My Journy through the 1972 Topps Set

[groundhog]

Hello everyone. I have been a card collector for about 2 years. You might wonder why I have taken so long to get to my third post. I am wondering that myself. I went through a Modern Phase and still am, but I want to start building my vintage collection. I am in high school, so Im working on a short budget, but I am not going to give up on this.

First Mailday(Paid $9.50):
6-F. SCHERMAN
7-E. HERNANDEZ
10-A. OTIS
12-J. CARDNAL
13-J. GRZENDA
14-P. KOEGEL
17-D. DUNCAN
18-J. PIZARRO
19-B. COWAN
20-D. WILSON
22-R. GARDNER
24-T. FORD
27-B. JOHNSON
32-C. JONES IN ACTION
226-1971 WORLD SERIES
304-J. PEPITONE
550-B. ROBINSON

Third Mailday
200-L. BROCK-$1.89
(Paid $2.99):
41-T. DAVIS
80-T. PEREZ
205-G. GENTRY
608-M. CORKINS
619-R. MCKINNEY

Fourth Mailday-(0.00)

555 Ron Santo (HOF)
506 Indians RC Stars
375 Reggie Cleveland
366 Jimmy Rosario
363 Ron Klimkowski
345 Rick Wise Boyhood Photos
315 Paul Splittorff
312 Clay Carroll IA
305 Ken Boswell
297 Claude Osteen
288 Johnny Jeter
274 Al Severinsen
264 Tommy John
260 Ralph Garr
248 Tom Bradley
208 Milt Pappas
121 Ed Sprague
109 Jerry May
60 Manny Sanguillen
46 Glenn Beckert IA
40 Bob Barton IA
39 Bob Barton
31 Cleon Jones
48/787 6%

[JollyElm]

What shape are you looking for and do you have vintage to trade?

1972 is by far my favorite set of all time, so good luck to you!

[Harliduck]

I put together a 69 Topps set pre-internet in the 80s while in High School, I know the challenge! Good luck in your journey, very cool. Great set...I'm about 45 short myself...

[ALR-bishop]

Agree with Darren, it is a great set, but what made you pick that year ? What "modern" stuff do you collect ? Did you see your shadow ?

[David W]

I've been working on the 72's for years now, my favorite set, although I was always bummed out by the lack of In Action cards of the Cardinals.

Just need 50 easy high numbers now, which are pretty easy to find on Ebay if I wanted to finish it.

Enjoy the chase.

[scottglevy]

Groundhog....

Email me your address and I'll look through my collection for dupes. I'm sure we'll find a few and they're yours at no charge. My only request is when you get older you "pay it back" to someone else new to the hobby.

Best wishes,
Scott
scottglevy@yahoo.com

[Samsdaddy]

Originally Posted by ALR-bishop

Agree with Darren, it is a great set, but what made you pick that year ? What "modern" stuff do you collect ? Did you see your shadow ?

LOLOL...Al, great last question.

Good luck on the set groundhog!

[groundhog]

Originally Posted by ALR-bishop

Agree with Darren, it is a great set, but what made you pick that year ? What "modern" stuff do you collect ? Did you see your shadow ?

The reason why I collect this set is because I love the borders in the set and it has some nice rcs and hofers.
I mostly collect David Wright and the Packers(born in Green Bay).
And no, I didn't see my shadow because all I can see is snow.

[JollyElm]

If you're studying for the SAT's, make sure you spell "journey" correctly.

[groundhog]

Originally Posted by JollyElm

If you're studying for the SAT's, make sure you spell "journey" correctly.

Haha just saw that

[Tomman1961]

I started the set in 1972. Finished it about 2 years ago just for kicks. I was missing most high numbers. They were easily found on eBay, all in great ex-NM shape.

[groundhog]

Originally Posted by Tomman1961

I started the set in 1972. Finished it about 2 years ago just for kicks. I was missing most high numbers. They were easily found on eBay, all in great ex-NM shape.

Nice job on completing the set.

Just bought some cards off of eBay:
Lou Brock-$1.89
5 card lot-$2.99
619 Rich McKinney
608 Mike Corkins
105 Gary Gentry
80 Tony Perez
41 Tommy Davis

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by groundhog

Nice job on completing the set.

Just bought some cards off of eBay:
Lou Brock-$1.89
5 card lot-$2.99
619 Rich McKinney
608 Mike Corkins
105 Gary Gentry
80 Tony Perez
41 Tommy Davis

COMC is a great source for finding cheap cards also. Good luck with your set.

[groundhog]

Originally Posted by bnorth

COMC is a great source for finding cheap cards also. Good luck with your set.

Thanks for the suggestion. I like your signature too. All 3 of my T-206's have either holes or writing or paper loss on them.

[groundhog]

Also, how much do you think I will be spending on this? Obviously it won't be under 100 but if it costs about 1500, I know I wont be able to do it.

[Section115]

I have spent a little over $100 in my quest for this set and am at about 50%. However, I don't have any of the big cards and only 1 high number so far. Buying nice exmt and nrmt lots has given me a nice chunk of dupes that I can hopefully use to knockdown the list of commons that I still need.

[groundhog]

Originally Posted by Section115

I have spent a little over $100 in my quest for this set and am at about 50%. However, I don't have any of the big cards and only 1 high number so far. Buying nice exmt and nrmt lots has given me a nice chunk of dupes that I can hopefully use to knockdown the list of commons that I still need.

