Re-visiting an old 1954 Topps Canadian thread

[ValKehl]

Being a Pete Runnels collector because he was my favorite Washington Senator when I was a kid, I'm fortunate to have an example of his 1954 Topps card with the gray back. Here's a scan of the back of it along side an example of the common white back for comparison.

[cubman1941]

Originally Posted by ValKehl

Being a Pete Runnels collector because he was my favorite Washington Senator when I was a kid, I'm fortunate to have an example of his 1954 Topps card with the gray back. Here's a scan of the back of it along side an example of the common white back for comparison.

Thanks. That gives me an excellent idea of what to look for.

[Buckeyez]

One of the other more disturbing (Though perhaps maybe not surprising) things I've noticed recently is that PSA will mislabel these as well. I have come across many that PSA has certified as a "gray back" but clearly are not. So, I guess my point is to be careful in what you are buying, I see a couple of very highly priced "gray backs" on ebay, certified by PSA that absolutely are not gray backs. You really need to understand what you are looking at.

Regarding identification, I agree with the posters above, once you've seen a few of these and recognize the paper stock differences, it's hard to unsee and you tend to be able to tell the difference in patina vs. paper stock but putting the card next to a non-grayback will immediately help you tell the difference. If you can't tell when you do that, it's not a gray back.

I'm an avid collector of these and find them as a really unique and underrated subcategory of a fantastic set. As a bit of an advertisement, I have many but not all of them. I also have many duplicates and would be interested in trading/buying any that the community and cards gods send my way.

Thanks for a great discussion on a great variant of the 54 set.

James

[cubman1941]

Thanks for a great explanation. I am a Cub guy and would like to get the three Cubs. As I said, I will need to stick with reputable dealers to try and find them.

I looked at my 54 set but they are all white back, darn.

Jim

Originally Posted by Buckeyez

One of the other more disturbing (Though perhaps maybe not surprising) things I've noticed recently is that PSA will mislabel these as well. I have come across many that PSA has certified as a "gray back" but clearly are not. So, I guess my point is to be careful in what you are buying, I see a couple of very highly priced "gray backs" on ebay, certified by PSA that absolutely are not gray backs. You really need to understand what you are looking at.

Regarding identification, I agree with the posters above, once you've seen a few of these and recognize the paper stock differences, it's hard to unsee and you tend to be able to tell the difference in patina vs. paper stock but putting the card next to a non-grayback will immediately help you tell the difference. If you can't tell when you do that, it's not a gray back.

I'm an avid collector of these and find them as a really unique and underrated subcategory of a fantastic set. As a bit of an advertisement, I have many but not all of them. I also have many duplicates and would be interested in trading/buying any that the community and cards gods send my way.

Thanks for a great discussion on a great variant of the 54 set.

James