Well that was a great rip for these always difficult 1986 Topps Traded sets. I managed to find a whopping 14 candidates for PSA 10. First, here are the piles that are case fresh but below perfection...
I was more than happy to find these 14 contenders for GEM MINT. Here are the first 13 of them...
@NJ80sBBC said:
Love the 86TT set. Just epic. Will the centering on that razor sharp Bonds qualify for 10?
It isn’t my typical standard of dead 50/50, but it falls within the 55/45 requirements for a PSA 10. I am going to sub it, since it is the key card in the set. Hoping to find a dead perfect one as I continue my rips. Thanks for the comments along the way!
Hard to believe that one week from now marks the 2 year anniversary of when I started this journey. It has been an absolute blast ripping box after box, while reliving so many childhood memories. I especially appreciate when members have shared their memories in this thread. I can always relate to the excitement, “what if’s,” and iconic moments that all have described here. Makes this forum so much fun to share in.
I have intentionally been ripping a ton of stuff from 1986-1989 over the past 6 months to try and build these sets and clear out some space at the same time. Since this is an anniversary week for this thread, I thought I would dig into the archives for more breaks from 1981-1985. Here goes a wax box of 1983 Fleer to get things started...
I vividly remember the first time I saw this set. I was at my best friends house for a sleepover. We had our binders and boxes all set out for a weekend of trading. My dream card at the time was a 1984 Topps Darryl Strawberry RC, but once I saw that he had the Wade Boggs RC from this set I knew I had to have it. We went back-and-forth over the items in my collection that he wanted for it. In the end, I gave up my 1987 Donruss Mark McGwire RR + 1987 Topps Bo Jackson RC in order to land that gorgeous 1983 Fleer Wade Boggs RC.
Such a classic year with the big three RCs in this Fleer set. The good news was that I managed to pull all three. The bad news was that the majority of cards had a small notch on the edge where the card/pack loader got a bit aggressive that fateful day of packaging back in 1983. Here are all the pack fresh stars and rookies that continue to pile up from my breaks...
Here were the big three from this rip...
In the end, I only managed to find 3 candidates for PSA 10 in this box...
When it comes to condition, that was one epic box! The design on 1984 Fleer is so simple and yet so visually appealing. They really knocked it out of the park. Take a minute to zoom in on the Trammell from this set. Such a great looking shot of the HOFer! First, here are the stars and rookies that continue to pile up in pack fresh condition, but miss the mark of perfection...
I also love pulling Strawberry RCs...never gets old for me regardless of the condition. No Mattingly this round, but you cannot win them all.
I was thrilled to land a whopping 38 dead centered candidates for PSA 10 perfection. This group was highlighted by Gwynn, Ryan and a VanSlyke RC...
Thanks to those who continue to follow this thread and comment along the way!
Whenever I pull more than like 5 gems from a box, I spend about a half hour second guessing myself thinking that I somehow became too lax with my grading criteria. Sweet pulls on that box of 84.
What an awesome box! 84F and then 87F are my favorites. The 84 was a monster when I really got into collecting in 87. I never saw it in unopened until 24y later when I got back Into collecting.
Thanks for sharing
John
Conundrum - Loving my unopened baseball card collection....but really like ripping too
I'm not a huge 84 Fleer fan but that photo of the (not sure who it is) Cardinal on the end of your third row, on the right, is an epic photo. Would have been at home in a mid-60's Topps card.
kevin
Thanks guys...that was not the typical box, but a blast to find so many candidates!
@bensie said:
Whenever I pull more than like 5 gems from a box, I spend about a half hour second guessing myself thinking that I somehow became too lax with my grading criteria. Sweet pulls on that box of 84.
Yeah, I am with you. I always go back the next day for a second look to make sure i wasn’t letting the bourbon pick the gems 🥃🙃
@NJ80sBBC said:
What an awesome box! 84F and then 87F are my favorites. The 84 was a monster when I really got into collecting in 87. I never saw it in unopened until 24y later when I got back Into collecting.
