The Industry – Page 7 – Post War Cards

The 1978 Topps Baseball Set: A Comprehensive Guide

August 17, 2024August 17, 2024 by John

The 1978 Topps Baseball set, much like other ’70s releases when Topps didn’t really have any competition, suffered from quality control issues, but took off in popularity in the early 80s when the rookie-card hobby craze boomed for its inclusion of Eddie Murray, Jack Morris and the multi-player rookie prospect gem featuring Paul Molitor and Alan Trammell, among others. Along with the 1975 and 1971 releases, 1978 Topps remains one of the most popular sets of the decade today. In the following sections, I’ll provide:

A set profile
Production details
Advertising examples
A distribution summary
An overview of the key rookie cards and Hall of Fame stars
And some key set sales for the 1978 Topps baseball set

This article also kicks off a series exploring some accompanying sets to the 1978 Topps baseball flagship. In the coming days, I’ll share articles about the 1978 Topps Burger King cards, 1978 Topps Team Checklists distributed via a wrapper redemption, 1978 Topps Zest Soap cards, and 1978 Topps Dynamite Magazine Panels. But before highlighting these companion sets’ distinctive qualities, let’s explore the base set’s place in the broader hobby.

1978 Topps Baseball Set Profile

The 1978 Topps baseball set has 726 standard-sized (2-1/2″ by 3-1/2″) cards, up from 660 the year before and the largest since 1972 or since Topps transitioned to single-series printing in 1974. However, since Topps printed the cards on 132-card sheets, 66 were double-printed, including Jack Morris, Pete Rose, and Tony Perez (one row of cards per sheet). 726/132 is 5.5, so Topps needed to fill all six sheets with extra cards.

Topps also included quite a few interesting subsets.

They kicked off the set with seven record-breaker cards.

1978 Topps #4 Brooks Robinson Record Breaker

Topps included League Leaders cards that historically lead off their sets on cards 201-208.

They highlighted the league playoffs and World Series on cards 411-413.

1978 Topps #413 World Series Reggie Jackson

Eleven Multi-player Rookie Prospect cards were included as cards 701-711, including one featuring Lou Whitaker, one of Joe Posnaski’s most underrated players.

Topps also included a few other subset-esque series in their 1978 base set. First, they had six checklists, the first starting at #74. Here’s an example for cards 243-363.

The 1978 Topps set also included Team Cards, distributed out of packs, with all the player’s cards from that team checklisted on the back.

And lastly, Topps included manager cards highlighting the coach as a player and manager.

The front of the base cards used a slightly larger photo than previous Topps card releases. The player’s name and team were printed along the bottom. Each card’s upper right-hand corner had a small white baseball with the player’s position printed within it, but starters from the 1977 All-Star game had a red, white, and blue shield instead.

The backs of 1978 Topps baseball cards had typical player vitals and statistics—some of the cards also included a paragraph of biographic information. Six hundred and ten cards in the set also had “Play Ball” outcomes printed on them so two kids could play a game if they had enough cards; the rules are printed on 30 of the 726 cards. Check out this article on SABR’s Baseball Cards Research Committee blog for more.

As I wrote in the introduction, Topps didn’t have any real completion in the baseball card market beyond a few oddballs, so they didn’t take quality control very seriously, leading to a pretty condition-sensitive set, particularly from a centering perspective. Don’t let PSA’s population report lead you astray; yes, of the ~210k cards they’ve graded from the set, the most common grades returned are a 9, followed by 8s and then 10s/7s. However, most common player’s cards aren’t worth submitting unless they’re a 9/10. Since a lot of 8s sale prices don’t even cover grading costs.

The Trading Card Database shares two errors/variations: one for Bump Wills’ card 23 with and without a black circle and another for Jose Morales’ card 374, one with black overprint on red stitching and one with red stitching on the position baseball in the upper right corner of the front of the card; the “Red Stitching on Position Ball” is the scarcer copy.

1978 Topps Baseball Card Production and Distribution

Before the 1978 Topps baseball cards were put in packs for the market, they had to be printed. And Topps printed the set on six sheets of 132 cards each. As I wrote in the overview, this meant that 66 cards had to be double-printed. Again, the set had 726 cards, which would only fill 5.5 sheets or over six sheets, with 121 cards on each sheet. So Topps filled the remaining 11 cards (an entire row) on each sheet with duplicates. 121*6 = 726, plus the 66 double-prints gives us 792 total printed cards over six 132-card sheets. Each sheet is assigned a letter designation (A, B, C, D, E, or F), and each card bears the same letter designation as the sheet it was printed on, appearing on the back of the card.

Knowing that sheet designation is the low-hanging fruit in cello and rack pack validation, but this part of the hobby can get pretty complicated when you look at the card placement (front/back on cellos and Panel on rack packs), packing material, product code, and card appearance. I’ll write more about this later when I discuss the 1978 Topps baseball unopened material.

In May 2015, Heritage Auctions sold a 1978 Topps baseball complete set in uncut sheets for $1314.50.

1978 Topps Complete Set on 6 Uncut Sheets Fronts – Heritage

1978 Topps Complete Set on 6 Uncut Sheets Backs – Heritage

A few years later, in October 2018, Robert Edward Auctions (REA) sold a complete set of six uncut sheets for $3900.

