Topps Dice Cards

[Rich Klein]

Originally Posted by hcv123

I heard rumors that the sheet was once owned by Larry Fritsch. Including the sheet, I think there are 3-4 known examples of each card. I think there are a couple of other worthy contenders for rarest issue including: 1966 Punchouts (2 known? examples of each), 1968 Topps Discs (1-4 known examples of each), 1967 Giant Standups (2-4 known examples of each), 1970 Cloth stickers(??)

In any case, thanks for sharing, can't wait to lay my eyes on it.

The odds are good that if it is Collect Auctions it is or was a Fritsch item. The people there have had a close relationship with the Fritsch's for many years.

Rich

[Republicaninmass]

Originally Posted by Rich Klein

The odds are good that if it is Collect Auctions it is or was a Fritsch item. The people there have had a close relationship with the Fritsch's for many years.

Rich

Makes.sense. not sure what consulting was needed. Maybe the OP can explain

[JollyElm]

As a favor, this post will attempt to head off the usual arguments before they can take hold (Yes, if you read any thread on Net54, you'll know that is an impossible goal to accomplish.):


• Since these Dice cards are extremely rare (Yes, here's where someone will correct me and say, "Dear boy, you mean 'scarce.'" ), if the winner decides to use an X-Acto knife on them (Yes, duh, they'll obviously use a more effective manner of cutting.),
then the entire world (Yes, of course I'm using that as a general term, and it shouldn't be taken literally.) will know they've been recently cut and are not 'as issued.'
(Yes, here's where someone will insist that once any card is removed from its packaging, it is no longer "as issued." You've really given us something to think about. Yawn.)

• How will PSA/SGC/ETC. grade them, knowing this to be the case? (Yes, here's where people will bemoan how TPGs already do everything wrong. We get it.)
The eyes of the world (see above) will be on them.

Side note: Eyes of the World is a cool Dead tune. (Yes, you can't stand The Grateful Dead, and prefer some band no one's ever heard of. Wow, you're so frickin' cool.)

• If they are each rightfully (Yes, someone will argue that it's "wrongfully." Good one.) slabbed as some form of "Authentic," are they still as valuable (Yes, here's where someone will tritely say, "They are worth whatever a person is willing to pay for them.") and, I guess,
desirable as the ones which were originally released, since there are so few of them around?

[raulus]

Originally Posted by JollyElm

• If they are each rightfully (Yes, someone will argue that it's "wrongfully." Good one.) slabbed as some form of "Authentic," are they still as valuable (Yes, here's where someone will tritely say, "They are worth whatever a person is willing to pay for them.") and, I guess,
desirable as the ones which were originally released, since there are so few of them around?

A few observations:

These are so rare that usually condition is less of a factor. You don’t have the same large value disparity between a PSA 1 and PSA 5 that you would have with most issues. Sure, there’s a difference. But not nearly as dramatic. A large part of that is simply because the number of people who want to be in this club is a big number, and the number of copies available is small.

There are several copies with pinholes, and they are graded as 1s. For the most part, nice looking 1s, but still 1s. And as we all know, not all 1s are created equal.

My guess is that if these were cut up (and not butchered) and grade as Authentic, then they would probably sell at a price similar to the ones with pinholes. Maybe slightly better, since they lack the pinholes? But even then, my guess is not a whole lot less (percentage-wise) than a copy that gets a number grade.

[whiteymet]

Originally Posted by Republicaninmass

Makes.sense. not sure what consulting was needed. Maybe the OP can explain

Ted:

Not everyone is as knowledgeable as you regarding seldom seen cards/sets like these Dice Cards.

I had a handful of them in my collection in the early 70's and I wrote many articles on Topps Test sets for Dan Dischley's The Trader Speaks around that time.

A few years back I picked up four new to the hobby Dice cards of Mantle, Mays, Musial and Richardson and there were some articles written about the find at the time.

The person writing the description for the auction contacted me for some background about the set so he could provide correct info to prospective bidders.

You say you don't know why consultation was needed, well just to give you one example Steve Bloedow who runs Colllect Auctions did not know that they are really 1963 not 1961 as has been historically noted incorrectly. Steve is not the person writing the description, but info on scarce sets like these are not always known to everyone in the hobby. I bet there are some things even you don't know about every set.

[whiteymet]

More Dice Card sheet photos

[jingram058]

It's a shame these never made it as inserts; to me they seem like they are as good as any, other than the metal coins. Has anyone tried to play the game? Looks like you would need 2 people and 2 different cards.

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

The beauty in these truly is in their rarity over aesthetic, at least to my eye. Is it known if Topps would have likely done a bit of tweaking to make their appearance more fetching had they proceeded?

[raulus]

Originally Posted by BillyCoxDodgers3B

The beauty in these truly is in their rarity over aesthetic, at least to my eye. Is it known if Topps would have likely done a bit of tweaking to make their appearance more fetching had they proceeded?

So you figure they're not much to look at?

I'm not sure whether Topps had further designs to gussy them up, but based on a coup d'œil in the direction of similarly functional issues that came out in the ensuing years, they weren't much to look at either. For example, the Topps Punch Outs from 66 or 67, or the Milton Bradley issues from 69, 70, or 72. If I had to guess, since they were intended to be used in game play, Topps was less focused on form and more focused on function. But that's just my guess.

[jakebeckleyoldeagleeye]

That's a real top notch air brush job on Groat.