I need to upgrade my set to full PSA 7 or better status with the Bob Boozer shown below. I just need to upgrade the West IA card to a 7 or better now.
**UPDATE ON 7/7/15**
I officially finished my set in PSA 7 or better with an upgrade on the last card in the set Jerry West IA. I waited a while for this one waiting for just the right one to pop at the right price. I was able to score this one for a high but fair price from an eBay seller through an off eBay deal. Very happy with the finishing touch on this set!
As always, if you have read this far into the thread, I appreciate your patience with my verbosity. Onto the scans!
I was about to quit my job and start a new business, so I took a break from collecting for about 7 months. I kept buying raw card lots for my first few purchases to varying degrees of success. Several of these cards would actually end up going to PSA later and would get graded (my eye wasn't too bad as the range of grades I received for these early card purchases was between 6 and 8). The problem was several of the cards I purchased also were smaller than the other cards (my introduction to trimming). My first graded card purchase for this set was a Cliff Hagan PSA 7 (I would later upgrade it to the 8 seen below). I bought it in September 2012 right before I officially opened the doors to my business. Around the same time, I joined the Beckett message boards in hopes of learning more about this set and the hobby in general. The guys on that board were very nice but they mainly talked about modern cards (the vintage collectors on there talked about 1986 Fleer). That is when I started coming onto the CU forum. While there aren't a lot of threads about vintage basketball cards on here, the discussions of the hobby and older cards in general helped my understanding greatly. I read for months quietly on here before my first post in January 2013! With my business growing, I began to have less time to search eBay for raw cards and decided to start purchasing more PSA graded cards (I had figured out by now by that for this set PSA would be a better choice of TPG to collect than BVG). Oh, what a slippery slope!
Early on I bought any card that was a good deal that was graded PSA 7. I didn't pay attention to centering or eye appeal or anything like that. I was just collecting labels at the time. After some time on here, I learned by reading threads how to be more selective when buying cards within a grade and the difference between low, mid and high end cards within a grade. Fast forward to today and my most recent purchase is below, the Bill Russell PSA 7, which was an upgrade on the one I had previously in the set (this one has better L/R centering and much better T/B centering than my previous 7). I have countless members of this board to thank, many of whom I have bought, traded and sold cards from this set. And countless others whom I have had the pleasure to become friends with online here via PM. It is great having people who share the passion for this hobby we all care about so much (maybe too much at times). I read countless more threads than I post on and I thank (most) everyone for their shared insights and humor.
It has been slow going the last few months on this set as I am 6 cards away from completion in my goal of 7 or higher. The cards I am missing have not been popping up on eBay in the eye appeal/value ratio I seek so I am learning patience. Below is my update in pictures on where I am in the set. The missing cards are left blank in the slots they should be in.
**UPDATE ON 2/18/15**
The last two cards I need for completion are #13 David Gambee and Sam Jones #23. I also would like to upgrade the two cards I have now in PSA 6: Jerry West IA #66 and Bob Boozer #6. If anyone has any leads on some nice 7's please PM me. Hopefully they are filled in 2015!
**UPDATE ON 4/01/15**
Just got the last card in the mail the other day. Sam Jones RC PSA 8 fills in the last gap in the set. Very happy to have the set completed. There is still work to be done though as I still want to upgrade my two PSA 6 cards to PSA 7 or higher. Thanks to everyone who has followed along!
**UPDATE ON 4/24/15**
I completed the checklist on my last purchase with the Sam Jones. I snagged one of the two cards I need to upgrade my set to full PSA 7 or better status with the Bob Boozer shown below. I just need to upgrade the West IA card to a 7 or better now.
**UPDATE ON 7/7/15**
I officially finished my set in PSA 7 or better with an upgrade on the last card in the set Jerry West IA. I waited a while for this one waiting for just the right one to pop at the right price. I was able to score this one for a high but fair price from an eBay seller through an off eBay deal. Very happy with the finishing touch on this set!
As always, if you have read this far into the thread, I appreciate your patience with my verbosity. Onto the scans!
Steve
0
Comments
You have a fantastic looking, strong set of cards there and this was a good read. Thank you. Love the Chamberlain, especially.
Agree about this forum. I think the CU boards are, by far, the best on the net.
<< <i>I think the CU boards are, by far, the best on the net. >>
Agreed! Great set Steve! May you find high end 7's of the cards you need at low end 6 prices
For Sale
Best of luck with the final pieces!
Jim
i'd also speculate that Gene Shue fathered the Property Brothers.
