1984 Topps "head all in the box"...
 

...or Encased proof set. Note the mix up on Carlton and Mathews ( marked with stickers)

http://i1267.photobucket.com/albums/...sSheets002.jpg

Nice sheet. I had never heard of these until recently I picked up some commons to have as samples from the set.

these are very cool cards! There are a couple rare proof cards on a sheet on ebay and the seller doesn't even realize it! I have been fascinated with proofs since I read the articles in Baseball Cards Magazine in the mid 80's.

84 Proof HIB
 

Always a favorite. Here are some of my 84 Topps proof's. Not so long ago, Global was the only company grading these. I got a couple sets and cut them up myself; had one graded with a high GPA:

proofs ?
 

I had an interesting debate with a seller of these ...well interesting to me anyway. His position was that these are not proofs in the traditional sense. You can find blank backed proofs of 1984 Topps cards with the head out of the box. He claimed that those were true proof cards. These he said, although blank back, were not proofs but rejected prototypes that led to the design change ultimately adopted. It may be a distinction without a difference, but in his mind it made the head in a box "prototypes" more valuable than mere proofs. As for the value of this "set" over time, he has mostly been right.

Other than the 67 Maris as a Yankee and the 77 Jackson as an Oriole ( there are some other 77 proofs like that as well), proofs, unless they include a Topps Vault certificate do not seem to sell for great premiums over other blank back cards. I would add the 3 1960 "proofs" of Cimoli, Hadley and Throneberry to the value list, but I think Bob Lemke determined that they are not blank backed proofs but rather rare variations with regular backs

AL, do any other players have HIB cards, or was just those on this sheet?
You said "encased proof set" so I'm thinking it's just these, but wanted to double check. Thanks.

1984 Encased or Head in the Box
 

Vincent---The base set has only 66 cards that come from a proof design sheet like the one I have. They are always blank backed and are not proofs of the actual 1984 set. In addition to the Carlton/Mathews mix up, Manny Trillo appears as an Indian rather than an Expo as in the regular set. I say base set because some say a master set includes 338 cards...the same 66 cards but with different colors missing from progressive proof sheets. Some of these also show up on ebay from time to time...blueless, redless, blackless. I picked up some as examples

Thanks for the info!

It looks like Carlton got a pretty dark spray tan in his pic at the bottom. :eek:

For the Dodgers team set there are three cards. F. Valenzuela and Greg Brock are fairly easy to find, however, I had to purchase the Topps Vault Progressive proof of Steve Sax in order to complete my team set. If anyone has a regular encased Sax I would be a buyer. Thanks.

84 Sax
 

I have a Sax that is sheet cut... PM me if interested.

Thanks for selling me the card Keith, I appreciate your help! Looking forward to receiving it.

And thank you Al, for letting me hijack your thread to cross another item off my want list!

Maris, Jackson
 

Does anyone have scans of the aforementioned '67 Maris Yankees or '77 Jackson Orioles? Would love to see them.