Thanks for sharing
John
I feel like we just might be brothers from another mother, John. Those are my two favorite Fleer designs from the 1980s too. I was always dreaming of finding 1984 Fleer unopened so I could pull a Straw RC or that amazing Mattingly RC with the sea of blue tones to it. I had to settle for 1987 Fleer and hunting for Bo and Ruben RCs, since those were the only packs I could ever find.
I’m going to stay on the Fleer train and rip a box of 1988 next. Then my plan is to do a box of 1982 and 1983 Topps this weekend. Hopefully we can find some clean looking cards as I mark the 2 year anniversary of this journey...
That was a good start to the weekend. Lots of fresh and new candidates in that box. First, here are the stars and rookies that keep building from my breaks...
Pulled the 3 key RCs, but none are worthy of a 10...
I managed to find these 19 contenders for PSA 10, headlined by two McGwire cards...
That was certainly not the greatest box, but salvageable in the end. Unfortunately there was no Ripken RC to be found this time. However, there was some star power in the candidates for PSA 10. Here are the stars and rookies that didn’t make the cut and continue to pile up from my breaks...
There were 8 contenders for PSA 10 in this box. A sweet Pete Rose and a nice Brett TL were the cards that made this break hunt...
Wow haven't checked this thread in awhile! Awesome stuff!
Love the 83 F! That will be our next break.
We did 84F recently, and what a fun set. The double cards, the Hubbard snake card, Roy Lee Jackson singing the Nat'l Anthem!! We missed the Mattingly also, but it's still a killer set to go through!
Up next is a 1983 Topps vending box. A great year with the big three RCs, topped with an amazing dual front photo design. One of my favorite sets from the 1980s...
Well that was a nice cap on the 2 year anniversary eve of this thread. That box contained a massive 25 candidates for PSA 10 and I will let you guys chime in on the likelihood of the 26th. First, here are the piles of stars and rookies that continue to build...
I pulled these two razor sharp RCs with perfect registration. I just wish the centering gods were with these two, but alas they are destined to land at a PSA 8 I am guessing.
Maybe Mr. Peanut can tell me if any of these 25 contenders for PSA 10 are a challenge to hit...
And then I took a moment when I saw this beauty. This card has razor sharp edges and corners. The color jumps out with perfect registration and no print flaws. I think the centering keeps it at a MINT 9, but you guys tell me what you think? I love this iconic 1980’s RC. Such a sweet pull...
@ahopkins said:
83 Topps is tough, no doubt. That Boggs, unfortunately, is a 9, Chris. Stay the course. Stay the hunt!
Yep...fully agree the Boggs is a very nice PSA 9. Wish the centering was dead on, but alas it is the lone flaw with the card. Thanks for the thoughts gang.
Hard to believe I started this journey 2 years ago today. I want to say thank you to those who have shared in the 59,000+ views and 1800+ comments along the way! I have been blessed to open pack after pack, box after box, reliving my childhood and looking for cardboard perfection. Some have asked me to share the stats with this group at the 2 year mark. The number next to the set is the count of contenders I have pulled. The number in parenthesis is the “% hit rate” out of the quantity I have opened.
1986 Donruss “The Rookies” = n/a
1987 Donruss “The Rookies” = 7 (2.5%)
1988 Donruss “The Rookies” = n/a
1989 Donruss “The Rookies” = 8 (2.5%)
As you all know, I am really picky about anything I call a contender. I try to only set aside stone cold PSA 10s. Aside from a few lucky boxes, the ratio of GEM MINT pack fresh cards remains roughly 2% for the years 1981-1985 and then as production ramped up from 1986-1989 it fell to about 1% of pack pulled cards. Fleer clearly had the highest quality cards out of the pack.
I still have a long way to go to finish these sets, but fortunately I still have mounds of unopened to break. Thanks to those who continue to follow this thread and comment along the way. I love the 1980s!
Kudos to you for still breaking the 83 Topps. I bet you're tempted to hold some of those back.
I'm guessing you're still on your initial case of 83 Topps vending? This looks like a special case judging by this rip and recalling your previous ones. Looks like some real clean cards. I didn't see any particularly tough pulls from your latest rip. Maybe a couple on the edge of what I'd call tough in the Aase and Paciorek.
