1980-85 Perez-Steele Hall of Fame Postcards Series in Original Boxes (200)

Bidding

This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 11/30/2017

In what is arguably the most important non-mainstream card issue of the “modern” era, the elegant Perez-Steele Hall of Fame Postcards were an instant hit with collectors upon the initial release in 1980, ultimately becoming a major force behind the growth of Hall of Famer-signed material. The Dick Perez watercolor artwork yielded incredible renderings of the game’s greats, all in a style reminiscent of the coveted turn-of-the-century card sets and instantly capturing the attention of the hobby. The postcards, limited to 10,000 of each player, were released in Series from the launch in 1980 to the end in 2001, with 15 series of varying sizes issued over that span. The undertaking carried the additional imprimatur of the Hall of Fame, which signed an agreement with the famed artist and Frank and Peggy Steele in granting the rights to picture the Hall of Famers on the 3 ½-by-5 ½-inch “Postcards.” Getting Perez-Steele cards signed by the various Hall of Famers pictured almost instantly became a significant high-end niche within the hobby. Offered here are Series 1-6 all in their original display boxes – and even the original Perez-Steele mailing boxes – along with two of the Eighth Series that was issued in 1985. The cards, carefully housed for all these decades in their original display boxes, are typically Mint, though there can occasionally be the slightest nudge on a few cards from brushing against the corner of the box. The display boxes included with these are essentially as Mint as the cards inside, carefully maintained in their original outside mailing boxes, which are basically Ex-Mt. For collectors of the acclaimed postcards, the First Two Series carry particular import, with the initial Hall of Fame classes pictured and a roster that can only be described as heavenly. That means Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner, Walter Johnson, Christy Mathewson, Cy Young. Lou Gehrig among the 31-card Series One (with a Checklist card), cards that carried significant secondary-market premiums from the beginning, even for those like the aforementioned that carried no possibility of being autographed. Perez-Steele included that 31-card format for the first six series that are offered in this lot, with legendary names like Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams, Stan Musial, Roberto Clemente, Warren Spahn, Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays, adding to the cachet since now many of these legendary figures were still alive to affix a signature to their postcard. With the two examples of Series Eight included, that makes a total of 200 cards, with 190 of those in boxes with Serial No. 2991, and the extra set of Series Eight with No. 1277. The entire lot also features four extra display boxes with that 1277 serial number and two extra outside mailing boxes. Finding such important cards in this kind of fabulous condition was aided by the realization that collectors would often dutifully leave their treasures in the original mailing boxes. A final element of the lot includes seven pages of Near-Mint or better Perez-Steele flyers and order forms, typically the material that would accompany the ordered cards. Within that is a full-color Perez-Steele flyer for the Hall of Fame Series, two advertising flyers from the Baseball Hall of Fame and one from the famed Sport Americana Price Guide.