1954 TOPPS SET - RARE SERIES
In 2010, an uncut sheet of 100 1954 Topps Baseball cards was offered for auction. The sheet confirmed what I have long suspected, that there is another scarce series of cards within the set. The currently recognized series are cards 1-50, 51-75 and 76-250. The 2nd series has always been deemed more scarce, and thus a higher premium is charged for those cards. While there is little doubt that some of those cards are tougher to find, I have found some of them no harder to find than another grouping later in the set. The uncut sheet seems to support my theory. It contains cards 126-150 and 176-250. Card numbers 151-175 are not included on the sheet. This is similar to the grouping that I found more difficult to find when pursuing my set. I just looked at PSA's population report today 11/15/2018 and it continues to support my theory.
It appears that Topps at least had the following breakdowns:
1-50 (50 CARDS) 1 Series or Grouping
51-75 (25 CARDS) 2 Series or Grouping (Scarce)
76-125 (50 CARDS) 3 Series or Grouping
126-150 (25 CARDS) 4 Series or Grouping
151-175 (25 CARDS) 5 Series or Grouping (Scarce)
176-250 (75 CARDS) 6 Series or Grouping
A more likely scenario is that Topps had 3 series that year that included the following:
1-50 and 76-125 (100 CARDS) 1st Series
126-150 and 176-250 (100 CARDS) 2nd Series
51-75 and 151-175 (50 CARDS) 3rd Series
The fact that the cards were not printed sequentially on the 100 card sheets throws people off.
In the 24 cards in what I call the 5th Series, there is only 1 card that exceeds 500 submissions and that is #427 Johnny Podres a Dodger. There is an extremely low amount of submissions of cards in the range of what I think is a 5th series...cards (151-175). Only 3 cards exceed 350 submission in this grouping, which is far less than any other grouping.
Looking at submissions to PSA at or below 350. Here is the breakdown:
# of cards %
1-50 (50 Cards) 1 2%
51-75 (25 Cards) 9 36%
76-125 (50 Cards) 9 18%
126-150 (25 Cards) 5 20%
151-175 (25 Cards) 22 88%
176-250 (75 Cards) 19 25%
We now know that the 4th and 6th Series or Groupings are on one 100 card sheet. It would make sense that these cards would have been released at the same time as it would have been a nightmare to have separated the 2 groups of numbers (they were mixed together throughout the sheet). Is it possible that Topps produced another 100 sheet with cards 1-50 and 76-125 and then a 50 sheet production for cards 51-75 and 151-175 that was more limited in total production? The only way to find out now is to find more uncut sheets or severely miscut cards. One thing I feel even more comfortable with is the fact that I believe cards 151-175 should hold the same designation as cards 51-75 as far as being a little more scarce. On 6/11/2012 I found more evidence that my theory is correct. I liquidated an estate and found 36 1954 Topps cards in the home. They are practically untouched from 1954 and I surmise purchased by the gentleman when he was young. Guess what? There were no cards from 1-50 or from 76-125. That is what I believe to be 2 series that were printed on the same 100 card sheet. He had cards from what I believe to be the other 4 series.
It appears that Topps at least had the following breakdowns:
1-50 (50 CARDS) 1 Series or Grouping
51-75 (25 CARDS) 2 Series or Grouping (Scarce)
76-125 (50 CARDS) 3 Series or Grouping
126-150 (25 CARDS) 4 Series or Grouping
151-175 (25 CARDS) 5 Series or Grouping (Scarce)
176-250 (75 CARDS) 6 Series or Grouping
A more likely scenario is that Topps had 3 series that year that included the following:
1-50 and 76-125 (100 CARDS) 1st Series
126-150 and 176-250 (100 CARDS) 2nd Series
51-75 and 151-175 (50 CARDS) 3rd Series
The fact that the cards were not printed sequentially on the 100 card sheets throws people off.
In the 24 cards in what I call the 5th Series, there is only 1 card that exceeds 500 submissions and that is #427 Johnny Podres a Dodger. There is an extremely low amount of submissions of cards in the range of what I think is a 5th series...cards (151-175). Only 3 cards exceed 350 submission in this grouping, which is far less than any other grouping.
Looking at submissions to PSA at or below 350. Here is the breakdown:
# of cards %
1-50 (50 Cards) 1 2%
51-75 (25 Cards) 9 36%
76-125 (50 Cards) 9 18%
126-150 (25 Cards) 5 20%
151-175 (25 Cards) 22 88%
176-250 (75 Cards) 19 25%
We now know that the 4th and 6th Series or Groupings are on one 100 card sheet. It would make sense that these cards would have been released at the same time as it would have been a nightmare to have separated the 2 groups of numbers (they were mixed together throughout the sheet). Is it possible that Topps produced another 100 sheet with cards 1-50 and 76-125 and then a 50 sheet production for cards 51-75 and 151-175 that was more limited in total production? The only way to find out now is to find more uncut sheets or severely miscut cards. One thing I feel even more comfortable with is the fact that I believe cards 151-175 should hold the same designation as cards 51-75 as far as being a little more scarce. On 6/11/2012 I found more evidence that my theory is correct. I liquidated an estate and found 36 1954 Topps cards in the home. They are practically untouched from 1954 and I surmise purchased by the gentleman when he was young. Guess what? There were no cards from 1-50 or from 76-125. That is what I believe to be 2 series that were printed on the same 100 card sheet. He had cards from what I believe to be the other 4 series.
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