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1953 Topps Complete Set (274)
Sold For:
$14,100
Year: 1953
Auction: 2007 Spring
Lot #: 4
Auction: Featured
25% Nr/Mt to Nr/Mt-Mt, 35% Ex-Mt, 15% Ex, 23% Vg to Vg-Ex, and 2% slightly lesser. This is a simply stunning and extraordinary high-quality complete set of 1953 Topps, one of the most popular and classic of all baseball card sets, highlighted by a world-class example of key card #82 Mickey Mantle.
This set was consigned by a noncollector who lived in Indiana as a youngster. He saved his childhood collection of baseball cards, which included 1948 Leafs and 1951 Bowmans, and other cards of the era. When the opportunity arose, though he was not part of the organized collecting hobby in any way and simply because he liked cards, he purchased this 1953 Topps complete set (along with a near-complete 1952 Topps set, offered as a separate lot) from the original owner who assembled them. These sets were purchased in the 1970s and have remained untouched in his closet for over thirty years. When our consignor explained how he happened to have these cards, and brought them in along with his original childhood collection, we were floored. His childhood cards were all over the place for condition, but the 1952 and 1953 sets were simply shocking, by far the best sets that we have ever seen assembled and saved from decades ago, and not assembled one card at a time in the modern era.
This is the freshest right-out-of-the-pack ungraded set of 1953 Topps cards that we have ever handled. All the cards in this set are bright and crisp, with flawless colors, perfect gloss, and exceptional eye appeal. Perfectly clean, both front and back. Even the lesser-graded cards are exceptionally attractive and exhibit bright colors and crisp focus. We have selected sixty-one of the 274 (22%) cards to be graded and encapsulated by PSA. The PSA grades are as follows: Twelve NM-MT 8: #17, 35, 93, 99, 133, 142, 144, 162 Kluszewski, 167, 189, 226 High #, 248 High #. Twenty-One NM 7: #5, 9 Collins, 21, 27 Campanella, 31 Blackwell, 39, 41 Slaughter, 55, 56, 63, 65, 71, 81 Black, 110, 111 Sauer, 126, 127, 152, 179, 196, 272 High #. Twelve EX-MT 6: #14 Labine, 29, 54 Feller, 58, 62 Irvin, 77 Mize (OC), 82 Mantle (The Mantle is a simply stunning card that is literally bordering on Near Mint to Mint condition. Perfect centering, pack-fresh gloss, vibrant colors, and flawless registration. This card is a blazer. Some extremely minor corner wear kept this gem from Nr/Mt-Mt status), 86 Martin, 145, 153, 159, 234 High #. Eleven EX 5: #1 Robinson, 18, 53, 76 Reese, 104 Berra, 149 DiMaggio, 198, 207 Ford, 228 Newhouser, 244 Mays, 254 Roe. Three VG-EX 4: #114 Rizzuto, 263 Podres, 280 Bolling (last card in set). Two VG 3: #188 Carey and 220 Paige. Ungraded Keys: #10 Burgess SP (Ex), 37 Mathews (Vg-Ex), 43 McDougald (Vg), 61 Wynn (Vg), 78 Schoendienst (Ex), 87 Lopat (Vg-Ex), 119 Sain (Vg-Ex), 138 Kell (Vg), 147 Spahn (Vg-Ex), 151 Wilhelm (Vg-Ex), 191 Kiner (Vg-Ex), 246 Face (trimmed), 258 Gilliam (Vg), 264 Woodling (Vg-Ex), 265 Jensen (Ex), 273 Haddix (Vg). The flush-to-the-bottom-border design of the 1953 Topps set makes this issue particularly susceptible to edge and corner wear, and makes the assembly of high-grade sets all the more difficult. This is an extraordinarily strong mid- to high-grade set, far above average for this issue, with outstanding eye appeal across the board. This may be the finest assembled-in-year-of-issue complete set of 1953 Topps that we have ever handled. The SMR value for fifty-five of the sixty-one graded cards alone is $7,460. This total does not include the three VG-EX 4s, two VG 3s, one qualified card, or 213 ungraded cards. Total 274 cards. Reserve $2,500. Estimate $5,000/$10,000+. SOLD FOR $14,100.00
This set was consigned by a noncollector who lived in Indiana as a youngster. He saved his childhood collection of baseball cards, which included 1948 Leafs and 1951 Bowmans, and other cards of the era. When the opportunity arose, though he was not part of the organized collecting hobby in any way and simply because he liked cards, he purchased this 1953 Topps complete set (along with a near-complete 1952 Topps set, offered as a separate lot) from the original owner who assembled them. These sets were purchased in the 1970s and have remained untouched in his closet for over thirty years. When our consignor explained how he happened to have these cards, and brought them in along with his original childhood collection, we were floored. His childhood cards were all over the place for condition, but the 1952 and 1953 sets were simply shocking, by far the best sets that we have ever seen assembled and saved from decades ago, and not assembled one card at a time in the modern era.
