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Halfway there

One collecting area that seemed most affected by my inability to focus with my recent COMC purchase was my pursuit of 1975 Topps buybacks.

As anyone who has followed this blog the last two years knows, I am coming close to a milestone moment in my bid to rescue '75 buybacks from the garbage heap of unwanted cards.

I am nearing half of the set in buyback form.

Before my COMC order, I had accumulated 324 of the 660 cards in the set with buyback stamps on them.

I thought it would be a good time to cross the 50-percent mark with this purchase.

But I was only able to nab three cards. The prices are still stupid on them. Who in the world besides me is trying to buy these things?

These were the three:


A former Dodger on his final card. (The back features a pretty ridiculous cartoon).



A player whose card number, if you know the set, resides in the thick of rookie central (Hernandez is No. 224, Robin Yount is 223, George Brett is 228).



And Dave May, the man traded for Hank Aaron.

That was it. Three cards and that brought me only to 327 total. Still very frustratingly short of the halfway mark.

But then something happened while I was waiting for my COMC package to arrive.

Blog reader Mike emailed me that he was sending an envelope with some cards he found at a collectibles shop. The envelope contained just four cards. These were those:


Four '75 buybacks that I didn't have already.

Halfway!

I'm now at 331 cards, meaning I have more of these '75 buybacks than I don't.

I said that once I reached halfway that I would turn my 1975 buyback have list into a needs list and that's what I did yesterday. It is now an official want list. It's located in my want list section but for effect I'll show it here, too:

1975

TOPPS

Buybacks (need the following): 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 14, 17, 18, 20, 21, 23, 24, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 32, 33, 35, 38, 40, 41, 42, 43, 45, 47, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 55, 56, 57, 59, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 68, 69, 70, 72, 73, 74, 75, 79, 80, 82, 85, 87, 88, 89, 91, 92, 93, 94, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 104, 105, 106, 108, 117, 118, 125, 126, 129, 130, 133, 136, 139, 140, 141, 143, 144, 146, 148, 150, 151, 152, 156, 160, 161, 168, 172, 173, 174, 175, 178, 179, 180, 182, 183, 185, 186, 189, 190, 191, 192, 193, 194, 195, 196, 197, 198, 199, 200, 201, 202, 203, 204, 205, 206, 207, 208, 209, 210, 211, 212, 213, 216, 217, 220, 222, 223, 225, 228, 229, 230, 231, 233, 235, 236, 238, 240, 242, 243, 244, 246, 247, 248, 250, 254, 255, 257, 258, 260, 261, 264, 265, 266, 269, 270, 271, 274, 276, 280, 284, 285, 286, 291, 299, 300, 302, 306, 307, 308, 309, 310, 311, 312, 313, 314, 320, 322, 325, 329, 330, 331, 335, 336, 337, 341, 345, 350, 351, 360, 361, 365, 370, 371, 375, 376, 383 384, 385, 386, 388, 389, 392, 394, 394, 397, 399, 400, 402, 407, 409, 410, 413, 420, 421, 423, 426, 428, 429, 430, 431, 433, 435, 438, 443, 445, 450, 451, 452, 460, 461, 462, 463, 464, 465, 466, 474, 475, 476, 489, 500, 503, 509, 510, 511, 512, 513, 514,, 515, 516, 517, 518, 520, 526, 529, 530, 531, 534, 537, 540, 542, 544, 545, 547, 554, 555, 556, 558, 559, 560, 561, 562, 565, 567, 570, 571, 574, 576, 577, 580, 583, 585, 586, 594, 595, 599, 600, 601, 603, 607, 609, 611, 612, 614, 615, 616, 617, 618, 619, 620, 621, 622, 623, 624, 625, 626, 630, 637, 640, 646, 647, 648, 649, 651, 654, 655, 658, 659, 660

Most of those I probably won't get.

That list is full of star players, who if their buybacks actually exist are probably priced in triple digits or some such nonsense. The list also includes full subset series, such as the MVP subset and the rookie subset. I've seen maybe one buyback of each series in my searches.

But I'm still pursuing this mission. I will do it until I hit that collecting brick wall.

So join me for the second half.

It's gonna get weird. As weird as buybacks.

Comments

Dennis said…
Congrats on passing the halfway point! If I find another vein of them in my favorite seller's boxes at my usual show I'll make sure to get them to you
Zippy Zappy said…
I'd hate to say it but for the superstars buybacks the only option might be to get the fancy-shmantsy autographed ones with serial numbers stamped on them that come in those magnet cases right out of the box. And each box only has one card per box.
steelehere said…
I have a feeling you'll complete this set around 2024 when Topps puts some more 1975 buybacks in their 2024 Heritage set. Hopefully, someone working for them checks out your want list and loads up on buybacks of 1975 Topps star and rookie cards for the set.
steelehere said…
Have you ever picked up 1975 buy backs from Sportlots? I did a quick check of their inventory and they appear to have some of your want list cards on their site.

I'm glad I could help you get past the halfway mark!
I'm still wondering if George Brett and Robin Yount's rookies have buybacks. I don't believe I have any of them myself, but if there's anyone who can complete this project, it's you. Best of luck.
Fuji said…
Congratulations on reaching and surpassing the halfway mark!
night owl said…
I've noted in the past that Sportlots has some buybacks that I don't have yet and I do plan to go there to get some, but only after I've exhausted my needs at COMC. Sportlots is a little too clunky for me but I'll get there.
gregory said…
Would it be cheating if you bought some kind of stamp with silver ink and just stamped the remaining cards yourself? I mean, as long as it's getting weird anyway...
AdamE said…
You and I are in a race for card number 611..