Mike D's 1977 Topps Binder Project

[Mike D.]

Up next:

622 Jim Wohlford
623 Jack Kucek
624 Hector Cruz
625 Ken Holtzman
626 Al Bumbry
627 Bob Myrick
628 Mario Guerrero
629 Bobby Valentine
630 Bert Blyleven

622 Jim Wohlford and 622 Jim Wohlford are missing. 623 Jack Kucek, 626 Al Bumbry, and 629 Bobby Valentine need upgrades.

The cards:



The dups:

[Mike D.]

The next group:

631 Brett Brothers
632 Forsch Brothers
633 May Brothers
634 Reuschel Brothers UER
635 Robin Yount
636 Santo Alcala
637 Alex Johnson
638 Jim Kaat
639 Jerry Morales

631 Brett Brothers, 634 Reuschel Brothers UER, and 635 Robin Yount are missing.

632 Forsch Brothers, 633 May Brothers, and 637 Alex Johnson need upgrades.

The cards:



The dups:

[Mike D.]

The next group:

640 Carlton Fisk
641 Dan Larson RC
642 Willie Crawford
643 Mike Pazik
644 Matt Alexander
645 Jerry Reuss
646 Andres Mora
647 Montreal Expos CL

That Fisk is a very pretty card!

647 Montreal Expos CL is missing. 646 Andres Mora could use an upgrade.

The cards:



The dups:

[Mike D.]

Up next:

648 Jim Spencer
649 Dave Cash
650 Nolan Ryan
651 Von Joshua
652 Tom Walker
653 Diego Segui
654 Ron Pruitt RC
655 Tony Perez
656 Ron Guidry
657 Mick Kelleher RC

648 Jim Spencer, 650 Nolan Ryan, 651 Von Joshua, 654 Ron Pruitt RC, and
655 Tony Perez are missing.

652 Tom Walker needs an upgrade.

The cards:



The dups:

[Mike D.]

Wrapping things up:

658 Marty Pattin
659 Merv Rettenmund
660 Willie Horton

All three are here, but all three need upgrades.

The cards:



The dups:

[Mike D.]

So, our first run through is complete.

I'd say I'm mildly disappointed considering the number of cards we started with, but I think it's more the upgrade candidates that is troubling, not the actual number missing completely.

With both, the early numbers were pretty good, but after about number 450, the missing/upgrades jumped significantly.

With 660 cards in the set:

69 missing (10.5%)

128 upgrades (19.4%)

Overall, that's almost 30% of the set that still needs work.

So, not great...but reinforcements are already on the way!

[Gpaal]

Wow I can see your having a blast with this set.

[Mike D.]

Originally Posted by Gpaal

Wow I can see your having a blast with this set.

It's been fun....although I am starting to realize that with the poor paper quality on these cards, I'm going to have to be a little more forgiving on condition than I'd ordinarily like or I'll never finish this set and will spend 3 times what it's worth!

[Mike D.]

As I mentioned, reinforcements were coming.

From a board member, I picked up a lot of just under 100 cards that were missing from round 1. Total delivered was $81. Pretty reasonable, I think.

Total spent on binder set: $266.06
Total Reclaimed: $6.48
Total Spent on Graded: $31.02
TTM Successes: 3

[Mike D.]

The first few missing/upgrades:

Here we have cards 1, 2, 3, and 8.

Cards #1 and #8 were missing. #2 and #3 were upgrades. #3 isn't actually in any better shape than the card I already had, but that's OK.



67 missing (10.2%)

126 upgrades (19.1%)

[Mike D.]

A few more:

15 Don Gullett, 18 Frank Robinson, and 32 Checklist 1-132 were missing.

45 Rawly Eastwick was an upgrade.

The Robinson is a little rough, but other are very solid.



67 missing (10.2%)

126 upgrades (18.9%)

[Mike D.]

Next up:

50 Ron Cey
60 Jim Rice
70 Johnny Bench
95 Keith Hernandez

All were upgrades. All were darn good players, too!



67 missing (10.2%)

125 upgrades (18.5%)

[Mike D.]

