Just opened 2 boxes of 1986 Topps. Not good for stars like Puckett and Clemens, but here's some low pop cards that look nice. See any 10's here? I will post scans of some of the other "gradeable" cards later.
Thanks in advance for any input!
2013,14 and 15 Certificate Award Winner Harmon Killebrew Master Set and Master Topps Set
@JoeBanzai said:
The one on the left looks perfect. What are you seeing that I am not?
Slight touch on the upper right corner that keeps it from a perfect 90 degree corner and the T/B centering is slightly off.
@JoeBanzai said:
Just opened 2 boxes of 1986 Topps. Not good for stars like Puckett and Clemens, but here's some low pop cards that look nice. See any 10's here? I will post scans of some of the other "gradeable" cards later.
Thanks in advance for any input!
Thanks for sharing. Bando looks like a high-end 9. Might be some print dots on the “D” in Indians, a minor touch to the upper left corner and T/B centering is slightly off. Oglivie is a stone cold 10...nice! Lawyer will be PMing you shortly 🙂. Sutcliffe looks like a strong candidate for a 10. Boone looks good, but cannot tell if there is a print flaw on the bottom left where the frame meets the border next to the “B” in Bob. Looks like a watermark, but might be on the scan.
@jordangretzkyfan said:
I would sub that Nolan. Sweet looking card with 55/45 L/R centering. Has a fair shot given the razor corners and clean surface.
Thanks for the evaluation. I am going to send the Ryan in, but the side to side centering will prolly keep it out of a 10 holder.
Here's a few more I pulled;
2013,14 and 15 Certificate Award Winner Harmon Killebrew Master Set and Master Topps Set
Woke up in a Fleer Update set mood today. Starting with the under appreciated 1987 set boasting Maddux XRC and the cool looking first Fleer cards of McGwire and McGriff...
@jordangretzkyfan said:
Speaking of Traded sets, let’s go Maddux hunting...
See that's just the thing. You aren't hunting with traded sets. There is one of each all in a neat row inside those sets lol. BORING hahahahah .... I wish the card companies slipped these in with late season reg issue printing. THAT would have been awesome. Imagine being able to rip them from late season printed reg wax packs? Or rack and cello? OK, I'm done complaining about traded sets. My distaste for them has NOTHING to do with your daunting quest!
@jordangretzkyfan said:
Speaking of Traded sets, let’s go Maddux hunting...
See that's just the thing. You aren't hunting with traded sets. There is one of each all in a neat row inside those sets lol. BORING hahahahah .... I wish the card companies slipped these in with late season reg issue printing. THAT would have been awesome. Imagine being able to rip them from late season printed reg wax packs? Or rack and cello? OK, I'm done complaining about traded sets. My distaste for them has NOTHING to do with your daunting quest!
I see your point about "hunting" as every player is going to be there. The "problem" is now the cards must be a 10 in just about every case to be worth sending in for grading, so your still hunting for 10's!
On the other hand (maybe not so much with traded sets as with wax) you now can find common cards that have value if very few got the elusive 10.
@jordangretzkyfan said:
The smile on Mario’s face alone makes that sub-worthy. All four of those look like contenders to me. Nice work!
I thought he had a GREAT smile too! Life is good if you make the Majors and get your own baseball card!
Another nice thing I have discovered looking closely at cards is there are some truly great photos, the 1987 Bobby Grich is another nice one!
Here's a few more from my 86 box(s) break; (Carlton too high?)
2013,14 and 15 Certificate Award Winner Harmon Killebrew Master Set and Master Topps Set
Nice looking batch of 1986 Topps! I always appreciate second opinions, so here are the two I noticed potential flaws. The Andujar has print spots on the “Cardinals” and the Gibson has minor touches to both left corners. The rest look like really solid candidates. The Carlton is right on the edge of PSA 10 standards T/B, but I say sub it and hopefully it hits. Congrats on the solid group of challenging 1986’s.
I just broke a new case of 1988 Fleer Update sets. Such a great set filled with HOFers. Alomar, Biggio, Smoltz...add a nice looking first solo Grace and you have the makings of a solid 1980’s classic set. Here go 2 factory sealed sets...
Fun to pull these cards after all these years. Don’t think I have opened one of these since 1988. Here are the cool looking key rookies and stars that missed the mark...
The Smoltz XRC is an underrated card. It is his only card from 1988 and has a great image of him on the mound. Here are the 12 contenders for PSA 10 that I found in these sets...
