Topps Vault & Proofs
Auctioneer Guernsey's went thru Topps offices gathering over 3,000
items for the auction. Topps spokesman reported auction sales of
OVER $1.5 million !!! Additional sales were made from a mail-only
auction. Collector Keith Olbermann, at the auction, described it
as an archaeological dig.
Click for complete
Topps Vault, Proofs & Blank-Backs
Topps archive material continued to accumulate after the auction
ending up with another treasure of over 250,000 transparencies,
uncut sheets, color separations, art, photos, slides, proof sheets
& wrappers, canceled checks, contracts and one-of-a-kind
items to sell.
Note: You may be on that page right now. |
1969/1970 Transogram Statues & Figurines |
![]() Vintage Baseball Wire Photos![]() UPI/AP Wirephotos |
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Official authentic vintage UPI/AP Wirephotos/Laserphotos are very limited,
normally only 1 sent to subscribing newspapers. Photos were black & white
printed on electro-static printers, usually sent in 3 stages, Cyan, Magenta
& Yellow, then combined into a color photograph. Photos are work products
and VG to NEAR MINT. As a bonus, some have editor's blue-line cropping
marks.
Click for a complete listing and images of our
UPI/AP Sports Wirephotos.
Scarce, interesting and snapshots of history, wire photos of major subjects
and moments make for great collectibles.
Wirephotos and laserphotos are no longer transmitted in this manner (stopping
around the early 90's). Images are now transmitted from computer to computer
with no need for hardcopies. |
High Numbers - vintage cards were issued in the ‘50s-‘70s in a series. During the baseball season, the largest number of cards were made. As the schedule progressed into September, when there would be less interest in baseball cards , Topps for one, specifically decreased production and hence much less product was available. As a result, a scarcity-factor was created and a premium holds for these first type of "short-printed" cards.
Inserts - special randomly-inserted cards which are not part of the regular set. Many modern inserts are sequentially-numbered and rarer than the card sets into which they are inserted.
O-Pee-Chee / OPC - a subsidiary of Topps, this card issue was produced specifically for distribution in Canada.
Promotional Card - generally referred to as cards issued to show what the product will look like on release and intended to help spur future sales. Often called a "promo" card.
Reprint - cards issued to reproduce the originals. With the current trend of vintage reprints, the new versions have a distinguishing characteristic evidenced by numbering.
Restored - a card or piece of memorabilia which someone has tried to return to a "like-new" condition. A restored card is considered to be of very little value.
Rookie Card - any league-licensed, widely distributed card to feature a player in his first year of trading cards.