OT - Boxing card question

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Posted By: <b>Judge Dred (Fred)</b><p>I'm not a collector of boxing cards but I do have a few. I was wondering what is the catalog classification of the following card and an approximate value. The top has an odd cut but it does not appear to be a collectors trim. The white line above JJs head is not a crease, it appears to be something from the printing process.<br /><br />Thanks for any help provided:<br /><br /> <img src="http://www.network54.com/Realm/tmp/1148596785.JPG">

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Posted By: <b>robert a</b><p>Nice card Fred.<br />It's an e77 and it's a pretty darn tough card to find.<br /><br />Rob

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Posted By: <b>Mark</b><p>Fred, mine has that same cut on the top and is graded by SGC.

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Posted By: <b>Judge Dred (Fred)</b><p>Robert,<br /><br />Thank you, I've had this for about 10+ years.<br /><br /><br /><br />Mark,<br /><br />Does your card have that same white line in the print (above JJs head)?<br /><br />How tough are these as far as cards are concerned? Any baseball card analogies?<br /><br />Thanks,<br /><br />Fred

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Posted By: <b>warshawlaw</b><p>E77s are frequently found with the slanted cut to them. They are among the more difficult E boxing cards; I don't know baseball E cards well enough to do a straight rarity comparison but they are definitely rare. <br /><br />In terms of known complete sets, I know of only one person who has one for sure and I think Pete Calderon is close. I have about 1/2 of them but I've never been much of a set guy, so I'm not a really good indicator of how hard a set is to put together. <br /><br />Over the last 2 years I've tracked a few discrete groups of these cards coming into the hobby, which makes them appear less rare than you would otherwise assume. There were three sets in lower grade in the REA auction, all of which I believe came from a single Ohio find, which also spewed a partial set onto Ebay in 2005 until the seller panicked and pulled his auctions (apparently the guy's grandfather really liked candy). Another 20 or so cards sold through ebay early this year. Other than those groups, I've seen on average only a few of them each year in any venue. <br /><br />In nice shape Jack Johnson as the key to the set should fetch at least $500 slabbed. The print line above his head does not appear in the other specimens I've handled. Check the SGC and PSA pops for some idea of how few of these cards have been slabbed. <br /><br />Edited to add: rarity assessment with boxing cards is a relative analysis. In terms of magnitude, there are E75 and E79 black backs which are attainable goals, E76 which is tougher but not impossible, then E77 which has under five known sets out there, then E78 and E80, then E79 red backs, then E211s, which are not even fully checklisted. Oh, and E125, which I forgot about and you should forget about too since there is only 1 known specimen of the Jeffries from that set. It appears that the print runs for most boxing issues were far smaller than for their baseball cousins, making for many sets with few known specimens. Once you get past the two or three easy sets, we are talking one known example versus five to ten known examples in differentiating between the levels.

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Posted By: <b>Mark</b><p>No white line on mine - SGC has graded 3.<br /><img src="http://www.network54.com/Realm/tmp/1148602722.JPG">

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Posted By: <b>warshawlaw</b><p>just got it back last week.

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Posted By: <b>Judge Dred (Fred)</b><p>Thank you all for your help. <br /><br />Adam, that is great information!

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Posted By: <b>Alan</b><p>Adam is probably the most knowledgeable boxing card expert on earth !!!

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Posted By: <b>warshawlaw</b><p>Now that is scary <img src="/images/happy.gif" height=14 width=14>

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Posted By: <b>Judge Dred (Fred)</b><p>I just wanted to update the thread and let you know that I sent the card to SGC and they gave it a 60. I'm not too much into the grade as much as I'm into keeping the card from getting creased. <br /><br />Thanks for your input. Maybe I'll start an E77 set. Probably not.

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Posted By: <b>warshawlaw</b><p>You've got the key so why not go for it? I have an extra Tommy Burns, also a 60...

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Posted By: <b>Judge Dred (Fred)</b><p>I saw an E79 combo card of Johnson and someone else in an auction that just closed and I was wondering how much easier it would be to complete the E79 set compared to the E77? Also, how much do you think it would cost to complete the E77 set in Vg/Ex condition (minus the Johnson)?

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Posted By: <b>Brent Butcher</b><p>It is probably easier to complete the E79 black back set on a ratio of 3:1. I'm not even sure you could complete an E77 set in vg/ex in less than 5 years unless money was no object. You could probably comlete a vg E77 set for an avg of $150/card minus the Johnson. So you are looking at around $3500 if you can find them.