[flkersn]

For 1952 Topps gray backs, I have been wondering how rare the "white front" cards are relative to the "gray front". I have always heard "about 10%". I thought I would explore the proposition.

For over 12 years I have been cataloguing 1952 Topps gray backs by PSA or SGC flip number, thereby creating a database of unique identifiers. I have created the database from E-bay sales, AH sales, VCP website, registry sets with photos, etc.

A few weeks ago there were 1054 graded Topps and 122 graded SGC cards, total of 1176 graded 1952 T gray backs. I have uniquely identified 730, or 62 percent. (There is surely some error as cards are broken out and re-submitted, etc., but I am hoping that in general the numbers apply.)

The result: 82 "white front" and 648 "gray front". 11%, or 1 in 9 are white. (I also realize that determining color from scans is often an art and not a science, but I am fairly confident in the results.) This clearly assumes that the raw cards out there are in the same proportion. I have obviously seen many raw scans, but there is no way to consistently uniquely identify them to prevent double-counting.

So, "about 10%" seems a great rule-of-thumb.

BTW, the are 14 cards for which I have never identified a white front version:
Widmar, Howell, Hartung, Haynes, Klippstein, Post, Smalley, Marshall, Edwards, Smith, Maxwell, Masterson, Miller, and OF COURSE, Reiser.

I will continue research, but I figured at my age I better make public what I have or it may be lost forever. Hopefully the sample size justifies the conclusions. Not sure if anyone is interested in this post, but if so, I welcome comments. And I certainly welcome scans of any privately held cards that would expand the data base.

Bill