New here. 1972 Topps entire set questions.
 

Hey guys and gals,
First post here. I am honestly excited to be back in the sports memorabilia and card collecting world. My father was a sports enthusiast, and he owned an Upper Deck Authenticated store here in my city for the majority of my childhood. I had the privilege of being around for some private signings, and was an avid hockey card collector when I was a kid. I haven’t really been into memorabilia and cards much as an adult, however. Fast forward to today. I have come upon an entire 1972 Topps baseball series of cards. I have not counted them; however, I believe it is the whole set. I have done extensive research online, and I think I have found all of the cards that are worth something to collectors or those who still care about 1972 baseball players. In this card collection, I am 99% sure I have a gem mint 10 Roberto Clemente card #309. Can someone tell me what this may be worth? PSA says 4k but I have seen much lower that have claimed to be gem mint condition,too. Also, I know it is not practical or worthwhile to get all of the cards in the set graded, but would you recommend getting at least this particular card graded to prove authenticity and value?

Could someone also please let me know what they feel the cards that are worth something in this set may be? I have a list based off of Deans cards.com but I’d like to know what you guys think. Also, if I count these cards and the full set is there, is it more practical to sell everything as a set or break them down into cards worth money and sell them separately? Aside from collectors here in my city, where would you recommend selling any or all of these cards? I have no use for them, but generally speaking the entire set is in good condition with very few frayed edges, rips, tears, or creases and there is probably someone out there that would enjoy having these things. Any advice would be completely appreciated as my father has passed away and I no longer have access to his wealth of knowledge.

Thank you!

For the Clemente, you would have to send it off to a third party grader (TPG) like PSA and have the card graded to truly get an idea of value. That way you can see what similarly graded cards have sold for in the recent past. For example, the last ten auctions for PSA 9 Clementes have averaged out at $450. If the card is left ungraded, then the amount you could possibly get for it will be all over the map. As everyone here knows, whenever you think you have a 'mint' card, it usually (read as ALWAYS) comes back as significantly less than that. If you think you have a 10, get ready to get back a 5 from PSA. Ha ha.

It is better to grade the stars and short prints, if they're of high grade (PSA 8 or better, some even lower). A complete raw set might only sell for $1-2K by itself. Please post pictures of your cards; we'll have a good shot of telling you what your cards will grade.

Pics
 

Here are a few pics. Lighting isnt great and from the front it does look like the bottom left corner isnt sharp, but it is. You can clearly see that on the back shot. The angle makes the card look bent but it is not. There are no stains, fading, yellowing, etc and centering looks pretty on point to me. Does this help at all?

Unfortunately, the centering of this card from the top to bottom is off. While the card may have sharp corners, etc, if professionally graded, the card's t/b centering will limit it's grade....PSA 7, PSA 8(oc). As Darren mentioned, in the hands of a non-regular vintage card submitter, a card may appear pristine. However, regular submitters are much more able to spot the extremely slight flaws that can quickly down grade a card.

That Clemente is probably a PSA 6. It's a nice card and looks great raw though, which is how I collect my Topps sets (67-72).

This link for how to calculate centering.
http://www.net54baseball.com/showthr...hlight=caprice for understanding on how to sell vintage cards.

One more piece of advice, don't use Deans Cards for valuation purposes, they have notoriously high prices for their cards. Better to go to Ebay, search for the card and filter to show only "sold items".

I don't know about cards, but this much I know. They double the going rate. Profit is not a dirty word.:)

Just wondering if anyone has tracked the cost of assembly on a 1972 set? I dont believe the base cards are very expensive but there is a decent amount of high #s and with the set containing 787 cards it is the largest of the vintage sets. I have a hard time going by Beckett values at this point. What would be the true value of the set be in EXMT-NRMT?

Search "sold" listings on ebay and you can see what they've recently sold for. You should be able to pick up a nice set for $1500 (give or take a few hundred) depending on condition and luck of the auction. ebay search: 1972 complete sets

I have done exactly what you described within the last year and I track everything I buy. Here's what I have into my set:

Purchase of complete set on eBay: $842.07
Upgrading 132 cards including Bench, Rose, Jackson,
Mays, B. Robinson & numerous high numbers: $473.63
Sale of my lesser grade cards: -$77.48
Total cost: $1238.22

For $1240 I have a good EX-Mint/NM set with 95% of the cards with 4 sharp corners.

The high number cards seem to go for about $5-6 each, with many much higher. One of the hardest cards to find at a reasonable cost was #700, Bobby Murcer In Action. That was $13. I bought my cards between Greg Morris on eBay and at large card shows from dealers that specialize in set building. The low number commons are between 50 cents-$1 each at the shows, usually $1-1.50 on eBay. If I was going to do it over again I would do it the same, except check the base set better for condition of the high number cards.

That was the information I was seeking. Did you purchase the complete set on Ebay or "in person" from a vendor? Also, how many remaining cards would you say are "EX"?

Appreciate the info. and insight. This is valuable info. Sounds like you made out pretty good.