1962 Topps Opinions
PROMETHIUS88
Posts: 2,957 ✭✭✭✭✭
As always, I value the opinions and knowledge of all the board members. I sent the following cards in my recent sub. I really thought the Wood and Bruce had shots at 9's and was floored when I saw them come back as 6's. After getting them back, I'm thinking that it may have been due to the registration of the photos. Opinions on that? Next is the Rookie Parade and Yankees team card. Just using those as comparisons. I know there is a touch of paper loss on the lower left corner of the RP but I just can't fathom that these two could garner the same grade?? Any opinions from 62 "experts" or anyone is appreciated. Thanks! Tim
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Just to add on the Bruce, there are no scratches on the surface of the card, on the holder or on my scanner. Looking at the photo, whatever that is looks very annoying. Oh, and I really need a better scanner!
Tim: they are tougher on 62's now than they used to be. I see some tip touches on all of them, but not too bad. The first two are clearly nicer than the last two, and they would not be out of place in a higher graded holder.
As for scanning, try it without closing the lid on the scanner, ideally in a darker room.
Bosox1976
Wood looks like and 8 but technically is a Q card. I would say it is a PSA 8 OF. All look graded correctly.
PSA just murders 62's. I have posted this one on another thread. No surface imperfections.
Yeah, they really seem to be these days. I wonder if they downgraded that Killebrew because of the fisheyes?? I looked at an 8 that is currently on Ebay that has a touch to a corner but doesn't have those. When you go out and look at all the old holdered 62's the 8's would be 6's now. Honestly, I think you could put together a really great looking set in 6 if they were all new holders. I guess that's a good thing if you are only looking for eye appeal and buying the card, not the holder. If I can buy 6's cheap that look as good as the old 8's, I'm probably going to save myself a ton of money over the long haul. It also makes me wonder if they will ever change back at some point and not be so strict. If that happens and you are sitting on a bunch of 6's and 7's that are centered and present really well, you could probably make a killing.
While I didn't get an 8, I did pick up this pretty nice 7 tonight. Working on a run of PSA 2- hopefully 9 of Uecker.
https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/d04AAOSwytJaD1SA/s-l1600.jpg
That '62 'Brew is one tough card.....(I've had these following 9's for years and pick up one from time to time).....The print dots on the Killebrew are certainly weighing it down a bit but the edges and corners are 9 material all the way...centering too is tremendous for that card....There was a Mint 9 Harmon on ebay for around $6,300 I wanna say~not sure if its still there.. that NM 7 really is a card with splendid attributes.
IF you look at the surface of any of these 9's and compare it to the Killebrew surface....you will see the obvious disparity in focus and clarity.
I bought a PSA 9 of a 1/6 Brooks Robinson in a Greg Bussineau auction a while back for in the neighborhood of 2.5k and before the set registry awards come public in like May I got emailed 3 or 4 times from a couple guys vying for their finest Robinson sets and I ended up parting with it for 8.5k.....it was a stunner~ my favorite card of the '62 issue for the Renoir-like photo.....
I would be hoarding high grade '62's in general as they are so tough to find ....but strikingly the Whitey Ford's and Yogi Berra's are relatively inexpensive to where I think they should be.... Tough cards to find in Mint 9: Killebrew, Spahn, Mays and Frank Robinson and Eddie Matthews, Orlando Cepeda too and Luis Aparicio ...Maris, Koufax and Yaz....I love the RC of Joe Torre in '62. I think that card has upside.... If Pete Rose had broken in a little earlier that '62 RC would be priceless in that wood grain......Oddly, the Lou Brock RC is fairly common vs. other more rare cards.... If that card were more condition sensitive it could be through the roof but if your shrewd you can get one 7-8k. Sellers aim for 10-12k but there are tougher Mint 9's than Brock~ though his photo on that card is quite appealing.
When there is wear, not "fraying" but wear (paper loss) on a corner, then the card isn't going to get a 7.
If any card is perfect except for a "ding" on one corner, not even any fraying or paper loss, the card is not going to even get a 7. Without that ding, a "perfect" card should get a 10.
This is the general rule of thumb in my words, but as we know, it's not always the exact case with card grading.
