rarest post war cards revisited 20 top

[mrmopar]

Dave,

Do you have a description or photo of this item? I am aware of the 8x10 photo that came with the Topps main-in "kit" that had the team checklist and the newsletter. Is there something else?

Originally Posted by toppcat

1975 Sports Club Garvey

Here is a blog entry I did on the kit

http://1978theyearitallbegan.blogspo...orts-club.html

[toppcat]

Originally Posted by mrmopar

Dave,

Do you have a description or photo of this item? I am aware of the 8x10 photo that came with the Topps main-in "kit" that had the team checklist and the newsletter. Is there something else?

Yup, that's the one. Not that many of them out there from what I have seen.

[toppcat]

I didn't list the 3-D's as they are a little more plentiful than other items on the list. For instance 77 Fairly's have been graded by PSA. ALlowing for resubs, SGC and raw cards, there must be over 100 copies available at a minimum.
However, the stamped back versions (u pick 'em red or black) probably would make the cut.

[ALR-bishop]

Dave-- the Fairly and Maloney show up all the time. If the set was issued as a retail test issue in a limited market (I have a couple of wrappers which are scarce but do show up), it is curious why some of the cards in the set seem so much more scarce than others. I agree that the 3 known unissued proof cards belong on your list.

I think I finally got an easel

[brian1961]

Al---

Thanks for sharing your vast array of rare Topps. I particularly admire your 1968 Topps 3-D Mel Stottlemyre in PSA 6. A perfect card in high grade.

I was living in the suburbs of Chicago in the early 70s. A high school buddy of mine found out I liked baseball cards. He had some old cards, and two I had never before seen----a pair of 68 Topps 3-Ds. I just stared and stared at them. Wow. These looked so cool. By now I was a veteran of several years collecting the Kellogg's 3-Ds. Those were special to me, but these cards were also quite attractive.

How Scott and his father got the two, Stottlemyre and Bill Robinson, I do not recall. His father was a high school principal in another suburb; perhaps five years before he was at a meeting in metro NYC, and stopped in one of the candy shops in Brooklyn where Topps was known to market them. They even had the stamping on the backside to return them to Topps, which sounded ridiculous to me. Knowing what little I do about them, a pack cost a dime and you got two cards and two easels to stand them up. Topps designed them to be special. They were.

My buddy gave them both to me that day. I thanked him profusely, and again, I'd never seen them before, nor knew what they were. In a year, I found out. In about 1973, I hooked up a trade with pioneer collector and dealer extraordinaire, Larry Fritsch. I traded him the Stottlemyre for a 1952 Topps Roy Campanella. The Stottlemyre was EX+, I would say; the Campanella EX-MT. We did it through the mail. Apparently, Larry needed Stot, and I only owned one other 52 Topps high number. We were both happy, though that Stottlemyre was flat out beautiful.

Thanks again, Al, for taking the pains to share some of yours Topps "Mother Lode". Best regards, Brian Powell

[ALR-bishop]

Thanks for sharing the story Brian. Have you seen the 2011 Topps Lineage 3D set ? It is a nice set, only 15 cards. Already had a wrapper but needed the easel, which are hard to come by these days

[ALR-bishop]

Larry may be right but I found the blacked out Smith to be very tough. The big head prototypes are very tough. Just the Moryn below

[toppcat]

Originally Posted by ALR-bishop

Thanks for sharing the story Brian. Have you seen the 2011 Topps Lineage 3D set ? It is a nice set, only 15 cards. Already had a wrapper but needed the easel, which are hard to come by these days

Al you got a steal of deal on that one!

I think the tougher 3-D's were cards that ended up damaged in production. My Maloney No Dugout, like all known examples of this variation, has two pull marks on it that are pretty severe for an issued product(lower left bottom border) and I'll bet the damage to some other cards was too much to let them be issued. They could also have had short prints, of course.

[brian1961]

Originally Posted by ALR-bishop

Thanks for sharing the story Brian. Have you seen the 2011 Topps Lineage 3D set ? It is a nice set, only 15 cards. Already had a wrapper but needed the easel, which are hard to come by these days

Glad you liked my story, Al.

Yes, I have seen several of the 2011 Topps Lineage 3Ds. I was fortunate to be able to get a Mantle in PSA 10. I just love that card. Since purchasing the rights to produce Mickey Mantle cards, Topps wisely chooses to use stirring photos from Mantle's early years. Two most attractive exceptions are the 2012 Gypsy Queen, with Mick rubbing the side of his pants while at bat. Looks like a live telecast of NBC Game of the Week!

The other I love is that 2011 Topps Mantle 3-D, with the shot of Mickey appearing to be from the late stages of his career--where he would always use a batting helmet, and frequently wear the undershirt with the black long sleeves. He is seen beginning to drop his bat, as he watches one of his titanic home runs sail into the far reaches of the bleachers. Those moments were becoming fewer, and he relished them. Nice shot. I think of that card as precisely what a 1968 Topps 3-D would have looked, had Topps chosen to make one of him.

Thanks again for sharing some of your wonderful collection with us, bro.

---Brian Powell