Vintage Baseball Questions - possibly future set help

[bengyax]

Hi All -

My dad recently dug up some of this Baseball cards from his youth. There were a lot of stories and fun memories. He believes that the Mantles and Mays sounded best in his bicycle spokes. He has shared with me many stories over the years and helped me into the hobby when I was a kid. Jeter sounded the best in my bicycle spokes I told him.

Fun memories aside, one of the binders he left me with was a partially complete set of 1966 Topps. My idea is I can work to complete his set and upgrade some of the cards. Possibly give it back to him completed for a Birthday or Father's day down the road. There are some beaters, but many of the cards are in generally good shape considering. All of the mutli-player cards are cut into separate cards unfortunately, so all of those need to be replaced.

I haven't gone through the set list or checked condition on all the cards, but generally would say he is about 40% done currently. With a portion of those needing condition replacement.

My questions to the forum, hopefully you all can help.
1. How hard are 1966 Topps to come by? Quick glance, I am seeing Mays #1 and Mantle #50 might be the 2 hardest to come by in decent shape.
2. There is a Venezuelan version, how can I tell the difference?
3. Do people trade Vintage for Modern? I don't have vintage, so would people be open to trading for Modern cards.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you all for the time.

--Ben

 

[brcdad]

Ben,

My responses to your questions are:

1. Overall not really more difficult than most of the '60's sets. Mays, Mantle and Carlton RC are the highest priced for that year, but I find the high number series are usually the hardest to come by, and frequently for well above book value when you find them, especially if higher condition is important.
2. There is a Venezuelan version for that year and the main difference is that the Venezuelans have darker backs than the regular issue and the borders are also slightly darker.
3. Yes, there are people who trade Vintage for Modern. I am one of them. It really varies from trader to trader and is usually a good idea to find out from them before you get too far into a trade.

Scott

 

[Camsue]

Been slowly working on this set for a few years got the big names outta the way first then worked on the rest. Gotta watch as well the high number sp’s could run up there in price as well. I made a lot of bulk trades for semi stars and commons by trading modern stars and rookie cards.

 

[bengyax]

Thank you both for taking the time to answer these questions and help me out. These are great recommendations and information as I begin working on this. Looking forward to working on this project, should be a fun one.

Thanks again,

Ben

 

[mm1sub]

One of the cards that may be difficult to find if you do not already have it is the Grant Jackson/Bob Shirley rookie. It is #591 and it books for 300.00 right now. It is the 2nd most expensive card in the set with the mantle being first. It is avery hard to find card so hopefully you already have one.

Good luck and happy hunting!!

Bryon

PS: The Steve carlton rookie is from 1965 and not 1966.

 

[rajah23]

I finished my 1966 Topps set early this year. The last series (high numbers) will cause you the most nightmares and money. eBay auctions for these cards go way above book value as stated previously. Patience will serve you well if you have the time but if you are looking to finish it quickly then be prepared to shell out some big money. Finding a trader with high numbers is not easy either. Good luck on your project!!! Roger

 

[rlschles]

Hi,
i collect vintage. I don’t know if I speak for others but there is no chance I will trade a 60s Mantle double for a modern. None. Zero.
The 66 set is not the hardest. I just picked up a very nice NL BA LL #215 at my LCS for a very reasonable price - posted a pic of it on the Show off thread. Clemente Aaron and Mays on the same card. Not some reprint from the 2000s.
if I were trying to complete the set, I wouldn’t start with the big tickets. I would nail down all the commons, subsets and semistars first. Some dealers have had them sitting in their commons boxes for so long they’re glad to make a deal just to turn over the stock.
Good luck with it. It’s one of my favorite looking sets. Particularly the Koufax.
Cheers, Richard

 

[SymphonicMetal]

Trying to piece together a nice 1966 Topps baseball set is a more than daunting task unless you are made of money, then all bets are off. Your best bet is to try to complete the 1966 set without the high numbers which are exceedingly hard to come by and very pricey when you do.. I'd put together a vg-ex set of these w/o the high numbers. That'll be a tough enough task in itself but no where near as difficult or expensive as doing it with the high numbers.

 

[bengyax]

Thanks for the additional responses, I didn't factor in high numbers into the equation when I thought about it. Good food for thought. Totally agree on trading some of the better cards for modern, I figured unless I had something great to offer up for the Mays/Mantle/etc. I would be probably relying on ebay for those ones.

Maybe I should think more about condition. I don't know if my dad cares too much about the nm/mt cards, though some from his collection are in that condition at first glance. I think the gesture of completing it, even with good level cards will put a smile on his face. I can't fathom some of the prices on the nm/mt Mays/Mantles given my quick browse of ebay sales. But maybe I splurge on those ones.

Again, I appreciate you all chiming in on this.

Last question, I haven't used Sportlots and heard a lot of positive things on the bench about it. Anything I should take into consider if purchasing vintage from there?

--Ben

 

[mm1sub]

I feel that Sportlots is a good place to pick up cards. I have bought a lot of cards from the site. You should be able to get nearly all the cards you are looking for on there. I just looked and there is a decent Mays for about 50.00 shipped. If you are looking for vg to ex then you should be able to grab nearly every card you are looking. The Mantle and the Grant Jackson and some of the high numbers are not on there though.

