Vintage Sports Cards – Baseball – Basketball – Football – Hockey
In the fifth part of my deep dive into 1978 Topps baseball cards, I explored the allure of Topps Dynamite Magazine Panels. So, I was pleased to find this 1978 Eddie Murray RC insert while perusing the September 1996 Oregon Trail Sports Auctions catalog!
In the 1978 Dynamite Magazine Panel deep dive, I even highlighted a Chronicles of Fuji post from June 2013 when the author sniped a copy with Murray on it off eBay for under $30; maybe it’s the same one!
Happy collecting!
PSA described the 1953 Bowman Color set as one of “the most beautiful modern-era sets of baseball cards produced.” It’s got some classically gorgeous cards, like the Pee Wee Reese leaping card, the excellent multi-player card of Hank Bauer, Yogi Berra, and Mickey Mantle, plus cards of other individual stars of the day like Roy Campanella, Ed Mathews, Warren Spahn, and Stan Musial. But among the stars are three gorgeous cards of one-hit wonders, players whose only major baseball card release was in this set. Here are their stories.
Despite having one of the best names in the history of MLB, Jack Daniels only stuck around baseball for a single season. But he got a baseball card in the iconic 1953 Bowman Color set!
Jack spent seven seasons in the minor leagues before making the Boston Braves roster for the 1952 season. That year, he mainly played as a right fielder and hit .187 with 2 home runs and 14 RBIs. Those numbers weren’t good enough to stick in the big leagues, and “Sour Mash Jack” played six more seasons of minor league ball before ending his baseball career. Over his minor league career, he smashed 167 home runs, including 34 for the AA Atlanta Crackers of the Southern Association in 1956.
Perhaps Rodriquez could have had a longer career had he not been a shortstop. As a member of the Chicago White Sox organization, he was stuck behind Chico Carrasquel and Luis Aparicio, who played the same position. So, for his one year in MLB, Hector Rodriguez played third base. In 1952, he hit .265, hit one home run, and batted in 40 runs. He also walked 47 times, which means his on-base percentage was .346.
He was a native of Cuba and played in the Negro Leagues and the Mexican League before his season with the White Sox. He followed up his only season in Major League Baseball with a successful career with the Toronto Maple Leafs of the International League. He was inducted into the Caribbean Baseball Hall of Fame in 1998. And his 1953 Bowman Color Baseball card is awesome.
Larry Miggins played in parts of two major league seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals (1948 and 1952) but only got one major baseball card with his 1953 Bowman Color example, which is fair since, in 1948, he only had a single plate appearance.
Miggins played outfield and first base. His career statistics were a .227 batting average, two home runs, and 10 RBIs. He also played nine years of Minor League Baseball from 1944 to 1954, during which he hit .265 with 143 home runs.
Just making it to the Major Leagues is a significant achievement, and there are plenty of players who make it to the league but never get a licensed baseball card. But Daniels, Rodriguez, and Miggins did, and their cards are in one of the more popular post-war releases.
Happy collecting!
I’m not a 19th Century Football expert, so I can’t teach anyone much about the following piece, but I do know that this Football Broadside was appropriately described as “Majestic” in the 2006 auction catalog it was offered in.
Here’s how Mastro described it in that April 2006 catalog:
From a regional, northeastern countryside activity to a widely followed and highly esteemed national pastime and slowly becoming a worldwide phenomenon professional football now needs very little advertisement for fans of any intensity or persuasion to know that, come Fall, the only question that has to be answered is, “are you ready for some football?!” The offered exemplar hails from an era that predates even the leather helmets of the early 20th Century, and in fact, is one of the earliest football broadsides known to exist. Presented here is a truly majestic and impeccably well-kept, 19th Century survivor. This over one hundred-year-old relic bills a contest between two early American football teams from the NFL’s birth state of Ohio a meeting between a squad from Youngstown and the other from Akron. The piece reads, “FOOTBALL YOUNGSTOWN VS. AKRON ** YOUNGSTOWN HAS NEVER BEEN DEFEATED ** Buchtel College Grounds GAME CALLED AT 3:30 Saturday Oct.9.” The bold red and blue print have remained impressively crisp and vibrant, and the large, full body image (21″-tall) of the gridiron athlete at the left of the piece also reveals exceptional clarity. The item’s lower left exhibits the manufacturer’s “Werner Akron, Ohio” notation, and although the relic’s 25″ x 39″ visible area demonstrates slight wear at the unobtrusive and understandably age-induced folds, the piece displays unbelievable condition: EX overall. Set within a 47-3/8″ x 32-1/4″ wood frame. Please note: Due to the size and/or weight of this lot, the cost of shipping may be substantial. Minimum Bid $1,000
Happy collecting!
A true piece of hobby history! Mickey Mantle’s 1958 Topps contract extension—signed by Mantle, Frank Scott, and Sy Berger!
The scan above is from Mastro’s November 1999 Fine Sports Millenium Auction, where it sold for $4,119. Here’s the complete item description:
A truly unique document released from the Topps archives over a decade ago. This is the actual contract extension signed by the 26-year-old superstar, giving Topps the right to produce baseball cards with the Mick’s image in 1959. The standard one-page contract extension is typewritten on Topps Chewing Gum stationery and is dated Oct. 1, 1958. It basically states that Mickey Mantle and Topps agree to extend their original agreement dated April 1, 1957, and that all the same terms and conditions apply (meaning he probably got five dollars and a toaster!). Signed boldly in blue ballpoint pen by Mickey Mantle, accepted by Topps executive Sy Berger, and witnessed by Mickey’s agent, Frank Scott. Accompanied by a letter from Guernsey’s, the auctioneers who originally sold the Topps archive. An important document linking the King of Baseball Cards to his maker.
