March 19, 2020: Spring Auction
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 3/19/2020
Offered is a huge accumulation of vintage Topps baseball mostly Hall of Famer cards from nearly two decades spanning 1959-76, an old-fashioned style auction lot that includes more than 235 Hall of Famers and even more Specials, Rookies and minor stars, plus several hundred of the popular Topps inserts and peripheral issues of the era. Many of the HOFers are found in the kind of gradually improving condition range that is often a hallmark of mature accumulations, with some of the most important cards of the period included in the mix. That designation includes a 1959 Topps Roberto Clemente, the iconic No. 1 cards of Roger Maris card in 1962 Topps and Willie Mays in 1966, the coveted 1969 Topps Jackson Rookie and the second-year Nolan Ryan, Henry Aaron No. 1 cards from 1974 and 1976, plus a half dozen other Aarons, many Rose, Mays, Koufax and Clemente cards, Reggie Jackson, Joe Morgan, Blyleven, Fisk and Perez Rookies, and more. By the nature of this enormous undertaking, it is the kind of lot that begs for a good deal of close examination and careful scrutiny. Cards from 1959-65 are broadly Good to Excellent, with some above and below the range, then improving a bit after that, with year-by-year characterizations provided from that point on. All cards are Topps and regular-issue cards unless otherwise indicated. The breakdown: 1959 Clemente – Very Good; 1960 (10) – including Maris – Good, Snider – Fair, Mazeroski – Poor and Frank Robinson – Fair; 1961 (9) – including Santo Rookie – VG, Ford – VG, Musial – Fair and Mantle World Series HR – VG-Ex; 1962 (36) – including No. 1 Maris – VG, Stengel – VG, 19 League Leaders with No. 52 – VG, No. 53 (2) – VG-Ex and No. 54 (3) – VG, plus nine Babe Ruth subset cards; 1963 (8) – five League Leaders, including No. 1 – Very Good and No. 3 – VG-Ex; 1964 (9) – five League Leaders generally Excellent (Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6), plus Berra – VG-Ex, Koufax – Poor and Niekro – VG; 1965 (9) – including Perez (Ex) and Morgan Rookies (Fair), Maris – Good, Clemente – VG, Mathews – Good and Banks – VG; 1966 (18) – primarily Good to Very Good, including 13 HOFers, with No. 1 Mays – VG-Ex, Aaron (2) – VG-Ex and Good, Morgan (2) – VG, Ford – Good, plus Kaline, Marichal, Drysdale, Rose, Banks, Killebrew and Palmer; 1967 (9) – Good to Very Good, including Clemente – Fair, Mays – Good, Carlton – Good, Gibson – Ex-Mt, plus Ford and Stargell; 1968 (30) – mostly Good to Very Good, including 12 HOFers,– Aaron – VG-Ex, Mays (2) – VG and Good, Clemente (2) – Ex and VG, Seaver – Ex-Mt o/c, Stargell (2) – Ex-Mt and Fair, Banks – Fair, Yastrzemski – Good, Superstars – VG, Frank Robinson – VG, Aaron All-Star – Ex and Clemente All-Star – Good; 1969 (62) – mostly Good to Excellent, including more than three dozen HOFers, Reggie Jackson Rookies (2) – Very Good and Good, Aaron (3) – Ex and 2 VG, Clemente – VG, Ryan (2) – Ex-Mt and Ex, Mays – VG, Brooks Robinson (3) – Ex-Mt, VG-Ex and Good, Rose (2) – VG-Ex and Fair, Gibson (2) – Ex and Good, McCovey (2) – Ex and VG-Ex, Billy Williams (2) – VG and Fair, Killebrew (2) – VG and Good, Bench – Good, Seaver – Good, Cepeda – Ex, Ted Williams – Good, Frank Robinson – VG, Hunter – VG, plus Mazeroski (2), Marichal (2), Sutton (2), Brock (2), Kaline (2), Rose All-Star (3) Ex and two VG, Yastrzemski All-Star (2) – Ex-Mt o/c and VG-Ex, and other 10 All-Stars, plus