December 1, 2016: Sports & Americana Auction
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 12/1/2016
This is an imposing grouping of many thousands of important Topps baseball cards, primarily from the 1970’s, and most in the kind of stunning as-issued and pristine condition you would expect from cards from vending. A staggering number of Hall of Famers (approx. 200) is included in the group, many perhaps extracted from a group of a half dozen Topps vending boxes that have been searched and are included in the lot. This is an old-time style auction lot, demanding a good deal of scrutiny and close examination to appreciate – and locate - the treasures provided. The breakdown begins with the Hall of Famers, stars and specials: 1973 Topps (52), mostly Near-Mint, including Killebrew, Fingers, Munson, Rose, Santo, Fisk, Morgan, Carlton, Marichal and five checklists; 1974 Topps (23), primarily Ex-Mt to Nr-Mt, with two Berras, Marichal Traded and Madlock Rookie; 1975 Topps (51), a grouping that includes 41 regular-issue cards and 10 Minis, Near-Mint or Near-Mint to Mint, with the regular-issue roster featuring 13 MVP subset cards, seven League Leaders, the Lynn Rookie, Billy Williams, and four checklists; 1976 Topps (330), Near-Mint to Mint, with nine teams, eight League Leaders, three World Series and a checklist; 1977 Topps (19); 1978 Topps (217), mostly Nr-Mt to Mt, with six Weavers, three Torres, five World Series, Rose (2), Rice, Yount (2), McCovey, Yastrzemski, Carew (2), Perez (3), Carlton, Eckersley, Fingers, Blyleven, Hunter, Gossage (2), nine checklists and two teams; 1979 Topps (130), Nr-Mt to Mt but many HOFers have some centering issues, with Murray (2), Hunter (2), Carlton (2), Yastrzemski, Niekro, Eckersley, Fingers and Seaver; (Note: 1980’s cards are pretty uniformly Near-Mint to Near-Mint to Mint) 1980 Topps (24), including Stargell, Palmer, Molitor, Rose, Brett, Carew (2), Sutter, Yount, Fingers, Jenkins, four teams and six League Leaders; 1981 Topps (135), including Brett, Rose, Fisk (2), Valenzuela (4), Raines (7), Winfield, Yastrzemski, Seaver, Yount, Sutton, Morgan, Molitor, Murray, Smith, Jenkins, two dozen rookies, 10 team cards, 14 League Leaders, four checklists and two World Series; 1982 Topps (12); 1983 Topps (18), including Sandberg, Ryan, Carlton, Molitor and Brett; 1986 Topps (25), with four Mattinglys, nine Boggs, four Fielders, six Ozzie Smiths, Clark and Bo Jackson; 1987 Topps (81), including Clemens (20), Ripken (20), Ozzie Smith (10), Puckett (14), Boggs (9), Ryan (3), and Carter (5); and 1986 Donruss No. U-20 Canseco (38). Additionally, there are another 66 or so Hall of Famers and stars, mostly Fleer and Donruss, including Ryan (13), Bonds (5) and Gooden, plus 10 of the serial numbered and limited (10,000) Donruss Elite cards from the 1990’s.
Breakdown of the vending boxes (6), including stars, minor stars, All-Stars and specials, with 1976 and 1977 Ex-Mt to Nr-Mt and the latter years Near-Mint to Near-Mint to Mint, many with the coveted “vending bend and five of the six in actual Topps blue vending boxes: 1976 (approx. 425); 1977 (350), with perhaps a third having centering issues to some degree; 1978 (875), in two partial vending boxes, with many rookies and several dozen team cards; 1979 (450), with many teams, rookies and specials and perhaps majority of group with centering concerns to some degree; and 1980 (500), full box, again with a good deal of the centering issues you can find in vending.
Massive Vending Hoard 1970’s and 1980’s Topps Baseball With Hall of Famers (3,771)
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