@jordangretzkyfan said:
Nice looking batch of 1986 Topps! I always appreciate second opinions, so here are the two I noticed potential flaws. The Andujar has print spots on the “Cardinals” and the Gibson has minor touches to both left corners. The rest look like really solid candidates. The Carlton is right on the edge of PSA 10 standards T/B, but I say sub it and hopefully it hits. Congrats on the solid group of challenging 1986’s.
Thanks again for reviewing my cards. Hopefully I am getting better at finding the flaws. You are right about the Gibson and I had missed the (now obvious) print dot on the Andujar. I have also found print defects on the Boone and Snell cards.
The list of 10 candidates is constantly shrinking!
The Bando card is a pop 1. What do you think? Side to side shows a slight "wandering" at the bottom to the left and the more I look at it, the higher it looks top to bottom.
2013,14 and 15 Certificate Award Winner Harmon Killebrew Master Set and Master Topps Set
There looks to be a few tiny yellow print dots on the “D” in Indians and maybe a faint print/cut line across the bottom of the card. I think the slight border tapering is well within PSA 10 definition. As you know, finding any 1986 Topps card in flawless condition is a legit challenge!
There is a story around how Clemens ALMOST made 84D. What an iconic card that would have been.
A Maddux 1987 Topps “Future Stars” card would have been SICK!!! Thank goodness they went with Pat Dobson instead 👍
@JWBlue said:
1987F and 1990F both underrated sets as far as eye appeal.
Agree. I love the 87F design...simple yet on point. I like looking at the traded set, since I have spent far more time memorizing all the base set cards.
From when the OP started this thread till today, the PSA 10's of most these cards had some serious bump in values. I also collected in the 1980s and a generation later, the cards did go up in value, indeed, if in pristine condition. There were moments between those times where I was wondering if a serious price jump would ever take place, but they did.
This experience has shown that PSA 10's are hard to get, so it just reinforces the high value.
"So many of our DREAMS at first seem impossible, then they seem improbable, and then, when we SUMMON THE WILL they soon become INEVITABLE "- Christopher Reeve
This has been a week! Cannot think of anything better than getting over hump day by hunting for everyone’s favorite expletive error card from the 80s. I just cracked a fresh wax case with the case code 90172. Yep, that means these boxes will contain the Billy Ripken FF card. Here goes the first box out of the case...
Always a fun rip to hunt for the notorious Ripken FF. The bad news was there was not a single candidate for PSA 10 in the entire box. The good news is that I found a FF error as expected. Always fun to learn about the order of the error corrections too. Here are the stars and rookies that don’t make the grade...
Pulled all these key cards. I like this Strawberry AS for some reason too...
All the typo back errors were corrected by January 17, 1989. The Romine photo error and the Heath/Brookens reversed backs were still being printed as was the very end of the Ripken FF run...
The challenge with a project like this is that you don’t stay true to your standards of perfection. 1988 Donruss is a particularly challenging set when it comes to finding perfect examples. There are times I try to talk myself into a card being perfect. Unless it is dead centered, perfect edges and corners, and zero surface or print flaws, it cannot make the cut. I had to remind myself that on three of the cards in this break. Once I did, I quickly realized once again there was not a single candidate worthy of PSA 10. Here are the stars and rookies that missed the mark...
I was happy to pull the two Grace RCs. If you were prospecting back in 1988, how sick would this rack have been!?!? Sam Horn and Seitzer on top of the same rack...not possible!!! 🤣
I love 1988 Score!!! Such simplicity in design. Very colorful, reminds me of the 75s. And the photography...take some time to enjoy these cards as they come out of the packs. There are some really beautiful photos. Kirk Gibson is particularly nice. If it weren't for dramatic overproduction, this would be a much more sought after issue. Also, people forget what a step up this set was compared to the other three manufacturers in 1988. The emergence of Upper Deck in 1989 blew everyone out of the water, and made everyone forget what a big deal Score was in 1988. Also, if you like keeping packs with stars on them...don't forget that the packs are organized such that only purple cards are on the front, and the orange ones are on the back. That means that Tom Glavine's rookie card can be seen on the back if you check before you open. Just look for the Braves logo. If you find one, it is likely either Phil Niekro, Ron Gant, or Tom Glavine. Happy hunting!
kevin
Thanks Kevin. You are right. 1988 Score is a gorgeous set with lots of action photography. The Jose Lind from this set might be one of the best action photos of all time as he turns a leaping double play over a sliding Ryne Sandberg. Here are the stars and rookies that miss the mark...
This Glavine RC was soooo close if not for the slight edge wear on the upper right side...
I did manage to find these 10 candidates for PSA 10 though...
