Topps 1985 Minis

[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!

[ALR-bishop]

Good post

[Deertick]

I have had mine since about 1990. Got it in trade with Gary, from Let's Collect in Canada, at a card show. He used to supply me and my buddies with (nearly) all of our Canadian oddball issues. It is indeed very rare, a true dumpster dive, with many that were recovered wet, stained or otherwise damaged. Population reported above supposedly comes from the original owner.

BTW, they were NOT "sets". They were a one sheet test print (132 cards) numbered the same as the regular issue. Hence the Schmidt #300 and the McGee #757.

[ALR-bishop]

I realize they were not intended as a set, but they are listed as a set in the SCD Standard Catalog and in the PSA Registry. In that regard they are similar to the 1982 Topps Blackless "set" of 396 ( 3 sheets) or the Topps 1984 Encased proof "set" ( head in the box) of 66...also one sheet. People do collect them as sets

I mentioned I have the 85 Minis completed in blank back and regular back, and about 1/3 in red only backs ( no green ink). Does anyone know if the "set" can be completed that way ?

[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