1975 sspc

[MacDice]

Often I have wondered why the 1975 SSPC set never seems to gain any value. The set has all the major stars but they never sell for much. The Brett and Yount are as cheap as it gets. What are other peoples thought on the set

[theseeker]

I'm surprised it has the value it has. Was not licensed and is of poor quality. And for the purposes of honest disclosure, I do own a set. It's inexpensive, a part of hobby history, and just plain fun. Does everything have to come down to dollar value?

[bcbgcbrcb]

It has actually been determined to be a 1976 set, for what it's worth, that makes the Eckersley the only HOF Rookie Card in the set.

[toppcat]

There are a handful of these sets out there-some are from '75 and I think some go into the late 70's but the main set is indeed 1976. I actually remember them being advertised in The Sporting News.

[ALR-bishop]

I'm not too proud to ask....what is it ?

[stlcardsfan]

I acquired a complete set of 76 SSPC as part of a collection I acquired. Neat set but not something I wanted to hold onto. It was in great condition, NM-MT. So I listed on Ebay, I think it sold for about 12 bucks or so. Guess who bought it? Keith Olbermann. I shipped to his address in NYC. I think his user name was merkelsboner or something to that effect. Probably not a surprise to those who have watched him.

[the 'stache]

Screw Topps, if you ask me. They don't have a monopoly, as other companies can print baseball cards, but they might as well, since they alone have the licensing required to use the team logos. They release about 30 sets a year, and 27 of them are crap. They have the nerve to release T206 cards, and Turkey Reds, and Allen & Ginter, and Heritage, which is basically a rehashing of one of their classic sets with new players. They have zero creativity. And this BS they pulled with the Kris Bryant Bowman Chrome prospect autos. They pushed their 2014 Chrome, and Kris Bryant's auto was the big ticket item. So people lined up to buy cases and cases of this stuff, and they got their Kris Bryant 2014 Bowman Chrome prospect autographs, and the prices went through the roof. Only, then their next product came out, 2014 Platinum, I think.....which included Kris Bryant 2013 Bowman Chrome prospect autos. So, all those people who had thought they were getting the most in demand Bryant card saw the value of their cards plummet overnight. Completely unethical if you ask me. They should sue themselves, bastards.

[the 'stache]

Read about the BS here: http://www.sportscollectorsdaily.com...ate-questions/

[Shoebox]

Topps hasn't always made the best cards in the hobby, but they have always had the best lawyers.

Bill, I know you're worked up on this but I would say the Kris Bryant auto isn't even the largest Topps injustice to be mentioned in this thread. Having an inflated card value drop 13 months earlier than expected doesn't rise to the level of a multi-million dollar lawsuit where the legal system was used to bleed out the competition.

[toppcat]

Amusingly Topps lost most of their major lawsuits in the 1950's but were able to bleed most competitors dry on the legal expense front. It's been a time honored business tactic since the dawn of corporations and lawyers.

[Shoebox]

I think the fact that Topps lost many legal decisions is less important than the success of the primary objective which was make the litigation as long and expensive as possible. In some situations even though the case was decided against Topps by the time of the resolution the issue had become moot to a large degree.

Side note: David, I was able to find time to read your work on the early history of Topps this past month. Thanks for sharing it . It was an interesting read and I was introduced to a lot of early nonsports sets that I wasn't aware of.