April 5, 2018: Sports & Americana Auction
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 4/5/2018
Offered here is a 1961 Topps Baseball near set in a relatively wide condition range of Very Good to Ex-Mt, with the emphasis probably to Excellent and perhaps 15 percent or so below Very Good. Offered in a binder, this is a nice presentation, missing about four dozen cards, but most of those only commons or occasionally minor stars, with the only Hall of Famer among the missing being Billy Williams. One of the more challenging sets of the decade when it came to finding nicely centered cards, this accumulation is fairly typical of the era, with about 40 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 near set really presents a bit better than the formal grades, in part because of perhaps four dozen cards deemed Fair but appearing closer to the broader range, many consigned to the lower designation because of staple holes that in most cases only marginally detract. That designation applies to all 22 of the difficult All-Star cards in the high series. A listing of the missing numbers appears at the end of this document.
The breakdown: No. 1 Groat – Excellent, 2 Maris – Very Good (crease), 7 White Sox Team – Ex, 10 Brooks Robinson – Ex, 17 Checklist – Ex (marked), 20 Roberts – Ex, 25 Reds’ Heavy Artillery – Good, 30 Fox – Ex-Mt, 35 Santo – Ex, 41 League Leader – Fair, 42 League Leader – Fair, 43 League Leader – Fair, 44 League Leader – VG, 45 League Leader – Fair, 49 League Leader – Ex-Mt, 51 Tigers Team – Ex, 80 Killebrew – Fair, 86 Dodgers Team – Ex, 88 Ashburn – Ex, 98 Checklist – Ex (mkd), 106 Herzog – Ex, 120 Mathews – VG, 122 Cubs Team – VG-Ex, 132 Lopez – VG-Ex, 136 Alston – VG, 150 Mays – VG (cr), 160 Ford – VG, 167 Giants Team – Ex, 189 Checklist – Ex (mkd), 200 Spahn – VG-Ex, 207 Dodgers Southpaws – Fair, 211 Gibson – VG-Ex, 228 Yankees Team – Good m/c, 249 Reds Team – VG, 260 Drysdale – Ex-Mt, 273 Checklist – VG-Ex (mkd), 287 Yastrzemski – VG, 290 Musial – Ex-Mt o/c, 297 Athletics Team – Ex o/c, 300 Mantle – VG-Ex, 307 World Series Mantle HR – VG-Ex, 308 World Series – Poor, 313 World Series – VG, 330 Colavito – Poor, 344 Koufax – VG-Ex, 347 Cardinals Team – Ex, 350 Banks – Ex o/c, 360 Frank Robinson – Ex-Mt o/c, 373 Red Sox Team – VG, 388 Clemente – Ex o/c, 403 Thrill – Fair, 406 Mantle Thrill – Fair, 405 Gehrig Thrill – Ex-Mt, 407 Thrill – Fair, 408 Thrill – Fair, 409 Thrill – Ex-Mt, 415 Aaron – Good m/c, 417 Marichal RC – VG, 425 Berra – Ex-Mt o/c, 429 Kaline – VG, 430 Mazeroski – Ex, 435 Cepeda – Ex-Mt, 437 Checklist – Ex-Mt, 440 Aparicio – Ex, 443 Snider – Ex, 455 Wynn – Ex-Mt, 463 Braves Team – Ex, 467 Indians Team – Ex-Mt, 471 Rizzuto MVP – Poor, 475 Mantle MVP – VG, 478 Maris MVP – Fair, 482 Mays MVP – Fair, 484 Aaron MVP – Ex, 486 Groat MVP – Poor, 490 Bunning – VG, 491 Phillies – Ex-Mt o/c, 505 Schoendienst – Good, 516 Checklist – Ex-Mt, 517 McCovey – VG, 542 Twins Team – Ex-Mt o/c, 545 Wilhelm – Ex, 554 Pirates Team – Good and 565 Alou Ex o/c.
The missing Nos.: 19, 27, 56, 79, 91, 131, 134, 135, 137, 138, 139, 141, 152, 161, 165, 172, 193, 199, 219, 220, 221, 226, 229, 234, 242, 280, 339, 377, 380, 382, 386, 401, 402, 410, 428, 434, 451, 453, 528, 532, 536, 544, 550, 551 and 552.
1961 Topps Baseball Near Set With HOFers, Stars (542/587)
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