This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 9/15/2017
While Topps had its moment in the sun with the 1965 "tall-boy" series and the introduction of the Joe Namath rookie card, the Philadelphia Gum Company still owned the rights to the NFL and it was just a matter of time until the next superstar rookie came into the senior league. They didn't have to wait long as a pair of future Hall of Famers, Gale Sayers and Dick Butkus, came along in the 1966 Philly set to lead a charge that already included Unitas, J. Brown and Starr, jumping the company back into the lead over Topps one final time. Featured is a breathtaking 1966 Philadelphia Dick Butkus rookie card, one of just 7 to earn a grade of PSA 9 MINT with none graded higher. Near perfectly centered with edges and endpoints that safely pass the stringent qualifications for the MINT level, what makes this elite beauty superior to NM/MT+ specimens and probably most if not all of the other MINT examples is the presentation of the green reverse, a condition killer than has limited the entire series to less than 50 GEM MINT examples despite over 20,000 total submissions. A quick trip around the reverse perimeter reveals nothing more than negligible flakes that are inescapable with a rough-cut lining each side and shouldn't count against the overall evaluation. The image of of Butkus, who would rise to become one of the most feared defenders in the history of the sport with 22 interceptions and a then record of 27 recovered fumbles, is delivered with perfect sharpness and set against a clean, blue sky in the backdrop. A defining pasteboard that will likely find it's way into a world-class collection if not securing a place in a top-ranked PSA Set Registry assemblage.