A 1952 Topps complete set. Starting "the" ultimate post war project
 

I have decided to take on the very long-term task of building a '52 Topps set (pretty much out of the blue this evening). Beyond the obvious reasons, this epiphany also hit because:

- Making a slow-paced lifetime project out of it will be a fun challenge

- The set is one of the very few that may actually be cheaper to put together piece by piece. The few complete sets that you see are vastly overpriced, and I don't want to consider a 50 k outlay at once anyway.

- Already have Berra, Feller, Hodges, and about a dozen commons. Almost there eh, so why not finish it off ;)

Will likely attempt doing it low (but no awful beaters) to borderline mid-grade, and just look for the best deal on everything in that range.

Has anyone else here taken this on? How has it gone compared to your expectations?

I was actually thinking about the same thing with the '52s, but then decided to just go to the beach and count the grains of sand. Figured I'd finish that off sooner.

;) Good luck.

I've actually have thought about this a couple of times (probably just the low numbers), but haven't gotten to a good stopping point on my other projects.

Maybe your idea of a lifetime project might work for me though. It could sort of just sit in the background and grow slowly without feeling a constant need to feed the fire.

I first started the 52 set in 2005 with a goal of completing the set with an average condition of PSA 5. I worked on it for about a year and a half and got to about 40% (mainly low # commons) by late 2006. However, outside of the Mays card, I had none of the stars and started feeling like I would never complete this set and began working on other sets. For the next 10 years I worked on completing other sets (sets from 53 on up).

In 2016 I realized that the 52 set was a glaring hole in my collection. I also knew at this point that if I went back to building the 52 set, the distraction of building other sets would not be an issue as I had completed most all of the sets on my "list". So I started again on the 52 set. Over the past four years I have used nearly all of my collecting funds on this set. I picked up the Mantle (lower grade with my desired visual appeal) in 2016 knowing that once I had that card, it was down hill from there. I finished the low # run in early 2018 and have focused on the high #s since. I am now 12 cards shy including the Campy, Mathews and Jackie cards. Based on their costs (now), I have an anticipated finish date of 2022.

Minus the 10 year break, this set (based on my available funds/condition preference) will take almost 8 years to complete. For me, this set has been a journey.

a fun set...as you can see from my username...i could never get the right mantle as i have assembled almost all the other cards a few times

Yes, quite a few times. I love picking up large lots, and upgrading over time. It's a constantly moving project akin to army ants. The cards ebb and flow with new batches coming in, and new collectors picking them up.

It's also a set where I don't see it losing value anytime soon. The tough part is paying for the high series. It stinks paying 50$ or more for commons, but everyone needs them. Demand outweighs supply.

I am 7 cards from the set, but I know i will never finish.

Go Get 'Em
 

I'm on my 2nd run doing 52's. The first time I built it--it was raw and I did it from 1981-1985. It was actually pretty easy as I could find guys with albums with those 8-card pages and flip through 'em to find centered cards.

This time around, the Mantle will make it nearly impossible for me so I'll use a custom Banty Red Mantle.

I can't tell you what to do, but I can say that cards that PSA would deem a "5" that are centered present beautifully and have a slightly handled, beautiful appearance. I am happy to buy them raw. It seems Greg Morris brings higher prices for raw cards than graded examples--so he's really not a great option on-line. Great seller, but a card that sells routinely for 25 bucks in a holder sells for 40 raw. I'll save the $15 and break out the saw! But he's the only guy I find in that position. Most cards raw are affordable. Long-term you'll want centered cards with clean images. They are much easier to re-sell if you need to.

Question for you...are you a numbers guy? Meaning, are you cool with a set that ranges from "3"s to "8's" ? Some guys (me included) don't like such a wide condition range. I have found it's inevitable with 52's. The high numbers make NM and better cards awfully hard to assemble without selling your house.

I'm excited for you and hope you take it on! Keep us posted. At least one guy is very interested in your progress!
Phil

plus issues now of trimming on the high number cards in the nm rnage

I really appreciate all of the input everyone.