For cards 1-100, only one missing is #8, Leading Fireman. No upgrade candidates in #'s 1-100 either.

[Mike D.]

Another batch:

111 Rico Petrocelli
113 Toronto Blue Jays
119 John Stearns
123 Fred Stanley

All 4 are upgrades of prior cards.



67 missing (10.2%)

121 upgrades (18.3%)

[Mike D.]

Next:

139 Fred Norman
140 Mike Schmidt
142 Steve Dillard
146 Dusty Baker

146 Dusty Baker was missing. The other three are upgrades.



66 missing (10%)

118 upgrades (17.9%)

[Mike D.]

From another site member, I picked up a batch of 21 cards I needed, including a number of stars, for $30 delivered.

Total spent on binder set: $296.06
Total Reclaimed: $6.48
Total Spent on Graded: $31.02
TTM Successes: 3

[gawaintheknight]

I just picked up a lot that has pretty much all the stars from this set - if you have a wantlist, please PM me and I'll see if I can help.

Nice to see you having fun with this project.

[Mike D.]

Six more:

149 Mike Cubbage
160 Will McEnaney
183 St. Louis Cardinals CL
208 Checklist 133-264
215 Butch Metzger
220 Chris Chambliss

McEnaney, Cardinals Team, and the Checklist were missing.

Cubbage, Metzger, and Chambliss were upgrades.



64 missing (9.7%)

122 upgrades (18.5%)

[Mike D.]

The first card from the new lot of 21, and it's a pretty one:

6 Strikeout Leaders

This card had been missing.

I know I used to have at least 3 copies of this card that I sold and bought a graded copy maybe 3 years ago. Ah, shifting collecting focuses!



63 missing (9.5%)

122 upgrades (18.5%)

[Mike D.]

Sold a two card lot George Foster that were dups for $1.99.

Total spent on binder set: $296.06
Total Reclaimed: $7.97
Total Spent on Graded: $31.02
TTM Successes: 3

[Mike D.]

Next batch:

228 Minnesota Twins CL
234 Nolan Ryan RB
248 Wilbur Howard
260 J.R. Richard
264 Tom Hutton
265 Mark Fidrych RC

The Twins TC, Nolan Ryan, and Fidrych were all missing.

Howard, Richard, and Hutton are upgrades.



60 missing (9.1%)

119 upgrades (18.0%)

[Mike D.]

Six more:

276 A.L. Championship
278 Danny Frisella
280 Jim Hunter
295 Gary Carter
299 Otto Velez
301 Toby Harrah

The AL Championship card, Hunter, Velez, and Harrah were missing.

Frisella and Carter are upgrades.



56 missing (8.5%)

117 upgrades (17.8%)

[Mike D.]

More reinforcements:

303 Gene Tenace
311 Vern Ruhle
313 Paul Blair
314 Steve Mingori
317 Kurt Bevacqua
322 Bill Russell

All of these were upgrades.



56 missing (8.5%)

111 upgrades (16.8%)

[Mike D.]

Up next:

327 Houston Astros CL
352 Mike Phillips
353 Stan Thomas
354 Pittsburgh Pirates CL
355 Lou Brock
356 Checklist 265-396

All but the Pirates checklist are upgrades. The Pirates checklist was missing...but now it could probably use an upgrade.



55 missing (8.3%)

107 upgrades (16.2%)

[Mike D.]

Keeping it rolling:

360 Rick Monday
371 Whitey Herzog
373 Bert Campaneris
380 Lee May
400 Steve Garvey
440 Jon Matlack

Herzog and Garvey were missing.

Monday, Campaneris, May, and Matlack were upgrades.

I somehow forgot to take a picture of this round. Oops!

As I go through, I'm noticing a few cards I marked as upgrades aren't really that bad...and based on my experiences with the condition sensitive manner of this set, I'm saying some of them are "good enough". At some point, this will cause a recalculation of the upgrade candidates left below.

53 missing (8.0%)

104 upgrades (15.7%)

[Mike D.]

