March 25, 2021: Spring Auction
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 3/25/2021
Like an adjacent lot from 1950s Topps, this is a genuinely unique auction lot, derived from a childhood collection and providing enormous value with the only stipulation that this lengthy listing requires a good deal of close examination to find all the pearls. Focused primarily from 1962-69 mainstream Topps, but with a handful of Fleer and some peripheral issues, most notably a high-grade near-set of the 1964 Topps Giants, the lineup herein is truly remarkable in the number of Hall of Famers (160). The prevailing condition range is broadly Ex-Mt to Near-Mint, with some variation from year to year that is noted in the listing. Included in the mix are some of the most iconic HOFer cards of the era, along with a number of important Rookies and Specials, including: Mantle, Clemente, Koufax and Musial cards from 1962; 1963 Fleer cards of Mays and Koufax; Aaron cards from 1964 Topps, 1968 O-Pee-Chee and 1969 Topps; Clemente cards from 1965, 1967 and 1969; Rose cards from 1966, 1967, 1968(2) and 1969; and 1969 Topps cards of Mays and Bench, among others. And it should be noted that the 160 figure for Hall of Famers is for their regular-issue cards; adding in appearances from All-Stars, League Leaders and other specials and it would likely double. As we said, this one takes a bit of reading, but is without a doubt worth the trouble. The chronological breakdown: 1962 Topps (88) – mostly Ex-Mt to Near-Mint with some below and about a dozen Good or Fair – keys: No. 5 Koufax – Good, 10 Clemente – Ex-Mt, 18 Manager’s Dream – Excellent, 30 Mathews – Ex, 50 Musial – Ex-Mt, 100 Spahn – Very Good, 200 Mantle – Fair (minimum size); plus three League Leaders, 11 All-Stars (including Aaron, Frank Robinson (2), Mays, Drysdale, Spahn, Brooks Robinson, Kaline and Ford), three Babe Ruth subset cards, Powell Rookie (2), Torre Rookie, Perry Rookie, Frank Robinson, Ashburn, Billy Williams (2), Yastrzemski, Bunning, Marichal, Yankees Team, Houk, Kuenn, Martin, Minoso, Kubek, Tommy Davis, Gilliam and Hodges; 1963 Topps (55) – mostly Ex-Mt to Near-Mint, with perhaps a dozen below Excellent and with more than a dozen Near-Mint Hall of Famers, including Gibson, Brock, Stargell, Fox, Killebrew, Kaline, Ford, Mathews, Drysdale, Snider, Cepeda and Yastrzemski, plus Spahn, Marichal, Hodges, Colavito, Pierce, Zimmer, McCarver, Kubek, Podres, Gilliam; plus two World Series subset cards, two League Leaders and eight Combination cards, including a Near-Mint Bombers’ Best; 1963 Fleer (2) – No. 5 Mays – Ex-Mt and No. 42 Koufax – VG; 1964 Topps (68) – mostly Ex-Mt-Plus to Near-Mint, perhaps a dozen or so below, including Aaron, Berra, Torre (2), Gibson, Niekro Rookie, Perry, Roberts, Brock, Williams (2), Frank Robinson, Stargell, Cepeda, Kaat, Oliva Rookie, Staub (2), Colavito, Lolich (2), Gilliam, Ken Boyer (3), Kubek, White and two League Leaders; 1965 Topps (69) – mostly Ex-Mt to Near-Mint, with a dozen or so below, including Clemente (Nr-Mt), Morgan Rookie, Rose (Good), Mays (VG), Roberts (2), Bunning, Frank Robinson (2), Perry, Torre, Gibson, Ford, Yastrzemski, Killebrew, Mathews, Brock, Mantle World Series HR (2, Nr-Mt and Good), plus Alex Johnson (2), Allen, John, Bouton, Kubek, Frank Howard, Kuenn, Tiant, Versalles (2), Campaneris, McLain, three League Leaders and two additional World Series subset cards – additionally there are two (2) 1965 Topps Embossed