As far as what Phil said here: I'll be looking for low grade (w/o anything horribly damaged, bad stains/tape/writing on front, etc) to borderline mid-grade, so basically grade 1.5 to 4-5. Though my Feller is a slabbed 5.5, so I might have to bang a corner on it to keep things uniform :) Never plan on selling these parts of my collection or upgrading anything I get, so will be taking advantage of that lack of resale value for 85/15ish type centering when possible to lower cost.

It will all be about getting the best deal on anything within those grades while compiling a set that always looks better than beaters, regardless of raw or graded.

I agree that a lot of the Greg Morris raw cards sell at the top of the market, but I've found that occasionally you can find the commons, semi-stars, and even low demand HOFers/bigger names (Ashburn, Red, Roberts, etc) that you need at a very useable price. That was actually where I bought the Hodges yesterday, and that was just before I'd even decided to build the set (at the time, just liked the idea of getting a clean grade 4-5 '52 T card of someone like that for a big discount). So I will still attempt to find anything that falls through the cracks in his auctions.

But getting good deals anywhere on the top names and high numbers will naturally be very difficult, especially in the current market.

Also, how much trouble did everyone have with avoiding reprints or fakes? It won't be much of a problem for the grades that I'm looking for, but noticing those is not my strong point (other than when it's fairly obvious from an ebay listing that something is up).

Hey, that's great that you are going for a '52 set. I am right now in the middle of acquiring '52 Topps as well. Man, that set in my opinion, is baseball cards as art. I don't think I'll every try to get the complete set, since as we know, a number of those cards are priced so high, especially Mickey's famous card. But I'm just going to have fun picking up the ones I can.

I never went for graded cards. I'm just going for the ungraded ones from some of the reputable dealers on ebay, and will keep an eye out for some nice ones here on 54.

Lol...

Have finished the set, including an unopened pack, and did the red and black backs, plus the Sain, Page, House and Campos (2) variations, plus many of the recurring print defects listed in the H&S super set. Even did the two versions of the Mantle, Robinson and Thompson, but stalled our on the gray backs which tend cost more than the high number cards. May yet get back into those if I last long enough.

Hadn't addressed the different backs and any other variations. Won't be taking any of that into account for my set.

The first 407 different players will be it :)

I'm still picking away at my set and following/updating some as I come across them.
With still needing 3 big name, somewhat pricey, (for me) cards in the low number set in Pafko, Berra and Martin and quite a few high number cards, it's unlikely I will ever finish the set but I am still trying.

Lately I have caught the hockey card bug again so all my focus, for the most part, has been on them.

With that being said, however, I did just win a sharp looking, (imo) Walker Cooper card last night so I guess I am still in the game.

Good luck to the OP. It's a great set and a lot of fun to collect. :)

I put the set together back in the 80s. It was a lot tougher back then because you had to travel to shows to find the cards and the high numbers rarely showed up. Now, cost not supply is what makes the set tough. I sold off my set and I wouldn't try to collect it today due to too many stars missing from the set and the cost of common high numbers. Good luck.

There's one more issue that won't make this easy.....noticeably diamond cut cards are a pet peeve and I've always avoided them, especially since the TPGs seem to be so lenient on it.

But this set is so notorious for them. There's virtually no way it can be totally avoided, so that might be a balancing act.

Good thing I have maybe 40 years for this. 30 if I continue to eat the type of stuff in my fridge.

i finished the low numbers and am slowly working on the high numbers when i see them reasonably prices, and i mean slowly. it was a lot of fun and nice to finish it, it can be done. just have some upgrades now to a VG+ set

would like to save up for a Mantle that would kick in into overdrive on finishing the hi numbers.

good luck with it

Picked up a bunch of commons, (very) minors, and Roberts (if he counts) in grade 2-3. No high numbers yet, although spending real money on the Runnels felt similar.

This pace won't continue, but wanted some foundation to get started.

87/407

Attempted to break the high number cherry tonight (an unusually large number of them in my target range were just up for auction). Always got sniped. A clearly creased one that looked great in thumbnails sold for the same as many better cards, so sometimes people seem to just bid on them without even looking.

I'm somewhat concerned about a bubble effect in the market. Not just for these, but in general. Not much desire to force this and spend much more at the moment than I already have on my new vintage collection. If I'm wrong and end up spending 250 a pop for these grade 3ish high numbers in 10 years instead of 100 today, so be it.

