1970’s Topps Hall of Fame Project
 

While looking for a new collecting project I was struck by just how cheap collector grade (VG) type 1970 hall of famers were. I have set out on a quest to get every 1970-79 Topps hall of fame card. Per Psa there are approx 650 such cards. That number includes league leader cards which I have decided not to include and therefor my number will be around 500. I have added a couple of limits to make the chase a little more difficult. (1) No single card purchase can be more then 25.00 (if cards are bought in a lot I will divide total cost by number of cards in lot) and (2) Total per card cost is less then 2.00 per card. So far I am 220 cards in at 1.51 per card.

Curious if anyone has tried a similar project and also thoughts on prices of 1970’s cards


Also for any eagle eyed viewers, yes that is in Tony Olivia and I know that he is not in the hall but I refuse to accept that so he goes in my collection

Very cool project, kudos!


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Hi Jason -

Nice to meet you! I'm trying to do something similar although a bit broader. My three overlapping goals are (1) at least one playing-era card of as many HOFers as possible; (2) complete HOF runs of as many pre-1986 Topps sets as possible; and (3) complete Topps runs of as many HOFers as possible 1953-85 (knowing that the '52s are just never going to happen :rolleyes:). I'm limiting it to just the main Topps base card, so no league leaders, all-stars, etc.

For the '70s, yeah, it's great what you can get for a couple bucks a card. I like the price-restriction challenges you've put in place - of course Mantle's conveniently timed retirement helps a lot :). Are you going to punt on condition for cards like the Schmidt rookie or 70T Ryan? Probably have to for $25 unless you happened to have them already.

The other challenge in keeping the per-card cost down is eBay sales tax and shipping charges (unless you've been able to buy a lot of them in person), or are you not counting that?

Anyway, cool project, and if you have any doubles, maybe we can work out a trade at some point.

Good question on price and eBay. My plan includes buying cards in lots and selling what I don’t need to keep net cost low

There is something so beautiful about album pages filled with cards of great players that are in 'normal' collecting shape. It stirs up the childhood memories in all of us. Awesome!!

+1000! That's what it's about for me.

That's how I approach pre-1970 Topps collecting. I mostly had those cards in vg condition as a kid so that's how I like them now. 1970s were pack pulls for me, so I like them in better shape, though O/C cards are just fine since that is how they came out of the packs I opened.

Very cool project! A few of the RC's in the 70's may test your $25 limit as ASF123 mentioned. Still, I bet you get 90% of the way there and then you'll have to figure out your approach to the early Ryans and RC's of Fisk, Schmidt, Yount, Brett, etc.

I was able to pick up decent looking Fisk and Yount rookies recently for (a bit) less than $25.

Actually was able to get the Bret and Yount as part of a large lot of 1975’s and sell off the rest to basically mean those cards were pretty much free. The Fisk actually is easy under 20. The difficult cards are going to be the 1970 Ryan, 73 Schmidt, 71 Clemente and a couple others

Update
 

I am now 279 cards in with an average of 2.08/card. As seen a number of the tougher cards are already in. Still haven’t figured out how to get the 1970 Ryan and 1973 Schmidt and still stay within my parameters.

I suggest to Go ahead and get the Oliva cards, and any other you think belongs in the hall........

I did a very similar project a couple years ago (only primary base cards of hall of famers in their playing days)...... I "finished", then Ted Simmons was elected!

also,
Just curious if you are including Pete Rose?

Nope Pete Rose will never be in my hall. I really dislike Rose, but not just for the gambling. Anyone who ruins a guys career in an All- Star game is not my cup of tea. In addition I would argue that he really wasn’t that good, he just played forever. On a season by season basis he was just a guy like Harvey Kuhn, or Brett Butler or 200 other guys that were good but not really stats. You don’t turn into a great player because you think that you should run from the on deck circle to the plate

Ask a seller to tear them in half?

I'm doing a similar project, and I did pick up a nicely centered Dick Allen rookie and his 67T high number cheaply just in case. I've strongly considered picking up some Minoso cards as well. Had a chance at a good deal on a nice Garvey rookie the other day, but I couldn't pull the trigger as I personally believe he would be a pretty bad choice for the Hall. I know some here disagree.

As to Rose, no - suffice to say I'm not a fan of his for multiple reasons and am happy not to have to spend the $ on his cards. (EDIT: Coke to Jason)

Solid Clemente 73 and Mays 72 for $2 each.

My first post here pretty much details my agreement with you guys

https://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=281904

His average is $2/card for the whole project - I'm sure those two didn't just cost $2 each...or if they did, I need to find that seller ASAP.

That’s correct- I think the Clemente was 4 and the Mays 10

OK, I still need to find that seller ASAP! ;)

I tried a post war hall of fame run of base set bowman & topps thru 1980.

I was about 80% complete when Ron Santo was elected. It was a bit annoying paying a premium for his cards. So, I added Oliva, Dick Allen, Minoso, Gil Hodges, and Jim Kaat. Pete Rose was already on my list.

Needless to say, I wasn't all that upset when Santo and Simmons were inducted (self submissions and my only two 10's from 1973): :o

https://caimages.collectors.com/psai...085Simmons.jpg https://caimages.collectors.com/psai...ps115Santo.jpg

nice!

Always loved that Simmons pose from 73. My favorite 70's set.

Thanks to a steal of an eBay deal I am now at 304 cards with a per card average of an even 2 dollars. Average will even fall more when I sell off my extras