1972 Topps Baseball question

jason045 · June 24, 2004 3:39PM

Hi, guys. I'm considering starting on a PSA 8 or better '72 Topps set. If I go for it, I have decided to try and get the tough ones as early as possible. My question is roughly what kind of cash are the low pop PSA 8's getting these days. Namely Jones IA, Barton IA, Blue IA, Schall IA, McRae IA, Wills IA, Henderson, Kendall, etc? Thanks for any input.

FB · June 24, 2004 8:52PM

Jason,

If you are serious about building this set in PSA 8 condition, this is an absolute perfect time to start.

But... you won't be buying yourself any advantage if you bid "whatever it takes" for the tough ones right up front. The best one that I've seen employ a strategy like this has been Mike Castaldi. The key is to pick your spots for these cards. The key isn't buying them early - its buying them at a time where very few others are willing to pay big money or know that they should pay big money for them.

There are a couple of guys nearing the 100% mark right now and I'm sure that some of these cards are on their "still need" list. Larry Emard probably still needs a couple in 8 along with Brad Horton, Eric Olander needs them in 9. So, you could wind up REALLY overpaying because they are bidding BIG just to close the set out.

The Schall IA is still several hundred dollars in PSA 8. Most of the others can be had for under $50 in the right circumstances. My advice is to check with some of the other registry members to see who has 8's that they're looking to sell CHEAP. You can probably get a great start by grabbing as many easy commons in 8 for $5 or $7 apiece. Contact Rich Corpis who just broke up his 72 set and see if you can get a price list. You might also contact Mike Ledin (Clubhouse Collection) because he indicated that he's breaking up his set too.

As for the tough cards - my advice would be 1) check out the other registry sets and see who still needs which of the tough cards... If you see that all the guys nearing the finish may still need a card - you might put in your usual bid and just watch the auction for education purposes because its going to sell for a lot more than it might in a couple of months. 2) set yourself a price based upon Population - maybe $50 for Pop of 10, $45 for Pop of 12, etc and use Justsnipe to slam the bid home to keep others from realizing that you're on it. 3) Buy commons IN BULK where you can. There are currently a couple of PSA 8 lots on eBay right now that should go for less than $6 per card. 4) Continue to look for help and advice from 72 registry members - yes, some of the guys will be competitors, but I've ALWAYS received more help than competition from these chuckleheads. But, bottomline... BE PATIENT! and don't bid ridiculously!

So - just my 2 cents - do with it what you will...

mcastaldi · June 24, 2004 10:01PM

As Frank mentioned, that was the strategy I used and it was wildly successful because of a combination of luck and work.

I was lucky because when cards like Ken Henderson, Kendall, Houk, Jones IA, etc came to eBay other builders of the set hadn't picked up on the fact that these were tough cards. As a result I was fortunate enough to get them at very reasonable prices.

The work is from going to shows looking for raw cards. I've been able to find raw examples of Mays IA, Aaron IA, McRae IA, Expos Team, Wayne Garrett, and some other tough cards which I submitted myself and received PSA8s. In some cases, I was able to find two of these and sell off the duplicate for further help with cards I needed.

I would agree with Fran to be aggressive on the low-pop stuff but to pick your spots. Then bottom-feed the easy stuff. Right now I'm over 98% complete and most of what I need is readily available - cards like Yaz, Rose IA, Munson, etc.

Hope this helps.
Mike

jason045 · June 25, 2004 4:10AM

Thanks for the tips guys.

highend · June 25, 2004 4:56AM

Jason, i would have to agree with mike and frank. "easy" psa 8 commons are like shooting fish in a barrel right now i would try to grab as many lots or a number of them from a unique seller. i'm sure rich corpis has a ton of them still available i picked up nearly 90 cards in psa 8 and 9 at a VERY reasonable price.
the demand for psa 9's is greater as a lot of guys are still upgrading there completed sets. however, there are still bargains out there and you may want to consider adding as many 9's as possible. i will be focusing on mostly psa 9's at this point but for some of the tougher cards you mentioned expect fierce competition for both 8's and 9's.
it's a great set to work on and IMO the registry guys are the best out there.

Virtualizard · June 25, 2004 9:38AM

Jason,

If you're interested, I have a small stack of '72 PSA 8s available:

#29 Bill Bonham (Green Under Letters variation)
#90 AL HR Leaders - Bill Melton/Norm Cash/Reggie Jackson
#92 AL ERA Leaders - Vida Blue/Wilbur Wood/Jim Palmer
#100 Frank Robinson
#101 Astros Rookie Stars - J.R. Richard
#124 Yankees Rookie Stars
#200 Lou Brock
#226 World Series Game 4
#452 Ed Herrmann
#571 Nate Colbert
#584 Jerry McNertney
#601 George Stone
#710 Jim Kaat IA
#711 Bobby Bonds

Let me know - jeb@virtualizard.com.

JEB.

FB · June 27, 2004 12:20AM

Jason,

You should also keep an eye on some of the tough cards in raw form on eBay. If guys post them as "MINT" they're probably NM-MT if the seller is respectable. And if they have a good enough scan - you can do well. I've picked up 3 Gallaghers and 2 Henderson's from eBay that I've sent in and had them come back as 8's. This is one that I picked up last night and I was shocked at the price - and I only had a $10 snipe on it. Don't know if it will 9 - but it should 8 as long as the back is reasonably well centered.

72 Grote

highend · June 27, 2004 1:37AM

frank- nice pickup for a VERY nice price. i've started to bookmark some of the tough cards from the 71 and 72 sets. i hadn't done it for the 72 grote....a nice guy sold me one in psa 8 a while back.

jason- i sent you a pm with a list of 72's i have for sale, i have about 10 more to add if you're interested. they include major stars and a few psa 9's. i also have some nice raw PSA 8 material.

jrdolan · June 27, 2004 2:05AM

Just an observation on '72. I've seen the Fisk rookie going for far below SMR on eBay. I bought a PSA 8 for about $55 (SMR $90) and sold a couple PSA 7's for about half of SMR $50.

Granted, Pudge is not a hot item these days unless you're building a HOF rookie set or you're a Sox fan. But they must be going for above SMR somewhere else, to result in the listed SMR values.

highend · June 27, 2004 2:22AM

the SMR is merely a guide and the prices are skewed. ALMOST every major star card of the 70's can be had for less than smr. ebay is the best gauge for determining the market price for most cards. in the 9 months or so i 've been seriously focusing on my 72 graded set i've seen prices drop across the board for most stars if i had waited until now to go after the stars i would have saved alot of money and could have added alot more 9's instead of 8's without blowing my monthly budget in two weeks.

1972 Topps Baseball question

Comments