Good thing this is a lifetime project.....

Those highs just keep increasing. I still need a handful and got blown out!

So you were one of those who rendered my bids insignificant ;)

There was heavy action on those. Thing is, they still ended up being a better deal than some of the prices on beaters lately. I'd rather spend 120 on a 3.5-4 than 60 on a 1

I am not a set guy so I don’t know the answer to this firsthand and never will but money aside how quickly could a 1952 Topps set be assembled?

If money wasn't an option, theoretically you could complete it right now. Every card is always available on eBay or other venues. Wouldn't be very fun and would be expensive but at any one time I'd be surprised if there weren't at least 10 (probably more) of all 407 cards listed on eBay.

There's also several complete sets available to purchase right now as well on eBay.

Only "several" if you include Dean's Cards' different ways to buy it, and most people ignore his listings because of the prices anyway.

Other than his, there is only one complete set that is currently (or has been) offered for awhile, and that person is asking a price fit for around a grade 3.5 or 4 set, despite its Mantle being PSA 1. There have also been no complete '52 sets up for auction on ebay in at least the last three months, which is really a sign of a (lack of) availability.

So, yes, it's possible to get a set or any of the cards, but if you care about getting anywhere near a decent bang for your buck, it's a different ballgame than most (and probably all) other major post-war issue. Comparing it to any ol' group of listings for anything else does not portray the reality that most people will experience with acquiring '52 T

My big project is from one year later, but I've had a lot of fun building it, especially at the beginning when I was writing to the surviving players and getting responses. Now new additions are few and far between, but the thrill of the chase and the other collectors I've met along the way keep me going. Good luck with your project!

I wonder if we are watching/bidding on the same seller?

I noticed these cards quite a few days ago just searching around so I decided, based on those current bids at the time, to save quite a few in my watch list in hopes of maybe being able to win a few?

Like you guys, I was quickly outbid and was quite surprised to see the final prices realized.

Converting the price of these cards to CDN dollars then adding in PayPal's cut, making it even worse, it looks like I will be staying away from trying to collect any high number/value cards for a while yet.

Good luck guys. :)

Napolean BLOWNapart on last nights auctions.

After sales tax, and ending prices...I'm just not valuing these cards high enough. Time to rethink the tactics.

Btw ever see high numbers at card shows? They are even higher than Ebay, and the one or two dealer that have a few, claim most sold right away

Our money might be better spent on the research and development for building a time machine, that will transport us back to 1952 where we can buy up these cards. I think this would be cheaper!

Or if you believe the story you could just hijack the barge before it dumped it's load

I barely even bothered last night. Between who was bidding on the high numbers (and how), it had the feel of both dealers who knew they could easily mark something up a good bit (and sell that item quick), combined with probably some experienced collectors who were ok with paying up to finally get their hands on what they needed.

Not a good spot for those of us looking to get prices we wanted, that's for sure.

For awhile I wondered if the prices on my screen for them were in Japanese Yen.....

Kluszewski. Nice grade 3-4 card bought for barely more than a beater. Even though Klu often sells fairly cheap, still, just the kind of pickups I want to find.

Looks like the rest of the high numbers are tonight. First one I see:

"VG+ to VG/EX, has 6 or 7 small indentation holes in bottom edge"

Current bid with an hour left in the auction: $99.00 already

88/407

LOL. :D

PM coming.

# 397 Forrest Main bought

I don't even know what a Forrest Main is, other than the fact that it had a lifetime ERA of over 5.00. But it is now the first '52 T high number I've ever owned. The fact that it's a Pirate makes it even better.

Don't understand how it happened, either. This was one of the seller's very nicest commons out of the whole lot. Clean, corners of a grade 4, and impossibly perfect centering that makes its true value an easy 5.

Yet I got it for $114, basically the same price that all his creased ones went for.

Maybe everyone turned off their Allegro for a minute :rolleyes:

89/407

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/IpUAA...KO/s-l1600.jpg

Some high numbers are just harder to obtain than others and there is also the possibility not as many were after Forest Main tonight as they were with other cards?

