Topps 1985 Minis

[CobbSpikedMe]

Al,

These things are really cool. I never knew they existed and 1985 was right in the middle of my first go at collecting when I was a kid. Thanks for sharing these.

AndyH

[David W]

I am almost positive I saw some of those mini's 10-15 yrs ago, just a handful in a box at a yard sale or flea market, but didn't buy them because they were commons.

Wish I knew then what I know now......

[jakeinge]

To add to David's garage sale observation, I have a handful of these cards. I'm almost positive I bought them at a local Tom Thumb in Maple Grove, MN. It is possible they are tough, but I don't believe there were only 100 of each card produced.

[ALR-bishop]

If they were sold at retail in the US that would be worth knowing and new info. By all accounts they were produced in Canada and never retailed here. In putting my two sets together I had to buy most of mine through Canadian sellers, and the hardest cards to find involed Toronto Blue Jay players. My info about the 100 or less comes from SCD and several other hobby sources. I do know the blank backs are much tougher than the regular backs, and the red only backs toughest of all.

[jakeinge]

Al-

It may be a week before I'm able to, but I'll follow up on this and take a look to see what I have. By no means do I want to spread false information. I can tell you that in 1988 I was able to buy both Topps and O-Pee-Chee at this same Tom Thumb. I don't know if it really matters, but I thought it might be worth noting. Stay tuned.

[ALR-bishop]

Jake--new hobby info comes to light all the time. Any insight is appreciated. I have every Topps baseball set from 1948 to 2012 and can say that anyone trying to put this set together will have a tough time. The 82 Blackless set is the only other 80s set that compares in difficulty, in my view

[laughlinfan]

I don't ever recall seeing them, or hearing much about these until the late 90's - that might lend some credence to them being from a source that got a bunch of sheets, and cut them up at some point. I think I picked up a Mets team set from one person on eBay about 7 or 8 years ago. I don't see many of these being offered on eBay right now - certainly not to the volumes you would expect if there were any kind of even a limited distribution. Considering the prices being asked and the nature of eBay, if there were a lot of them out there, there would certainly be many more listings, right?

I would also guess, since everybody and their brother were buying cards and leaving them unopened in the mid 80s, if these were ever sold in packs, we would see unopened packs for these today.

The fact that only one sheet's worth of players exists I think further fits in with the one sheet test run theory, but certainly any additional thoughts or information are appreciated!

[jakeinge]

Turns out, my minis were a 1988 issue I'm thinking about buying a few of these on ebay. Any thoughts as to the potential demand 5-10 years from now?

And apologies for not responding sooner. I'm getting old

[mybestbretts]

Glad to hear there is no Brett to worry about

[ls7plus]

Originally Posted by ALR-bishop

If they were sold at retail in the US that would be worth knowing and new info. By all accounts they were produced in Canada and never retailed here. In putting my two sets together I had to buy most of mine through Canadian sellers, and the hardest cards to find involed Toronto Blue Jay players. My info about the 100 or less comes from SCD and several other hobby sources. I do know the blank backs are much tougher than the regular backs, and the red only backs toughest of all.

This info echos exactly what I heard from the same sources when they started to get some print in the early '90's, at which time I bought raw mint copies of the Rice and Murray. Ryan was unbelievably hot then, and too expensive for my taste at that time. I believe 100 of each is a reliable and accurate estimate, and think they will do well in the future (I have also seen some high recent prices on ebay).

Happy collecting,

Larry