You continue making this thread a fun, exciting follow. Continued good luck.
"I think the guy must be practicing voodoo or something. Check out his eyes. Rico's crazier than a peach orchard sow." -- Whitey Herzog, Spring Training 1973
1987 - 1989 Topps and Donruss are just brutal. Of course I ripped more of that stuff than anything else as a kid. Anything that came out of a pack back then just had to be crease free and generally sharp corners for my gem mint standard.
John
Conundrum - Loving my unopened baseball card collection....but really like ripping too
@mrpeanut39 said:
That 82 Fleer % is crazy. How many boxes is that?
Kudos to you for still breaking the 83 Topps. I bet you're tempted to hold some of those back.
You continue making this thread a fun, exciting follow. Continued good luck.
Thanks for following along and for letting me know which 83s are the more challenging ones. Yeah, the % hits for 1982 Fleer were crazy...that was out of only one wax box. Hope I have more like that in my future, since the Ripken RC was one of the 75 candidates!
@NJ80sBBC said:
1987 - 1989 Topps and Donruss are just brutal. Of course I ripped more of that stuff than anything else as a kid. Anything that came out of a pack back then just had to be crease free and generally sharp corners for my gem mint standard.
I love that you show the piles of stars. Brings me right back to 88. Me and a few friends raced to the Card shop to be the first kids to get them. Couldn’t wait to pull Future Stars and Cuppies as we called them. Back then I couldn’t wait to see the Seitzer Card given that he was huge in 87F.
John
Conundrum - Loving my unopened baseball card collection....but really like ripping too
@NJ80sBBC said:
Always liked Gary Carter. But why would the Marketing team over at the Fleer Corp choose him to be the 1989 ambassador of their flagship product?
Good question John. The Mets were 3 years removed from winning the World Series and Gary hadn’t reached any key milestones in 1988 that I am aware of. Maybe the movie Major Leagues reminded them of a journeyman catcher who was the General of the team and deserved some hobby love.
I would have killed to have stacks of these cards as a kid. I would have bet anything that I would be rich 32 years later after Ellis Burks and Matt Nokes were in the HOF. Oh well...best laid intentions. Here are the piles...
Neither of these key RCs made the cut...
Here are the 5 candidates for PSA 10 out of this round...
I hadn’t realized until I updated the numbers at the 2 year mark just how few 1987 Topps PSA 10 candidates I have pulled. At only a 0.4% hit rate, it is one of the lowest ratios in the 1980s. Makes sense given Topps was printing these as quickly as possible. So my crazy mission for the week...rip an entire vending case to see if I can make some progress. I will spare you all the box by box details, since it is 1987 Topps after all. I will update on the contenders once I get through this bad boy., assuming I can still see straight...
@jordangretzkyfan said:
So my crazy mission for the week...rip an entire vending case to see if I can make some progress. I will spare you all the box by box details, since it is 1987 Topps after all. I will update on the contenders once I get through this bad boy., assuming I can still see straight...
I love87T as much as the next collector who grew up in this era, but a vending case in a week sounds like a bit much for anyone to take. Be careful, don’t want to slow down your other rips due to fatigue.
Conundrum - Loving my unopened baseball card collection....but really like ripping too
I took that beast head on, and the beast won. Ripping an entire 1987 Topps vending case in the span of 5 days is not for the faint of heart! Don’t get me wrong, I love these wood bordered beauties. However, the centering on this set is among the worst of the cards issued in the 1980s. I’m pretty sure that Topps intentionally miscut the top/bottom centering on 95% of the cards. These things are simply never centered! Add all the print defects to it and this turned out to be a futile attempt to find cardboard perfection. Before I share the stats, here are the piles that missed the mark...
Add to that all the gorgeous RCs from this set that were less than perfect, but always fun to pull...