It's a funny hobby as you likely know? I've chased some raw cards for what has likely been months to finally get one only to see more of them a month or 2 later going for half or less than what I paid.

The same can be said for cards I've decided to sit/wait on then watch those cards explode or rise exponentially a month or 2 later with the prices never coming down again.

I think you paid a fair price for that card tonight and I honestly don't ever see it dropping much, if any, from the price you paid?
However, as you likely also know, this hobby is like a roller coaster at times so nothing is ever conclusive.

Congrats on your first high number pick up tonight. It's a very nice card.:)

Thanks. I was being somewhat tongue-in-cheek above, but the surprise was real.

The pop #s for this one are right in line with the rest though, so it doesn't seem like it's an easier card. It was likely just the fact that even though these markets are highly efficient, it's never 100%. Especially in auctions.

Congrats on the pick up!

I had to mention, I do t follow the seller much, but did see the 52 dick William's he sold 2 weeks ago for 118. A buyer with one feedback purchased it for, and the underbidder from that sale was the winner and underbidder on most of the auctions over the last few days. The 11,000 feedback bidder could just be a 52 high series collector or flipper.

Maybe people are desperate to pick up these High seriea before prices go higher, but I am always skeptical. I cant see any of the cards last night being graded as a 4, and that's and outside shot. Most will be 3s or lower. They'd be hugh ends 3s or low end 4s.

True, I agree that there weren't even many possible 4s in his lots. Mine might not even get one (though I'm not sending 100 dollar cards that won't be resold in to get graded anyway), but the perfect centering helps things enough that I'm fine with it regardless.

Perfect centering in that one, nice pick up

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

16 commons added. Hard to resist nice low grade ones for 5-6 bucks each.

105/407

Large order received. Roberts, Runnels, seven commons are being returned. Going to be pickier about this set than any other; all the time in the world to be. Every single card doesn't have to fit ideally, but I want anything that doesn't to be more of an exception.

96/407

That is one thing I wished I had of done when I decided to start back collecting in 2016.
I read some good posts, where those within said what to look for, what to watch, etc, but for some reason, I ignored that advice for the most part.

Not sure why I was in such a hurry to amass as many 52's as I could, but that is what I did. I had fun but I wish I had of been a little more careful with some of my selections.

1952 Topps Set
 

Completing the set will be a fun, frustrating run. Many on here have noted some of the particular challenges. I completed the base set with most variations several years ago. I am now trying to complete a run of the mid-series gray backs. I realize I will probably never finish it - as it will be almost impossible to obtain a Yellow Tiger House gray back.

However, along the way, I've discovered a number of variations not listed in the Master Set, met a number of other fellow collectors and had quite a bit of fun. This is what collecting is about

Z

Another high number found in an auction tonight: #380 Koshorek

A PSA 9 OC that's a little diamond cut (not my norm, nor is buying this grade for my set). No one else wanted it, despite the opening bid being just double what the raw grade 2 high numbers were selling for last week. That makes me feel like I'm really missing something.

But reputable dealer and the card isn't on that massive PSA altered list that's been circulated. How often nowadays can you really get a high number like this (and especially for that price)? So I broke some of my protocols.

97/407

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/ZA8AA...ev/s-l1600.png

The Reiser maybe more than the House, Zach-- the variants can drive you nuts when you start down that path

Very nice Koshorek

Given the Topps/Bowman fight over players the set is chock full of coaches, minor leaguers and not the be heard from again guys. Fortunately there are some great players as well.

The variants are what makes it a true challenge!

To find these odd ball guys signed is almost impossible, I can echo the sentiment!

I ended up with 200+ 52 Topps from the collection on a friend that pasted away I slowly add to it when I can. But it sure is a long road so good luck with your set.

George-- welcome to The Dark Side

Forrest Main above being returned. There is damage on the back (despite the "clean back" description for it and most of that seller's high numbers.) So it turns out the lack of scans of the backs in his listings is probably for reasons other than laziness. Given how eagerly people bid for his stuff, I was hoping that wasn't the case.

Adding to the list of sellers being avoided. No longer going to update here until I get something and it's as described and shown (as it appears my return rate on these '52s may be well higher than the norm)

96/407