This is the freshest right-out-of-the-pack ungraded set of 1953 Topps cards that we have ever handled. All the cards in this set are bright and crisp, with flawless colors, perfect gloss, and exceptional eye appeal. Perfectly clean, both front and back. Even the lesser-graded cards are exceptionally attractive and exhibit bright colors and crisp focus. We have selected sixty-one of the 274 (22%) cards to be graded and encapsulated by PSA. The PSA grades are as follows: Twelve NM-MT 8: #17, 35, 93, 99, 133, 142, 144, 162 Kluszewski, 167, 189, 226 High #, 248 High #. Twenty-One NM 7: #5, 9 Collins, 21, 27 Campanella, 31 Blackwell, 39, 41 Slaughter, 55, 56, 63, 65, 71, 81 Black, 110, 111 Sauer, 126, 127, 152, 179, 196, 272 High #. Twelve EX-MT 6: #14 Labine, 29, 54 Feller, 58, 62 Irvin, 77 Mize (OC), 82 Mantle (The Mantle is a simply stunning card that is literally bordering on Near Mint to Mint condition. Perfect centering, pack-fresh gloss, vibrant colors, and flawless registration. This card is a blazer. Some extremely minor corner wear kept this gem from Nr/Mt-Mt status), 86 Martin, 145, 153, 159, 234 High #. Eleven EX 5: #1 Robinson, 18, 53, 76 Reese, 104 Berra, 149 DiMaggio, 198, 207 Ford, 228 Newhouser, 244 Mays, 254 Roe. Three VG-EX 4: #114 Rizzuto, 263 Podres, 280 Bolling (last card in set). Two VG 3: #188 Carey and 220 Paige. Ungraded Keys: #10 Burgess SP (Ex), 37 Mathews (Vg-Ex), 43 McDougald (Vg), 61 Wynn (Vg), 78 Schoendienst (Ex), 87 Lopat (Vg-Ex), 119 Sain (Vg-Ex), 138 Kell (Vg), 147 Spahn (Vg-Ex), 151 Wilhelm (Vg-Ex), 191 Kiner (Vg-Ex), 246 Face (trimmed), 258 Gilliam (Vg), 264 Woodling (Vg-Ex), 265 Jensen (Ex), 273 Haddix (Vg). The flush-to-the-bottom-border design of the 1953 Topps set makes this issue particularly susceptible to edge and corner wear, and makes the assembly of high-grade sets all the more difficult. This is an extraordinarily strong mid- to high-grade set, far above average for this issue, with outstanding eye appeal across the board. This may be the finest assembled-in-year-of-issue complete set of 1953 Topps that we have ever handled. The SMR value for fifty-five of the sixty-one graded cards alone is $7,460. This total does not include the three VG-EX 4s, two VG 3s, one qualified card, or 213 ungraded cards. Total 274 cards. Reserve $2,500. Estimate $5,000/$10,000+. SOLD FOR $14,100.00