1952 and 1953 Topps Cards

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Posted By: T206Collector

I have an opportunity to purchase about a shoebox full of early 1950's Topps baseball cards next weekend from a family friend, who has had them since childhood. I had an opportunity to see these cards about 15 years ago as a teenager, and the owner gave me a couple of 1952 Topps commons for my interest, but was not selling (and back then, I couldn't have afforded it anyway). Now the owner is 15 years older and has no one in his family that he wants to hand down his cards to, so he is turning to me, either to buy them outright or help him sell them at a fair price. I am very familiar with the prices of T206 cards, but other than reviewing a price guide, I do not have any real familiarity with early Topps issues.

I am looking for answers to a few questions about the 1952 and 1953 Topps sets. Putting aside the Hall of Famers, what is a good value for common cards in those sets? If memory serves me (again, I haven't seen these cards in 15 years) these cards will be in approximately VG condition, by and large, with some that would grade out at a 4, but more than would grade out at a 2. What would an average common 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5's sell for on eBay? What's a good buy/sell price? What do I need to know about high number commons?

Any information that you can provide would be appreciated. I'll keep you posted on what happens. It may be that I will be soliciting offers from many of you down the road.

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Posted By: Chris

$3-$5 for low # 1953 commons with $5 maybe stretching it a little. I'm not as familiar with the 52's but I have bout several 53's.

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Posted By: steve k

These cards are on ebay all the time, although the high numbers not as frequent. Very easy to check the values there. Centering is very important to the value, especially on the 52's.

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Posted By: Nick Martinez

T206,
Topps commons from these years in VG condition do not sell that well, but they will sell. These are in my opinion the best two years topps ever had. Topps common players from '52 and '53 that are high numbers sell very well. The '53 high numbers that are single prints are especially good sellers.

Nick

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Posted By: Darren J. Duet

What size is the box?
What condition are the cards in?
How many cards are there?
Have the cards bee "cherry picked"?

1952 topps cards will always be a hot item, esp. HOF'ers, Yankees and Dodgers, and cards in great condition?

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Posted By: T206Collector

It's a standard shoebox, but that is really not what I'm trying to get at.

I put together a matrix from ebay this morning that shows the final price of every 1952 Topps card sold over the past few weeks. From what I can tell, here are a few general principles:

(a) less than VG low number commons can be had for $1-$5.

(b) low number, VG commons can be found for $5-10.

(b) VG-EX low numbers can be had for $10-20.

(c) low number common prices really start to escalate with PSA 7's and higher, but even 5's and 6's can be had for $20-$30, give or take.

(d) even a PSA 1 high number card will get you over $50, with PSA 3 high number cards getting up to and over a hundred in certain instances.

Any thoughts or comments about my findings?

Also, what do I need to know about the difference between "Red backs" and "Black Backs"?

Thanks!

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Posted By: Bryan

Red backed or black backed cards virtually carry no premium with collectors, unless they are trying to make a master set of all cards. As someone who almost had the complete set at one time and then broke it for cash - I am finding it easier to find mid and higher grade cards on the internet but the prices will contiue to rise as they have in the past year. I am just now trying to once again complete the set and I have decided to take a different route than I think most collectors do. I am starting with high numbers first as rough conditioned ones bring at least $50 and most of the time more than that. It is always possible to pick one up on Ebay every now and then for under $50. For example, a thompson high number sold on ebay a couple days ago for just over $50 and I would call the condition about VG or better. Low numbered HOFers go very well on ebay as I have seen very beat up HOFers sell on ebay for $30 or more where I wouldn't have spent on the card as they probably did on the top loader that it was in. The 52 topps set is the best that have produced - in my eyes - and will continue to grow very popluar as people leave the "new" market and try concentrate on the older cards.

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Posted By: steve k

The pricing analysis is basically correct.

Here is a link to some Topps 52 information:

http://www.oldbaseball.com/refs/5253printing.html