60's and 70's raw craziness

[JollyElm]

Originally Posted by Yastrzemski Sports

A year and a half ago I was trying to complete a 1972 Topps set. I gave up online and picked them up at shows. The two I could not land were the Murcer- which I was losing at $30+ and the Tim Foli IA which I would quit at $20. I’m not sure what was going on at the time but those two were going for crazy money. I think I picked up both at a show under $20.

As a 1972 set aficionado, I can certainly offer some insight into the high cost of the Tim Foli IA card. It is nearly impossible to find one nicely centered, without a tilt, etc., so graded versions of it (say PSA 8 or 9) with decent centering have extremely high asking prices as compared to other lowly commons. So ebay sellers probably see the sold prices and put a premium on their cards, even though the ones they are listing are way O/C and don't share the same characteristics as the ones sold. Murcer is somewhat similar (although he was also a high numbered star in New York at a time when the Yanks had virtually nothing) in that his card is very 'tilt-centric.' Finding a centered, straight one is tough. Even a quick look at many PSA 9's shows a defined tilt to the card. If you only see what #699's sold for and don't assess the specific attributes of said cards, you come to the conclusion that the card itself is 'rare' and your asking price takes an elevator upstairs.