1973-77 Topps Hockey Complete Set Run of Four Sets (1,056)

Bidding

This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 4/11/2013

This is an extraordinary opportunity to pick up four key vintage Topps hockey sets from the mid-1970’s in a high-grade, consistent condition, with keys and stars nicely conforming to the overall grade range within their respective issues. Start with 1973-74 Topps Hockey (198), found here in an impressive Excellent to Near-Mint overall condition, with perhaps ¼ to 1/3 of the set reaching the upper end of the range and the bulk Ex-Mt and better. It is a truly uniform and clean offering, with minimal chipping of the hyper-sensitive color borders. The keys’ breakdown: No. 10 Dryden Ex-Mt, 116 Checklist – Nr-Mt, 150 Orr – Ex-Mt, and 162 Smith – Nr-Mt. The 1974-75 Topps Hockey set (264) is in a similar but even more pristine overall condition, largely Ex-Mt to Nr-Mt to Mt, with some below, and a total of eight cards already third-party slabbed and graded to stunning numbers (evenly divided between Nr-Mt to Mt and Mint) that nicely foreshadow the entire grouping. Perhaps three dozen or so cards might face centering concerns prompted more by the pristine presentation of the surrounding pasteboards than with disappointment with the cards themselves. Slabbed cards: No. 81 – PSA 9, 88 – PSA 8, 155 Dryden – PSA 8, 172 – PSA 9, 175 – PSA 9, 189- PSA 9, 219 – PSA 8, and 234 – PSA 8. The keys’ breakdown: No. 1 – Ex, 20 Mikita – Ex-Mt o/c, 100 Orr – Nr-Mt, 161 Cherry – VG, 195 Potvin – Ex-Mt, 232 LaFleur – Ex, and 264 Irvine – Ex. The 1975-76 Topps Hockey issue (330) would typically be described as a Near-Mint set overall, with a range of Ex-Mt to Nr-Mt to Mt but most of the cards falling at the upper end of the Nr-Mt range. It’s a blazer, a nice, consistent example of an important mid-decade set, with perhaps only a handful of cards falling below the Ex-Mt designation and the keys – No. 100 Orr and No. 35 Dryden – earning Near-Mint nods. The final set in the grouping, 1976-77 Topps Hockey (264), comes in at a grade very similar to its predecessors, essentially Near-Mint to Mint, with perhaps a couple of dozen falling only to Ex-Mt or so. Like its colleagues, it is a super clean and uniform offering, with good centering and sparkling clean green backs that reveal little or no chipping. The keys: No. 67 Trottier Record – Nr-Mt o/c, 115 Trottier – Ex-Mt, 200 Dryden – Nr-Mt, and 213 Orr – Ex-Mt.