Thanks for the help

[stlcardsfan]

To put the set together from scratch in Ex-ExMt condition I am guessing is going to be $750-$1,000. Based on the purchase you listed it might be toward the high end. Here are a few suggestions:

Do not But it Now on Ebay. 95% of them are rip-offs. Look for free shipping sellers.
Try to buy a starter set / lot to get you started. Ideally this lot will have a nice group of high #s as well as some stars.
You might want to do this 2-3 times. You will have some duplicates, but this will give you some sale and / or trade bait and minimize your searches of single cards. Ultimately you will have to search for single cards at some point, but that is where it can get expensive.

Good luck. I have always loved that '72 set.

[groundhog]

Originally Posted by stlcardsfan

To put the set together from scratch in Ex-ExMt condition I am guessing is going to be $750-$1,000. Based on the purchase you listed it might be toward the high end. Here are a few suggestions:

Do not But it Now on Ebay. 95% of them are rip-offs. Look for free shipping sellers.
Try to buy a starter set / lot to get you started. Ideally this lot will have a nice group of high #s as well as some stars.
You might want to do this 2-3 times. You will have some duplicates, but this will give you some sale and / or trade bait and minimize your searches of single cards. Ultimately you will have to search for single cards at some point, but that is where it can get expensive.

Good luck. I have always loved that '72 set.

Thanks a lot man, that helps a lot. The first purchase price might not be totally accurate, because I bought them in June of last year on a different forum and I deleted the pm.

Received the Lou Brock today, looks great. Will have a picture of everything I have at the end of the week once I get everything in.

[effe]

If I were you I'd head down to Chicago for the Sun Times show in a few weeks if you're still in the area, you could fill in a lot of your commons there.

[Lueth2048]

1972 was the first set that I collected. I have little left from my 1972-1974 sets (but virtually everything I collected from 1975-1991).

About 10 years ago I got a great 1972 starter set at a huge discount at a show. The seller was packing up and sold me this and a 1971 starter set for about $100.

I've periodically picked up cards for the 72 set and now need about 50 high numbers (all commons) to complete the set.

[SAllen2556]

It's those darn high numbers. From about #656 to the end they run $4-6 each in ex condition and $10-12 each, and up, for nm. I foolishly am trying to assemble a nm condition set and am about 15 cards away. At $10-12 each those high numbers are killing me! If I had to do it again, I'd save up and just buy the whole set. For some reason, this is one set where the sum of the parts are way, way more expensive than the whole.

If you use ebay, I've had luck finding one seller with a bunch of cards at starting auction prices of 99 cents. I wait until the last minute and bid on a bunch of them. You get a combined shipping price that way and because they're plentiful (low numbers anyway), you'll often be the only bidder.

The best luck I've had though has been to visit a card show. No guessing on condition, no shipping charges and you can walk around and shop for the best deals. And every dealer at a card show will give you a good break if you buy a bunch at one time. You can also find good starter sets as well.

I would add that the "in action" cards seem to be really poorly centered and you'll pay a premium for nice ones.

[Harliduck]

Originally Posted by SAllen2556

It's those darn high numbers. From about #656 to the end they run $4-6 each in ex condition and $10-12 each, and up, for nm. I foolishly am trying to assemble a nm condition set and am about 15 cards away. At $10-12 each those high numbers are killing me! If I had to do it again, I'd save up and just buy the whole set. For some reason, this is one set where the sum of the parts are way, way more expensive than the whole.

If you use ebay, I've had luck finding one seller with a bunch of cards at starting auction prices of 99 cents. I wait until the last minute and bid on a bunch of them. You get a combined shipping price that way and because they're plentiful (low numbers anyway), you'll often be the only bidder.

The best luck I've had though has been to visit a card show. No guessing on condition, no shipping charges and you can walk around and shop for the best deals. And every dealer at a card show will give you a good break if you buy a bunch at one time. You can also find good starter sets as well.

I would add that the "in action" cards seem to be really poorly centered and you'll pay a premium for nice ones.

So its YOU I've been bidding against...hahaha....

Couldn't agree more with your comments. I bought 74-current when I jumped back in...had I known what I now know, I would have bought 72 and maybe even 71 outright. I love the thrill of the chase, but these two are tedious killers...

[Tomman1961]

Agree with stlcardsfan. Buy bigger lots. Sell off doubles on ebay. High numbers were tough on me because I can not stand off-center cards. I think I bought them nainly through lots and sold the double on Ebay singly. No idea what the set cost me as I had about 75% of the set from when I was a kid in 1972 and they were - even for an 11 year old- handled with care. I am 5 years working solely on 1934-6 Diamond Stars now. Still maybe 3 -5 years to go. All raw. On this set I have a listing on the price of each vard I paid. Easy for only 106 card set. I'm afraid to add up the cost right now.

[groundhog]

Long time without a post, sorry with that I have been busy. Anyway, I had a nice mail week.

First off, thanks to other members offering me cards for free. That is really nice of you.

Harliduck sent me 25 cards for free. Thanks a lot man, your generosity is astounding. The cards were:
555 Ron Santo (HOF)
506 Indians RC Stars
375 Reggie Cleveland
366 Jimmy Rosario
363 Ron Klimkowski
345 Rick Wise Boyhood Photos
315 Paul Splittorff
312 Clay Carroll IA
305 Ken Boswell
297 Claude Osteen
288 Johnny Jeter
274 Al Severinsen
264 Tommy John
260 Ralph Garr
248 Tom Bradley
208 Milt Pappas
121 Ed Sprague
109 Jerry May
60 Manny Sanguillen
51 Harmon Killebrew
46 Glenn Beckert IA
40 Bob Barton IA
39 Bob Barton
31 Cleon Jones

Also, I got 6 other commons/semi-stars too. Right now I'm at 48/787 which is 6%.

[groundhog]

Forgot to add a question. How did they track down those boyhood photos. Did Topps call their parents asking for photos. I'm curious.

[mattsedate]

Good luck.