1981T Rack Case Bust - Waaaay tougher than you would think... Grades are in (the toilet)

Bosox1976 · September 8, 2007 1:33PM

I remember reading in a thread that these were tougher than you would think to pull PSA 10's from; I can now speak from experience - they are. I had a 3 box rack case that I have busted over the last month. Unsearched and clean (from a random ebayer) - the scans below represent some of the better or more key cards (at least the RCs).

I would think that I got one card in every other rack that had, to the naked eye, a shot at a 10 (or a HOF with a shot at a 9). After going through with a 4x, I am down to 44 cards worth grading (and at least 10 are no better than 9's). So, a total of 34 cards that have a shot at 10's - of which about 30 are commons.

Slightly better than the 82T Rack case I busted that yielded exactly zero 10's, or the recent 83T case break (maybe one 10 from my 3 boxes). Quality control was still not heard of at Topps I guess. Centering was the biggest culprit, but stray ink was #2, corners #3 and edges #4. Got about one card in every other rack that was diaganolly creased, and the typical pinched card on the back of about every other rack. Very few cards were bursting with color and gloss - but those that were glossy and vibrant are very nice. (Reminds me of DGF and his quest for perfect 77's (?))

Anyway, I've got a new Mac, so I am figuring out the photo editing software - pardon the scans.

DavidPuddy · September 8, 2007 1:47PM

Yep, I've opened about 3 wax boxes of 81's and several rack boxes, and boy are they tough. Good luck with the grading, I hope you get some 10's.
I know my 81 set is a slow, slow work in progress (11%). If I ever finish in 9 or better I'll be suprised.

Some of the 81's and a handfull of the 77's(I'm at 42%) just don't seem to exist in 10.

The set is not very pretty, but is one of the toughest of the 80's.

metalmike · September 8, 2007 2:13PM

From my personal exp. 1981 fleer regular and star stickers are a better bust for the $$$.

TheCARDKid · September 8, 2007 5:59PM

I've got an 81 Topps vending box coming, and an '81 Donruss wax box (both from Steve Hart). I know they're both murder.

I'm just hoping for something decent with 81 Topps, almost anything decent will do.

ldferg · September 9, 2007 12:41AM

bosox,
those fernando's are some of the best centered i've seen. are these 10 caliber from your 4x? good luck on the grades.

i've got a rack box remaining from a 3-box case as well and centering is hammering me.

Bosox1976 · September 9, 2007 2:15AM

LD - one is 10-ish, rest 9s. The Raines are nicer.

itzagoner · September 9, 2007 2:30AM

ahem, er those are Scioscia rookies

just busted a cello box of those last week.....ech!

Buccaneer · September 9, 2007 3:59AM

Quality control at Topps from about 1973 though the 1980s were absolutely horrid. A lot of it had to do with going with thinner paper stock, cutting costs on ink and increasing print runs. Some years were better than others but some years were the lowest quality cards ever.

Rogermnj · September 9, 2007 6:39AM

I purchased a sealed rack case about 6 months ago. Cracked a few racks from each box and could not getting a clean rack. Noticed the cards with the team cards/prospects were the best. Sent in about 12 cards and got 1 10 on a reds team card.
Very tough.

mikeschmidt · September 9, 2007 6:45AM

FWIW -- I'll pay very strong prices for Phillies I need from 1981 Topps in PSA 10 grade.

Cheers

Estil · September 9, 2007 7:15AM

<< <i>Quality control at Topps from about 1973 though the 1980s were absolutely horrid. A lot of it had to do with going with thinner paper stock, cutting costs on ink and increasing print runs. Some years were better than others but some years were the lowest quality cards ever. >>

Do you know which years specifically?

rube26105 · September 9, 2007 12:21PM

73 up to 85 were really bad pretty much all years for centering
randy

Bosox1976 · November 15, 2007 11:27AM

Grades were absolutely disastrous. Every common here was a 50/50 shot at a 10 (at least they were perfect under my loupe) - got ZERO 10's. Biggest bummer was the Raines RC's which were way nicer than the Fernando's (as I mentioned in an earlier post). Anybody want to buy a $600 1981 Topps set?