And now for the numbers. Recall that to date my hit rate for PSA 10 candidates from this set was at an abysmal 0.4%. This case contained 12,000 untouched factory fresh cards. I am very picky, but consider that only 20 candidates for PSA 10 emerged from this entire case. Yep, that is a hit rate of 0.16%. That means that you get 1.6 contenders out of every 1000 factory fresh cards. Conclusion...this set is going to be a beast to complete in perfection. The good news was the mix of stars and rookies that were in these 20 gems...
Comments
Well that was a great rip for these always difficult 1986 Topps Traded sets. I managed to find a whopping 14 candidates for PSA 10. First, here are the piles that are case fresh but below perfection...
I was more than happy to find these 14 contenders for GEM MINT. Here are the first 13 of them...
And then #14...
Love the 86TT set. Just epic. Will the centering on that razor sharp Bonds qualify for 10?
It isn’t my typical standard of dead 50/50, but it falls within the 55/45 requirements for a PSA 10. I am going to sub it, since it is the key card in the set. Hoping to find a dead perfect one as I continue my rips. Thanks for the comments along the way!
Hard to believe that one week from now marks the 2 year anniversary of when I started this journey. It has been an absolute blast ripping box after box, while reliving so many childhood memories. I especially appreciate when members have shared their memories in this thread. I can always relate to the excitement, “what if’s,” and iconic moments that all have described here. Makes this forum so much fun to share in.
I have intentionally been ripping a ton of stuff from 1986-1989 over the past 6 months to try and build these sets and clear out some space at the same time. Since this is an anniversary week for this thread, I thought I would dig into the archives for more breaks from 1981-1985. Here goes a wax box of 1983 Fleer to get things started...
I vividly remember the first time I saw this set. I was at my best friends house for a sleepover. We had our binders and boxes all set out for a weekend of trading. My dream card at the time was a 1984 Topps Darryl Strawberry RC, but once I saw that he had the Wade Boggs RC from this set I knew I had to have it. We went back-and-forth over the items in my collection that he wanted for it. In the end, I gave up my 1987 Donruss Mark McGwire RR + 1987 Topps Bo Jackson RC in order to land that gorgeous 1983 Fleer Wade Boggs RC.
Such a classic year with the big three RCs in this Fleer set. The good news was that I managed to pull all three. The bad news was that the majority of cards had a small notch on the edge where the card/pack loader got a bit aggressive that fateful day of packaging back in 1983. Here are all the pack fresh stars and rookies that continue to pile up from my breaks...
Here were the big three from this rip...
In the end, I only managed to find 3 candidates for PSA 10 in this box...
83F could have been so much better with a white border.
Speaking of a great design with white borders...how about a box of 1984 Fleer next?!?!
Andy
When it comes to condition, that was one epic box! The design on 1984 Fleer is so simple and yet so visually appealing. They really knocked it out of the park. Take a minute to zoom in on the Trammell from this set. Such a great looking shot of the HOFer! First, here are the stars and rookies that continue to pile up in pack fresh condition, but miss the mark of perfection...
I also love pulling Strawberry RCs...never gets old for me regardless of the condition. No Mattingly this round, but you cannot win them all.
I was thrilled to land a whopping 38 dead centered candidates for PSA 10 perfection. This group was highlighted by Gwynn, Ryan and a VanSlyke RC...
Thanks to those who continue to follow this thread and comment along the way!
My favorite of the Fleer sets and card designs. 38 gems is awesome!
Andy
Holy cow!
Nice!
Whenever I pull more than like 5 gems from a box, I spend about a half hour second guessing myself thinking that I somehow became too lax with my grading criteria. Sweet pulls on that box of 84.
What an awesome box! 84F and then 87F are my favorites. The 84 was a monster when I really got into collecting in 87. I never saw it in unopened until 24y later when I got back Into collecting.
Thanks for sharing
John
I'm not a huge 84 Fleer fan but that photo of the (not sure who it is) Cardinal on the end of your third row, on the right, is an epic photo. Would have been at home in a mid-60's Topps card.
kevin
Thanks guys...that was not the typical box, but a blast to find so many candidates!
