75 Topps Minis - observations and a question

[JollyElm]

Hey Steve,
It's possible that other people had them in their neighborhoods, but with me and my family and friends amassing thousands of 1975 cards in Queens and Long Island, we never came across a single 'mini.'

[UKCardGuy]

I first came upon the 75 Minis at card shows when I started collecting in the late 70s.

I started actively working on the 75 Minis set in late 2020. I've tended to buy them in bulk lots where I take what I need and sell on the rest. I've bought a few lots on the BST forum too. I've at 414/660 but I've probably been through about 1,000 cards to get there.

I've not found the centering on the mini's to be worse than other sets. In my opinion, 1973 Topps is the worst for centering.

I've been able to pick up PSA 8 commons at pretty reasonable prices (between $5 - 12) with a bit of searching.

I've come across one or two cards that are a little taller. The numbers weren't excessive. I've just assumed it's par for the course.

Here's photos of a small sample of my 75T Minis.

As for storing them, I keep them in penny sleeves/top loaders in a BCW Graded Shoe Box.

[savedfrommyspokes]

15-20 years ago I had no problems putting together a raw decently centered NM-MT 75 mini set. I went through 5k+ cards to put this set together. At the time it seemed to me there were no shortage of these cards available in higher grade and centered. In recent years, I do not see to many of these 75 minis in higher grade or centered condition while the regular 75s are far more plentiful now.

I have always heard rumors that both Larry Frisch cards and Charlie Conlon both had significant accumulations of unopened 75 mini cases. My guess is many of these cards were released into the market 15 to 20 years ago creating a surplus at that time.

[Jim65]

We had Minis in NJ. I didn't even realize until I found my old stash in my parents basement in late 1980's, and had about 1000 cards and about half were Minis.

[G1911]

The SF Bay Area was one of the distribution points, I’m unclear if all of California was. My 13 year old father bought a dozen boxes or so boxes to hide away when it became known these were a test issue and not available everywhere. The cards are a dime a dozen for the commons at shows out here, seemingly more of them than the regular cards.

The cutting is atrocious, and I too have found the size varies more than it normally does on Topps issues.

[toppcat]

Originally Posted by savedfrommyspokes

15-20 years ago I had no problems putting together a raw decently centered NM-MT 75 mini set. I went through 5k+ cards to put this set together. At the time it seemed to me there were no shortage of these cards available in higher grade and centered. In recent years, I do not see to many of these 75 minis in higher grade or centered condition while the regular 75s are far more plentiful now.

I have always heard rumors that both Larry Frisch cards and Charlie Conlon both had significant accumulations of unopened 75 mini cases. My guess is many of these cards were released into the market 15 to 20 years ago creating a surplus at that time.

Conlon bought out his local Michigan jobber in 1975 and had almost 30 cases left when he died. I might have the SCD (Krause) article that got into the details of that and I'll post it if I find it. Here is some more info for the time being, with the case counts for wax and cello. Not sure about Raks, maybe they were Frtisch's originally?

https://sportscollectorsdigest.com/cards/pssst-wanna-buy-an-unopened-case-of-1975-topps-minis

[Harliduck]

I'll chime in for Washington state...as a kid we had no idea the regular larger sized existed. All mini's here. Seeing my first "large" card was a shock.

Ironically I now only have the regular large card complete set (bought it complete a decade or so ago). I still have a chunk of my childhood mini's but they are pretty loved. One day I would like to put the mini set together or buy one outright.

[runbrett]

We had lots of collectors in my Chicago neighborhood and none of us knew anything about minis until mid-summer when a kid brought some back from Michigan. Never saw any after that either.

[ALR-bishop]

The only variant I have with my 75 Mini set, Sands With The Heavenly Grace

[Tom S.]

Originally Posted by ALR-bishop

The only variant I have with my 75 Mini set, Sands With The Heavenly Grace

Much better description than the "Golden Shower variant" IMO

[steve B]

Originally Posted by JollyElm

Hey Steve,
It's possible that other people had them in their neighborhoods, but with me and my family and friends amassing thousands of 1975 cards in Queens and Long Island, we never came across a single 'mini.'

I'd always just thought that my local convenience store in Dalton, Ma. (A thriving metropolis of about 7500 at the time) was serviced by a supplier that also handled NY.

That makes me wonder if the wholesaler was more upstate somewhere like Albany. Pittsfield makes about as little sense as Dalton for a test or limited release.

Perhaps complicating it slightly is that the shop owner had some "connections" since he got busted by the FBI for selling football cards....So maybe the minis didn't come through a traditional wholesaler at all.