of Mantle (VG-Ex) and Brooks Robinson (Good); 1966 Topps (180) – Ex-Mt to Near-Mint, with a couple dozen below and a striking group of perhaps six dozen cards that are Near-Mint or better blazers – lineup includes Clemente (Good), Hunter, Rose, Yastrzemski (2), Perez (2), Banks, Killebrew, Brock, Cepeda, Morgan, Mathews, Jenkins Rookie, Sutton Rookie, Frank Robinson, Marichal (2), Bunning, Wilhelm, Roberts, Murcer Rookie (2), Allen, Richardson, John (2), Colavito, Petrocelli, Kuenn, McLain, Lolich, White and Conigliaro; 1967 Topps (87) – Excellent to Near-Mint, with a couple dozen below, including Brooks Robinson (Ex-Mt-Plus), Clemente (Ex-Mt-Plus), Rose (Ex-Mt-Plus), Frank Robinson, Gibson, Banks, Yastrzemski (2), Mathews, Marichal, Ford, Niekro, Cepeda, Torre, Palmer, Bunning, Morgan, Perry, Hodges, Santo, Carlton, Brock, White, Kaat, Frank Howard, Allen, Oliva, Colavito, Elston Howard, three League Leaders, seven Combination cards and a World Series subset card; 1968 Topps (95) – Ex-Mt to Near-Mint, couple dozen below, including Aaron (VG-Ex), Rose (2, Nr-Mt and Ex-Mt), Yastrzemski, Banks, Frank Robinson (2), Gibson, Seaver (Fair), Marichal, Jenkins, Palmer, Torre, Alston, Brock, Cepeda, Carlton, Hunter and McCovey, plus five World Series, four League Leaders, three All-Stars (Clemente and Aaron), McLain (2), Marshall, Tommy Davis, Willie Davis, Staub, Callison, Lolich, Bauer, Bouton, Kaat, Face, White, Smith, Petrocelli, Oliva and Allen; 1968 O-Pee-Chee (5) – most Near-Mint, including Carew, Aaron (VG-Ex), No. 11 League Leaders and Gibson (2); and 1969 Topps (220) – the largest group and also the best condition, with a noticeable jump to Near-Mint to Near-Mint to Mint, with roughly 170 or so cards in the upper grade and 50 below, mostly to Excellent or below – Upper grade Hall of Famers and stars – Aaron, Mays, Bench, Seaver, Rose, Clemente (2), Banks, Gibson, Cepeda, Morgan, Aparicio, Alston (3), Brock (2), Marichal, Torre, Palmer, Carew, Billy Williams, McCovey, Drysdale, Ted Shows How, Oliver Rookie (2), Lyle, Watson, Tiant, Campaneris, Bonds Rookie, Carty, Powell, Callison, Smith, Wills, Cash, Lonborg, Koosman, Nettle Rookie (2), seven All-Stars (Rose, Bench (2), Brock and McCovey), plus a complete run of League Leaders with extras (15), a World Series subset card and a checklist; Lower grade Hall of Famers – Rose (2), Bench, Yastrzemski, Banks, Clemente, Killebrew, McCovey (2) and Perry. Also included are three nice condition 1967 Pinups (Clemente, Kaline and McLain), three (3) 1961 Post cards (Aaron, presents Ex but small nick at corner, Colavito – Ex-Mt and Wills overcut on the bottom); a 1962 Post Wills (Fair) and 32 mostly Good to Very Good cards from the 1961 Golden Press issue, including Ruth (Fair), Cobb (Excellent), DiMaggio, Wagner, Gehrig, Hornsby, Alexander, Young (2) and Johnson; final element is four signed team-issued postcards from Schmidt, Morgan, Murcer and Matlack. A handsome partial set of the popular 1964 Topps Giants is also included: mostly Ex-Mt to Near-Mint, emphasis to the upper end of the spectrum, and missing only 12 cards. Keys included No. 3 Koufax – Near-Mint, No. 11 Clemente – Ex-Mt-Plus, No. 25 Mantle – Ex-Mt-Plus, No. 48 Yastrzemski – Nr-Mt-Plus and No. 49 Aaron – Ex-Mt-Plus. The missing numbers: Nos. 4, 9, 10, 18, 21, 30, 31, 38, 44, 47, 50 and 51.
Huge Group 1962-69 Topps Baseball With HOFers, Plus 1964 Topps Giants (870)
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