July 15, 2021: Summer Auction
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 7/15/2021
This is an enormous grouping of mostly vintage Topps football cards, with a couple of hundred Philadelphia Gum cards included in the mix in an array found in collectible grades in the 1950s and 1960s and improving to mostly Ex-Mt to Near-Mint by the 1970s. The vast array includes an imposing lineup of Hall of Famers and Specials, including many of the legendary figures from the giddy decade of the 1960s when the National Football League came of age, merged with its archrival the American Football League and set the stage for the financial and cultural behemoth it was to become in ensuing decades. Some of the earliest groupings, largely 1957-60, are broadly Good to Very Good or Excellent, improving gradually over time as is typical in mature collections. Much of the 1960s – including the 225-card array of Philadelphia Gum from 1964-67 – is closer to Very Good to Ex-Mt, with some above and below the range, and by the 1970s closer to Ex-Mt to Near-Mint. It is a lot that begs for a good deal of close examination, with substantial value awaiting the lucky and diligent winning bidder. Given the size and diversity of the array the numbers listed are approximations. Here’s the breakdown: 1957 Topps (60), with 13 Hall of Famers; 1958 Topps (70), with 10 HOFers; 1959 Topps (64), with 11 HOFers, including Brown (Fair), Unitas (Good) and Starr; 1960 Topps (85), with 13 HOFers, including Brown, Hornung and Starr; 1960-61 Fleer (10), with three HOFers; 1961 Topps (80), improves to Very Good to Ex-Mt, with some below; 1964-67 Philadelphia Gum (225), includes 10 HOFers, with about ½ of the array from the final year, including 1967 Philly cards of Hornung and Tarkenton; 1966 Topps (60), mostly Good to Very Good, with some above and below, including Namath (Fair), Otto and Maynard; 1967 Topps (70), Very Good to Ex-Mt, with some above and below, including eight HOFers; 1968 Topps (150), mostly Ex to Nr-Mt, with some below, with 20 HOFers, including Namath, Sayers, Unitas, Butkus, Karras, Kemp and Taylor; 1968 Topps Inserts (35), with about ½ of the group with perforated backing gone, and with (2) Namath cards; 1972 Topps (500), Ex-Mt to Near-Mint, with some below; 1973 Topps (1,000), Ex-Mt to Near-Mint, with some below and about 40 HOFers, including Harris Rookie, Simpson (2) and Namath; 1974-79 arrays boast similar ratios of HOFers and Specials - 1974 Topps (350); 1975 Topps (300); 1976 Topps (380); 1977 Topps (450); 1978 Topps (600) and 1979 Topps (300); plus four Miscellaneous cards – three (3) 1948 Leaf Nos. 85, 95 and 96, plus 1954 Bowman Renfro.
Huge Group 1957-79 Topps Football, HOFers, Specials (4,800)
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