A couple of recent sales:

Cards #1 and #3 Batting and RBI leaders - $1.99
100 Card Lot of Extras - No Dups - $3.99 plus s/h

Total spent on binder set: $296.06
Total Reclaimed: $13.95
Total Spent on Graded: $31.02
TTM Successes: 3

[Mike D.]

Another TTM success:

Kevin Bell #83 3/3 in 29 days.



Total spent on binder set: $296.06
Total Reclaimed: $13.95
Total Spent on Graded: $31.02
TTM Successes: 4

[KCRfan1]

The 77 set is sneaky tough in nice condition. As you have noticed the paper is a little thinner and the cards are prone to chipping.

Keep having fun with the set! I'm enjoying the thread.

[Mike D.]

Originally Posted by KCRfan1

The 77 set is sneaky tough in nice condition. As you have noticed the paper is a little thinner and the cards are prone to chipping.

Keep having fun with the set! I'm enjoying the thread.

Glad you're enjoying the thread! You're not kidding about the condition of this set...it's a real challenge!

[Mike D.]

Picked up:

#8 Leading Fireman

$2.09 delivered.

This gives us every card in the set from 1-276. So that's something!



Total spent on binder set: $298.15
Total Reclaimed: $13.95
Total Spent on Graded: $31.02
TTM Successes: 4

[Chicosbailbonds]

Design-wise I thought this was a underrated set. The expansion year cards of Seattle and Toronto with the airbrushing really hold it back in the eyes of collectors.

[Mike D.]

Originally Posted by Chicosbailbonds

Design-wise I thought this was a underrated set. The expansion year cards of Seattle and Toronto with the airbrushing really hold it back in the eyes of collectors.

Yeah, overall I agree that these have kind of classic "baseball card design".

I can see what you're saying about the expansion teams...but once you go single series, what else could they do, right?

[Chicosbailbonds]

Originally Posted by Mike D.

Yeah, overall I agree that these have kind of classic "baseball card design".

I can see what you're saying about the expansion teams...but once you go single series, what else could they do, right?

Right, even though there were plenty of airbrushd cards in the early 70's when they were still released in series.

[Mike D.]

Originally Posted by Chicosbailbonds

Right, even though there were plenty of airbrushd cards in the early 70's when they were still released in series.

Yes, good point...non-expansion cards. Can't see dinging 77's for that.

For being printed on garbage paper, sure....but not that.

[Mike D.]

Next up:

405 Claudell Washington
413 World Series Cincy Wins
428 Texas Rangers CL
429 Ken Boswell
435 Maury Wills TBC
438 Marty Perez

Washington, Boswell, Wills TBC, and Perez were upgrades.

The WS card and the Rangers TC were missing.



50 missing (7.6%)

100 upgrades (15.1%)

[Mike D.]

The next batch:

537 Dave Roberts
287 Cincinnati Reds CL
383 Stan Bahnsen
434 Carl Yastrzemski TBC
439 Gorman Thomas
474 Rookie Shortstops

Roberts, Bahnsen, and Thomas were upgrades.

The Reds TC, Yastrzemski, and Rookie SS's were missing.



47 missing (7.1%)

97 upgrades (14.7%)

[Mike D.]

The next group:

443 Lamar Johnson
444 Wayne Twitchell
455 Rick Wise
460 Willie Stargell
465 Rico Carty
467 Philadelphia Phillies CL

Johnson, Twitchell, Wise, and Stargell were upgrades.

Carty and the Phillies checklist were missing.





45 missing (6.8%)

93 upgrades (14.1%)

[Mike D.]

Up next:

474 Rookie Shortstops
484 Burt Hooton
485 Roy White

....

Ok, yeah, not sure what happened here. Mike D, crack photographer, ladies and gentleman...



Rookie Shortstops and White were missing.

Hooton was an upgrade.

The rest I'll have to sort out later with a re-accounting.

43 missing (6.5%)

91 upgrades (13.8%)

[Mike D.]

A bit clearer this time:

475 Rookie Pitchers
477 Rookie Infielders
478 Rookie Pitchers
480 Carl Yastrzemski
487 Rookie Pitchers
488 Rookie Outfielders

475 Rookie pitchers , 477 rookie infielders, and 488 rookie OF were missing.

478 rookie pitchers, Yaz, and 487 Rookie pitchers were upgrades.



