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1976 Crane Franco Harris

Hi all. I'm a Steeler PSA registry nut, but this card eludes me. I actually question its existence. All the other cards in this set are incredibly easy to find, yet only one Franco has ever been graded. I can't even find it raw. Weird! It is not listed in the set of 30...even as a short print. Any thoughts would be appreciated! Mike

Comments

  • TheMickTheMick Posts: 217 ✭✭✭

    I think I figured it out to some extent. I think it's a Buckman Disc. You can tell it's not a CRANE disc by looking at the football. There is supposed to be writing above and below the football. Buckman discs don't have that writing. I'm guessing here that the company that made the Buckman Discs and the CRANE discs are the same company. I'm not sure how he was able to get the word "CRANE" instead of the stars. See pics and you'll know what I mean. The first picture below is a Buckman disc which have stars and not the word CRANE. Then the PSA graded Crane disc which doesn't have the correct football. It has the CRANE football. And then a Terry Bradshaw CRANE disc with the proper football. I hope this helps.



  • MSA made all the 76 discs: the MSA, Crane, and Buckman. Your first picture is the MSA. The second picture is the only known Crane. The Bradshaw (of which over 200 have been graded) is a Crane also. I just don't understand why the Franco would be so incredibly rare...or if the one known isn't real.

  • TheMickTheMick Posts: 217 ✭✭✭

    If it was a Crane, it should have writing above and below the football, like the Bradshaw one has. Franco Harris isn't in the set so it has to be a manufacturing glitch of some kind.

  • I'm now finding some reports of a very short run. Weird...not like he wasn't already a big star...or had a Honus-like aversion to potato chips! The pictured one is the only one supposedly known. I know the owner. He bought it raw and submitted it. I wonder still wether it is real.

  • shouldabeena10shouldabeena10 Posts: 1,357 ✭✭✭

    I just saw this raw 1976 Crane Franco Harris card (pictured next to the graded one you showed) that sold on eBay on March 28, 2019. I'd never heard of (or seen) a Franco Harris card being included in the Crane set before. While searching around I noticed that the Beckett website checklist is now listing it as an SP that was only distributed in the potato chip bags, along with another new SP variation of Greg Pruitt's card (also missing the "NFL players" notation around the football). They now list the complete set as 31 cards, along with an A and B variation for Greg Pruitt's card.

    I see another raw Franco card on the Trading Card Database website and they are also calling it an SP. They also list the Greg Pruitt SP variation, but they do not have a picture of that card. Here's the picture of that Franco Harris card:

    Not sure what to make of these 3 Franco cards and the Pruitt variation? The Crane Discs have always been the easiest MSA disc cards to find. If these are real (and the "only found in potato chip bags" story is real) that really changes the game on completing a full set.

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  • doubledragondoubledragon Posts: 22,516 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited April 16, 2019 9:10AM

    Another mythical, legendary white whale. I hope you find it. Believe me when I say, I truly hope you find it. I'm rooting for you. Don't give up, you'll find it.

  • doubledragondoubledragon Posts: 22,516 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited April 16, 2019 9:24AM

    There is a 1976 msa gem mint harris on ebay, but no crane. I hope you find it.

  • doubledragondoubledragon Posts: 22,516 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Trading card database lists 10 of the 1976 crane franco harris discs as being in personal collections. I don't know if any are psa graded or not, but if you reach out to someone and propose a transaction, you could obtain one. I know people who have had successful transactions on trading card database before. I think you have to sign up to become a member first, but it's a simple process.

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