Original Art

1969 Topps Reverse Artwork Uncut Sheet With Clemente

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This 11 1/2’’ x 13 1/2’’ piece of original artwork originates from Guernsey’s Topps Auction of 1989 and features 12 drawings, including the one used on Roberto Clemente’s card 50.

The sheet’s 12 different drawings represent the cartoons and pieces of trivia used on the back of the following player’s cards: Davenport, LeMaster, Aguirre, Pappas, Taylor, Clemente, Barton, Versalles, McBean, Alou, Carroll, and Glass.

The auction featuring this item in December 2001 highlighted that the card number had been penned on the artwork and that a Topps Auction stamp was on the otherwise blank reverse.

Here’s the back of Clemente’s 1969 Topps card featuring the final cartoon and trivia.

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1952 Bowman Bill Dickey Unissued Original Artwork

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This gorgeous 4” x 6” color painting of New York Yankees Hall of Fame legend Bill Dickey was produced for but never used in the final 1952 Bowman baseball set.

Ron Oser Enterprises offered this item with a reserve of $375 in their April 2000 catalog. It was framed and matted with a cut auto.

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Original Artwork For The Unproduced 1958 Topps Don Drysdale and Early Wynn Card

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I ran across this incredible original artwork of Don Drysdale and Early Wynn in an April 2000 Ron Oser Enterprises auction catalog. They advertised it as an unissued original that didn’t make the cut for the 1958 Topps series.

The striking piece was described as being 4 1/2” x 6”

1958 Topps wasn’t the first set to feature multiple players on a card. 1953 Bowman Color had a Rizzuto/Martin card and a Berra/Bauer/Mantle. 1954 Topps had the O’Brien Brothers’ card. 1957 Topps had the Yankee’s Power Hitters and, my favorite, the Dodgers’ Sluggers.

Topps then included Slugger’s Supreme, World Series Batting Foes, and Rival Fence Busters in the 1958 set before expanding to 17 baseball combination cards in their gigantic 1959 release.

If you know anything else about the history of the Drysdale/Wynn card, please let me know. Oh, what could have been!

Update 1: Keith Olbermann wrote, “It’s possible. But Wynn didn’t go to the White Sox until 1958 and Drysdale didn’t make an all-star team until 1959. It’s much likelier this is from the ’59 ASG or World Series, and was rejected from the 1960 set.”

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1972 Laughlin #8 Lou Gehrig Great Feats Original Illustration

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Here’s the original 4” x 5” pen-and-ink illustration (and final card) used for card 8 of the 1972 Laughlin “Great Feats” series, commemorating Lou Gehrig’s 23 career grand slams.

Ron Oser Enterprises auctioned it off in their April 2001 catalog.

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