three No. 1 Mets Team cards; 1970 (54) – Very Good to Excellent, with some below, with two dozen HOFers, including Aaron (2) – Very Good and Good, Clemente – Good, Ryan (2), Mays (2), Frank Robinson (2), Yastrzemski (2), Rose, Perez (2), Morgan, Munson (3), Carew – Good, Stargell (2), Gibson (2), Banks, Kaline, Santo, 18 All-Stars, including Aaron (3), Rose (3), Yastrzemski, Frank Robinson and Bench (2), and five World Series subset; 1971 (53) – Very Good to Excellent, with some below, with 40 Hall of Famers, including Ryan – Good, Reggie Jackson, Blyleven Rookie, McCovey (3), Stargell (7), Morgan (6), Carew (4), Brook Robinson (4), Jenkins (6), Kaline (3), Munson, Carlton, Seaver, Bench, Garvey (3) and Gibson, plus No. 1 Orioles Team (5) and three World Series subset cards; 1972 (18) – Excellent to Ex-Mt, with some below, including eight Hall of Famers – Reggie Jackson – Good, Killebrew, Fisk Rookies (2), Gibson (2), Ted Williams, Marichal, In Action cards from Mays (3) and Stargell, No. 1 Pirates Team (2) and two World Series subset cards; 1973 (9) – Excellent to Ex-Mt, with some below, including Fingers (2), Hunter (2), Gibson and Jenkins; 1974 (18) – Excellent to Ex-Mt, with some below, with 15 HOFers, No. 1 Aaron – Good, Ryan – Ex-Mt, Schmidt – Ex-Mt, Winfield Rookie, Munson (2), Brock (2), Seaver (2), Morgan (2), Kaline (2), Parker Rookie (2) and Palmer; and 1976 (45) – Excellent to Ex-Mt, with some above and below and quite a few Near-Mint examples, with three dozen Hall of Famers, including Ryan – Nr-Mt, Rose (3) – Ex-Mt and Nr-Mt, Carew (4) –Ex-Mt and Nr-Mt, Jenkins (3) – Nr-Mt and Ex-Mt, Eckersley Rookie, Aaron, Jackson, Munson, Yastrzemski (3), Stargell (2), Bench, Brett, Schmidt, Morgan, Perez, Carlton (2), Fisk (5), Rice (2), No. 1 Aaron Record Breaker – VG and Seaver Record Breaker (3). Coins, Inserts, Posters, Misc. Breakdown: 1971 Topps Baseball Coins, (100) different, generally Ex-Mt to Near-Mint, with a bit of duplication and 19 HOFers, including Mays, Bench, Reggie Jackson, McCovey, Frank Robinson (2), Cepeda, Billy Williams, Brooks Robinson, Morgan, Stargell and Sutton; 1968 Fleer Quiz cards (29) – Excellent-Plus; 1968 Topps Posters (2) – Aaron and Howard, with some cracks and tears at folds; 1969 Topps Deckle Edge inserts (35), assorted, mostly Excellent with some below, including Clemente (VG), Yastrzemski, McCovey, Aparicio, Carew (4) and Marichal (2); 1970 Topps Posters (23) – assorted, mostly Ex-Mt to Nr-Mt, with a few small tears, including Clemente, Carew (2), Frank Robinson (2) and Brock; 1970 Bazooka (9), including Mays (3) that present nicely but some inconsistent cutting, Marichal and Hunter; 1970 Fleer World Series set (66) – Ex to Ex-Mt; 1970 Kellogg’s Clemente – Ex-Mt; 1971 Kellogg’s Clemente – Ex-Mt; 1971 Topps Booklets (31), generally Excellent, including Mays, Gibson, Jackson (2), Rose (Good) and Banks; 1971 Topps Supers (17), generally present Ex-Mt to Nr-Mt, but some with modest back wear as can be typical with this issue, including Aaron (VG-Ex), Mays (VG-Ex), McCovey (Ex), Stargell (Ex-Mt), Gibson (2) – Ex and VG-Ex, Seaver (Ex-Mt) and Stagell (Good); plus a grouping of 50 or so miscellaneous cards, most lower grades, with a couple of 1959 Fleer, 1954 Topps and 1955 Bowman, a 1961 Post Clemente (Poor) and a Babe Ruth Who Am I card (VG).
Massive Grouping of 1959-76 Topps Baseball HOFers (236), Specials and Rookies, Plus Inserts, Coins (735)
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