Now for one of the most underrated sets of the 1980s. Everyone thinks of 1988 as a dud of a year. However, 1988 Topps Traded got it right with a solid RC crop. Building on the success of their 1985 Topps Team USA baseball subset, this traded set offers the exclusive first cards of Robin Ventura, Tino Martinez, Jim Abbott and Charles Nagy to name a few. Add in the Roberto Alomar, Mark Grace and David Wells RCs and you have a packed 132 card set. Here goes the first two directly from a sealed case I just cracked...
@jordangretzkyfan said:
Thanks Kevin. You are right. 1988 Score is a gorgeous set with lots of action photography. The Jose Lind from this set might be one of the best action photos of all time as he turns a leaping double play over a sliding Ryne Sandberg. Here are the stars and rookies that miss the mark...
This Glavine RC was soooo close if not for the slight edge wear on the upper right side...
I did manage to find these 10 candidates for PSA 10 though...
i also like the look of 88 score. i wish i had the glossy set.
@jordangretzkyfan said:
Thanks Kevin. You are right. 1988 Score is a gorgeous set with lots of action photography. The Jose Lind from this set might be one of the best action photos of all time as he turns a leaping double play over a sliding Ryne Sandberg. Here are the stars and rookies that miss the mark...
This Glavine RC was soooo close if not for the slight edge wear on the upper right side...
I did manage to find these 10 candidates for PSA 10 though...
Just look at those cards! Clemens! McGwire! Puckett! Bo Jackson! And that Matt Nokes card...with the bat straight vertical, the dark background in old Tiger Stadium...that's what baseball card photography should be.
kevin
Just look at those cards! Clemens! McGwire! Puckett! Bo Jackson! And that Matt Nokes card...with the bat straight vertical, the dark background in old Tiger Stadium...that's what baseball card photography should be.
kevin
Love the enthusiasm Kevin! That is exactly what this thread and experience have been for me. Outstanding to be able to connect with others that truly love the 80s too. It really was the golden era of the hobby and such a cornerstone of my childhood. Keep the great posts coming!
Time to hunt for the first star I coveted as a kid. Nope, not Donnie Baseball...I’m talking about the Straw! These boxes have gotten tough over the years and have really shot up in value. I love the design of 1984 Fleer. So simple and clean. Just a gorgeous set...
Slow broke that box over the course of the day. Sometimes you hit a HR with a box. When it comes to PSA 10 caliber cards, this box was a Grand Slam! Here are the piles of stars and rookies that miss the mark...
The only thing missing from this box was a Mattingly RC. I know that is a big miss, but when you pull 72 candidates for PSA 10 you quickly come to terms with that. Here are all the dead centered beauties...
And I went into this hunting for a Straw and landed a Rickey too...
Comments
Time for a box of 1988 Score. This is only the second box I remember ripping so far on this journey. Hoping to make some progress on PSA 10s...
>
The one on the left looks perfect. What are you seeing that I am not?
Just opened 2 boxes of 1986 Topps. Not good for stars like Puckett and Clemens, but here's some low pop cards that look nice. See any 10's here? I will post scans of some of the other "gradeable" cards later.
Thanks in advance for any input!
Just looking at them on my screen makes me think the Sutcliffe is the only one with a chance. :-(
Slight touch on the upper right corner that keeps it from a perfect 90 degree corner and the T/B centering is slightly off.
Thanks for sharing. Bando looks like a high-end 9. Might be some print dots on the “D” in Indians, a minor touch to the upper left corner and T/B centering is slightly off. Oglivie is a stone cold 10...nice! Lawyer will be PMing you shortly 🙂. Sutcliffe looks like a strong candidate for a 10. Boone looks good, but cannot tell if there is a print flaw on the bottom left where the frame meets the border next to the “B” in Bob. Looks like a watermark, but might be on the scan.
Here's the cards I was looking for in 10. The Ryan comes the closest. Print spot ruins Kirby.
I would sub that Nolan. Sweet looking card with 55/45 L/R centering. Has a fair shot given the razor corners and clean surface.
Here were the results of the 1988 Score box. The stars and rookies that miss the cut...
I found these 7 contenders for PSA 10. I loved the ‘86 Mets as a kid, so happy with the Doc and Straw...
Thanks for the evaluation. I am going to send the Ryan in, but the side to side centering will prolly keep it out of a 10 holder.
Here's a few more I pulled;
The smile on Mario’s face alone makes that sub-worthy. All four of those look like contenders to me. Nice work!
Woke up in a Fleer Update set mood today. Starting with the under appreciated 1987 set boasting Maddux XRC and the cool looking first Fleer cards of McGwire and McGriff...
Such a great design by Fleer in 1987. Here are the stars and rookies that missed the mark...