LINE # CERT # CARD CARD CO. CARD # CARD NAME VARIETY GRADE

35 09192567 1978 TOPPS 360 MIKE SCHMIDT N/A 9
36 09192568 1978 TOPPS 703 ROOKIE PITCHERS N/A 8
37 09192569 1981 TOPPS 32 KEN OBERKFELL N/A 9
38 09192570 1981 TOPPS 91 TIM STODDARD N/A 9
39 09192571 1981 TOPPS 100 ROD CAREW N/A 9
40 09192572 1981 TOPPS 108 BRUCE BENEDICT N/A 9
41 09192573 1981 TOPPS 137 HOSKEN POWELL N/A 9
42 09192574 1981 TOPPS 139 OSCAR GAMBLE N/A 9
43 09192575 1981 TOPPS 156 BOB McCLURE N/A 8
44 09192576 1981 TOPPS 173 BUMP WILLS N/A 9
45 09192577 1981 TOPPS 261 RICKEY HENDERSON N/A 6
46 09192578 1981 TOPPS 240 NOLAN RYAN N/A 8
47 09192579 1981 TOPPS 240 NOLAN RYAN N/A 8
48 09192580 1981 TOPPS 240 NOLAN RYAN N/A 9
49 09192581 1981 TOPPS 240 NOLAN RYAN N/A 9
50 09192582 1981 TOPPS 271 BILL CASTRO N/A 9
51 09192583 1981 TOPPS 293 CHARLIE LEA N/A 9
52 09192584 1981 TOPPS 302 DODGERS FUTURE STAR PERCNTE/SCIOSCA/VALNZUELA 9
53 09192585 1981 TOPPS 302 DODGERS FUTURE STAR PERCNTE/SCIOSCA/VALNZUELA 9
54 09192586 1981 TOPPS 302 DODGERS FUTURE STAR PERCNTE/SCIOSCA/VALNZUELA 9
55 09192587 1981 TOPPS 302 DODGERS FUTURE STAR PERCNTE/SCIOSCA/VALNZUELA 9
56 09192588 1981 TOPPS 347 HAROLD BAINES N/A 9
57 09192589 1981 TOPPS 365 GRAIG NETTLES N/A 9
58 09192590 1981 TOPPS 365 GRAIG NETTLES N/A 9
59 09192591 1981 TOPPS 387 PHIL NIEKRO N/A 9
60 09192592 1981 TOPPS 402 N.L. CHAMPIONSHIPS PHIL. SQUEAK PAST ASTROS 9
61 09192593 1981 TOPPS 402 N.L. CHAMPIONSHIPS PHIL. SQUEAK PAST ASTROS 9
62 09192594 1981 TOPPS 468 JOHNNY WOCKENFUSS N/A 9
63 09192595 1981 TOPPS 478 JUAN EICHELBERGER N/A 9
64 09192596 1981 TOPPS 479 EXPOS FUTURE STARS T.RAINES/R.RAMOS/B.PATE 9
65 09192597 1981 TOPPS 479 EXPOS FUTURE STARS T.RAINES/R.RAMOS/B.PATE 7
66 09192598 1981 TOPPS 479 EXPOS FUTURE STARS T.RAINES/R.RAMOS/B.PATE 8
67 09192599 1981 TOPPS 479 EXPOS FUTURE STARS T.RAINES/R.RAMOS/B.PATE 7
68 09192600 1981 TOPPS 479 EXPOS FUTURE STARS T.RAINES/R.RAMOS/B.PATE 8
69 09192601 1981 TOPPS 482 JIM GANTNER N/A 9
70 09192602 1981 TOPPS 515 ROBIN YOUNT N/A 8
71 09192603 1981 TOPPS 519 JOHN TAMARGO N/A 9
72 09192604 1981 TOPPS 519 JOHN TAMARGO N/A 9
73 09192605 1981 TOPPS 540 MIKE SCHMIDT N/A 9
74 09192606 1981 TOPPS 540 MIKE SCHMIDT N/A 9
75 09192607 1981 TOPPS 582 GAYLORD PERRY N/A 8
76 09192608 1981 TOPPS 597 RAFAEL LANDESTOY N/A 9
77 09192609 1981 TOPPS 597 RAFAEL LANDESTOY N/A 9
78 09192610 1981 TOPPS 620 DENNIS ECKERSLEY N/A 9
79 09192611 1981 TOPPS 636 AL HRABOSKY N/A 9
80 09192612 1981 TOPPS 636 AL HRABOSKY N/A 9
81 09192613 1981 TOPPS 638 CHECKLIST 606-726 N/A 9
82 09192614 1981 TOPPS 647 DICK DRAGO N/A 9
83 09192615 1981 TOPPS 647 DICK DRAGO N/A 9
84 09192616 1981 TOPPS 690 BOB WATSON N/A 9
85 09192617 1981 TOPPS 710 RON LeFLORE N/A 9
86 09192618 1981 TOPPS 710 RON LeFLORE N/A 9
87 09192619 1981 TOPPS 715 BILL MADLOCK N/A 9
88 09192620 1981 TOPPS 725 STEVE ROGERS N/A 9

Date Received: 11/09/2007
Date of Grades Posted: 11/15/2007
Date Shipped: 11/15/2007

frankhardy · November 15, 2007 12:15PM

That is a major bummer. I would be pretty ticked if I had sent all of those in and didn't pull one 10. I have sent in many 80's Topps cards in the past, and I think that I have only pulled a couple of 10's. I pulled a 1986 Topps Clemens and a couple of more 86 Topps commons. I bet I've sent in 5 or 6 Ripken rookies in the past and haven't even pulled a 9. The 80's are much tougher than people think

ldferg · November 15, 2007 12:31PM

bosox,
those fernandos are still sweet in a 9. i got hammered on an 81t basketball submission. cards looked absolutely georgeous...out of 99 cards, not a 10 in the bunch. it was at that point i decided to not send in a bulks sub of the same year.

did you have any bench's? are you planning to resubmit?

