1961 Topps Football Super High-Grade Set, 106 Slabs (198)

Bidding

This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 4/3/2025

One of the most attractive and important of the early 1960’s Topps football issues is offered here in an extraordinary, virtually unimprovable condition, essentially Near-Mint to Mint (84 percent), with another 15 percent Near-Mint or Near-Mint-Plus, leaving a whopping three cards below the range. By a wide margin, this is the nicest 1961 Topps Football set we have ever handled, a distinction likely to remain unchallenged for some time or all time. Making it all the more impactful, almost two dozen Hall of Famers – including some of the legendary figures from the period – head up the group in those sparkling PSA 8 holders, including Johnny Unitas, Lenny Moore, Alex Karras, Joe Schmidt, Hugh McElhenny, Charlie Conerly, Sam Huff, Sonny Jurgensen, George Blanda, Don Maynard Rookie, Jack Kemp and Lionel Taylor, to name a few. The coveted issue marked the first year that Topps also produced cards for the fledgling American Football League, expanding the set size to 198 cards to do so, making it the company’s largest to that point in time. With bold, vivid colors, superb gloss and a striking, uniform presentation, this offering is truly a rare opportunity to find these cards in such sensational condition. It’s also worth noting that virtually all of the card backs have the comic image section unscratched, an important earmark of truly pristine examples. The breakdown of keys: Nos. 1 Unitas – PSA 8, 2 Moore – Near-Mint to Mint, 3 Ameche – Near-Mint-Plus, 4 Berry – Nr-Mt to Mt, 5 – PSA 8, 6 Parker – PSA 8, 7 Marchetti – Nr-Mt-Plus, 9 Colts Team – Nr-Mt-Plus, 14 Jones – PSA 8, 15 Atkins – PSA 8, 35 Karras – PSA 8, 36 Schmidt – PSA 8, 38 Hornung In Action – Nr-Mt-Plus o/c, 39 Starr – Ex-Mt-Plus, 40 Hornung – Nr-Mt to Mt, 41 Taylor – Nr-Mt-Plus, 43 Dowler Rookie – Nr-Mt to Mt, 44 Ringo – PSA 8, 45 Jordan Rookie – Nr-Mt-Plus, 50 Matson – Nr-Mt, 57 Unitas In Action – Nr-Mt to Mt, 58 Tittle – Nr-Mt to Mt, 59 Brodie Rookie – Nr-Mt, 63 St. Clair – Nr-Mt-Plus, 64 Nomellini – Nr-Mt-Plus, 65 Woodson – Nr-Mt to Mt, 66 Niners Team – PSA 8, 67 Checklist – PSA 7, 69 Renfro – Nr-Mt-Plus, 70 Mitchell – Nr-Mt to Mt, 71 Brown – SGC 5, 72 McCormack – Nr-Mt to Mt, 75 Micheals – Nr-Mt to Mt, 76 Browns Team – Nr-Mt-Plus, 77 Brown In Action – Nr-Mt, 79 McElhenny – PSA 8, 85 Conerly – PSA 8, 87 Rote – Nr-Mt to Mt, 90 Robustelli – Nr-Mt to Mt, 91 Huff – PSA 8, 93 Giants Team – Nr-Mt to Mt, 94 Conerly In Action – Nr-Mt-Plus, 95 Jurgensen – PSA 8, 96 McDonald – Nr-Mt to Mt, 101 Bednarik – VG-Ex, 103 Eagles Team – Nr-Mt to Mt, 104 Layne – Nr-Mt-Plus, 105 Johnson – Nr-Mt-Plus, 109 Sandusky – PSA 8, 113 Layne In Action – PSA 8, 122 Checklist – Nr-Mt to Mt, 133 Haynes – PSA 8, 139 Robinson Rookie – PSA 8, 145 Blanda – PSA 8, 150 Maynard Rookie – PSA 8, 166 Kemp – PSA 8, 167 Lowe – PSA 8, 168 Mix – PSA 8, 169 Maguire – PSA 8, 171 Wright – PSA 8, 182 Otto, 186 Flores, 190 Taylor and 198 Checklist – PSA 8. Further breakdown includes 99 PSA 8 singles: 1, 2, 5, 6, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 22, 26, 30, 32, 34, 35, 36, 42, 44, 48, 51, 55, 56, 66, 68, 79, 82, 85, 86, 91, 92, 95, 100, 102, 107, 109, 110, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 123, 124, 127, 129, 130, 133, 134, 135, 136, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145, 147, 148, 149, 150, 152, 153, 155, 156, 158, 159, 161, 163, 164, 166, 167, 168, 169, 171, 172, 173, 174, 175 (PD), 176, 177, 178, 179, 180, 181, 182, 184, 185, 186, 187, 188, 189, 190, 193, 195, 196, 197 and 198. PSA 7s include (6): 24, 28, 67, 137, 157 and 191.