1957 Topps Baseball High-Grade Near Set With HOFers, Stars (391/407)

Bidding

This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 4/5/2018

Presented here is a truly impressive near set of the coveted 1957 Topps Baseball issue, the first card issue produced in the now-standard 2 1/2-by-3 ½-inch format and the set that has typically been the launching point for any number of vintage collections. Offered in a binder, this is an extraordinarily imposing presentation, missing only a handful of cards, primarily some of the major Hall of Famers and keys. For an advanced collector who already owns keys like the Mantle, Mays, Aaron, Williams and several others, picking up this lot would mean virtually instant completion of this iconic issue. As the listing below will make clear, the HOFers and stars included here nicely conform to the broader condition range of essentially Ex-Mt, with some above and a few below, but overall a remarkably consistent presentation. Adding further credence is a striking grouping of a dozen third-party slabbed and graded cards, an array that includes Berra, Clemente, Brooks Robinson, Colavito RC and others. Even with the missing HOFers, this near-set includes more than two dozen players with Cooperstown credentials, plus almost all of the cards from the very difficult Middle Series (Nos. 265-352, missing two) and all but one of the coveted team cards. Arguably the most challenging set of the decade when it came to finding nicely centered cards, this accumulation is fairly typical of the era, with about 46 percent of the group with the kind of centering that might typically prompt an upgrade, though not all of those would be severe enough to dictate an official off-center designation. The Hall of Fame lineup includes Berra, Aparicio, Roberts, Mazeroski, Ford, Reese, Fox, Wynn, Williams, Ashburn, Clemente, Doby, Lemon, Kaline, Schoendienst, Wilhelm, Slaughter, Kell, Mathews, Koufax, Bunning and others. A listing of the missing numbers appears at the end of this document. The breakdown: No. 2 Berra – SGC 55, 7 Aparicio – Ex, 15 Roberts – Ex-Mt o/c, 24 Mazeroski – Ex, 25 Ford – Ex-Mt, 30 Reese – Ex-Mt o/c, 38 Fox – Ex-Mt o/c, 40 Wynn – Ex, 59 Williams – Ex-Mt o/c, 70 Ashburn – Ex-Mt, 76 Clemente – SGC 70, 85 Doby – Ex, 97 Yankees Team – Ex, 100 Harridge/Giles – Ex-Mt, 114 Braves Team – Ex-Mt, 120 Lemon – Ex-Mt o/c, 125 Kaline – Ex-Mt o/c, 154 Schoendienst – Ex-Mt o/c, 171 Red Sox Team – Nr-Mt o/c, 175 Larsen – VG, 183 Cubs Team – Ex-Mt, 198 Tigers Team – Ex-Mt o/c, 203 Wilhelm – Ex-Mt, 204 Athletics Team – Nr-Mt, 206 – SGC 82, 212 Colavito – SGC 60, 214 Phillies Team – Ex-Mt o/c, 215 Slaughter – Ex-Mt o/c, 220 – SGC 84, 230 Kell – Ex-Mt-Plus o/c, 243 Cardinals Team – Ex-Mt, 250 Mathews – Nr-Mt o/c, 251 Orioles Team – Nr-Mt o/c, 258 – SGC 84,270 Senators Team – Ex-Mt, 275 Indians Team – VG-Ex, 286 Richardson – PSA 6, 288 – SGC 82, 302 Koufax – Ex-Mt o/c, 312 Kubek – Ex-Mt o/c, 317 Giants Team – VG (crease), 324 Dodgers Team – Ex-Mt o/c, 329 White Sox Team – Ex-Mt, 328 Brooks Robinson – SGC 60, 334 – SGC 86, 338 Bunning – BVG 5 and 392 – SGC 84. The missing Nos.: 1, 10, 18, 20, 29, 35, 53, 55, 95, 165, 170, 210, 277, 322, 400 and 407.