1978 Topps Complete Set on 6 Uncut Sheets – REA

However, before the final sheets were printed for cutting and distribution, many proofs were made as the set was finalized and the printing process was verified and validated. And many of these proof sheets and cards that were held in the Topps Vault have made their way into the hobby.

For example, in April 2015, REA sold a pair of uncut sheets from the 1978 Topps baseball set; one was an early-stage production proof, and the other was a final-issue sheet, for $1080.

1978 Topps Production Proof Sheet – Front

1978 Topps Production Proof Sheet – Reverse

The production proof was described as noteworthy because “it features pitcher Mike Torrez with the New York Yankees in the top row of the sheet while the final-issue sheet depicts Torrez with the Boston Red Sox. The New York Yankees version was never issued as Torrez signed a free-agent contract with the Boston Red Sox during the 1977 offseason, and Topps was able to update his trading card prior to releasing the 1978 Topps set.” The production proof has five rows of eleven cards and has a stamp on the back that says “August 1989 Topps Auction NYC,” which means it was sold as part of the 1989 Guernsey’s auction. The final issue sheet has 66 cards in six rows of eleven cards (half of a 132-card sheet).

There are also a bunch of interesting individual proof cards that collectors can get their hands on.

First, REA sold this Andre Dawson blank-back proof in July 2019 for $450. They noted that while the card appears to be “just” a blank-back proof, it’s actually a bit more interesting because it is missing the Topps All-Star Rookie trophy that you can see on the final-issue card. The card is encased in a Topps Vault holder.

1978 Topps Andre Dawson Proof and Regular Issue

Another couple of interesting proofs I’ve run across are this 1978 Topps 4-Color Film Positive Proof of Willie McCovey’s card and a pair of color separation proofs of the Red Sox team card – both from the Topps Vault with Certificates of Authenticity.

1978 Topps 4-Color Film Positive Proof – Willie McCovey

1978 Topps 4-Color Film Positive Proof COA – Willie McCovey

1978 Topps Red Sox Team Color Separation Proofs

Topps also had to proof and produce original artwork for their 1978 Topps baseball wax box. This display box side-panel artwork was sold for $1860 in REA’s Fall 2020 catalog. The piece is 5.5 x 4.25 inches and features art used for both side panels of the wax box.

1978 Topps Wax Box Side-Panel Artwork – Front

1978 Topps Wax Box Side-Panel Artwork – Reverse

1978 Topps Baseball Packs and Boxes / Distribution

This wax box side-panel art piece leads us perfectly into discussing the 1978 Topps baseball product distribution. Topps made the 1978 baseball cards available to collectors in quite a few different forms, but the most significant change they made from 1977 was to the standard wax pack. The number of cards went from 10 to 14 per pack, but the price went from 15 to 20 cents. Here’s a quick overview of all the products:

Wax: 14 cards per $0.20 pack that came with 36 packs per box
Cello: 21 cards per $0.30 pack that came with 24 packs per box
Rack: 39 cards per $0.59 pack that came with 24 packs per box
Wax Trays: 3 wax pack trays often meant for grocery stores.
Vending: 500 cards per box meant for insertion into vending machines

PSA authenticates and slabs both wax and cello products, and they’ve encapsulated quite a few 1978 Topps baseball products: 776 wax packs and 917 cello packs.

Here are the current market prices for 1978 Topps baseball unopened products:

Wax Packs: PSA 8 (the most common grade) packs sell for ~$200 (without stars showing)
Cello Packs: PSA 9 (the most common grade) cello packs sell for between $180 and $ 300.
Rack Packs: BBCE-authenticated rack packs sell for between $200 and $250 if they have non-premium stars showing (Carlton or Niekro, for example).
Wax Trays: BBCE-authenticated 1978 Topps Baseball wax trays sell for ~$500.
Vending Boxes: BBCE-authenticated boxes from a sealed case (the only boxes they wrap) sell for between $2500 and $3k.
Cello Boxes: BBCE-authenticated 1978 Topps baseball cello boxes sell for ~$4k.
Rack Boxes: BBCE-authenticated 1978 Topps baseball rack boxes, from a sealed case, sell for between $5k and $6k.
Wax Boxes: BBCE-authenticated 1978 Topps baseball wax boxes have dried up a bit in the past few years after a surge in availability, so they now command prices around $4.5k.

Unfortunately, quite a few known fakes regarding 1978 Topps baseball unopened products exist. As I wrote earlier, card placement is the low-hanging fruit, at least when it comes to cello and rack pack authentication. In 1978, Topps only put cards with a D, E, or F notation on the top of cello packs. And for rack packs, Topps put cards from sheets A and B in the section closest to the header, sheets C and D in the middle section, and sheets E and F in the end sections. Again, card placement is just the low-hanging fruit when it comes to pack authentication; there’s a lot more to be aware of.

1978 Topps Baseball Advertising

Topps didn’t have the Internet to drum up interest in their products, so they distributed sell sheets to dealers and local retailers to promote them. They also printed flyers showcasing the product and informing dealers about the cost of upcoming releases.

Dealer sell sheets for 1978 Topps baseball are surprisingly scarce, particularly compared to those from the following year’s release, but I have managed to track down three variations. What’s funny is none of them showcase the card’s design.

