I wasn't even aware of the Artists Proofs in the 1980s, and the 1966 Punch Outs weren't on my radar, either. Besides the '61 Dice, '55 Stamps and '70 Cloth, my other grail was the Plaks - I had 12 or 13 of them, and searched like crazy for the others, some of which I know now probably never existed.

In 1984, my company (Cargill) actually transferred me from Minneapolis to an office right in Willow Grove - I think I spent my transfer bonus at a card show the first weekend. There were shows within driving distance pretty much every weekend back then.

I don't recall many other collectors pursuing test issues at the time, and most of what I turned up was through persistence - always giving out updated want lists to dealers, badgering Rosen and Morris on the phone, taking out SCD classified want ads (which actually netted me quite a few items).

I bought my 1955 Stamps from Mid-Atlantic, but only after going to their office/warehouse and asking if they had any oddball stuff. Someone (Rex?) led me to a room, left me there alone and told me to come get him if I found anything of interest. I found 7-10 stamps, but only 3 were uncreased or not miscut. At the time, I don't think anyone knew if they were a legitimate test issue. My recollection is that I just took the 3 nicest ones and paid $10-$20 each for them.

To illustrate how much of a "mint freak" I was, even though I collected everything Topps from 1951-1989 (I got as far as 85% complete, all NMMT and centered, before throwing in the towel), I wouldn't buy any of the 1960 or 1964 tattoos because of the tears they virtually always had. Around 1989, I finally bought a small stash of unissued 1964s from someone that were minty fresh, but I only kept the Killebrew - I finally had it graded a couple of years ago. I think I also agonized about the centering on the 1974 Puzzles, but finally put a set together after it became clear that no centered versions existed for several of them.