Approaching the 1952 Topps Set

ALR-bishop · #1 05-29-2013, 10:13 AM

The first 80 cards in the set do come with either red of black backs and the black backs usually do carry a small premium. Unless you eventually plan to pursue a master set ( or even if you do) a mix of the two backs is not unusual in first building the set. I prefer ungraded cards because you can then easily store them in 8 pocket sheet in a binder for easy access and display. But I pursue cards as a hobby and not an investment. If your goal is to one day sell at a profit, graded cards might serve you better. In the 4th post of the 1952 Mantle thread in this forum CW ( Chuck) has a link to 2 good resources to research pricing.

Good luck

steve B · #2 05-29-2013, 11:36 AM

You might want to consider trying some of the more expensive cards early. Those seem to increase more quickly. When I started collecting a nice common was $3 and Mantles just under $1000. Now Psa 4 commons are around $14 or so, some cheaper. And Mantle is expensive even for worn one. Way more than 4x the price they were in 1980.

You won't progress as quickly, but I think what you pay will eventually be less than buying the stars last.

Steve B

Zach Wheat · #3 05-29-2013, 11:55 AM

Camaro,

When I started completing the set a number of years ago, I concentrated on picking up 1 or more lots of cards either at auction, eBay or privately. I did not worry so much about every grade as I knew I would have plenty of time to upgrade later. I preferred to allocate resources to buying cards rather than fees on grading. You have the advantage in this environment in that prices for most cards - particularly the high end ones - are more reasonable now than at other times.

I also tried to acquire high numbers whenever they were under a certain condition sensitive price point - and this strategy has served me well.

I have also found cardtarget.com to be a great "free" resource for tracking prices. They have a separate section devoted to 1952 Topps sales.

Best of luck,

ZWheat

CamaroDMD · #4 05-30-2013, 05:55 PM

One thing I have always wondered about these cards is how was the image made? They appear to be drawings...but sometimes they also appear to have some photographic traits to them. Are they solely drawings done by an artist (like some of the earlier cards), are they a photograph that has been heavily enhanced by an artist...or something else? I have always assumed they are drawings...but I have never had that confirmed.

steve B · #5 05-31-2013, 08:34 AM

Colorized black and white photos, so yep enhanced by an artist.

There's an example of a flexichrome on this site, plus a few other production pieces.

http://www.1952toppsbaseballcards.com/

Steve B

CamaroDMD · #6 05-31-2013, 11:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by steve B

Colorized black and white photos, so yep enhanced by an artist.

There's an example of a flexichrome on this site, plus a few other production pieces.

http://www.1952toppsbaseballcards.com/

Steve B

OK, that's what I thought. Thanks for the info.

Next question, why did the first series have red or black backs? Was there a reason for the difference and why did they only have red starting with the second series?

Brianruns10 · #7 06-01-2013, 12:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CamaroDMD

OK, that's what I thought. Thanks for the info.

Next question, why did the first series have red or black backs? Was there a reason for the difference and why did they only have red starting with the second series?

Good question! Others here may know a definitive answer. There may have been some technical reasons for the switch, but I personally think it comes down to this being the first series of what was a pretty new experiment for Topps, doing large size, full color issues. The first series was something of a trial and error approach to the rest of the issues, which you really start to see as the whole set evolves. I think they realized the black back design just wasn't very attractive, and the two color red back was more attractive.

In fact, you'll discover quite a few changes made. In general, the portrait's color and vibrancy were improved for the red backs; the black backs tend to be more muted and pastel-like in their quality. And of course there is the (in)famous switched bios for the Sain and Page issues. They were definitely figuring things out, and were improving with each new series in the set. The portraits get better, they widened the white borders and enlarged the typeface of the player's name in the autograph box, and made a few other minor tweaks.

Study the cards enough, and you'll soon be able to identify the series by the portrait style. Series 1 are very watecolor, pastel-like in quality, and by the sixth series (the most beautiful in the set, and I think the greatest in all collecting) the portraits become really vibrant, almost impressionistic with fine detailing. It's really something to see how fast they master the craft, and go from being novices to masters by card 407

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