Yeah, I am with you. I always go back the next day for a second look to make sure i wasn’t letting the bourbon pick the gems 🥃🙃
I feel like we just might be brothers from another mother, John. Those are my two favorite Fleer designs from the 1980s too. I was always dreaming of finding 1984 Fleer unopened so I could pull a Straw RC or that amazing Mattingly RC with the sea of blue tones to it. I had to settle for 1987 Fleer and hunting for Bo and Ruben RCs, since those were the only packs I could ever find.
Thanks for all the comments!
I’m going to stay on the Fleer train and rip a box of 1988 next. Then my plan is to do a box of 1982 and 1983 Topps this weekend. Hopefully we can find some clean looking cards as I mark the 2 year anniversary of this journey...
That was a good start to the weekend. Lots of fresh and new candidates in that box. First, here are the stars and rookies that keep building from my breaks...
Pulled the 3 key RCs, but none are worthy of a 10...
I managed to find these 19 contenders for PSA 10, headlined by two McGwire cards...
Here’s the game plan for later today after I get some things done. 1982 Topps vending box...
That was certainly not the greatest box, but salvageable in the end. Unfortunately there was no Ripken RC to be found this time. However, there was some star power in the candidates for PSA 10. Here are the stars and rookies that didn’t make the cut and continue to pile up from my breaks...
There were 8 contenders for PSA 10 in this box. A sweet Pete Rose and a nice Brett TL were the cards that made this break hunt...
Wow haven't checked this thread in awhile! Awesome stuff!
Love the 83 F! That will be our next break.
We did 84F recently, and what a fun set. The double cards, the Hubbard snake card, Roy Lee Jackson singing the Nat'l Anthem!! We missed the Mattingly also, but it's still a killer set to go through!
Jason C.
Wave of Cards on Youtube
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC52it5FXdZvDcbj_Ps7Fyqw
Up next is a 1983 Topps vending box. A great year with the big three RCs, topped with an amazing dual front photo design. One of my favorite sets from the 1980s...
Wow you have entered back into the early part of the decade recently! Love it!
ISO 1978 Topps Baseball in NM-MT High Grade Raw 3, 100, 103, 302, 347, 376, 416, 466, 481, 487, 509, 534, 540, 554, 579, 580, 622, 642, 673, 724__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ISO 1978 O-Pee-Chee in NM-MT High Grade Raw12, 21, 29, 38, 49, 65, 69, 73, 74, 81, 95, 100, 104, 110, 115, 122, 132, 133, 135, 140, 142, 151, 153, 155, 160, 161, 167, 168, 172, 179, 181, 196, 200, 204, 210, 224, 231, 240
Well that was a nice cap on the 2 year anniversary eve of this thread. That box contained a massive 25 candidates for PSA 10 and I will let you guys chime in on the likelihood of the 26th. First, here are the piles of stars and rookies that continue to build...
I pulled these two razor sharp RCs with perfect registration. I just wish the centering gods were with these two, but alas they are destined to land at a PSA 8 I am guessing.
Maybe Mr. Peanut can tell me if any of these 25 contenders for PSA 10 are a challenge to hit...
And then I took a moment when I saw this beauty. This card has razor sharp edges and corners. The color jumps out with perfect registration and no print flaws. I think the centering keeps it at a MINT 9, but you guys tell me what you think? I love this iconic 1980’s RC. Such a sweet pull...
Gwynn and Sandberg have PSA 9 centering IMO. Boggs is strong PSA 9 centering.
Backs?
ISO 1978 Topps Baseball in NM-MT High Grade Raw 3, 100, 103, 302, 347, 376, 416, 466, 481, 487, 509, 534, 540, 554, 579, 580, 622, 642, 673, 724__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ISO 1978 O-Pee-Chee in NM-MT High Grade Raw12, 21, 29, 38, 49, 65, 69, 73, 74, 81, 95, 100, 104, 110, 115, 122, 132, 133, 135, 140, 142, 151, 153, 155, 160, 161, 167, 168, 172, 179, 181, 196, 200, 204, 210, 224, 231, 240
Boggs looks like a 9.