When Guernsey’s auctioned it off as lot BB462 in 1989, they described it as a “Topps extended contract of exclusive 1957 agreement, signed by Mantle on 10/1/58.” It sold for $1,300 ($1,430 with the 10% Buyers Premium).
Guernsey’s also sold the “original exclusive contract signed between Mantle and Topps, 4/1/57, binding for years 1958-60.” Reading the extension, I think the pictured contract just extended the agreement into 1961, and wasn’t about giving Topps the right to produce Mantle’s card in 1959 as Mastro wrote, but, I’m not a lawyer!
Guernsey’s sold 11 different lots of Mantle contacts and checks in their famous Topps Auction; the one I’d most like to see is the original Bowman contract for the 1951 baseball season that Mantle signed on 4/17/1951!
Happy Collecting!
I’ve shared plenty of vintage advertising signs before, but I think Stan Musial deserves more focus since he had fewer major card releases than his peers. Here’s a great Rawlings die-cut sign from the mid-1950s.
This one was offered in Ron Oser Entperises April 2001 catalog with the following description:
A circa 1955 Rawlings 17″ x 26″ cardboard sign which features a full body photo of Musial with fan-filled stands in the background, facsimile “Stan the Man” signature below. The oddly-shaped sign would fit together to form a store stand-up display. The lower right corner of the display has a few creases, otherwise, the body of the display is very clean. This Musial die-cut ad piece is incredible looking and if you have the glove or just happen to like the Cardinals or advertising pieces, this one will thrill you. Nicely framed to 21 x 28 inches. Minimum Bid $400
Heritage sold the similarly designed Musial Pro Leaguer Advertising Sign in October 2022 for $288, which they described as follows.
1950’s Rawlings Stan Musial Pro Leaguer Advertising Sign. Fine image of “Stan the Man” dominates this heavy cardboard advertising sign measuring approximately 18×16″ at its tallest and widest dimensions. Considerable water damage is apparent, and bat has been restored. We believe this is only part of the full display. Easel on back is missing.
Happy collecting!
The 66-card 1961 Topps hockey set isn’t as noteworthy as it probably should be in the hobby. Only 47 active 1961 Topps hockey sets are in the current PSA Set Registry, making it one of the least collected vintage hockey sets. While the set only features players from the Boston Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks, and New York Rangers, plus a checklist (Parkhurst had the rights to players from the Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, and Detroit Red Wings), the reality is that Topps did a lot of things for the first time in this release that helped define the hobby.
First, while OPC produced the set under the Topps license, the cards, wrappers, and boxes had “O-Pee-Chee” and “Made in Canada” printed on them for the first time.
1961 Topps was also the first hockey set that had a premium placed in the packs. Each came with four cards, a piece of gum, and a pair of stamps.
As a lifelong checklist collector, I’d be scolded if I failed to mention that Topps included a checklist for the first time in a hockey set in 1961, too.
1961 Topps Hockey is also the first set to feature team cards, coaches cards, and rookie card designations on the front of cards (though not for every rookie).
The Bruins team card also marked Willie O’Ree’s first appearance on a hockey card. He was the first African-Canadian player to compete in the NHL.
Here’s more information about this hobby-defining set if you want to collect it.
While Topps featured three teams, the Rangers cards are the key to the set as three of the four most challenging cards in the set are cards 63 (New York Rangers), 64 (Action Picture – D. Meissner/G. Worsley), and 65 (Action Picture – Gump Worsley). There are no PSA 10s between those three cards and only 2 PSA 9s (both of card 65). The other tough high-grade card is card 66, Checklist 1-66, with zero PSA 10s and 2 PSA 9s in the population report.
From a price guide perspective, the cards that will set you back the most are Cards 1 (Phil Watson), 22 (Bathgate, Hall in Action), 29 (Bobby Hull), 36 (Stank Mikita), 60 (Jean Ratelle), 62 (Rod Gilbert), and the low pop cards I discussed earlier.
Raw sets come to market from time to time. This higher-grade example sold for $2218 in September 2021.
The pictured mid-grade set below sold for $1082 in September 2021.
The Stamps are a little more expensive. Four years ago, in their Spring 2017 auction, Robert Edward Auctions sold a complete 26-panel, 52-stamp set for $1080.
Topps packed a lot of innovation and incredible imagery into their 1961 hockey release. Its small size makes collecting it a little more achievable if you like collecting graded sets with just enough scarcity in high-grade to make it challenging for condition-conscious collectors.
If you decide to tackle this iconic set, let me know your progress in the comments. Happy collecting!
I’ve shared a Bob Feller Popsicle and Dreamsicle advertising signs before, but this version is the rarest of them all!
Mastro offered this one for sale in their August 2002 Sports & Americana Premier Catalog Auction. They described the piece as a 7” x 20” store display with a light center fold in NR/MT condition.
They said it was from 1947, but Feller and the Indians won the 1948 World Series, and the ad says World Champion on the left.
The rarity is undeniable; I’ve only found one other example on Paul Lukas’ Flickr page.