Jmaciu's Collection
Thanks,
David (LD_Ferg)
1985 Topps Football (starting in psa 8) - #9 - started 05/21/06
I can relate to your plight as I am currently working on the 61 set too (although i'm much less further along than you are and only am about 15 cards in) and three other psa graded basketball sets (as well as about three other non-basketball sets) in psa 7 and 8: 69-70, 70-71 and 72-73. As of the end of october I was also working on a fourth set, the 57 set in psa 6 and 7 and was down to only one card for completion when I decided to expedite the process and buy a complete almost all 7 set (69 7's, five 6's, three 8's and three 7.5's). At the time I did the deal I wasnt sure I wanted to shell out a large sum of money for a second set (especially since I was already only one card from completing the set in psa 6's and 7's!) although this second set was a great opportunity to pretty much upgrade more than 75% of the cards in my original set which consists of about 50 6's, 25 7's, three 6.5's and one 8. Even though I am primarily a collector and what you might call a reluctant seller (on the rare occasion when I do sell something) I will likely consign or sell my original set somewhere down the road--although its technically not a "set" yet as I still need one more card (and its not the russell but rather #79, ed fleming, which is a super tough common even in psa 6!!)
Best of luck in picking up those last five quickly (I have the sam jones and would sell it to you but then I would only have 14 cards)
Fantastic set, Steve. Really amazing.
Dodgers collection scans | Brett Butler registry | 1978 Dodgers - straight 9s, homie
Dawongz--I am honored your first post was on this thread! Congrats on starting this set. I believe I recently sold you my extra John McCarthy PSA 7 on eBay. Small world. Good luck with this set. I haven't looked at my ranking recently (28) apparently if I get the remaining 6 cards I need in PSA 7 then I would end up at #20 (assuming no one else upgraded to a higher ranking).
Jeff--I definitely agree that quality control is all over the place with this set. Perhaps some of my cards are naturally short as opposed to trimmed. Either way they won't find their way into holders
Mikelowell25--best of luck with your sets. The 57 Topps set is an absolute beast especially with centering. Maybe I can trade you cards you need for your Sam Jones Great to see another basketball collector. Maybe soon we will get as many hoops threads as wrestling threads on the first page here! Not a dig at wrestling collectors btw, while I don't collect the cards I did watch in the 80's and even have some of the 80's Topps wrestling cards somewhere in my parents house. Amazing the passion some of the wrestling guys have on here.
I hope other people feel free to throw up scans of their set progress on this thread.
Terrific set, Steve. I'm not at all a basketball guy, but even I greatly appreciate 1961 Fleer. But I also know she's a cruel mistress... so tempting and attainable, luring you in before you realize what a tough set it is.
Best of luck to you in finishing out a beautiful collector grade classic set... but I know a lot of the enjoyment is in the hunt!
All the best to you, and yours, this holiday season.
Snorto~
<< <i>I wonder who Gene Shue pissed off. Everyone else's action shot has them doing something well. Gene is immortalized "losing the ball". >>
Jmaciu's Collection
I was wondering who got the #1 card from BBCE, I paid a whole lot more for my Attles. That was a good buy on your part. Here's my latest acquisitions... 4 down and 8 to go. Glad I could fill the holes but not entirely happy with the centering on the cards and can see upgrading them in the future. That's what I get for not having any patience and not waiting for the right card. That's why this hobby is so expensive for me. I end up with a lot of doubles. Good luck with your set.
When u c any 61 fleer that has nice centering awesome !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
1948-76 Topps FB Sets
FB & BB HOF Player sets
1948-1993 NY Yankee Team Sets
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
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stupid print dots
Jmaciu's Collection
LarkinCollector and JBrules--Thanks, it is bittersweet getting to the end. Once this is done I guess my next focus will be completing my 1986 Fleer set that I think I have started, stopped and started over 10 times.
Mike-Great to have you back on the boards!
BTW--I realized my newest addition was pictured in my post but not in the original post of the thread along with the rest of the set. I goofed up something on Photobucket. It is now with the rest of the set and the only hole left is a Sam Jones sized one.
Here is the card that completed the set. I have been watching this card for months and didn't really want to pay for it in an 8. But I rationalized it as being a sound decision to splurge and buy in an 8 because: 1) Sam Jones is a HOF, Top 50 NBA player and this is his RC, 2) Factoring in the 10% eBay bucks promo, I got it for VCP average and I think this is a pretty good 8 and 3) I just wanted to finish the darn set
The complete scan of the complete set can be seen on the first/original post. Thanks for looking.
It is fair to say I will never finish a registry set this size. The only one I'm working on is the Yaz master and I'll never finish that.
Congrats again!
For Sale
I would like to thank Steve for this post as I started to collect this set also. I've been at it for a couple of months now and having a blast. Steve has been so kind to help me along and answer all my questions, send cards my way, message me when a card I'm looking for comes available. He also helps determining good value or not. He has also become a good collecting friend and we talk regularly. Thanks Steve and congratulations on a well built set!
Tim
My new website www.lowgradegems.com
Tim
I offer a well deserved congrats.
Very tough set and ur is top notch !!!!!!!!!!
1948-76 Topps FB Sets
FB & BB HOF Player sets
1948-1993 NY Yankee Team Sets
collecting RAW Topps baseball cards 1952 Highs to 1972. looking for collector grade (somewhere between psa 4-7 condition). let me know what you have, I'll take it, I want to finish sets, I must have something you can use for trade.
looking for Topps 71-72 hi's-62-53-54-55-59, I have these sets started
Jmaciu's Collection