Bosox1976 · November 15, 2007 12:52PM

Got a few Bench's - but noting centered. No resubmits here. I may start snapping up some of the 10's on ebay - 1981-83 are rough stuff and 10's are like needles in haystacks.

CDsNuts · November 15, 2007 1:10PM

You got a tough grader. Look under a loupe and resubmit anything that commands a premium at a 10 that you think has a good shot.

SidePocket · November 15, 2007 2:22PM

On the bright side you are very very good at picking 9's.

packCollector · November 16, 2007 12:23AM

look on the bright side , your bulk order was received a day after my 5 day order and you already have grades and I am still waiting , at least now you can get them back , crack them out , and send them back in for another $5 order

Gobin · November 16, 2007 1:38AM

Mike, are you selling any of these?
I'm interested in 5 cards.

- Jeff

leadoff4 · November 16, 2007 2:25AM

I learned of the toughness of the 81 Topps about 6-7 years ago. I bought 3 vending boxes and submitted 30 cards out of all 3 boxes that I thought were worthy. I got one 9 and the rest 8s.

fandango · November 16, 2007 2:40AM

i still dont get these complaints that continue to surface...

would you rather have gotten all 10's? would that have made you feel better knowing that your grading company is becoming more like BGS?

i personally like the fact that 10's are hard to come by....

i know that a PSA 9 is usually a damn nice card....

think about it, you should feel good about these grades...not angry

if you wanted all 10's send to PRO, GAI or BGS...

if you want accurate, Tough grading, continue to use PSA

jamesryanbell · November 16, 2007 2:51AM

<< <i>i still dont get these complaints that continue to surface...

would you rather have gotten all 10's? would that have made you feel better knowing that your grading company is becoming more like BGS?

i personally like the fact that 10's are hard to come by....

i know that a PSA 9 is usually a damn nice card....

think about it, you should feel good about these grades...not angry

if you wanted all 10's send to PRO, GAI or BGS...

if you want accurate, Tough grading, continue to use PSA >>

No everyone doesn't want all 10's. They just want to be the ONE to get a few....since there's a lot of money invested.

Everyone - including me - wants to be the exception that DOES get 10's.

julen23 · November 16, 2007 3:04AM

mike,

did you really expect better grades?

those '81 topps are insanely overgraded for some reason. i honestly would rather have an ungraded nice raw set for this particular year anyway.

finding a psa 10 ryan for '81 is harder to find than the missing iranian.

peace
j

viva la stone

gemint · November 16, 2007 5:50AM

I think the grading criteria changes to match the difficultness of the issue. If high grade examples are easy to come by, then they will be very frugal in handing out 10s. If they are difficult to find in high grade, then they will grant 10s more easily. If you could take those '81s from the rack case and convert them to 1951s, there would most likely be some 10s given.

My main problem is that 10s seem to be very dependant on the grader you get. I don't submit many post 1974 cards but the 1972-4 I've submitted have been very spotty with 10s. I can take a very high grade set, pull the mint cards and submit them in random batches over time. Sometimes I get no tens and sometimes I get 5-10% getting 10s. Go figure.

Ichiro51fan · November 16, 2007 6:57AM

Mike, I know you're disappointed with your grades, but from my perspective, your rip/pull/sub was MUCH more succesful than what I got recently out of an 81 Rack Case. The vast majority of my cards came out with mis-aligned borders... not sure what you guys call that... you know, where the top left border is about twice as wide as the bottom left border, and the opposite of that on the right border? I just looked through my HOFers and RC's again last night and MAYBE I could get up to 5 9's... if I was REALLY lucky. Almost certainly, there are no 10's in the lot, maybe a couple of 9's in commons but overall, it was a major disaster. A big part of me doesn't want to submit any of them as I'd probably only be compounding my loss! However, I will probably end up sending in 5 or less with my next sub just for kix

Anyway, look at it this way... at least you got some really nice 9's out of it. Not sure what those 9 Fernando's go for but I'd imagine you could at least come close to making your money back with those results. But, I suspect you will probably crack and re-sub a few of the better ones, so maybe there's still hope.

Bosox1976 · November 16, 2007 10:18AM

Thanks guys. I'll get back to the PMs in bit, been on the road all day. I'd have been happy with a couple of 10's - and did well collation wise with the rack case (which I got a nice deal on), so am not that miserable

1981T Rack Case Bust - Waaaay tougher than you would think... Grades are in (the toilet)

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