This first one has “Topps 1978 Baseball” printed along the top with five player action photos. The ad copy reads, “Like the players they idolize, millions of youngsters are gearing up for another exciting season of Major League Baseball. And that means the beginning of another super selling season for Topps Baseball Picture Cards…selling right on through the summer months! So be sure you’re ready for the ‘counter action’ by keeping plenty of Topps ’78 Baseball Cards in stock.” This sheet has an advertisement for 24-pack cello boxes. The text is hard to make out along the bottom, but it points out each pack has 21 cards. And it looks like the cost was $4.32 per box ($64.80 per 15-box case).

1978 Topps Baseball Dealer Sell Sheet – Cello Details

This next 1978 Topps dealer sell sheet has the same basic information along the top, but the terms and details appear to be for rack pack products.

1978 Topps Baseball Dealer Sell Sheet – Rack Details

And this final 1978 Topps dealer sell sheet doesn’t have any product specifics printed along the bottom, but the photo is of a cello box, and the sentence refers to 30-cent cello packs coming 24 per display box. The #372-78 product code is printed on 1978 Topps Cello Cases.

1978 Topps Baseball Dealer Sell Sheet – Cello No Details

1978 Topps Baseball Key Rookie Cards

The 1978 Topps set was known for its hoard of rookies, some already performing and some still with high expectations during the rookie-crazed hobby boom of the early and mid-’80s. Today, the set is still known for its excellent rookie card class, including Eddie Murray and Detroit Tigers stars Jack Morris, Lou Whitaker, and Alan Trammell, who shared a card with Hall of Fame Paul Molitor. Dale Murphy also found his way onto a rookie prospect card, despite his true rookie card coming out the year before. Here’s a basic rundown of the Hall of Fame rookies.

1978 Topps #36 Eddie Murray

Eddie Murray got a dedicated card in the 1978 Topps baseball set after a strong performance with the Baltimore Orioles in 1977, during which he hit .283, smacked 27 home runs, and drove in 88 runs. PSA has slabbed >14k of these cards, with nineteen graded Gem Mint 10s. There are also 704 PSA 9s and 3735 8s in the Pop Report. The Gem Mint 10 pictured above sold for $50400 in February 2023. PSA 9s sell for around $1300, and 8s sell for around $150.

1978 Topps #703 Rookie Pitchers Jack Morris

Jack Morris shares his rookie card with Larry Andersen, Tim Jones, and Mickey Mahler, all of whom were high draft picks, but Morris would be the only one to make the Hall of Fame after finishing his career with 254 wins, a 3.90 earned run average, and 2478 strikeouts, Morris also won four World Series Titles and made 5 All-Star Games. PSA has graded nearly 6k Rookie Pitchers cards, with 113 slabbed as Gem Mint 10s, 1119 as 9s, and 2151 as 8s. The pictured 10 sold for $1110 in June 2023, 9s sell for around $75, and 8s sell for around $25.

1978 Topps #707 Rookie Shortstops Paul Molitor and Alan Trammell

The 1978 Topps Rookie Shortstops card is the hobby’s crown jewel of multi-player rookie cards. Molitor was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2004, finishing his career with a .306 batting average and 3319 hits. Trammell joined Molitor in the Hall of Fame in 2018, finishing his career with a .285 batting average and 2365 hits. Trammell also won 4 Golf Gloves. Their 1978 Topps rookie card has been graded almost 10k times with 30 Gem Mint 10s, 450 PSA 9s, and 2262 PSA 8s—the Gem Mint 10 example above sold for $66k in January 2023. PSA 9s have risen in price lately, selling for between $1100 and $1500, while 8s are more affordable between $150 and $200.

1978 Topps Baseball Key Cards

1978 Topps baseball isn’t just about its fabulous crop of Hall of Fame rookie cards. A lot of the base cards are hobby classics as well. There are great cards for Pete Rose, Carl Yastrzemski, Thurman Munson, Robin Yount, Mike Schmidt, Dave Winfield, and Rod Carew, along with a slew of expensive and rare high-grade commons that set chasers covet. But the big three base cards in the set belong to Hall of Famers George Brett, Reggie Jackson, and Nolan Ryan, who all got key numbered cards in the set, 100, 200, and 400.

1978 Topps #100 George Brett

George Brett’s 1978 Topps card doesn’t include the most exciting photo of the Hall of Famer, but it still attracts high prices. The PSA 10 pictured sold for $12600 in February 2023. It’s a pop 10 card in the grade. It’s a condition-sensitive card, probably a result of being card 100 and kids handling it a lot, but of the almost 2800 graded examples, there are also only 229 PSA 9s meaning less than 10% of the cards are in that ultra-high grade 9/10 range. However, there are 1051 PSA 8s. The 9s tend to sell for around $450, and the 8s are far more affordable, around $40.

1978 Topps #200 Reggie Jackson

Unlike Brett’s image, Topps included a more exciting shot of Reggie Jackson on his 1978 base card. And, as you saw in the sell sheet section, Topps featured Jackson on the set’s advertising. It’s been graded almost 2600 times with 23 PSA 10s, 360 9s, and 997 8s. The pictured 10 sold for $3550 in September 2017, and today, 9s sell for between $250 and $300, while 8s sell for around $55.

