Condition perils of early 70's cards

[onlyvintage62]

Originally Posted by Fuddjcal

everything was good in the 50's followed by everything being dog S**t in the 70's and 80's.

From what I have heard (from people who worked there at the time) was that Topps was in severe financial distress. This led to poor (cheaper) paper and cutting corners in every conceivable way.

The flood in 72 did not help either with all of the damage.

Also lets not forget they had no competition..and a captive audience.

[steve B]

Originally Posted by onlyvintage62

From what I have heard (from people who worked there at the time) was that Topps was in severe financial distress. This led to poor (cheaper) paper and cutting corners in every conceivable way.

The flood in 72 did not help either with all of the damage.

Also lets not forget they had no competition..and a captive audience.

That could be part of it.

I know they cut corners in some pretty cool ways, like using cardstock with the card backs printed to make boxes for Bazooka gum.

[KCRfan1]

The 1977 Topps cards are on thinner stock and prone to chipping on the front. VERY tough set to collect in high grade. I am currently working on a '73 set, and it's taking time to find centered cards even more so in the high numbers.

[jchcollins]

Originally Posted by KCRfan1

The 1977 Topps cards are on thinner stock and prone to chipping on the front. VERY tough set to collect in high grade. I am currently working on a '73 set, and it's taking time to find centered cards even more so in the high numbers.

'77 is my birth year, and a decade or more ago I had a NM set. Wish I had kept it.