83 Topps is tough, no doubt. That Boggs, unfortunately, is a 9, Chris. Stay the course. Stay the hunt!
Andy
Yep...fully agree the Boggs is a very nice PSA 9. Wish the centering was dead on, but alas it is the lone flaw with the card. Thanks for the thoughts gang.
Hard to believe I started this journey 2 years ago today. I want to say thank you to those who have shared in the 59,000+ views and 1800+ comments along the way! I have been blessed to open pack after pack, box after box, reliving my childhood and looking for cardboard perfection. Some have asked me to share the stats with this group at the 2 year mark. The number next to the set is the count of contenders I have pulled. The number in parenthesis is the “% hit rate” out of the quantity I have opened.
1981 Topps = 46 (2.4%)
1982 Topps = 81 (1.6%)
1983 Topps = 128 (2.5%)
1984 Topps = 143 (1.6%)
1985 Topps = 73 (1.2%)
1986 Topps = 165 (1.0%)
1987 Topps = 46 (0.4%)
1988 Topps = 255 (0.9%)
1989 Topps = 103 (0.4%)
1981 Fleer = 75 (2.9%)
1982 Fleer = 75 (13.9%)
1983 Fleer = 104 (2.3%)
1984 Fleer = 165 (4.7%)
1985 Fleer = 32 (1.5%)
1986 Fleer = 64 (1.7%)
1987 Fleer = 166 (2.3%)
1988 Fleer = 177 (1.8%)
1989 Fleer = 230 (1.1%)
1981 Donruss = 17 (0.4%)
1982 Donruss = 58 (2.1%)
1983 Donruss = 81 (7.5%)
1984 Donruss = 62 (5.7%)
1985 Donruss = 108 (3.3%)
1986 Donruss = 99 (1.8%)
1987 Donruss = 95 (0.7%)
1988 Donruss = 40 (0.6%)
1989 Donruss = 74 (0.4%)
1981 Topps Traded = n/a
1982 Topps Traded = n/a
1983 Topps Traded = 47 (11.9%)
1984 Topps Traded = n/a
1985 Topps Traded = n/a
1986 Topps Traded = 26 (1.8%)
1987 Topps Traded = 9 (0.7%)
1988 Topps Traded = n/a
1989 Topps Traded = 14 (1.7%)
1984 Fleer Update = n/a
1985 Fleer Update = n/a
1986 Fleer Update = 35 (1.8%)
1987 Fleer Update = n/a
1988 Fleer Update = n/a
1989 Fleer Update = n/a
1986 Donruss “The Rookies” = n/a
1987 Donruss “The Rookies” = 7 (2.5%)
1988 Donruss “The Rookies” = n/a
1989 Donruss “The Rookies” = 8 (2.5%)
As you all know, I am really picky about anything I call a contender. I try to only set aside stone cold PSA 10s. Aside from a few lucky boxes, the ratio of GEM MINT pack fresh cards remains roughly 2% for the years 1981-1985 and then as production ramped up from 1986-1989 it fell to about 1% of pack pulled cards. Fleer clearly had the highest quality cards out of the pack.
I still have a long way to go to finish these sets, but fortunately I still have mounds of unopened to break. Thanks to those who continue to follow this thread and comment along the way. I love the 1980s!
That 82 Fleer % is crazy. How many boxes is that?
Kudos to you for still breaking the 83 Topps. I bet you're tempted to hold some of those back.
I'm guessing you're still on your initial case of 83 Topps vending? This looks like a special case judging by this rip and recalling your previous ones. Looks like some real clean cards. I didn't see any particularly tough pulls from your latest rip. Maybe a couple on the edge of what I'd call tough in the Aase and Paciorek.
You continue making this thread a fun, exciting follow. Continued good luck.
1987 - 1989 Topps and Donruss are just brutal. Of course I ripped more of that stuff than anything else as a kid. Anything that came out of a pack back then just had to be crease free and generally sharp corners for my gem mint standard.
John
Thanks for following along and for letting me know which 83s are the more challenging ones. Yeah, the % hits for 1982 Fleer were crazy...that was out of only one wax box. Hope I have more like that in my future, since the Ripken RC was one of the 75 candidates!
Amen!