1978 Topps $400 Nolan Ryan

Nolan Ryan’s 1978 Topps base card is the toughest Gem Mint 10 star card in the set, with just three examples on the market. The pictured 10 sold for $14899 in April 2019. However, there are 140 PSA 9s and 1377 PSA 8s. The 9s sell for a little under $2k, while the 8s sell for between $150 and $200. Perhaps the lack of 10s is due to Ryan’s card being printed in the first column of a sheet, the second from the top.

1978 Topps Baseball Set Sales

With many key cards selling for thousands of dollars in high-grade, it’s no surprise that high-grade complete sets sell for quite a bit. REA sold a complete set in April 2015, which at the time was #3 on the PSA Set Registry and included 602 PSA 10s for $48k.

However, I mentioned in the introduction that the cards suffered from quality control issues during the printing process, and Topps produced a ton of cards; I mean, nearly 200k have been graded. So if you want to pick up a low-grade complete set, they’re pretty widely available and not that expensive. Really nice raw sets (Nr-Mt/Mt) can push $1k from auction houses that command premium dollars, but you can pick up Vg or VgEx sets on eBay for under $200, like the following example.

The 1978 Topps Baseball set holds an important place in the hobby, standing alongside other popular releases from the ’70s. The set gained popularity in the early ’80s due to its inclusion of notable rookie cards for Eddie Murray, Jack Morris, Paul Molitor, and Alan Trammell. Today, it remains one of the most sought-after sets of the decade.

But that’s not all. In 1978, Topps teamed up with other companies for additional promotions to complement their flagship baseball collection. Follow along on the blog for details about four other 1978 Topps baseball sets and partnerships I’ll highlight in the coming days.

Happy collecting!

1965 Topps Bewitched Test Issue

August 16, 2024 by John

The 1965 Topps Bewitched set was never actually issued—even in a test market—but some blank-backed sheets made it out. Topps also released a few singles directly from the ‘Topps Vault,’ including these eight, which were offered together in 2004.

Here’s the full auction lot description that accompanied the cards:

These super-desirable items are the product of Topps’ very brief attempt to capture the 1960’s television classic, Bewitched, in trading card form. Offered is a collection of eight different 1965 Topps Bewitched cards. The 2-1/2″ x 3-1/2″ cards feature black and white photographs from the series, and each one pictures either Elizabeth Montgomery, as Samantha, or Agnes Moorehead as her mother, Endorra. Printed on grey cardboard stock and blank-backed (as are all of the very few known examples from the prospective series), the cards grade NM to NM/MT. The cards’ titles include: “Elizabeth Montgomery,” “Endorra,” “Jinxing a Batter,” “Mother and Daughter.” “Protest March,” “Ready for Action,” “Thinking Wicked” and “Which is Witch?” These sought-after and very rare collectibles originate from the Topps Vault, and are accompanied by individual LOA’s from that company.

Additionally, The Non-Sports bible shared that two cards of the 26 in the unreleased set appear to be overprinted based on multiple copies being printed on uncut sheets (Pretty Witch & Practicing Witchcraft). Also, cards with printing on the back have yet to be reported. REA sold the following sheet for $2700 in the spring of 2017 before selling the same one again in August 2024 for $4,920.

Here’s REA’s description for the Rare 1965 Test Issue ‘Bewitched’ Complete Set on Uncut Sheet (28):

Extremely rare uncut sheet of twenty-eight 1965 Topps “Bewitched” test cards based on the popular television series. “Bewitched” is one of the rarest sets of all 1960s Topps test issues. The set was never actually issued to the public, and we believe that all known items related to this series have originated over the years from the Topps Vault. The black-and-white cards feature the star of the show Elizabeth Montgomery and other cast members in various scenes from the television show. This 28-card sheet represents the complete set of twenty-six known cards from the set plus two duplicates (Practicing Witchcraft and Pretty Witch). Aside from a couple of creases both near the two lower corners, the sheet (22 x 17.5 inches) remains in Near Mint condition. The sheet is blank-backed. This is an extraordinary high-grade uncut sheet from this unbelievably rare Topps test issue.

True Mint – Mr. Mint’s Price & Investment Guide to True Mint Baseball Cards

August 15, 2024 by John

I wrote about Alan “Mr. Mint” Rosen’s first book, The Insider’s Guide to Investing in Baseball Cards and Collectibles, previously on the blog – and had really wanted to get a copy of his second book, published three years later in 1994, but resellers on eBay and Amazon had wanted $70-100 for a copy for a few years. I just wasn’t willing to pay that much. Eventually, one of them dropped their price, and it was a race to the bottom. I finally picked up a copy of True Mint – Mr. Mint’s Price & Investment Guide to True Mint Baseball Cards for $10. And just like I did with his previous release, here’s my quick book report and a few scans from this hobby library gem.

Flipping over the first page, you’re greeted with the Table of Contents, and nothing stands out quite like the title of Chapter 2, and it’s fitting the author’s nickname.

You can see that there’s some sort of intro about the art of the deal, a focus on mint cards, things for buyers to be aware of, stories of Mr. Mint’s hobby buys and shenanigans, collections of known folks, a look ahead, and then Mr. Mint’s version of a price guide.

