Saturday, May 13, 2017

A Failed 1972 Topps Experiment

I am closing in on finishing up my 1971 Topps set which has me pretty excited.  I am also working on the 1969 and 1972 Topps sets.  The 1969 set needs include mostly higher dollar cards that I am slowing looking to see if I can find some deals on.  The 1972 set needs are almost all from the last 2 series and I have very few from a very tough high series.

In all honesty, I struggle to see how I am going to finish the 1972 set with my miserly ways - I find it hard to pay double digits for a base card of a non-star, particularly when the last series contains 131 cards.  A few weeks back I ran across someone who does vintage set breaks.  You buy a slot in the break and he does some randomizing and matches the purchased spots with different cards in the set.  I saw a 1972 Topps set break and thought it would be worth jumping on.  I thought it would be great to land on a star like Ryan or Clemente or Mays or Aaron but my primary thought was knocking a card or two off my high number want list.

I ran some quick math in my head, 787 cards in the set 131 high number cards, so the odds show I should get a high number card on out of every 6 slots.  I really wanted to get at least one but didn't want to break the bank so I jumped in on 10 slots for a total of $30.  Here were my results:


Well, you can see I didn't pull any stars and I will save you the effort of looking up any card numbers and share that I didn't pull even one high number.  The small saving grace is that I did need the checklist card and a couple of these were slight condition upgrades.

I don't blame the seller, he did everything on the up and up and everything was live streamed and recorded.  It was just my dumb bad luck and more evidence that leads me to the conclusion that my 1972 Topps set may never get completed.

5 comments:

  1. I have a couple hi numbers to throw your way. I wouldn't completely give in yet. I finished the 71 and 72 set a few years back. I just chipped away.

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  2. Hey, if I completed it, you can.

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  3. 72 is going to be a killer for me too, but I will keep my want list up for it for as long as it takes.

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  4. Go to the National if it's close to you one year. Or find someone that can go and will shop for you too.

    I found a dealer that had high number 72's for a buck a shot. They weren't in pristine condition, but neither is my set, so it worked out well. The bigger shows usually always yield bargain vintage.

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  5. The high numbers are what prevented me from even attempting this set. I waited patiently on eBay for one that met my condition requirements and cardboard budget, then jumped on it.

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