Origins 1954 Topps Gray backs?
 

Hey curious were did the gray backs come from? Do all the cards have a gray back variation? How much more does a common gray back cost?

Cards 1-50 in the 1954 Toops set, like cards 131-190 in the 1952, set can be found in gray back. The SCD Standard Catalog used to refer to them as Canadians based on a theory they may have originated there. That theory has been debated on the board before and there are contrary views.

In both cases the cards are scarce and carry a large premium. The 52s are better known and higher priced, probably because the 52 set is more widely collected on a master basis. But the 54s usually carry a significant premium as well.

Many other Topps sets, including 1956, 1959 and 1960, also have different stock color cards within the same series, but in other sets neither stock is significantly less common than the other so the premiums, to the extent they exist, are not that large

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Thanks Al! I tried to search for it but didn’t get any info.

To add to Al's answer ... I think there is some consensus among advanced collectors of both sets that the 1952 Topps gray backs were NOT issued in Canada, but the 1954 Topps gray backs WERE issued in Canada.

I seem to recall reading an article a few years back about a couple guys who trekked across Canada on buying trips in the 1980's(?) and they reported they very regularly found 1954 gray backs, but they never once found 1952 Topps grey backs.

I will say I once went through a very large dealer collection in So Cal ... he had 1952 gray backs (he had no idea what they were) but despite having probably 10,000 1954 cards he didn't have one single 1954 gray back.

Anecdotal evidence for sure ... but every story I've heard confirms these findings.

Cheers,
Patrick

Ps - If you are selling 1954 gray backs - let me know. I still need a few for my set.

There's also no difference in appearance in 1954 from what I know of it, whereas is 1952 the mid series grays exhibit different characteristics than grays on other series.

So, I have a related question.

I have some '59s, some in gray and some in the normal cream back. Those that have a gray back, do they only come in gray backs, or are there cream backs available for those cards?

Thanks

59’s
 

One series comes in both other series are all gray or all white. Rick

199-286 come with both backs

Thanks for the info. So, I won't worry about my backs being mis-matched.

I don't mean to digress here but I believe part of the confusion with '52 gray backs arises from the 1952 Topps salesmen samples. Some of these samples have a yellow sticker added to the cards which indicate "they" were made in London, Ontario.

At that time, OPC was primarily a gum manufacturer and OPC was looking to distribute sports cards with their product. There is some evidence Topps & OPC were discussing licensing agreements at that time, culminating in 1958. I believe discussions resulted in 1952 salesman's samples which were created for the jobbers selling OPC's products. To make it clear the retailers were actually buying a Canadian product versus a US product, they added a sticker stating "Made in London Ontario" which was added to the back of the 1952 Topps salesmen samples. The sticker, of course, was referring to the gum and not the baseball card.

This is all conjecture of course, but seems to fit many of the facts

Z