Time to get back to finishing up this case of 1988 Topps...
That was a miss on quantity of PSA 10 candidates, but quality is what matters. Here are the piles that keep building...
Only two contenders, but not complaining since one is a Glavine RC...
I love that you show the piles of stars. Brings me right back to 88. Me and a few friends raced to the Card shop to be the first kids to get them. Couldn’t wait to pull Future Stars and Cuppies as we called them. Back then I couldn’t wait to see the Seitzer Card given that he was huge in 87F.
John
Crazy the differences throughout the box. Beings back memories as the design that is so bad it is good.
Making some more progress against the 1989 Fleer case this morning...
Always liked Gary Carter. But why would the Marketing team over at the Fleer Corp choose him to be the 1989 ambassador of their flagship product?
Good question John. The Mets were 3 years removed from winning the World Series and Gary hadn’t reached any key milestones in 1988 that I am aware of. Maybe the movie Major Leagues reminded them of a journeyman catcher who was the General of the team and deserved some hobby love.
Here are the growing piles...
Pulled these key cards, but none worthy of a PSA 10.
Here were the 9 candidates for PSA 10 in this box. A nice Smoltz RC leads the way and always fun to see a solid Canseco 40/40 card...
Let’s see what 1988 Fleer has to offer...
I would have killed to have stacks of these cards as a kid. I would have bet anything that I would be rich 32 years later after Ellis Burks and Matt Nokes were in the HOF. Oh well...best laid intentions. Here are the piles...
Neither of these key RCs made the cut...
Here are the 5 candidates for PSA 10 out of this round...
Greenwell sighting!
Andy
I hadn’t realized until I updated the numbers at the 2 year mark just how few 1987 Topps PSA 10 candidates I have pulled. At only a 0.4% hit rate, it is one of the lowest ratios in the 1980s. Makes sense given Topps was printing these as quickly as possible. So my crazy mission for the week...rip an entire vending case to see if I can make some progress. I will spare you all the box by box details, since it is 1987 Topps after all. I will update on the contenders once I get through this bad boy., assuming I can still see straight...
Don’t worry Andy...should be a nice stack of Greenwell RCs by the end of this break 😎
As I pulled out my 1987 stacks for sorting purposes, thought I would take this quick pic for Andy...
Andy
LOL!
ISO 1978 Topps Baseball in NM-MT High Grade Raw 3, 100, 103, 302, 347, 376, 416, 466, 481, 487, 509, 534, 540, 554, 579, 580, 622, 642, 673, 724__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ISO 1978 O-Pee-Chee in NM-MT High Grade Raw12, 21, 29, 38, 49, 65, 69, 73, 74, 81, 95, 100, 104, 110, 115, 122, 132, 133, 135, 140, 142, 151, 153, 155, 160, 161, 167, 168, 172, 179, 181, 196, 200, 204, 210, 224, 231, 240
I love87T as much as the next collector who grew up in this era, but a vending case in a week sounds like a bit much for anyone to take. Be careful, don’t want to slow down your other rips due to fatigue.
I took that beast head on, and the beast won. Ripping an entire 1987 Topps vending case in the span of 5 days is not for the faint of heart! Don’t get me wrong, I love these wood bordered beauties. However, the centering on this set is among the worst of the cards issued in the 1980s. I’m pretty sure that Topps intentionally miscut the top/bottom centering on 95% of the cards. These things are simply never centered! Add all the print defects to it and this turned out to be a futile attempt to find cardboard perfection. Before I share the stats, here are the piles that missed the mark...
Add to that all the gorgeous RCs from this set that were less than perfect, but always fun to pull...
And now for the numbers. Recall that to date my hit rate for PSA 10 candidates from this set was at an abysmal 0.4%. This case contained 12,000 untouched factory fresh cards. I am very picky, but consider that only 20 candidates for PSA 10 emerged from this entire case. Yep, that is a hit rate of 0.16%. That means that you get 1.6 contenders out of every 1000 factory fresh cards. Conclusion...this set is going to be a beast to complete in perfection. The good news was the mix of stars and rookies that were in these 20 gems...