Topps Dice Cards
 

Hi All:

I know I am intruding into the prewar forum here, but I hope Leon and you all will pardon me this one time.

Start saving your $$$$$$$

I have recently been consulted about 1961 actually 1963 Topps Dice cards.

I have been given permission to say that an UNCUT sheet of the complete set will be offered at auction most likely starting next month!

Once more permission is accorded I will post a photo with info about the auction itself

Topps Dice cards are arguably/probably the RAREST Topps Test set. I knew there was an uncut sheet out there and I know who had it but I never expected to have it see the light of day.

Mind BLOWN!!

More info to follow

dice
 

yea, you just dont ever see them !

You have my attention

Pretty incredible!
 

I heard rumors that the sheet was once owned by Larry Fritsch. Including the sheet, I think there are 3-4 known examples of each card. I think there are a couple of other worthy contenders for rarest issue including: 1966 Punchouts (2 known? examples of each), 1968 Topps Discs (1-4 known examples of each), 1967 Giant Standups (2-4 known examples of each), 1970 Cloth stickers(??)

In any case, thanks for sharing, can't wait to lay my eyes on it.

Anyone care to speculate on whether the sheet is worth more as a whole or whether it’s worth more when cut into individual cards?

If history is any guide, a skillful pair of scissors could net PSA 8s all around.

Wow

I saw 3 of these at a card show in Coral Springs FL back in the 1990s...Mickey Mantle, Stan Musial and Frank Robinson. They were in a small case by themselves, with no price. The vendor said they were not for sale, at any price. I asked if I could see one. He said, I'm sorry, but no. Only ones I have ever seen .

If you’re ever in Portland, drop me a line. You’re welcome to come over and check mine out. I’ll even let you hold it, assuming the slab doesn’t cause your skin to melt!

That's awfully kind of you, sir. If I am, I will do so!

I haven't seen good photos yet but I have been told there is some staining to the front of the sheet. So, good bye PSA 8's

This will be an amazing offering. One at my age I will have to pass on. Up to 1994 I have collected all Topps sets, including insert, supplemental and test sets. But for certain unissued test sets I have decided to settle for examples.

These are wwhat in my experience are the toughest Topps sets to build

55 Hocus Focus Baseball...missing one
55 Stamps...have only 1
56 Hocus Focus Baseball....done
61/3 Dice...have ony 1
66 Punch Outs ...have only 1
67 Stand Ups ( not 67 Punch Outs)...missing only 1
67 Discs. All Stars & Giants....done
68 Discs...have only a half dozen or so
68 3D...have set but missing one of 3 proofs and the prototype
70 Cloth...have only 2
71 Rookie Artists Proofs...have none
71 Topps Winners....need 5
80 Topps Test Coins...done

Al, you have to complete the Giant Stand Ups! And go for the Gold and Silvers on the 1980 coins-you can do it!

71 AS Rookies are each 1/1 I think, and all locked up. I think they are bespoke pieces made for a specific purpose, like a special dinner.

I still need a 55 Stamp, 66 Punchout, 70 Cloth and a 80 Coin for my Topps type run, although they are all protypes or mockups with the possible exception of the punchouts. Maybe someday...

Well, we all know that when it comes to the opinion sellers, anything could happen.

Dice card sheet photo ad
 

Hi Guys:

Just got permission to post this:

Interesting choice of venue.

A piece like this will find its level regardless of venue. It will be adequately promoted so that the major players will all be aware. As incredible a rarity as this piece is, remember too that it will always be a niche item. Unless it's a particularly slow news day (in 2025!), it doesn't strike me as something that news outlets would even bother doing a story on. Then again, the world is extra hungry for a feel-good piece, so I may be happily proven wrong. People outside of the hobby (and many within it) wouldn't have the first clue as to what this is and therefore this kind of thing would only be met with a "meh" reaction from nearly everyone whose mind wasn't immediately blown upon first laying eyes on it.

I've never met Steve, but working with him has always been a painless pleasure. Kudos on the consignment.

The 61/63 Dice is a better looking card than the 66 Punch Out, and so probably more desirable but does anyone know which is the scarcest of the two ?