Centering was off on these key cards...
I did find 5 candidates for PSA 10 in these two combined sets...
See that's just the thing. You aren't hunting with traded sets. There is one of each all in a neat row inside those sets lol. BORING hahahahah .... I wish the card companies slipped these in with late season reg issue printing. THAT would have been awesome. Imagine being able to rip them from late season printed reg wax packs? Or rack and cello? OK, I'm done complaining about traded sets. My distaste for them has NOTHING to do with your daunting quest!
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 see your point about "hunting" as every player is going to be there. The "problem" is now the cards must be a 10 in just about every case to be worth sending in for grading, so your still hunting for 10's!
On the other hand (maybe not so much with traded sets as with wax) you now can find common cards that have value if very few got the elusive 10.
I thought he had a GREAT smile too! Life is good if you make the Majors and get your own baseball card!
Another nice thing I have discovered looking closely at cards is there are some truly great photos, the 1987 Bobby Grich is another nice one!
Here's a few more from my 86 box(s) break; (Carlton too high?)
jordangretzkyfan, you have a pm.
Last bunch;
Last but certainly not least........REGGIE.....REGGIE.....REGGIE!
Someone has a shedding dog in the house
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
Two dogs AND two cats, PLUS we live to the East of a dirt road.
Cleaned the scanner off three times trying to get rid of hair and dust!
Nice looking batch of 1986 Topps! I always appreciate second opinions, so here are the two I noticed potential flaws. The Andujar has print spots on the “Cardinals” and the Gibson has minor touches to both left corners. The rest look like really solid candidates. The Carlton is right on the edge of PSA 10 standards T/B, but I say sub it and hopefully it hits. Congrats on the solid group of challenging 1986’s.
I just broke a new case of 1988 Fleer Update sets. Such a great set filled with HOFers. Alomar, Biggio, Smoltz...add a nice looking first solo Grace and you have the makings of a solid 1980’s classic set. Here go 2 factory sealed sets...
Fun to pull these cards after all these years. Don’t think I have opened one of these since 1988. Here are the cool looking key rookies and stars that missed the mark...
The Smoltz XRC is an underrated card. It is his only card from 1988 and has a great image of him on the mound. Here are the 12 contenders for PSA 10 that I found in these sets...
makes you appreciate your PSA 10 1987 topps cards
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Major_League_Baseball_players_from_Panama
Thanks again for reviewing my cards. Hopefully I am getting better at finding the flaws. You are right about the Gibson and I had missed the (now obvious) print dot on the Andujar. I have also found print defects on the Boone and Snell cards.
The list of 10 candidates is constantly shrinking!
The Bando card is a pop 1. What do you think? Side to side shows a slight "wandering" at the bottom to the left and the more I look at it, the higher it looks top to bottom.
There looks to be a few tiny yellow print dots on the “D” in Indians and maybe a faint print/cut line across the bottom of the card. I think the slight border tapering is well within PSA 10 definition. As you know, finding any 1986 Topps card in flawless condition is a legit challenge!
Let’s do a quick rip of 1989 Fleer Update...
That was a solid rip. Here are the stacks that don’t make the cut...
Pretty happy to land 10 contenders for PSA 10. Glad to see Rickey and Albert “Don’t call me Joey!” Belle in the mix...
Up next is a hunt for a perfect Thomas RC...
Still no luck finding a centered Thomas. Won’t stop me from trying again in the future 🙂
Wonder why Maddux didn't make 87T.
There is a story around how Clemens ALMOST made 84D. What an iconic card that would have been.
I love those 86 Topps. If you’re looking to sell off the non 10 contenders shoot me a message.
1987F and 1990F both underrated sets as far as eye appeal.
A Maddux 1987 Topps “Future Stars” card would have been SICK!!! Thank goodness they went with Pat Dobson instead 👍
Agree. I love the 87F design...simple yet on point. I like looking at the traded set, since I have spent far more time memorizing all the base set cards.
I got me some Dobson's. How much you payin'?
;-)
The Bo from a factory set I opened a while back.
From when the OP started this thread till today, the PSA 10's of most these cards had some serious bump in values. I also collected in the 1980s and a generation later, the cards did go up in value, indeed, if in pristine condition. There were moments between those times where I was wondering if a serious price jump would ever take place, but they did.
This experience has shown that PSA 10's are hard to get, so it just reinforces the high value.
BST: Tennessebanker, Downtown1974, LarkinCollector, nendee
This has been a week! Cannot think of anything better than getting over hump day by hunting for everyone’s favorite expletive error card from the 80s. I just cracked a fresh wax case with the case code 90172. Yep, that means these boxes will contain the Billy Ripken FF card. Here goes the first box out of the case...
