1956 Topps Baseball Complete Set With Extras, Robby and Clemente Slabbed (360)

Bidding

This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 3/30/2023

Offered is a really nice example of one of the important mid-1950s Topps baseball issues, the classic 1956 set found here in a highly collectible and fairly broad condition range that runs from essentially Good to Ex-Mt, with about 14 cards falling below the range, mostly to Fair. The final tally is 14 percent Ex-Mt, 22 percent Excellent, 37 percent Very Good to VG-Ex, and 23 percent Good. Two cards – No. 30 Robinson (PSA 2) and No. 33 Clemente (PSA 3 – mk) – have been slabbed and authenticated; the No. 135 Mantle was returned as “Altered.” This is one of the great sets from Topps’ historic early years, the wonderful horizontal 1956 offering that represented the first major card set from either Topps or Bowman that included virtually all of the top players of the period. It is also the final year of the oversized card; Topps would move to the 2 1/2-by-3 1/2-inch size in 1957 that has now prevailed for six decades and counting. Topps and rival Bowman had wrangled over exclusive player contracts for several years before Bowman was gobbled up by Topps at the close of 1955. The 1956 set then boasted almost all of the eventual Hall of Famers from the period, missing only Stan Musial, who would not appear in a Topps issue until the All-Star subset in 1958. There are 20 extra cards included in the mix – typically cards that have been upgraded. A handful of the extra cards have autographs. The difficult Checklist cards are included; all six of the Team cards from the First Series are the “Centered” variation. The breakdown: No. 1 Harridge – Very Good, 2 Giles – VG-Ex, 5 Williams – VG, 8 Alston – VG-Ex, 10 Spahn – VG-Ex, 11 Cubs – VG, 15 Banks (2) – Excellent and Good, 20 Kaline – Good, 30 Robinson – PSA 2, 31 Aaron – Fair, 33 Clemente – PSA 3 (mk), 72 Phillies – VG, 79 Koufax – Good, 85 Indians – VG, 90 Reds – Ex, 95 Braves – VG, 100 Orioles – Good, 101 Campanella – Good, 107 Matthews – Good, 109 Slaughter – VG, 110 Berra – Good, 133 Rizzuto – VG, 118 Fox – VG, 120 Ashburn – VG, 125 Minoso – Good, 130 Mays – Good, 135 Mantle – Altered, 140 Score Rookie – VG-Ex, 145 Hodges – VG-Ex, 150 Snider – Good, 164 Killebrew – Ex, 165 Schoendienst – Good, 166 Dodgers – VG, 180 Roberts – Good, 194 Irvin – Good, 195 Kell – VG, 200 Feller – Good, 226 Giants – Ex, 235 Newcombe – Ex, 240 Ford – VG, 250 Doby (2) – VG-Ex and VG, 251 Yankees – VG, 255 Lemon – VG, 260 Reese – VG, 292 Aparicio Rookie – VG-Ex, 307 Wilhelm – VG, 332 Larsen – Good, 340 McDermott – VG, 1/3 Checklist – Good and 2/4 Checklist – VG.