Chapter 1 – The Art of the (Baseball Card) Deal

Rosen starts Chapter 1 with a short autobiography and an interesting story about how he got the nickname Mr. Mint. It wasn’t from his dealer days – he didn’t ONLY buy and sell mint cards, but rather, it was from his collecting days since his friends knew him as being fussy about condition. However, Rosen knew that the name would help him promote his business, so it stuck.

He sold his personal collection in the pages of Sports Collectors Digest, took the money, and became a full-time dealer in 1982. Rosen knew, before many, that making outrageous, nonsensical pronouncements would help his ads stand out, so he wrote things like “Sell me your cards or I’ll jump out of a plane.” He then parlayed that notoriety to get a leg up on his competition at shows, too. He knew advertising didn’t cost; it paid. He also focused on having a good table location at shows.

Rosen knew he needed to know the market well and have a strong rolodex of other dealers, or the advertising wouldn’t pay off. Rosen also was happy to make 10 or 15% on his money but turned it quickly – some dealers lamented that he sold too cheaply. He shared that he never made more than 20% profit in any calendar year, which might sound tight until you realize how significant his volume was (~$6M in 1990).

Interestingly, Rosen didn’t keep any cards. He liked them and would look at them and examine them for a while, but then he’d take a picture to keep before selling it. Rosen mentions a photo library of 25-30k photos.

Chapter 2 – If It Ain’t (Mint), It Ain’t

Rosen explains that by mint, he means as manufactured, so an off-center card can be mint, though it won’t sell for as much. He explains that another mistake is allowing the age of a card to matter in evaluating its condition. Rosen didn’t care if the card was 100 or 5 years old; mint meant new as manufactured. Also, the scarcity of the card didn’t matter towards the condition. He then explains that when it comes to mint cards, he had never seen one go down in price – at least those under $5k because of the minuscule amount of available mint cards. The point is that when you buy quality, when it comes time to sell, you will get the most for your card, which will also be more liquid.

Later in the chapter, you’ll come across this list of Topps and Bowman sets ranked in difficulty for finding mint cards to complete a set, along with two pages explaining it.

Rosen closed the chapter explaining that he didn’t only buy mint cards; he’d buy anything he could make a living on.

Chapter 3 – Buyer Beware

Chapter three has a few paragraphs about each of the following topics: counterfeits, trimming, bleaching, centering, rough cuts, print dots/lines, plastic sheets, slabbing (he wasn’t a fan), and unopened packs.

Chapter 4 – Every Collector’s Fantasy (The True Life Adventures of Mr. Mint and the Most Famous Finds in the Hobby)

This was by far my favorite chapter in the book, chronicling a lot of the famous finds you hear about. He covers the 1952 Topps find in great detail, along with a few others like the 1948 Leaf Rare Numbers Find, the 1932 US Caramel Find, the Kansas City Bowman Find, Dan Wells Florida Find, and the purchases of a lot of famous collections like those of Ted Koch, Herb Ross, Dan Wells, and others. However, I’ll highlight a few photos he included from the Paris Tennessee Find(s) since I had written about it on the blog before. If you want to know about the others, pick up a copy of the book or wait for me to write another article!

True Mint – Paris Find 1954 Bowman Football Boxes

Chapter 5 – Card Styles of the Rich and Famous

Chapter 5 starts with Rosen describing the reunion show he put together with 32 members of the 1961 Yankees team. He paid them $7k for doing the show, but Mantle, Berra, and Ford got more. They laid out $725k for the show and wound up making $10k (they mistakenly held it on Mother’s Day). The chapter continues with stories about purchases and interactions with folks like Del Webb (one of the owners of the Yankees from 1947-1964), Lou Boudreau, Dale Mitchell, Leslie Wagner-Blair (granddaughter of Honus Wagner), and Al Downing, among others.

Chapter 6 – Around the Corner

This chapter is only three pages long and sort of mimics the hobby’s position today. In 1994, Rosen wrote that card sales were terrible at the time and that folks selling cards from 1981 to the present were going out of business left and right. His numbers were down to $3M from $6M in sales a few years earlier. He said the avalanche of new cards was the primary reason for this.

Rosen wrote that the lack of finds at the time also hurt things, noting that most of his were from before 1991. However, if you check out sites like Sports Collectors Daily, you’ll find those have spiked again.

Mr. Mint wrote that he saw positive signs for the vintage card business, highlighting the 1952 Topps Mantle, which has surged in popularity in the last few years.

Chapter 7 – Mr. Mint’s Price Guide

Pages 89 – 302 are Mr. Mint’s price guide. Each set has a description, some of his thoughts and insights about value/availability/scarce cards, a checklist and prices for mint cards, and a photo or two.

He even included a ton of less mainstream but collectible oddball-esque sets like Wilson Franks.

Conclusion

As I wrote in my review of Rosen’s previous book, this one also included a ton of sound, practical, and applicable advice to collectors, even thirty years later. What sets this one apart, particularly for fans of the hobby history, are the collections of stories from his finds, relationships, and shows. I highly recommend grabbing a copy – it’s a quick read too!

