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!
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!
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 can never get enough of 1952 Topps, so when I stumbled on Ted Taylor’s “Milestones” article from the September ’87 Baseball Cards Magazine, I knew I had to share it. Classic read!
I wish I could still get a high-quality set for $23,000, like in 1987! Also, the author mentioned picking up 1952 Topps cello packs the following summer in ’53; I’ve heard about this before and will dig deeper, maybe for a future Unopened Market Report Newsletter. Anywho, here’s the entire piece.
Happy collecting!
Even in 1995, collectors looked back at old card prices and wondered, “What if?” Jon Brecka dives into one such case in Trading Cards Magazine (May 1995) with “Just How Great Are Gretzky’s Rookie Cards?”
Happy collecting!
Here’s a cool piece of hobby history, dating back to Mastro & Steinbach’s August 1997 Fine Sports Auctions Catalog; Billy Martin’s 1957 Topps Baseball Card Contract and Check!
I wish I had a better picture because it’s a wonderful piece from which I’d like to learn more, but I can’t make out the text; it’s a true one-of-one! Here’s the description:
Official one-page contract between Topps Chewing Gum and Alfred (Billy) Martin for the right to produce a Billy Martin card for Topps 1957, 58, and 59 baseball card sets. Dated July 20, 1956, and signed by Sy Berger (Topps, Inc.) and Billy Martin, the contract displays several folds and peripheral wear, with Near Mint to Mint signatures of both Berger and Martin. Accompanying the contract is a Topps check for $5 (made payable to Martin) as deposit toward Martin’s $125 compensation due each season for the use of his photograph. Check exhibits several light folds and an insignificant staple mark, endorsed on back by Martin (NR-MT to MT signature) and cashed through the New York Yankees account. Martin’s final Topps contract as a New York Yankee!
Here’s an example of Martin’s 1957 Topps baseball card from its PSA CardFacts page.
Happy Collecting!
Vintage baseball cards are incredibly popular, but people sometimes forget that baseball card manufacturers had to find original photographs to design the cards around. Here are some original photos of Mickey Mantle that Bowman, Topps, and Wheaties used on some of his earlier baseball cards.
The photo of Mantle and Boyer was taken in 1957, three years before Topps released the popular 1960 Topps Rival All-Stars card.
Happy collecting!
PS: I put this blog post together ~ three years ago and am republishing it. None of these photos are of items in my collection, and I don’t have good records of the auctions/collections I pulled them from.