1970s HOF rookie cards...why so little love?

[bk400]

Greetings all, I've returned to the hobby after collecting as a child of the '86 Mets...

In my search for centered Gary Carter and Ozzie Smith rookie cards, it seemed that HOF rookie cards from the 1970s seemed to be less popular among collectors than those from the 1960s. Any thoughts on this? Thanks.

[David W]

They are just as popular, there are just 100 times (or more) as many available, especially post 1974

Look at the price difference between 1968 Johnny Bench and 1973 Mike Schmidt for example.

[Exhibitman]

Maybe also aesthetic. So many of the 1970s RCs are crappy-looking 3-4 player cards. Most of the 1960s multiple player cards are 2 players per. But definitely population-related.

[bk400]

Thanks, appreciate the insights. Makes sense. I have my eye on the 1975 Topps Mini rookies -- seems like they are much rarer than the regular 1975s, and the mini set itself is a bit of an oddity. Relatively low graded populations as far as I can tell on Brett, Yount and Carter. But based on what I've read in some older posts, the 75 Minis are kind of "love 'Em or hate Em" for a lot of folks...

[Lucas00]

If the '75 minis weren't all hoarded by one or two people back in the day and then all bought and handled by collectors, they would be so much more valuable. Imagine that didn't happen and kids bought them like it should've happened. I think you would be seeing Brett go for $500+ today.

[bk400]

I didn't realize that the 75 Minis were largely taken up by adults / investors...the condition that I am finding them in as a general matter suggests that a lot of them weren't taken care of that well.

[Lucas00]

Originally Posted by bk400

I didn't realize that the 75 Minis were largely taken up by adults / investors...the condition that I am finding them in as a general matter suggests that a lot of them weren't taken care of that well.

It's slightly over exaggerated. But even collectors over the years beat cards up. I'm sure many have been in and out of boxes and binders 10+ times.

[bk400]

Thanks for the insights. I was slightly surprised that the bookended Hank Aarons in that 75 mini set is as expensive as it is in 7+ graded condition.

[G1911]

They were widely available here on the west coast to kids buying cards. I see more minis than regular 1975 cards at shows in my home area still, probably because of this. Made the set really easy to build. My dad, who was 13 in 1975, said he bought several boxes worth (the most of any set he had) of the minis because he was aware at the time that they were some kind of regional issue and people elsewhere had the regular size cards. He doesn’t remember getting any of the regular size that year or if local retailers carried both. All memories are subject to error, but there’s some anecdote.

[Kutcher55]

I have been obsessed with the 75 mini set in the past 1-2 years and I can tell you that there's a lot of EX-MT cards freely floating around on eBay and elsewhere but the cost goes up and the supply goes down quite rapidly as you creep past 6.5 into true 7+ land.

Not sure how "scarce" the set really is, other than I'm pretty sure they made less of them than the full sized set. It has its fans and its detractors. As a condition sensitive set, it has pretty much every issue you could imagine and so truly nice centered pack fresh cards are tough to come by. This is particularly true with a handful of issues, such as #16, and #647 and another 30 or 40 cards that have chronic ink splotches, and/or are usually off center/tilted and/or are factory cut short top to bottom.

[Grigsby]

Originally Posted by Kutcher55

I have been obsessed with the 75 mini set in the past 1-2 years and I can tell you that there's a lot of EX-MT cards freely floating around on eBay and elsewhere but the cost goes up and the supply goes down quite rapidly as you creep past 6.5 into true 7+ land.

Not sure how "scarce" the set really is, other than I'm pretty sure they made less of them than the full sized set. It has its fans and its detractors. As a condition sensitive set, it has pretty much every issue you could imagine and so truly nice centered pack fresh cards are tough to come by. This is particularly true with a handful of issues, such as #16, and #647 and another 30 or 40 cards that have chronic ink splotches, and/or are usually off center/tilted and/or are factory cut short top to bottom.

There was a case break of 1975 minis about 10 years ago on the PSA boards.

I would assume that's the source of many EX-MT cards floating around especially if they are graded.

[Lucas00]

https://robertedwardauctions.com/auc...mini-wax-cases

https://robertedwardauctions.com/auc...ard-assortment

https://sportscollectorsdigest.com/c...charlie-conlon

[bk400]

Originally Posted by Lucas00

https://robertedwardauctions.com/auc...mini-wax-cases

https://robertedwardauctions.com/auc...ard-assortment

https://sportscollectorsdigest.com/c...charlie-conlon

Goodness, I guess some inventory did hit the market. Thanks for the detail.

[Kutcher55]

Originally Posted by Lucas00

https://robertedwardauctions.com/auc...mini-wax-cases

https://robertedwardauctions.com/auc...ard-assortment

https://sportscollectorsdigest.com/c...charlie-conlon

Thanks for sharing. That’s interesting and a cool story about Charlie C.

40-60k cards certainly isn’t “nothing,” but it’s not exactly junk wax era volume either. (I know, you weren’t suggesting this). Ultimately in a 660 card set it is less than 100 cards per player, which is only a bit more than a drop in the bucket in the grand scheme. It surprises me that minis no longer have much of a (if any) premium over the regular set. Some collectors just view them as a novelty and prefer the full sized set. They still do carry a premium when you get to 8+ territory although not so much with the high profile cards as some of the lesser stars and tough commons. Hard for me to see why they aren’t 2X or more valuable than the reg set but the market doesn’t have it that way.

[Elberson]

The secret is to keep quite and just keep buying lol

[bk400]

Originally Posted by Elberson

The secret is to keep quite and just keep buying lol

Easier said than done!

Separately, I've found that the 70s Topps cards are, perhaps unsurprisingly, extremely condition dependent in basically every set. When I look at cards in the 7-9 graded range, there's usually at least one of the following problems (in addition to collector-induced wear and tear on corners and edges):

1) Centering
1a) Centering
2) Stains (presumably wax), usually on the back of the cards
3) Print spots (not sure what those little white circular marks that show up on the colored backgrounds are called)

My personal view is that a well-centered 1970s card -- perhaps more so than on cards from other decades -- makes a massive difference in eye appeal. And it appears that others share that view as well, as sellers of well-centered cards within a given grade seem to want a premium.

Although my eyes tend to agree, I was slightly surprised that a well centered card with a small wax stain on the back seemed to be more expensive than a more off-centered card that is otherwise devoid of print spots or wax stains.

[Bigdaddy]

Because every thread needs a card….

[Exhibitman]

I recently acquired 4000+ 1975-80 Topps FB cards and less than 100 were centered and clean enough to keep. Lots of nice sharp clean o/c stuff.

[D. Bergin]

Originally Posted by Lucas00

https://robertedwardauctions.com/auc...mini-wax-cases

https://robertedwardauctions.com/auc...ard-assortment

https://sportscollectorsdigest.com/c...charlie-conlon

Looks like somebody got a bargain on those wax cases. Roughly 681 bucks a box...or $18 bucks a pack.

Even in 2009 that was a bargain price. I remember Mini unopened packs were easily selling for 50 bucks a pop in the late 80's.

I'd love to pick up an unopened box for anywhere near what those went for.