1954 Sports Illustrated First Two Issues With Baseball Card Inserts (2)

Bidding

This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 3/30/2023

Here’s a chance to own the first two issues of the iconic Sports Illustrated magazines, artifacts that would carry considerable historical gravitas on their own and yet are elevated dramatically by a prescient nod to another cultural milepost, the baseball card. We should say more specifically the Topps Baseball card, which was in the process of supplanting rival Bowman at the forefront of the card-collecting phenomenon that was capturing the attention of the youth of America. Amid all this, Sports Illustrated launched what would become the most popular sports magazine in the country, enhanced in its first two inaugural issues by the inclusion of colorful inserts of real and imagined Topps Baseball cards. The 8 ¼-by-11-inch magazines are in wonderful condition, with the respective 27-card insert foldouts even better than the accompanying magazines. The cover of the Aug. 16, 1954, issue is in Excellent-Plus condition, with inside pages (144) in even better condition of nearly Near-Mint, complemented by the iconic 27-card insert picturing 1954 Topps Baseball cards, including eight Hall of Famers – Ted Williams, Jackie Robinson, Willie Mays, Duke Snider, Gil Hodges, Larry Doby, Eddie Mathews (also pictured on the cover at Milwaukee County Stadium), found in Near-Mint or better condition, with stunning color and photo clarity to match its pristine presentation. The centerfold “cards” appear alongside a feature article, “The Baseball Bubble Trouble,” describing the allure of baseball cards. The second issue, dated one week later on Aug. 23, 1954, is in virtually matching condition, with cover Excellent and the 88 pages inside Ex-Mt. The Issue No. 2 fold out insert depicts another 27 cards, but in this instance it means featuring only New York Yankees, with 15 genuine 1954 Topps cards in full color and a dozen “fantasy” versions in black and white, and like its counterpart inaugural issue, the fold out inserts are in even better shape that the accompanying magazine, easily Near-Mint or better. A total of five Hall of Famers – Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford, Phil Rizzuto and Enos Slaughter – are included in the mix, with Berra, Ford and Rizzuto appearing on actual 1954 Topps cards and Mantle and Slaughter on black-and-white fantasy examples.