1996 Topps baseball...was that a turning point?

OscarOne · Jan 19, 2015

I am writing a little something about the 1996 Topps Mantle reprints...but since I was so young when this set came out I was hoping to get your thoughts.

The Mantle reprints were a big deal to me...but were they a big deal to collectors at large? I mean, were people really hunting them down? I know that Topps printed the hell out of this set, so the they are not worth much now...

Also, since the next year the put out Mays...did the popularity of these reprints play any role in the Topps pushing the Heritage sets out?

Thanks!

Off topic: man, I wish there was a way to see historic Beckett or Tuff Stuff hotlists. It would be a lot of fun to go back to, say, June of 1997 and see what people were paying for.

BBCgalaxee · Jan 19, 2015

November '96 ad

finestkind · Jan 19, 2015

I liked getting the Mantle reprints. I couldn't afford the real ones then. I have a 67 Mantle for my set. It's good enough for me.

OscarOne · Jan 19, 2015

BBCgalaxee said:
November '96 ad View attachment 45328

This is awesome. Man, those are pricey! Thanks!!

nevermore · Jan 19, 2015

1996 Topps is still the one and only full wax box I've ever ripped in 25 years in the hobby. I remember that I pulled one Mantle insert and I was so excited back then.

MansGame · Jan 19, 2015

I bet I have all my old Becketts sitting in a dusty box at my parents house if I ever make it back up north. Would be fun to flip through them and see the good ol days haha

BBCgalaxee · Jan 19, 2015

Full srp for '96 topps was $46 a box.

Boxes were typically selling for $20 over that.

Sent from my HTCONE using Freedom Card Board mobile app

smapdi · Jan 19, 2015

Yes, the 1996 Mantle reprints were a big deal. Mantle had been absent from Topps products for a while as he was exclusive to UD until he died, and then I think his estate continued the deal. Mantle was featured in 1996 Topps in a big way. The reprint cards, being the face on the cereal box factory sets, "retiring" card #7 , etc. As I recall, people did chase the paper reprints pretty hard, but the chrome and especially refractors really were hot. The 1952 Topps reprint refractor was one of the big cards that summer, being featured front and center by any dealer who had one.

I'm sure their success did lead directly to Mays, Aaron, and Ryan reprint retrospectives, along with the supplemental run of Mantle cards (all-star cards, league leader cards, etc.). Whether that led to Heritage sets, I can't say. Seems feasible.

LOL @ 1991 UD FE 100-card lots. Pedro Martinez for 20 cents each? Hmmm...

mrmopar · Jan 19, 2015

I had always liked the reprint sets for the most part, but preferred using an old design with new players rather than just reprinting the same old cards (Archives 53-55 for example were boring to me, but Brooklyn archives were cool because they added cards that didn't exist). Like anything, the card makers beat it to the ground and it became too hard to collect all of the reprint type cards after a while.

Yanks2151 · Jan 20, 2015

I collected them as they came but my favorite Mantles from 1996 were the inserts in the Topps Stadium product. Great pics, some black and white and some color photos. Also a few cameos in the pics. Not mine but here is the complete 19 card set available on EBay. (Not mine).
http://m.ebay.com/itm/390813652413?nav=SEARCH

u2me57 · Jan 20, 2015

I really enjoyed collecting the 1996 Topps Mantle reprint cards. It was one of the last few years we had card shops here and it was fun going in there and buying packs to see if there was a 1996 Mantle reprint in there. I bought the 4 cereal box set which was pretty cool. Broke down and opened the set years later just to get the 4 Mantle cards out.

Greg Cleveland · Jan 20, 2015

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1996-Topps-...1122605117?pt=US_Baseball&hash=item58bcad703d

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