The odds are good that if it is Collect Auctions it is or was a Fritsch item. The people there have had a close relationship with the Fritsch's for many years.

Rich

Makes.sense. not sure what consulting was needed. Maybe the OP can explain

As a favor, this post will attempt to head off the usual arguments before they can take hold (Yes, if you read any thread on Net54, you'll know that is an impossible goal to accomplish.):


• Since these Dice cards are extremely rare (Yes, here's where someone will correct me and say, "Dear boy, you mean 'scarce.'" :D), if the winner decides to use an X-Acto knife on them (Yes, duh, they'll obviously use a more effective manner of cutting.),
then the entire world (Yes, of course I'm using that as a general term, and it shouldn't be taken literally.) will know they've been recently cut and are not 'as issued.'
(Yes, here's where someone will insist that once any card is removed from its packaging, it is no longer "as issued." You've really given us something to think about. Yawn.)

• How will PSA/SGC/ETC. grade them, knowing this to be the case? (Yes, here's where people will bemoan how TPGs already do everything wrong. We get it.)
The eyes of the world (see above) will be on them.

Side note: Eyes of the World is a cool Dead tune. (Yes, you can't stand The Grateful Dead, and prefer some band no one's ever heard of. Wow, you're so frickin' cool.)

• If they are each rightfully (Yes, someone will argue that it's "wrongfully." Good one.) slabbed as some form of "Authentic," are they still as valuable (Yes, here's where someone will tritely say, "They are worth whatever a person is willing to pay for them.") and, I guess,
desirable as the ones which were originally released, since there are so few of them around? :confused:

A few observations:

These are so rare that usually condition is less of a factor. You don’t have the same large value disparity between a PSA 1 and PSA 5 that you would have with most issues. Sure, there’s a difference. But not nearly as dramatic. A large part of that is simply because the number of people who want to be in this club is a big number, and the number of copies available is small.

There are several copies with pinholes, and they are graded as 1s. For the most part, nice looking 1s, but still 1s. And as we all know, not all 1s are created equal.

My guess is that if these were cut up (and not butchered) and grade as Authentic, then they would probably sell at a price similar to the ones with pinholes. Maybe slightly better, since they lack the pinholes? But even then, my guess is not a whole lot less (percentage-wise) than a copy that gets a number grade.

Ted:

Not everyone is as knowledgeable as you regarding seldom seen cards/sets like these Dice Cards.

I had a handful of them in my collection in the early 70's and I wrote many articles on Topps Test sets for Dan Dischley's The Trader Speaks around that time.

A few years back I picked up four new to the hobby Dice cards of Mantle, Mays, Musial and Richardson and there were some articles written about the find at the time.

The person writing the description for the auction contacted me for some background about the set so he could provide correct info to prospective bidders.

You say you don't know why consultation was needed, well just to give you one example Steve Bloedow who runs Colllect Auctions did not know that they are really 1963 not 1961 as has been historically noted incorrectly. Steve is not the person writing the description, but info on scarce sets like these are not always known to everyone in the hobby. I bet there are some things even you don't know about every set.:)

More Dice Card sheet photos
 

More Dice Card sheet photos

It's a shame these never made it as inserts; to me they seem like they are as good as any, other than the metal coins. Has anyone tried to play the game? Looks like you would need 2 people and 2 different cards.

The beauty in these truly is in their rarity over aesthetic, at least to my eye. Is it known if Topps would have likely done a bit of tweaking to make their appearance more fetching had they proceeded?

So you figure they're not much to look at?

I'm not sure whether Topps had further designs to gussy them up, but based on a coup d'œil in the direction of similarly functional issues that came out in the ensuing years, they weren't much to look at either. For example, the Topps Punch Outs from 66 or 67, or the Milton Bradley issues from 69, 70, or 72. If I had to guess, since they were intended to be used in game play, Topps was less focused on form and more focused on function. But that's just my guess.

That's a real top notch air brush job on Groat.

That's a wonderful guess, and I'm inclined to run with it.

Funny, my thoughts immediately go to Milton Bradley upon seeing the Dice cards.

Sold for $210k before BP.