40 missing (6.0%)

89 upgrades (13.5%)

[Mike D.]

Next group:

489 Rookie Pitchers
490 Rookie Shortstops
493 Rookie Pitchers
523 Rollie Fingers
537 Dave Roberts
548 Joel Youngblood

489 Rookie Pitchers and 490 Rookie Shortstops were missing.

493 Rookie Pitchers, Fingers, Roberts, and Youngblood are upgrades.



38 missing (5.8%)

85 upgrades (12.9%)

[Mike D.]

A few recent sales:

1977 Topps 100 Card Starter Lot - No Dupes= $3.99 plus s/h

1977 Topps Mike Schmidt #140 - Philadelphia Phillies = $1.99

1977 Topps Dave Concepcion #560 - 4 Card Lot - Cincinnati Reds = $1.99

1977 Topps 100 Card Starter Lot - No Dupes = $3.99 plus s/h

Total spent on binder set: $296.06
Total Reclaimed: $25.91
Total Spent on Graded: $31.02
TTM Successes: 4

[Mike D.]

More reinforcement:

543 Ron Blomberg
554 Bruce Kimm RC
559 Alan Bannister
562 Checklist 529-660
565 Mickey Lolich
570 Bobby Bonds

All of these were missing - I'm hitting the "missing" pile first, then will double back to the "possible upgrades".



32 missing (4.8%)

85 upgrades (12.9%)

[Mike D.]

Next up:

625 Ken Holtzman
631 Brett Brothers
634 Reuschel Brothers UER
635 Robin Yount
647 Montreal Expos CL
648 Jim Spencer

All of these were missing.

Two Hall of Fame players here. One of them laying down a bunt!



26 missing (3.9%)

85 upgrades (12.9%)

[Mike D.]

A few more:

587 Rick Baldwin
588 Dave Moates
589 Mike Cosgrove
611 Dave Lemanczyk
621 Detroit Tigers CL
622 Jim Wohlford



20 missing (3.0%)

85 upgrades (12.9%)

[Mike D.]

Last of the "missing" pile:

650 Nolan Ryan
651 Von Joshua
654 Ron Pruitt RC
655 Tony Perez

The last of the "missing" pile accounted for. A classic Nolan Ryan card, and a cool looking card of HOFer Tony Perez.



16 missing (2.4%)

85 upgrades (12.9%)

[Mike D.]

With the "missing" pile exhausted, I went through the entire set to double check. I actually am only missing 12 cards, not 16.

Here are the 12 that are missing:

277 N.L. Championship
309 Boston Red Sox CL
387 New York Yankees CL
450 Pete Rose
451 Checklist 397-528
472 Rookie Pitchers
473 Rookie OF Andre Dawson
476 Rookie C D Murphy/Cerone
502 Randy Hundley
504 Tom Lasorda
547 Willie McCovey
597 Mariners Coaches

Clearly, the bulk of these aren't commons, and the Dawson and Murphy RC's and the Rose are some of the more sought after cards in the set.

Will pick away at these, and also see what we have for upgrades.

12 missing (1.8%)

85 upgrades (12.9%)

[Mike D.]

A few upgrades:

528 Bill Castro
529 Jim Essian RC
531 Lyman Bostock
532 Jim Willoughby
536 Vic Albury
538 Frank Taveras

As stated above, these are all all upgrades.

(and actually, the picture is of the cards that got upgraded, not the upgraded versions, but close enough)



12 missing (1.8%)

79 upgrades (12.0%)

[Mike D.]

A few more:

539 Mike Wallace
546 Baltimore Orioles CL
549 Jerry Royster
551 Bill North
555 Dan Ford
557 Jerry White

All were upgrades.



12 missing (1.8%)

73 upgrades (11.0%)

[gawaintheknight]

What are you still missing? I might be able to help.

[Bigdaddy]

I can remember that Tony Perez card was tough to turn up in the summer of 1977. And being a Reds fan, that made the chase even more urgent.

Especially love all the All-Star cards from that year.