James Cumption’s 1955 Rodeo Meats Super Collection

August 14, 2024 by John

One of the cooler groups of related items in Christie’s October 1992 Sports Memorabilia catalog came from James Cumption’s 1955 Rodeo Meats Athletics collection. It included a complete set, a scrapbook album, an uncut sheet, and a paper uncut sheet.

Sotheby’s pre-empted the four lots in the catalog with a bold note that said they were “PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF JAMES CUMPTION.”

Lot 275 was the 1955 Rodeo Meats Athletics Complete Set (47). It was described as “Issued by a local meat company to commemorate the first season of the Athletics in Kansas City. There are 38 different players featured in the set in addition to 9 variation cards. Front features player photograph and name with the “Rodeo” logo. The reverse carries an ad for a scrapbook album—mint”

Lot 276 was the 1955 Rodeo Meats Athletics Scrapbook Album described as follows, “Contains 16 album pages for the Rodeo Meats cards, player biographies and the 1955 team schedule. Above each player’s name are 28 cards neatly pasted. The album was obtained by sending in a label from a Rodeo Meat product and 25 cents-mint.”

Lot 277 was the 1955 Rodeo Meats Athletics Uncut Sheet, “Featuring 25 cards of the Kansas City Athletics, probably one of two sheets which completed the set. Includes the Shantz misspelled and all short printed cards. Eight background color variations – framed and matted – 17 x 13 in. – mint.”

And Lot 278 was the 1955 Rodeo Meats Athletics Paper Uncut Sheet, “A 25 card paper color sheet, identical to the regular issue. Diagonally across the sheet are two white banners advertising Rodeo Meats, and The Knothole Gang television show.”

Mr. Mint’s Insider’s Guide to Investing in Baseball Cards and Collectibles Still Rings True Over 30 Years Later

November 11, 2024August 13, 2024 by John

Alan Rosen was one of the hobby’s first and most famous sports card dealers—some say infamous. In 1991, with the help of Doug Garr, he published a fantastic book called Mr. Mint’s Insiders Guide to investing in Baseball Cards and Collectibles.

Mr. Mint’s Insider’s Guide to Investing in Baseball Cards and Collectibles – Front Cover

The subheading on the cover read How to buy, sell, and make money on your collection: Inside tips from the world’s #1 dealer in baseball cards and sports memorabilia. This post is my synopsis, interpretation, and connection to today’s hobby of what he wrote. And let me start with my most significant takeaway; despite being published over 30 years ago, it parallels today’s market really well. Or, the more things change, the more they remain the same.

First, I bought my copy from eBay, and it looks like I picked up a signed copy. Does anyone know if this signature looks legit? Let me know in the comments. Real or not, the book remains an excellent addition to my hobby library.

Mr. Mint’s Insider’s Guide With Signature

The book starts with Rosen’s acknowledgment, in which he credits a trends piece Doug Garr was writing about the future of baseball cards as its genesis.

Before I jump into the bulk of my review, I have to say that I don’t view cards as investments; they don’t create cash flow. I consider my collection an expense, maybe an “investment” in my happiness, but with no expectation of a future financial return. Do I notice arbitrage opportunities to flip collections? Sure, but to me, that’s not investing; it’s work.

Anyway, I feel like one of Rosen’s first lines, in his Author’s Note, should be read repeatedly by today’s modern card investors. Rosen writes, “This book has been prepared to be of value to both the neophyte collector/investor and the seasoned veteran. Perhaps, too, even a few smarmy teenagers who’ve been wheeling and dealing Ryne Sandberg and Jose Canseco cards will also learn a few lessons about the often volatile and capricious world of baseball cards and collectibles.”

The introduction discusses how Rosen got into cards. He then pointed out that his edge was that almost no one was dealing full-time, and the keys to his success were having a lot of capital to outbid people and always going after the highest-grade material. Rosen was called out for “destroying the hobby” because he advertised his significant finds and flaunted the financial side of things. But he countered, saying he brought more eyes to the modern market; change is inevitable.

The next two chapters cover a few of Rosen’s early deals, the growth of the hobby at the time, and the number of people in the market just for profit, not as a hobby. He’s speaking directly to the investor side when he wrote that making money on cards isn’t that easy but that if you study the market, you can be successful. He also noted that there are opportunities in up or down markets, but it takes work. I don’t think many newer hobby entrants realize how much effort it takes to have sustained success.

Rosen also writes that there is only a market for vintage cards because moms threw cards out. So his advice is never to do anything rash. He then gives some practical advice, like reading box scores, opening some packs, and learning to handle cards. He recommended signing up for a couple of the prominent hobby publications at the time. There aren’t as many today, but there are more blogs, videos, etc. The key is knowing to ignore 80% of what is being advertised or discussed, but that knowledge only comes with education.

Chapter three focuses on developing a field of interest, learning about the types of people and buyers in the hobby, and knowing who you are. He acknowledges the need to float and reminds people that they have to sell what they buy, essentially saying not to fall in love with what you have. A dealer who sits on his inventory isn’t a dealer; they’re a museum curator; look at some of the “dealers” at the National Convention who aren’t selling anything. Rosen emphasizes quality and not quantity and that specialization can help speed up your education in the hobby.

