1962 Topps

Hidden Highlight: The 1962 Topps Ken Hubbs Flexichrome Artwork from the 1995 NSCC Auction

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The 1995 National Sports Collector’s Convention Auction featured some remarkable items, including the 1962 Topps Flexichrome artwork for card 461, Ken Hubbs’ rookie card, tucked away as lot 169.

Here’s the lots full description:

1962 TOPPS ORIGINAL FLEXICHROME ARTWORK FOR CARD # 461 KEN HUBBS ROOKIE
4 1/2 inch by 5 1/2 inch original one of a kind flexichrome for Ken Hubbs, “Rookie Of The Year” in 1962, killed in a plane crash in 1964, multicolored artwork comes with the 1962 Topps card final process #461, artwork is in perfect condition with no defects.
MINIMUM BID: 200.00

Guernsey’s doesn’t appear to have sold it in their famous Topps Auction in 1989, but I may have missed it in that catalog. If you know the flexichrome’s provenance, let me know!

Finally, here’s a super clean copy of the final card, a PSA 9 that REA sold for $510 in May 2022.

And don’t forget to check out The Original Artwork Archive for more items like these!

A Scarce Early Process Proof 1962 Topps Baseball Uncut Sheet

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It may be because I recently published The Uncut Sheet Archive, but I’ve been seeing a lot of awesome uncut sheets lately while perusing old catalogs lately, like this 1962 Topps uncut proof!

Ron Oser Entperises offered it in their April 2001 catalog and included the following description:

With 43 cards appearing on a 21″ x 28″ blank backed partial process proof sheet. Includes: Bunning, Snider, Kaline AS, Aparicio, Ford AS, Zimmer, etc. Only includes the actual photos used for the cards without the baseball card information. There is some moisture damage around the edge on the front with heavier damage on the reverse. Of the stars only the Bunning is affected. Minor creasing is also apparent.

Here’s an example of the final 1962 Topps Snider (top right corner of the sheet) and Ford All-Star cards for comparison (bottom row, third over).

There are quite a few production proof sheets in the archives of the major auction houses, but just a handful are actual photo-based. For example, REA sold this one, which included a handful of photos from the 1959 Topps set. It sold for $1,860 in the summer of 2019.

On the football card side of the house, Heritage sold this 1962 Topps Football Player Portraits Uncut Proof Sheet with 44 Players, including the Tarkenton Rookie, for $1,920 in December 2024.

Happy collecting!

Check out The Uncut Sheet Archive for more!

1962 Topps Football Uncut Sheet

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This original, uncut sheet of 132 different cards from the 1962 Topps football set was auctioned off in April 2004.

The 27-3/4” x 42-1/2” Ex-conditioned panel presents many of the set’s high-profile stars and short-prints, including Ditka, Groza, Davis, Meredith, Starr, Hornung, Gregg, Jordan, Tarkenton, McElhenny, Tittle, Gifford, Layne, Kilmer, and Brodie.

These black-bordered sheets are incredibly scarce. The only reference I can find online to them is from The Vintage Football Card Gallery, which has a page dedicated to virtual uncut sheets but includes a photo of the other second-half sheet a collector sent him. 

Check out The Uncut Sheet Archive for more!

1962 Topps Baseball Unopened Stamp Album Box

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I was surprised to see this empty 1962 Topps Baseball Stamp Album and Record Book display box sell for so much on May 27, 2024.

You can see the closing price was $456 on eBay. At first glance, that price doesn’t seem that out of the ordinary for a relatively scarce vintage display box. However, a BBCE-authenticated full box with 12 albums inside sold for just $288 at Rockhurst Auctions on April 25, 2024, just a month earlier.

I contacted the new owner of the BBCE box, and he mentioned that the Rockhurst Auctions lot had a strangely worded description that made it tough to tell whether it was a full box or just the display box (I overlooked the auction last month entirely). He also said the seller on eBay has a big following, and their items tend to get bid up. And as much as folks like to complain about eBay, they have a HUGE reach.

Anywho, as a hobby library adjacent collectible, I’m in the market for one of these boxes if you have one. Happy collecting!

Check out The Unopened Archive for more!

1962 Topps Baseball Display Boxes

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I’ve never been a massive fan of the wood-grained 1962 Topps design like others, but the wax box and pack designs that year were awesome!

The two display boxes and unopened wax pack pictured above were offered for sale back in 2004. The pack is an “Extra/Stamps” variation; one of the 5-cent display boxes has “All The Great Major League Stars” as its front panel slogan, while the other features the “Extra/Stamps” front slogan, with a “Mr. Retailer” and “Dimes” lid-top design.

Interestingly, the “Extra/Stamps” design is featured on the 1962 Topps dealer sell sheet floating around the hobby.

Also, it’s a tough find today, but here’s a 1962 Topps 1-cent Wax Pack Box.

Check out The Unopened Archive for more!