December 1, 2016: Sports & Americana Auction
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 12/1/2016
After several years of wrangling over exclusive player contracts between the entrenched National Football League and its new rival the American Football League, the contentious maneuvering spilled over into the cardboard realm as 1964 unfolded. After almost a decade of producing cards of the NFL, Topps lost that contract to the Philadelphia Gum Co., which would produce cards for the older league for four seasons starting that fall. Of such historic note comes this inaugural issue, a striking compilation of truly nice condition cards from that first-ever offering. This is a handsome, mostly Excellent to Mint to Near-Mint grouping, with some cards below the range, cards generally in a nicer condition than this issue is typically found in older collections. The emphasis is clearly Excellent to Mint and comprises an overall highly consistent and uniform presentation, with good color and gloss and decent centering. Several of the keys are found above the broader condition range, most notably Near-Mint cards of Johnny Unitas and Jim Brown. Only two cards as missing from a complete set, Nos. 15 and 108. A breakdown of the keys: No. 1 Berry – Ex-Mt, 12 Unitas – Nr-Mt, 30 Brown – Nr-Mt, 50 McDonald – Ex-Mt, 51 Meredith – Nr-Mt, 54 – Ex, 66 Schmidt – Ex-Mt, 69 – Ex, 74 Hornung – Ex, 79 Starr – Ex-Mt, 85 – Ex, 91 Olsen – Ex-Mt, 104 Marshall – Ex-Plus, 109 Tarkenton – Ex-Mt, 124 Tittle – Ex-Mt, 151 – Ex, 174 – Ex, 177 – Ex, 181 – Ex, 185 Huff – Ex-Mt, 186 Jurgensen – Nr-Mt, 197 Checklist – VG-Ex and 198 – VG.
1964 Philadelphia Gum Football Near-Set (196/198)
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