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To
non-OBCer's the word "Tipton" may not mean anything. Looking
it up in the dictionary will do no good in understanding what this
means. In this page I will be using the word Tipton when describing
the condition of the cards which I like to collect.
The
word was actually created by the OBC named after Larry Tipton (a.k.a
the Guru). We use this term to describe a card which by any other
system of grading would make most collectors cringe. And most dealers
would not even want to get near these cards let alone sell them.
These are the cards that I collect. At the bottom of this page I
will show some examples of what I mean including a link to even
more examples.
This
is one of the cards of the "Tipton Clinic" a project that
I have done in order to show what low condition means to me. Please
also note that these are cards that I have personally purchased
myself from Ebay, Shows, Friends or a combination of the above.
If you have a star card from my wantlist in this type of condition
let me know what you want for it, but please note that I don't usually
pay more than 3% of book for anything as you will be able to see
below.
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As you can see
from this first example I recently purchased, the card is a
1952 Topps Roy Hartfield card. This card is considered a semi-high
number and carries a beckett value of around $30 (U.S) in Near
Mint Condition..... I purchased this card for around .95 cents
Canadian.
Now lets go over
the condition of this card and what makes it worthy of Tipton
condition consideration. First you will notice the card has
"no" corners, second you will notice that the card
has border size tears at the very top center and about 1/4
from the left side on the bottom border.
Finally and the
biggest consideration about this card is the near uncountable
number of creases, ranging from a small little crease branching
out to a huge full card length crease.
Overall I declare
this card to be truly worthy of the Grade GEM MINT TIPTON!!!!
:-) It's tipton and I LOVE it!!!
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I originally in
this very position had a very tipton worthy Fred Hatfield. But
I felt that since I aquired another very important card from
this set that happened to be very tipton that I would share
it with you. This as you can see is a 1954 Bowman Mickey Mantle
Card. Now this is definately a superstar card that has a place
in any true vintage card collectors collection. I myself am
fortunate enough to own this card. Now this card carried a Beckett
Value of $1400 in Near Mint condition but in the condition you
see to the right it cost me about $35. And might I add that
anytime you pay less than 3% of book for a card like this you
have had a good day.
Now to the all
important condition features that have made this the Tipton
card that it is, First you will note a complete and total
lack of corners, the special addition of multiple creases
and tape that give this card a very nice "I put this
back together myself" look. You will also note that there
is less than 100% of the original design left on the top left
and right sides of the Mick's head. But other than that the
card is perfect! :-)
I will add an
image of the back very soon, but in the meantime all you need
to know is that there is not much difference between the front
and the back. But as with the other cards on this page this
is Pristine Tipton and it is one of the greatest examples
that I could show you.
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I have a final
special treat for you. Now after seeing the card of the Mick
and the 52 Topps card you are beginning to get the general idea
of what I am talking about. I do have one more card for your
review. This card I picked up at the Toronto Sportscards Expo
of all places, this is strange because usually this is my main
hockey place. I found a table where a man had some great vintage
cards at $10 each, unfortunately I had spent most of my money
already and didn't notice this until the end, but atleast I
grabbed one. This of course is a 1956 Topps Ted Williams card.
The condition
is pretty obvious from the picture but here is the rundown,
first you will note a continued pattern from the above cards
where we have no corners (Do they really make cards with corners
anyway?) and there are some serious surface flaws where it
looks like scratches. The back of this card is actually pretty
ok considering there are a few minor creases. The price breakdown
for this one is $350 BV in Near Mint as compared to my $10
Canadian purchase price. My streak of less than 3% paid continues.
Condition: GEM
MINT TIPTON
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This card here
is another tipton worthy card that I have added to this very
worthy list. This is a T205 Hanford card with some very tipton
characteristics. The lack of a top left corner for example.
Also let us not forget the multiple creases and rounding of
all the rest of the corners. Surprisingly the back is mostly
readable and makes a great addition to the collection. This
one was received in trade from Brett Domue a while back but
I recently got around to scanning it for this page.
Condition: Same
as above GEM MINT TIPTON
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