I've been reading the forum for some times. Very interesting posts that
make you want to come back.
I've been collecting cards since I was a kid, that is, since 1972-73,
especially hockey. I have been a buyer of PSA-8 cards for about a year,
mostly on EBay, but also some in cards shows. I was wondering why 1954 Topps
are so expensive compare to other years with lower population for these
high-grade cards. I'm thinking of 1950's Parkhurst selling for much less
while Population is half the one of Topps 1954.
My thoughts are and correct me please someone if I'm wrong, 1954 was the first year of Topps, An American company so it really did make a huge impact on the American and hockey card world in general. Thats my opinion.
This set has always been very popular, mainly for the overall visual appeal of the cards. Besides this being the first year for Topps Hockey, the cards themselves are special. I heard a long time ago that each photograph was enhanced with oil paints before going to print. If this is true, then each card is truly a work of art!
When I started collecting vintage hockey around 1996, this set wasn't nearly as popular as it is today, but something happened a few years back and prices just started climbing.
As for the population reports, I don't believe that there are so much more Topps cards than Parkhurst cards from that era. I believe that more people are collecting the 1954 Topps set and more dealers are submitting these cards to cash in on higher grade cards.
I agree with Earl on all aspects of his post. I also heard that each card was enhanced with oil paints thus the awesome pics. Also that a few collectors set this set on fire by paying huge $$ for PSA 7 and 8 cards. This enticed collectors to submit their high grade cards and try and cash in as well.
I really like the back of that issue. Topps really came ahead of Parkhurst with their colorful backs, instead of the black and white from Parkies. Maybe it has something to do with their fame. Except for the red or green Parkies/QuakerOats's back, we rarely look behind the cards.
Gilles:I myself prefer the design of the '54 Topps set to anything put out by Parkhurst except the 62/63 Parkies with the player's picture on the front with the large upright puck. I don't expect everyone else to agree with me as this is just a personal preference. I know most of the other collectors in this forum seem to be mainly PSA 7 and 8 collectors and only a VERY SMALL part of my collection would fall in this category. I've been working on this Topps set and just Saturday won one of the four cards I still need to complete it on E-bay from Capssports. Funny thing about those PSA cards is that I'm sure you could send the same card to two different PSA graders and quite often get two very different grades. I've got several PSA 4 cards in my collection that I'm very fond of and when I receive cards from over-zealous E-bay sellers who would rate a card a PSA 6, I think they very much look like the graded cards I have that are PSA 4.
The blue border at the bottom of the card also makes PSA 8 & higher cards from that set harder to find, which might explain the high prices achieved by high grade examples.
