November 30, 2017: Sports & Americana Auction
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 11/30/2017
While the youth of America may not have been particularly sanguine about this issue at the time of release in 1963, the passage of time and the expansion of the formal hobby have helped to make it an important, highly coveted peripheral issue from more than a half century ago. The cards were issued five at a time in boxes of Bazooka Bubble Gum, yet another nuance that makes high-grade specimens all the more attractive. The cards are 1 9/16-by-2 ½ inches, with black-and-white images of all Hall of Famers, elegantly encased in a gold-foil framework that was seemingly decades ahead of its time. And while they were all HOFers, names like Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson, Walter Johnson and Lou Gehrig still grab the spotlight here. That kind of handiwork in 1963 would make condition preservation a concern, and this offering addresses that with a resounding Ex-Mt to Near-Mint assessment (emphasis to the upper end of the scale), a remarkable grade for an issue with that sensitive foil element. There’s nary a whisper of the dreaded chipping of the foil; it’s very rare to find this popular issue in such extraordinary condition.
1963 Bazooka All-Time Greats High-Grade Complete Set (41)
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