A 1952 Topps complete set. Starting "the" ultimate post war project

[Exhibitman]

Thing is I gravitate towards cards that looked like they did when i was a kid. My 1970s cards were pack-fresh but OC (Topps) and my vintage cards were well-loved. Makes it a lot easier to collect older cards on a reasonable budget.

[cardsagain74]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

Thing is I gravitate towards cards that looked like they did when i was a kid. My 1970s cards were pack-fresh but OC (Topps) and my vintage cards were well-loved. Makes it a lot easier to collect older cards on a reasonable budget.

That's just how I've always felt. Along with it being cheaper, I even enjoy having sets with some off-centered cards. A mix of all kinds of centering gives it more of a realistic feel.

My arbitrary cutoff for not minding "well-loved cards" is all vintage prior to 1972. That's the year that the sets start to really lose value and feel more modern. With this '52, I would have been fine with a full set of grade 1.5s, but the better deals for the HOFers ended up being in that 3-4 range.

[JollyElm]

What would a basic (ungraded) 1952 high number common generally cost in mid-grade? I know this is a wide open question, but just think of it conversationally. A guy at yesterday's show had 4 or 5 high numbers (looking ex or so) and I asked him what he would need to get for them, and just wanna see if it was in the right ballpark (pun intended).

[savedfrommyspokes]

Originally Posted by JollyElm

What would a basic (ungraded) 1952 high number common generally cost in mid-grade? I know this is a wide open question, but just think of it conversationally. A guy at yesterday's show had 4 or 5 high numbers (looking ex or so) and I asked him what he would need to get for them, and just wanna see if it was in the right ballpark (pun intended).

Most of the PSA 5 Hi # commons in my set ran from $150-200...the centering of each card played caused any given card to fall on the lower or higher end of the range. I don't have any raw commons though, so I am unable to speak to raw prices.

[Republicaninmass]

Surprisingly the High's dont have as much disparity among grades as the low series. PSA 1-6 are usually below 400. I know it's weird, but Rosens big find of highs, unless you are 7 or better, kind of killed the mid grade market for highs. 75 for a psa 1 or 200 for a psa 4. There are exceptions for minor stars, but it is strange.


Myself, focused on solely dead centered cards after culling through probably 10,000 52s. From about good to VG, it doesn't matter, but centering is a must for me.

[cardsagain74]

Originally Posted by JollyElm

What would a basic (ungraded) 1952 high number common generally cost in mid-grade? I know this is a wide open question, but just think of it conversationally. A guy at yesterday's show had 4 or 5 high numbers (looking ex or so) and I asked him what he would need to get for them, and just wanna see if it was in the right ballpark (pun intended).

From what I've seen lately, ungraded high # commons in Ex average about $150

PSA 5 commons are getting an avg of $250 each now

[JollyElm]

Thanks for the replies, guys. The seller told me he needed between "$150 and a couple of hundred" for each of them. I wasn't going to fork out (and don't have) that kind of bread (especially without having any insight) to spend on them, but I wanted to make sure I didn't miss a cool opportunity.