Always a fun rip to hunt for the notorious Ripken FF. The bad news was there was not a single candidate for PSA 10 in the entire box. The good news is that I found a FF error as expected. Always fun to learn about the order of the error corrections too. Here are the stars and rookies that don’t make the grade...
Pulled all these key cards. I like this Strawberry AS for some reason too...
All the typo back errors were corrected by January 17, 1989. The Romine photo error and the Heath/Brookens reversed backs were still being printed as was the very end of the Ripken FF run...
While not a PSA 10, this is still a cool pull...
I am in a 1988 mood today and thinking about hunting for my boy Mark Grace...
The challenge with a project like this is that you don’t stay true to your standards of perfection. 1988 Donruss is a particularly challenging set when it comes to finding perfect examples. There are times I try to talk myself into a card being perfect. Unless it is dead centered, perfect edges and corners, and zero surface or print flaws, it cannot make the cut. I had to remind myself that on three of the cards in this break. Once I did, I quickly realized once again there was not a single candidate worthy of PSA 10. Here are the stars and rookies that missed the mark...
I was happy to pull the two Grace RCs. If you were prospecting back in 1988, how sick would this rack have been!?!? Sam Horn and Seitzer on top of the same rack...not possible!!! 🤣
Time for the new entrant in 1988...yep, Score...
I love 1988 Score!!! Such simplicity in design. Very colorful, reminds me of the 75s. And the photography...take some time to enjoy these cards as they come out of the packs. There are some really beautiful photos. Kirk Gibson is particularly nice. If it weren't for dramatic overproduction, this would be a much more sought after issue. Also, people forget what a step up this set was compared to the other three manufacturers in 1988. The emergence of Upper Deck in 1989 blew everyone out of the water, and made everyone forget what a big deal Score was in 1988. Also, if you like keeping packs with stars on them...don't forget that the packs are organized such that only purple cards are on the front, and the orange ones are on the back. That means that Tom Glavine's rookie card can be seen on the back if you check before you open. Just look for the Braves logo. If you find one, it is likely either Phil Niekro, Ron Gant, or Tom Glavine. Happy hunting!
kevin
Thanks Kevin. You are right. 1988 Score is a gorgeous set with lots of action photography. The Jose Lind from this set might be one of the best action photos of all time as he turns a leaping double play over a sliding Ryne Sandberg. Here are the stars and rookies that miss the mark...
This Glavine RC was soooo close if not for the slight edge wear on the upper right side...
I did manage to find these 10 candidates for PSA 10 though...
Now for one of the most underrated sets of the 1980s. Everyone thinks of 1988 as a dud of a year. However, 1988 Topps Traded got it right with a solid RC crop. Building on the success of their 1985 Topps Team USA baseball subset, this traded set offers the exclusive first cards of Robin Ventura, Tino Martinez, Jim Abbott and Charles Nagy to name a few. Add in the Roberto Alomar, Mark Grace and David Wells RCs and you have a packed 132 card set. Here goes the first two directly from a sealed case I just cracked...
i also like the look of 88 score. i wish i had the glossy set.
That was a fun little rip. Such a solid rookie crop. Here are the ones that didn’t make the cut...
Pretty happy with these 3 candidates for PSA 10. Obviously I am referring to Mr. Ventura...
Just look at those cards! Clemens! McGwire! Puckett! Bo Jackson! And that Matt Nokes card...with the bat straight vertical, the dark background in old Tiger Stadium...that's what baseball card photography should be.
kevin
Love the enthusiasm Kevin! That is exactly what this thread and experience have been for me. Outstanding to be able to connect with others that truly love the 80s too. It really was the golden era of the hobby and such a cornerstone of my childhood. Keep the great posts coming!
Time to hunt for the first star I coveted as a kid. Nope, not Donnie Baseball...I’m talking about the Straw! These boxes have gotten tough over the years and have really shot up in value. I love the design of 1984 Fleer. So simple and clean. Just a gorgeous set...
Slow broke that box over the course of the day. Sometimes you hit a HR with a box. When it comes to PSA 10 caliber cards, this box was a Grand Slam! Here are the piles of stars and rookies that miss the mark...
The only thing missing from this box was a Mattingly RC. I know that is a big miss, but when you pull 72 candidates for PSA 10 you quickly come to terms with that. Here are all the dead centered beauties...
And I went into this hunting for a Straw and landed a Rickey too...
Nice hit! Congrats!!
Nic
Guides Authored - Graded Card Scanning Guide PDF | History of the PSA Label PDF
SWEET!!!
Thanks guys!