 

[rajah23]

I’ve used Sportlots to purchase vintage cards and had mostly good experiences doing so. Keep in mind that not all sellers post pictures of their vintage cards. My advice is to request a picture from the seller for the higher priced cards to verify the condition. The listed condition is sometimes not what you expect when you get the card so better safe than disappointed. I’ve not experienced this often but it has happened a few times.

 

[bengyax]

Thank you again. Just took a look at the Mays that is listed, appreciate the heads up on it. Glad to know it is a good, trust worthy site. Only heard good things, so just wanted to confirm.

--Ben

 

[swish54]

The Venezuelan versions are pretty rare since they were distributed only in Venezuela. They will have a "dull" look to them. The paper also feels slightly different. I've got a couple from 1966. They are usually in really rough shape. Most were glued in books and are missing paper on the back or have writing on them. They just weren't taken very good care of back then. If you do have some in halfway decent shape, they could be worth hundreds of dollars. They also have Venezuelan issues for 1959, 1960, 1962, 1964, 1966, 1967, and 1968. Some of those years they didn't make the whole Topps set, they just did a partial set. The first is a regular Topps issue. You can clearly see how much "duller" the Venezuelans are.

 

[swish54]

Hi,
i collect vintage. I don’t know if I speak for others but there is no chance I will trade a 60s Mantle double for a modern. None. Zero.
The 66 set is not the hardest. I just picked up a very nice NL BA LL #215 at my LCS for a very reasonable price - posted a pic of it on the Show off thread. Clemente Aaron and Mays on the same card. Not some reprint from the 2000s.
if I were trying to complete the set, I wouldn’t start with the big tickets. I would nail down all the commons, subsets and semistars first. Some dealers have had them sitting in their commons boxes for so long they’re glad to make a deal just to turn over the stock.
Good luck with it. It’s one of my favorite looking sets. Particularly the Koufax.
Cheers, Richard

I agree, most people won't trade a vintage hof'er for modern, but you never know.

I see where you're coming from on buying commons first, but I would personally do the big cards first. Those will go up in value a lot quicker than commons and assuming the set will take a while to complete, you could very well be paying a lot more for the hof'ers if you waited until the end vs. buying upfront.

 

[rlschles]

I agree, most people won't trade a vintage hof'er for modern, but you never know.

I see where you're coming from on buying commons first, but I would personally do the big cards first. Those will go up in value a lot quicker than commons and assuming the set will take a while to complete, you could very well be paying a lot more for the hof'ers if you waited until the end vs. buying upfront.

That's true about the potential rise in price. BTST, on a 598 card set, one could get close to about 475 of the whole set quickly for a reasonable initial investment before starting to attack the high numbers and HoF.

 

[bengyax]

The Venezuelan versions are pretty rare since they were distributed only in Venezuela. They will have a "dull" look to them. The paper also feels slightly different. I've got a couple from 1966. They are usually in really rough shape. Most were glued in books and are missing paper on the back or have writing on them. They just weren't taken very good care of back then. If you do have some in halfway decent shape, they could be worth hundreds of dollars. They also have Venezuelan issues for 1959, 1960, 1962, 1964, 1966, 1967, and 1968. Some of those years they didn't make the whole Topps set, they just did a partial set. The first is a regular Topps issue. You can clearly see how much "duller" the Venezuelans are.
View attachment 13043View attachment 13040View attachment 13041View attachment 13042

These pictures are super helpful, thank you for sharing. I am about 100% certain that none of my father's cards are Venezuelan versions, but something for me to keep an eye out for as I start building this out. The difference is very noticeable, which should help me out. Again, thank you for the insight.

--Ben

 

[Dashcol]

1. How hard are 1966 Topps to come by?

Not too hard actually. 1966 is a pretty easy set from my understanding, with the high numbers being more expensive, but the availability of the cards are there. It would more depend on how much you are willing to spend. If you want to spend a couple thousand, you can get it done in a week. If you want to spend significantly less, then it will take years to find good deals. That doesn’t make it hard to do, just hard to do on a budget.
Good places to get these are; here, eBay, sportslots, COMC, and other forums if you feel like joining them.

2. There is a Venezuelan version, how can I tell the difference?

Swish54 explained this best, but when and if you come across one, you will know. It is easy to tell in person, but hard to explain.

3. Do people trade Vintage for Modern?

Many people will answer this differently based on their collecting preferences. The answer to this is yes, many people will trade vintage for modern. Not everyone will though.
I trade modern for vintage all the time. I also have traded vintage for modern. When people collect both, they are a little more willing to trade one for the other. If I really want a high end Ohtani RC, but don’t have the $500 to pay for it, maybe I do have a duplicate Mantle that has the same value. Saves me money and the collection only gets more diverse.
It will always be a case by case basis, all you can do is ask people. With that being said, what you will not be able to do is trade a bunch of 2020 Topps Update base and expect people to trade you a 1966 Mantle for it. You will have to give up something nice for it, and people will tend to not trade down on vintage.

 

[bengyax]

Thank you @Dashcol for the info! I like your take on trading modern for vintage. To each their own preference. I assume that any high valued cards are going to take a significant offer to deal for. I am thinking I might try the online spots for those ones and then try trading for commons/semi stars.

Again appreciate the time you took with responding.

Thanks,

Ben