The Official 13th Annual National Sports Collectors Convention Auction, held July 8-10, 1992, included a ton of incredible items, including the original Flexi-Chrome for Gordie Howe’s 1957/58 Topps hockey card! Superior Galleries only provided color scans for about 1/5 of its items on color plates at the beginning of the catalog; luckily, they included this one!
They described the item as follows:
This is the original artwork for the Gordie Howe card of that year A very rare and desirable item. Framed and matted with the Flexi-Chrome, and beneath it the actual card which has been autographed by Gordie Howe. This originally came out of the Gurnsey-Topps auction in 1989. A very rare hockey piece.
Overall Excellent condition. $6000-8000
Here’s a scan from Guernsey’s Topps Auction catalog showing the Gordie Howe Hockey Flexichrome. It sold for $1,600 plus the 10% buyer’s premium.
The PSA/DNA Certified Pop Report contains nine 1957 Topps Gordie Howe cards; this PSA 5/Auto 9 sold for $1,112 on eBay in February 2023.
Here’s the original artwork used for John Schweder’s 1952 Bowman football rookie card. REA sold it for $1,800 in the fall of 2014, but its sales history goes back to Guernsey’s Topps Auction in 1989 and the 13th Annual NSCC Auction in 1992.
Here’s a bit of the auction history for the card (as much as I could find): first, it was included as an individual lot, 68C, in Guernsey’s Topps Auction in 1989. It sold for $800 plus the 10% buyer’s premium. Here’s a scan of it in the catalog.
Then, it was included as part of Superior Galleries Official 13th Annual National Sports Collectors Convection Auction in July 1992. A color photo was included on the Color Plate 1 page at the front of the catalog (it wasn’t common to include color photos of every item in early ’90s catalogs) and in B&W above its description that simply said “1952 Bowman Football Artwork of John Schweder. A very rare item in Near-Mind condition.” The estimated value then was $1000-1200.
Finally, in the fall of 2014, Robert Edward Auctions sold it for $1800. They included the following item description including the details about the item having been a part of a museum’s collection:
One-of-a-kind original artwork for 1952 Bowman football #72 John Schweder short-print rookie card (Pittsburgh Steelers). This is the actual artwork used in the production of both the 1952 Bowman Small and Large Football series.Original artworks from this set are extremely rare. This artwork has survived beautifully, with bold colors, a flawless surface, and only light wear to the corners. The reverse bears standard production-related remnants along with the pencil-written name of the player. The artwork measures 4 x 6.25 inches and is in overall Excellent or better condition.
The item in this lot is part of the deaccessioned property of a prominent northeast museum which has selected Robert Edward Auctions to handle the sale of donated sportscards and memorabilia in an effort to fund purchases more in line with the mission and goals of the museum.
And just for completeness, here’s an example of a high-grade Bowman Large variation of Schweder’s card that Memory Lane Inc. sold for $1171 in January 2023.
Welcome to the Original Artwork Archive! This is the hub for all the articles I’ve written about original artwork used to produce cards, sorted by sport and set. A lot of these pieces originate from the Topps Archives and Guernsey’s Topps auction, while others remain “lost,” buried in private collections. But thanks to the hobby library, I can scan and share photos from these and other past auctions and magazines, preserving these treasures for collectors to enjoy.
If you have any examples to share, shoot me an e-mail.
Here’s the original flexichrome artwork for John Huarte’s 1965 Topps #117 Football card.
Ron Oser Enterprises offered it in their December 2000 auction catalog.
They described it as a “Very desirable 3 3/4” x 5 1/4” flexichrome artwork of Huarte’s Short Print rookie card #117 from Topps’ popular 1965 ‘over-sized’ issue. Beautiful condition, neatly affixed to a 7” x 11” black paper backing, accompanied by an example card (EXMT).”
I’ve previously shared the original artwork for the 1953 Topps Willie Mays and Whitey Ford cards that Guernsey’s sold in its famous 1989 Topps Auction. But other examples have also tricked out over the years, including this one of Ken Heintzelman.
Mastro offered this example in its April 2004 Sports Premier Catalog Auction. The hand-painted piece was described as 3-1/2” x 5” in near-mint condition and, obviously, one-of-a-kind.
I ran across an item in Ron Oser Enterprises’ December 2000 catalog that perplexes me. It was described as a 3 1/2” x 5 1/2” flexichrome artwork for Darrell Johnson’s 1957 Topps card, but I always thought flexi’s were used to color black and white images.
I reached out to The Topps Archives, and he pointed out that flexi’s can look different but also thought they were only used to color black-and-white images. He also wondered if Topps just cut out the image with an Xacto knife as it would have already been in color. He pointed out that it sort of looks like an alternate for Johnson’s 1958 Topps card, which has a slightly different pose.
Any ideas? Did Topps have other plans for the 1957 Topps set? Were they going to use the cutout for another set?
Update: 23 December 2024
After I shared the images on X, Keith Olbermann shared that the item was for sale on eBay at the time, with an asking price of $800. He wrote, “The scan is much clearer and suggests your conclusion is right. Look at the trimming around the image of Johnson. If I remember correctly this was a Wingfield photo taken in DC and appears in one of the Jay Publishing ‘unofficial’ Yankee yearbooks 1957-8-9…in b&w.”
The eBay auction description provided a bit more detail, particularly about its source: “Original artwork for the 1957 Topps Darrell Johnson baseball card. Artwork measures about 3 ½ inches × 5 ½ inches and depicts the pose used for the 1957 baseball card. Artwork is in excellent condition and the lot includes a 1957 Topps baseball card of Darrell Johnson. The artwork has a small note that reads: ‘Topps Artwork from the Gelman Collection.'”
Roselle Avenue then shared this cool custom card with all of us.
Again, the original full-color paintings of Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle, Bob Feller, Jackie Robinson, and Roy Campanella’s 1953 Topps baseball cards were first made available to the hobby in Guernsey’s Topps Auction in 1989.
Here’s the section’s description in the catalog and the details for the 3 1/2″ x 5″ VG conditioned 1953 Willie Mays original color artwork. It sold for $80k (+10% Buyers Premium).
I’m curious if the owner of the original artwork has managed to pick up a copy of the original news photograph that inspired the piece. REA sold this circa 1951 PSA/DNA Type 1 example for $16,800 in the Spring of 2020.
And finally, here’s a fantastic example of the 1953 Topps #244 Willie Mays card.
