1961 Dice Game

I had the Earl Battey card; bought it in Willow Grove in 1984 or 1985, sold it in the early 1990s. My recollection is that I was offered several others, but I was such a "mint fanatic" that I passed on them due to condition. The Battey wasn't mint - it had the typical staple holes - but it had nice corners and the staple holes were nearly invisible.

I had similar experiences with 1955 Topps Stamps and 1970 Topps Cloth Stickers (and several other more "common" test issues). I managed to find groups of each from dealers like Mid-Atlantic Coin, Rosen and Morris, then "cherry-picked" the nicest ones and turned my nose up at the others, not realizing how rare they were. Again, I sold these and most everything I had around 1991, some through SCD ads and some to Levi Bleam.

When I first got on the internet in 1997 and then eBay a year later, I thought I'd be able to find and replace all the stuff I regretted selling. Didn't happen.

[ALR-bishop]

Neat story Karl. I have just one each of the 61 Dice, 55 Stamps and 70 Cloth. Along with the 66 Punch Outs and recently posted 71 Rookie Artists Proofs, they seem to be the rarest of the unissued Topps test sets.

Originally Posted by ALR-bishop

Neat story Karl. I have just one each of the 61 Dice, 55 Stamps and 70 Cloth. Along with the 66 Punch Outs and recently posted 71 Rookie Artists Proofs, they seem to be the rarest of the unissued Topps test sets.

I wasn't even aware of the Artists Proofs in the 1980s, and the 1966 Punch Outs weren't on my radar, either. Besides the '61 Dice, '55 Stamps and '70 Cloth, my other grail was the Plaks - I had 12 or 13 of them, and searched like crazy for the others, some of which I know now probably never existed.

In 1984, my company (Cargill) actually transferred me from Minneapolis to an office right in Willow Grove - I think I spent my transfer bonus at a card show the first weekend. There were shows within driving distance pretty much every weekend back then.

I don't recall many other collectors pursuing test issues at the time, and most of what I turned up was through persistence - always giving out updated want lists to dealers, badgering Rosen and Morris on the phone, taking out SCD classified want ads (which actually netted me quite a few items).

I bought my 1955 Stamps from Mid-Atlantic, but only after going to their office/warehouse and asking if they had any oddball stuff. Someone (Rex?) led me to a room, left me there alone and told me to come get him if I found anything of interest. I found 7-10 stamps, but only 3 were uncreased or not miscut. At the time, I don't think anyone knew if they were a legitimate test issue. My recollection is that I just took the 3 nicest ones and paid $10-$20 each for them.

To illustrate how much of a "mint freak" I was, even though I collected everything Topps from 1951-1989 (I got as far as 85% complete, all NMMT and centered, before throwing in the towel), I wouldn't buy any of the 1960 or 1964 tattoos because of the tears they virtually always had. Around 1989, I finally bought a small stash of unissued 1964s from someone that were minty fresh, but I only kept the Killebrew - I finally had it graded a couple of years ago. I think I also agonized about the centering on the 1974 Puzzles, but finally put a set together after it became clear that no centered versions existed for several of them.

[hcv123]

Originally Posted by Karl Mattson

I had the Earl Battey card; bought it in Willow Grove in 1984 or 1985, sold it in the early 1990s. My recollection is that I was offered several others, but I was such a "mint fanatic" that I passed on them due to condition. The Battey wasn't mint - it had the typical staple holes - but it had nice corners and the staple holes were nearly invisible.

I had similar experiences with 1955 Topps Stamps and 1970 Topps Cloth Stickers (and several other more "common" test issues). I managed to find groups of each from dealers like Mid-Atlantic Coin, Rosen and Morris, then "cherry-picked" the nicest ones and turned my nose up at the others, not realizing how rare they were. Again, I sold these and most everything I had around 1991, some through SCD ads and some to Levi Bleam.

When I first got on the internet in 1997 and then eBay a year later, I thought I'd be able to find and replace all the stuff I regretted selling. Didn't happen.

I sold 1 I regretted - I had the 1966 Mays punchout. "stole" out of a Rosen auction of all places ~20 years ago. Sold it for a nice profit (~1k) to a Mays collector shortly after. Huggins and Scott just auctioned it off for I think about 23k

Originally Posted by hcv123

I sold 1 I regretted - I had the 1966 Mays punchout. "stole" out of a Rosen auction of all places ~20 years ago. Sold it for a nice profit (~1k) to a Mays collector shortly after. Huggins and Scott just auctioned it off for I think about 23k

Holy cow! I'm not sure I want to know if any of the stuff I had is worth that much today!

Owning rare or unique items, even if only briefly, is a special kick, ain't it? Even when family and friends think you're nuts.

[hcv123]

Originally Posted by Karl Mattson

Holy cow! I'm not sure I want to know if any of the stuff I had is worth that much today!

Owning rare or unique items, even if only briefly, is a special kick, ain't it? Even when family and friends think you're nuts.

It is. I appreciate knowing that I was in the chain of ownership. Still have a number of items that fit the bill.

What I really love about those family and friends think I'm nuts thing is when I tell them about selling something that they thought I was nuts for buying at a huge profit - I don't usually hear about how nuts I am at the end of those stories :-)

[ALR-bishop]

The Plaks were a plague on me for some time until Mile High came up with a bunch of them and I was able to fill out the set. The checklists also go for a lot these days.





Another tough issue

[moeson]

Karl, I know what you mean about the 1974 Puzzles. I'm not sure why the catalogs even give pricing for MT centered Ryan or Allen puzzles. Having once had the privilege of owning and opening several boxes, I'm pretty sure they never made it out of the pack that way.

[ls7plus]

Originally Posted by hcv123

It is. I appreciate knowing that I was in the chain of ownership. Still have a number of items that fit the bill.

What I really love about those family and friends think I'm nuts thing is when I tell them about selling something that they thought I was nuts for buying at a huge profit - I don't usually hear about how nuts I am at the end of those stories :-)

+1. Even my wife doesn't complain as much about my card buys anymore!

Highest regards,

Larry