March 19, 2020: Spring Auction
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 3/19/2020
Presented is a remarkable grouping of vintage Topps (and Fleer) baseball, headlined by a striking array of higher-grade 1955 Topps, including slabbed examples from legendary figures Henry Aaron, Duke Snider and Gil Hodges, along with a high-grade example of the coveted 1958 Topps World Series Batting Foes (SCD 6) featuring Mickey Mantle and Aaron. This is an old-time style auction lot that is loaded with value and begs for careful examination. Along with the four slabbed cards there are many other Hall of Famers and important specials from several different years, including a sparkling array of almost seven dozen cards from 1960 Topps, plus more than two dozen higher-grade cards from the popular 1960 Fleer Baseball Greats series. The iconic 1955 Topps Baseball issue headlines, found here in a condition markedly better than the cards are typically found in older collections. The No. 47 Aaron is in an SCD 4 holder, as is the difficult No. 210 Snider, the final card in the issue. The third slabbed example is another tough card, No. 187 Gil Hodges in the high series, featured in an SCD 5 holder. Two other Hall of Famers, Monte Irvin and Hal Newhouser, stand out in the 1955 contingent of raw cards that is largely Excellent to Ex-Mt and broken down as follows: 1955 Topps (35) – Ex-Mt (16) – No. 52, 64, 84, 88, 93 o/c, 94 o/c, 95 o/c, 101, 102 o/c, 104, 105, 113, 120, 129 o/c, 146 and 160; Excellent (8) – No. 6, 7, 21, 72, 82, 85 and 87; VG-Ex (6) – 10, 48, 53, 56, 71 and 170; Very Good (4) – No. 21, 49 (2) and 100 Irvin; and Good – No. 24 Newhouser. The 1958 Topps (119) World Series Batting Foes card (SCD 6) headlines a large array of mostly commons from that issue, with a few stars and minor stars included, a consistent assortment that is broadly in Very Good condition, with some above and below the range. The roster: No. 4, 6, 22, 53, 69, 74, 84, 86, 92, 106, 111, 114, 121, 124, 126, 130, 131, 132, 136, 139, 141, 148, 149, 151, 153, 155, 156, 157, 160, 166, 167, 170, 172, 175, 177, 179, 182, 188, 189, 191, 192, 195, 196, 197, 198, 206, 214, 217, 218, 222, 226, 231, 233, 234, 236, 237, 239, 242, 254, 259, 265, 271, 276, 277, 280, 282, 284, 299, 302, 311, 315, 318, 322, 328, 329, 336, 344, 346, 349, 361, 362, 371, 378, 382, 383, 385, 388, 392, 393, 395, 398, 399, 402, 405, 406, 416, 420, 422, 423, 425, 439, 441, 442, 445, 448, 451, 455, 456, 457, 458, 460, 465, 469, 471, 473 and 481. A VG-Ex condition No. 510 Yankees Team card and two Excellent examples of the NL Hit Kings card headline a small group of 1959 Topps (30) that is essentially Excellent to Ex-Mt and includes 14 high numbers, including Early Wynn, Hitters’ Foes (2), and NL Hit Kings, plus Aparicio and Sievers All-Stars; a large grouping of 1960 Topps (83) is in a very attractive Excellent to Near-Mint range and features five HOFers, several of the difficult high numbers and one of the great specials from the period, the No. 160 Rival All-Stars with Mickey Mantle and Ken Boyer. The group, with no duplication, breaks down to 9 percent Near-Mint, 37 percent Ex-Mt, 34 percent Excellent and 20 percent VG-Ex. Along with the Rival All-Stars card (VG-Ex), there are also cards of Brooks Robinson (VG-Ex), Al Kaline (Ex), Frank Robinson (Ex), Robin Roberts (Ex-Mt), Al Lopez (VG-Ex) and the high-number Del Crandall All-Star (Ex). The 1960 Fleer Baseball Greats (28) group is arguably in the nicest, most-uniform grades of the entire lot, essentially Ex-Mt to Near-Mint, with a crisp, clean look and a marvelous overall presentation. The breakdown: No. 6 Johnson, 7, 8 (2), 9, 10 Speaker, 12, 14 Mack, 17, 26 Feller, 27, 28 Gehrig (VG-Ex), 30, 32 (2), 33, 35, 47 Young, 48, 49, 50, 52, 60, 64, 66, 67, 73 and 75; there is also a pair of 1957 Topps (2), Nos. 356 and 398, that are Ex and VG-Ex respectively.
Huge Lot of 1950s Topps Baseball With HOFers, 1955 Aaron, Snider and Hodges Slabbed (298)
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