1985 Topps Mini & 1991 Desert Shield

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http://www.milehighcardco.com/LotDet...entoryid=95497

A nice looking 85 mini set just sold on Mile High…

[Zach Wheat]

Resurrecting the old 85 Topps mini thread as I am adding additional info.

This set has been listed as one of the top 10 rarest Topps sets. Alan Hager, who was influential in the creation of the grading scale pre-PSA (ala AccuGrade and ASA) was the one of the dealers that bought 60 of the 110 sheets that were "discovered" by OPC's garbage scrappers. The sheets were in varying stages of printing, including smeared ink, wrinkles on the sheets, partially printed backs and they were printed on different stocks of cardboard. All of the cards are thought to be hand cut and said to originate from the original find of 110 sheets.

I suspect Alan bought the white/tan and normal stat back sheets as he did not have any of the red stat back sheets when I talked to him at varying dates from his acquisition. Perhaps another dealer bought the red stat back sheets prior to Alan purchasing his stock. He mentions that the rarest back came from his sheets - and he purchased 10 sheets of white back cards and 5 sheets of tan back cards with the remainder being normal stat backs.

Ben good acquisition - the Ryan is a nice looking card and one of the most expensive cards in the set.

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There is a great article that Kevin Glew wrote on the set that was recently published by Beckett Vintage Collector. Multiple folks that are members of Net54 were interviewed - Al, Bob, Christian, and myself

[Brent G.]

I've been looking for this card over the past year after learning about this set on Net54 and just found it. There's a seller on eBay (chippercards_on_ig) who's breaking a set, so if you're looking for specific players, he might have it. His prices are perhaps a tad elevated, but we reached a good deal off-site via Instagram.

[OhioLawyerF5]

Originally Posted by Brent G.

His prices are perhaps a tad elevated

That's an understatement.

He is legendary in the rare 90s community for buying up rare cards and holding them hostage at absurd buy it now prices.

I'm glad you were able to make a deal. I've made a deal or two with him, but still ended up overpaying.

The worst is when I lose an auction to him knowing I am the strongest buyer on the market for a rare card, only to see it pop up for double what the auction went for on his store. I get it that he's playing the long game and banking on appreciation over time, but it sucks that collectors lose out to flippers like him from a fair market price for a card at the time.

[Rich Klein]

Were Gary Sawatzki and Jim Justus and they traveled to all the big shows with a boatload of oddball cards.

Really nice people and I bought a lot of cards from them over the years as did Dr. Jim for his type card assortment needed to picture for the Books/Almanacs we did at Beckett.

Both of them are no longer with us from what I've heard

Regards
Rich

[Zach Wheat]

It's been a fun set to collect. I fear I will never get all the back combinations. One of the dealers that purchased the sheets indicated the sheets had smearing on many of the sheets in the same spot - which is in part why they were thrown away - indicating an uneven population of certain cards. I always wondered if the Ryan card was one of those? Or is his card scarce due to perceived rarity? Or star status?

[Brent G.]

Originally Posted by OhioLawyerF5

That's an understatement.

He is legendary in the rare 90s community for buying up rare cards and holding them hostage at absurd buy it now prices.

I'm glad you were able to make a deal. I've made a deal or two with him, but still ended up overpaying.

The worst is when I lose an auction to him knowing I am the strongest buyer on the market for a rare card, only to see it pop up for double what the auction went for on his store. I get it that he's playing the long game and banking on appreciation over time, but it sucks that collectors lose out to flippers like him from a fair market price for a card at the time.

Yeah the BIN on the Concepcion wasn't realistic. I ended up paying around $170 less than what would've been the all-in eBay price. But yes, still overpaid a bit.

[Rich Klein]

Originally Posted by OhioLawyerF5

That's an understatement.

He is legendary in the rare 90s community for buying up rare cards and holding them hostage at absurd buy it now prices.

I'm glad you were able to make a deal. I've made a deal or two with him, but still ended up overpaying.

The worst is when I lose an auction to him knowing I am the strongest buyer on the market for a rare card, only to see it pop up for double what the auction went for on his store. I get it that he's playing the long game and banking on appreciation over time, but it sucks that collectors lose out to flippers like him from a fair market price for a card at the time.

Then you are not the strongest buyer is someone is outbidding you. You might be the strongest "collector" buyer and usually a collector can outbid a dealer BUT as noted, if the dealer realizes scarcity is paramount, they might not care and go for the gusto in bidding for an item

[OhioLawyerF5]

Originally Posted by Rich Klein

Then you are not the strongest buyer is someone is outbidding you. You might be the strongest "collector" buyer and usually a collector can outbid a dealer BUT as noted, if the dealer realizes scarcity is paramount, they might not care and go for the gusto in bidding for an item

I think that was inherent in my statement. When I said I was the strongest buyer, I was referring to being the one out there who will pay him more for the card than anyone else. Not that I outbid him in the auction.

It's ok though. I take solace when I see him drop thousands on a card that is worth a fraction of what he paid, then see him sit on it at a massive price, only to take a bath on it when he needs to sell it.

So maybe the better term is that I was the strongest "rational buyer."