I particularly liked how he differentiated between scarcity and rarity; scarcity is the mintage, and rarity is now many have survived and surfaced in the market. A key lesson then and today is that if you haven’t seen something before, resist the urge to make an offer on it.

Chapter four is called Learning to Grade Cards. In it, he emphasizes condition condition condition because if you buy the highest-quality card you can find, then when you’re ready to sell, you only have one thing to argue about, price.

It’s interesting how pessimistic he was about the emerging third-party authenticates at the time, perhaps because he felt that was his edge. But Rosen was prescient in saying that, among other things, it would inflate the prices of top-quality cards.

I thought the chapter about where and how to find great buys was going to be an out-of-data chapter before reading it, given those were the pre-internet days, but it ended up being more about negotiating than finding cards. His advice was to consider what you can make on something and asked if you would rather make 10% on a deal in a day or 100% in a year. He mentioned that the local card shop wasn’t the place to buy things if you’re looking to make money, but it’s a great place to meet other dealers and collectors (look what is happening at Burbank Sports Cards). He also said card shows are super important networking events.

Chapter six is about investing in complete sets. Rosen says you should, pre-1975, because card companies printed modern sets in such huge numbers, and the only way to target them is in huge numbers at significant discounts; I’m just not sure how relevant that is in 2022 (the modern set part). The current market feels more about the chase and numbered cards. This is funny because Rosen writes that gimmicks are almost always bad long-term investments; cards that jump big on release tend to drop just as fast and further – 2022 Pain Prizm WWE boxes come to mind today. To take advantage of market timing for sets, he said to buy at the end of the season when dealers tend to dump products. However, he emphasized that it’s hard to make a mistake even paying retail for sets before 1975; that market isn’t as volatile as the modern, rookie card-driven market.

He next spoke about NY syndrome and the Mickey Mantle aura, explaining that Mantle is more valuable because of where he played and that home runs are more powerful than batting average. He mentions that retired Hall-of-Famers can’t strike out anymore, card prices rise as a player approaches a potential HoF induction, and that cards are worth more in their team’s locale (Sandy Koufax rookie cards in Los Angeles are SUPER liquid today).

The following three chapters dealt with autographs and memorabilia. His basic advice was to avoid stuff unless or until they’re a Hall-of-Famer. Additionally, this is excellent advice: don’t touch cut signatures of 3×5 index cards with a ten-foot pole; there are so many fakes. Also, when it comes to autographs, solo signed items are a bigger deal than when a star is included with a bunch of random teammates (other than Ruth and Gehrig). Rosen also discourages buying bats, especially for active players, because eventually, the market will flood with their stuff. Last, his recommendations for tickets are to buy only ones with seat numbers and only buy uncut sheets with star cards.

Chapter 8 dealt with auction psychology. Because of the internet, things are a bit different today, but his advice is still applicable. Rosen said to be weary of any auction that doesn’t have photos of every item. He recommended only entering bidding toward the end and not entering a bidding war against a known collector if you want to make money.

Next, Rosen discussed counterfeits. While the hobby is doing better today concerning fakes, there will be cons wherever there is big money. The older an item is, the more careful you need to be. His best advice was about determining if a card has been altered; he said to hold it up to the light, and if the corners are translucent, it’s probably been messed with.

In Chapter 13, Rosen listed his investment strategies for the ’90s. What’s funny is you would probably see a similar list from a lot of collectors today. Here’s his Top 11:

Any card from the nineteenth-century
Adrian C. Cap Anson and Larry Napoleon Lajoie items
1919 Black Sox Players
Negro League items
High-grade 1969 Topps sets
High-grade 1958 Topps sets
High-grade 1954 Topps sets
1914 Crack Jack cards
Any star cards from the T-205 or T206 tobacco series
1933 and 1934 Goudey cards
Pre-80 Unopened Material

He especially advised avoiding 1964 Topps since it lacked big star rookies and being careful of the 1973 to 1974 Topps drop-off. Rosen also felt that 1953 Topps was overpriced at the time and that 1948-55 Bowman had stalled.

He followed up his picks with chapters on selling and caring for your items. His biggest advice was to keep your cards in motion, that profit is a function of time, and that it’s better to sell during the baseball season than off-season. And from a care perspective, storing items in cool, dry places and no movement means no wear.

He closed, emphasizing not holding inventory longer because it could go up a little more. Again, move your material; there’s no risk in taking a profit. Also, as he said earlier, it’s better to have one great item over many small ones. However, today, you may need to start small to build a bankroll.

His closing thoughts included a final list of maxims that boiled down to six things:

Don’t get emotionally involved with items
Learn to grade
But the best condition cards you can
If you’re unsure about authenticity, pass on the item
Buy Hall of Famers, preferably deceased ones
Invest, don’t gamble (i.e., rookie speculation)

While people have varied opinions about Mr. Mint Alan Rosen, his book has a lot of really sound, practical, and applicable advice even thirty years later. I highly recommend picking up a copy, if for no other reason than it’s a great piece of hobby history! Happy collecting!

Mr. Mint’s Insider’s Guide to Investing in Baseball Cards and Collectibles – Back Cover

1958 Topps Roger Maris Salesman Sample

August 13, 2024 by John

I was pretty excited when I saw this hand-cut 1958 Topps Roger Maris Salesman Sample card graded authentic by SGC pop up on eBay back in July 2024; it’s a really cool piece of hobby history.

