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Just picked up my final piece to 1956 Topps PSA 7 Series 1 today. I spent a little more then what I wanted to on the card. Sometimes I just wish that the team cards were not considered part of the set. :twisted: Although the back of the cards have a lot of intresting information on vintage baseball stadiums.
The first series is full of HOF superstars and I really enjoyed collecting the series. In particular Topps 1956 Series 1 says a fond farwell to Jackie Robinson as this was his last appearance on a Topps card. He was traded to the Giants in the off season but refused to go and thus retired from baseball. However, in Series 1 it was Walter Alston first Topps baseball card so it wasn't a total loss. Also series 1 was the sophomore offerings of future hall of famers, Roberto Clemente and Sandy Koufax. Also Ted Williams, Hank Aaron, Al Kaline, Warren Spahn, Ernie Banks, Ken Boyer and many other stars are in Series 1.
Intresting to note the first series have two different backs, the Gray back and the White back. There are no premiums for either back however, the Gray backs are considered slightly more scarce then the white backs.
Also in Series 1 it was the first time Topps had both the American League President and the National League President on a baseball card. On the back of the cards Topps put a nice write up about that particular league president and all the logos of the teams in that league surrounded the text.
Through my exerience in collecting Series 1 in PSA 7 the hardest cards to find on Ebay were ( in no particular order) # 1 William Harridge, # 90 Redlegs Team card, # 33 Roberto Clemente, # 20 Al Kaline, # 61 Bill Skowron, # 10 Warren Spahn, # 8 Walter Alston, and the final and most difficult was the last card of Series 1 # 100 Orioles Team card. I will have all of Series 1 in my bucket soon.
The problems that I ran into while collecting this series are as follows: The centering on the front of the cards for Series 1. I found that the centering on most cards in this series to be not that difficult. From the ones that I have seen most have well centered fronts. However, I did run across some cards on ebay that were poorly centered especially the League Presidents cards but nothing compared to the centering on the '62 Topps. The centering on the back of the cards can prove tricky at times. I have ran across diamond cut backs and centering off as far as 85/15 on some cards. The printer marks are not as bad as they were on the '55s. Quite possibly because of the "darker colors" used on the front of the cards.
All in all it was very exciting collecting series 1 and it was a nice challenge to find particular cards in PSA 7 or better. With Series 1 behind me I am looking forward to collecting Series 2. I have already started picking up Series 2. The series contains cards #'s 101-180. So, Series 2 is slightly smaller then the first.
I would like to do this as I complete the set one series at a time. Mostly for those collectors that would like to try and complete this set raw or graded they will have a little insight on what they might expect as they collect this set. I hope this gave some insight on one of the most beautiful sets of the 50's. If you have any thing to contribute please reply to this. I would like to keep this going throughout my project and would like to use this as an information thread for all to use and contribute to. Until next time happy collecting to all.
The first series is full of HOF superstars and I really enjoyed collecting the series. In particular Topps 1956 Series 1 says a fond farwell to Jackie Robinson as this was his last appearance on a Topps card. He was traded to the Giants in the off season but refused to go and thus retired from baseball. However, in Series 1 it was Walter Alston first Topps baseball card so it wasn't a total loss. Also series 1 was the sophomore offerings of future hall of famers, Roberto Clemente and Sandy Koufax. Also Ted Williams, Hank Aaron, Al Kaline, Warren Spahn, Ernie Banks, Ken Boyer and many other stars are in Series 1.
Intresting to note the first series have two different backs, the Gray back and the White back. There are no premiums for either back however, the Gray backs are considered slightly more scarce then the white backs.
Also in Series 1 it was the first time Topps had both the American League President and the National League President on a baseball card. On the back of the cards Topps put a nice write up about that particular league president and all the logos of the teams in that league surrounded the text.
Through my exerience in collecting Series 1 in PSA 7 the hardest cards to find on Ebay were ( in no particular order) # 1 William Harridge, # 90 Redlegs Team card, # 33 Roberto Clemente, # 20 Al Kaline, # 61 Bill Skowron, # 10 Warren Spahn, # 8 Walter Alston, and the final and most difficult was the last card of Series 1 # 100 Orioles Team card. I will have all of Series 1 in my bucket soon.
The problems that I ran into while collecting this series are as follows: The centering on the front of the cards for Series 1. I found that the centering on most cards in this series to be not that difficult. From the ones that I have seen most have well centered fronts. However, I did run across some cards on ebay that were poorly centered especially the League Presidents cards but nothing compared to the centering on the '62 Topps. The centering on the back of the cards can prove tricky at times. I have ran across diamond cut backs and centering off as far as 85/15 on some cards. The printer marks are not as bad as they were on the '55s. Quite possibly because of the "darker colors" used on the front of the cards.
All in all it was very exciting collecting series 1 and it was a nice challenge to find particular cards in PSA 7 or better. With Series 1 behind me I am looking forward to collecting Series 2. I have already started picking up Series 2. The series contains cards #'s 101-180. So, Series 2 is slightly smaller then the first.
I would like to do this as I complete the set one series at a time. Mostly for those collectors that would like to try and complete this set raw or graded they will have a little insight on what they might expect as they collect this set. I hope this gave some insight on one of the most beautiful sets of the 50's. If you have any thing to contribute please reply to this. I would like to keep this going throughout my project and would like to use this as an information thread for all to use and contribute to. Until next time happy collecting to all.