The pics on the first two cards are a bit fuzzy, but I downloaded them on the FastStone Image Viewer, and I see wear on one corner of each card. Sorry to say is the reason for the 6 on both.
The name "Jake" is smeared a bit which may have prevented that card from a 6.5. The other card perhaps should have received a 6.5, maybe something on the back which prevented it from receiving that grade, or on the front that I missed? Still both are nice cards.
I dunno why, perhaps because of the the year, perhaps the high numbers, but I love those Rookie Parade cards in that set, which is my favorite set.
The more and more I look at these, the more I become intrigued with the intricacies of the set. Looking at the cards available on Ebay, it just seems there isn't complete consistency with the grading in say the 7-9 range. I think this might be on the list of sets I want to try in all PSA. I wish I could afford all those beautiful 9's like Odessa has but just being a poor, working stiff, I think I can, over time, put together a decent 7-8 set. I would just need to make sure I didn't get overzealous and end up buying cards lacking eye appeal just to have a particular card to "fill the slot". Steve, yes, those Rookie Parade cards are some of my favorites. Love the floating heads!
For myself ...the cornerstone is centering. I could fall in love with a psa 1 if its centered well..... some of the fun buys some years ago were finding some of the Goudey Ruths and Gerhigs in PSA 2-3-4 range that were well centered ...and they were cheap too...lol....now a well centered PSA 3 can sell for more than an off centered 5 ....
There isn't complete consistency on any set.
When I see 6's like the Wood in person, the most common reason for the grade is a minor indentation (possibly from a finger nail) or a minor bend along one of the side edges. Defects like that wouldn't show up in a scan and can be hard to see even with the card in hand. Surface scratches would be the next most common reason.
Truly a great set, not only for baseball card collectors, but especially for New York fans. There was of course the great Yankees team of 1961, one of the greatest baseball teams of all time with Maris coming off his famous 61 HR year. Mickey didn't do too bad himself with 54 HR's. Then there were all the first baseball cards of the New York Mets, who were a terrible baseball team, but New York fans still loved 'em. I don't think the Mets ever got booed the whole season despite only winning 40 games.
Here is a high number (#582) that I feel like is in great shape. Maybe a little wear on the lower left hand corner but centering is good and quality of the picture is really great. (better then the scan shows) What does everyone think this will grade? Any hope for an 8?
6.5
Here's the 8 from my set. Picture itself seems to be a little "washed out" I am not sure, but all of them might be like this. Print dots on the 8 too.
The "7" looks better to me. Even with it's imperfections............a 7? Seriously?
That Clemente is gorgeous!!!!!!!!
Since I already have some, I guess I'm in on the 62 Topps. Was gone for a while today and guess I picked this up for $9.50. I don't think it's a bad purchase. Just put a quick bid in on it last night not expecting to get it. Oh well, a little tilt but the price was right. I had decided to do the 1962 Jell-O set in Authentic and because those will be few and far between, I guess I can work on the Topps set. REALLY need to finish off the other couple of sets I'm working on so I can focus on just one or two!
I guess I should mention, that while I say "I'm in", I'm already in on them. I have complete raw set...minus the Maris. It is low grade so I'm now "in" on the graded set!
https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/3kgAAOSwRChalyD6/s-l1600.jpg
One thing for collectors to delve into if you are focusing on mid level grade cards ... the fewer the high grades in existance (Psa 9’s) in particular-ought to speak volumes as to the issues the particular card encounters due to its positioning on the printed sheet ... killebrew is a very low pop in Psa 9 population .. even the above pictured 8 has the similar surface issues as the 7 mentioned to kick things off .... not a bad idea to seize the pop report for further insight.
When you compare your cards against scans of other cards, it's hard not to think your card should be graded higher. It looks like the print problems are with most Killebrews:
I'm not sure what you mean by surface issues. My cards surface is perfect. If you mean focus issues, it looks to me like the original photo is a bit out of focus or "soft". If you mean the print spots, I agree there are some, but they are certainly not too noticeable.
Yes, I knew what this card would be worth as a 9 and while I wasn't sure it would get one, I figured 8 or 8.5 but not a 7.
Card will go back at some point as a review or a crack and resub.
Littletweed, are those three all yours? I am drooling. Better image than my 7!
Wow those ‘62 9s are insane. I have a few 8s but all but one pale in comarison to these.