Back in Newsletter #28, I wrote:

As the name implies, salesman-sample sports card panels were used by salesmen as samples to vendors (e.g. grocers and candy-store owners) to illustrate an upcoming release of cards to promote sales. These panels were produced in limited numbers, making surviving samples quite rare.

The front of the panels looked like regular-issue cards, while the back had a small advertising pitch for the new product. In some years, the backs also had redemption information or a sample card back.

Here’s an example from Heritage Auctions of a complete 1958 Topps Salesman Sample.

On the front, you can see that the three cards are just a random strip of three from an uncut sheet, while the back has advertising copy and an example card’s back. So, depending on a card’s location on an uncut sheet, it could be on any position on the front and, therefore, have any piece of the back (unless Topps placed it on a sheet’s edge). So a salesman sample with a 1958 Roger Maris front could go Frank Bolling/Wally Burnette/Roger Maris, or Wally Burnette/Roger Maris/Del Rice, or Roger Maris/Del Rice/Bill Fischer.

The cut Maris pictured above has the top of the back printed on its back, but it could have any; however, this SGC authenticated one is the only one in either PSA’s or SGC’s Pop Report.

The SGC-graded 1958 Topps Roger Maris “#47” cut Salesman Sample card sold on eBay for $785 on July 8th, 2024. Unfortunately, the buyer didn’t pay, and the owner had to relist the card. It was sold again on July 23rd for $538. The $538 price is reasonable when you compare it to other examples. REA sold a Don Drysdale cut sample for $156 in February 2023, and a Hank Aaron sold for $1,499.99 on eBay in April 2024.

The Maris sample card appears to have been purchased by another dealer who re-listed it on eBay with a Buy-it-Now price of $949.99.

The Topps Mickey Mantle Cards We Didn’t Get

October 17, 2024August 8, 2024 by John

In 1954 and 1955, when kids were ripping packs of Topps baseball cards, many were undoubtedly disappointed when they learned that they wouldn’t be pulling a Mickey Mantle card. And the reason why is simple, Topps never printed them. This article will explain why and show a few of my favorite custom 1954 Topps and 1955 Topps Mickey Mantle cards and the versions Topps has shared.

Topps didn’t print a Mantle card as part of its 1954 or 1955 baseball sets because it legally couldn’t. Bowman and Topps had such a fierce rivalry in the early post-war era that they each tried to sign exclusive agreements with the most popular players to differentiate their products. In 1954 and 1955, Bowman managed to sign Mantle. In 1956, Topps purchased Bowman, so Topps sets were more “complete” from that point forward.

However, even though Topps didn’t print a Mantle card in 1954, it didn’t stop them from publishing an example of what one would have looked like on paper stock. They partnered with Sports Illustrated Magazine in 1954 and printed a black & white Mantle “card.”

Sports Illustrated Black and White 1954 Topps Mickey Mantle

Sports Illustrated wanted to boost magazine sales and included 27 paper-thin cards in its first two editions. The first edition included stars like Jackie Robinson, Willie Mays, Ted Williams, Duke Snider, and Eddie Mathews. The second edition was exclusively Yankees, and the 27 printed cards included a 1954 Topps-style Mickey Mantle card.

Sports Illustrated Magazine – First and Second Weekly Issues

Sports Illustrated 1954 Topps Baseball Cards – Fronts – Angle 1

Sports Illustrated 1954 Topps Baseball Cards – Fronts – Angle 2

Sports Illustrated 1954 Topps Baseball Cards – Backs

Topps also, many years later, gave us an example of a 1955 Topps Mickey Mantle card. Topps was printing their own magazine during the peak of the junk-wax era, and in their third edition, released in the summer of 1990, they had a special on “Mantle Mania,” and the center-fold included a 1955 Topps Mickey Mantle style card.

Topps Magazine Centerfold – 1955 Topps Mickey Mantle

Many other collectors and hobbyists have produced custom 1954 and 1955 Topps cards, but my favorites come from hobby pioneer Bob Lemke, who unfortunately passed away in 2017. On his blog, you can read about his custom efforts: “Ho-Hum … another 1954 Topps-style Mantle. But mine has a story” and “My ’55 Mantle completes Topps-style customs.” I think it’s fantastic that he re-used the portrait that he put on the 1954 custom on his 1955 Mantle, too, just as Topps often did back then.

Bob Lemke’s 1954 Topps Mickey Mantle Custom Card – Front

Bob Lemke’s 1954 Topps Mickey Mantle Custom Card – Reverse

Bob Lemke’s 1955 Topps Mickey Mantle Custom Card – Front

Bob Lemke’s 1955 Topps Mickey Mantle Custom Card – Reverse

Bob Lemke’s 1955 Topps Mickey Mantle Custom Card – Red Variation

Bob Lemke’s 1955 Topps Mickey Mantle Custom Card – Green Variation

I’m sure that many Mantle collectors are bummed that Bowman had the exclusive contract to print his cards in 1954 and 1955. But their pocketbooks must be thankful; can you imagine how pricey those Topps cards would be now? Leave your price estimates down in the comments, and happy collecting!