This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 12/4/2014
The 1967 Topps series is one of the most widely collected assemblages of the decade for obvious reasons. A 609-card compilation, the '67 set has everything that collectors crave: amazing photography, an extensive array of stars and Hall of Famers led by Mickey Mantle, an extremely difficult high-number series and a selection of scarce variation cards that draws in the master set builders. In many ways, the series is a 1960s version of the 1952 Topps set. It even boasts two of the most important debut pasteboards ever produced in Tom Seaver and Rod Carew, which are particularly elusive in high grade since Topps saved them for the high-number series. Both players went on to legendary careers with Seaver anchoring the Miracle Mets and Carew positioning himself as a perennial contender for the American League batting crown, which he won 7 times over a 10 year span from 1969-1978. While the Seaver RC has managed to break into PSA 10 territory 3 times, the Carew RC has reached the top rung of the PSA ladder just once in almost 2,000 attempts. There are so many contributing factors that plague the Carew RC and have kept the GEM MINT winning percentage to just 0.05%. If the well-documented centering issues, both front and back, and stray surface marks don't take your card out of the running, there's still the print lines within the border and inconsistent image quality that are cause for disqualification. Get past each of those and all you need are four GEM MINT corners and edges with a reverse whose lime green border reveals absolutely no hint of fading or shade variation. Believe me it's tougher than it sounds, but this card, once a part of the legendary Dimitri Young collection, has conquered the challenge and may be the only one ever to do so. Since the Dimitri Young sale several years ago, this unique prize has exchanged hands a few times, each recording a new record high price with the last transaction netting over $100,000 in cash and trade. With the exception of the newly graded PSA 10 Ryan RC and GEM MINT specimens of Pete Rose and Reggie Jackson's rookie card, this Rod Carew rookie card stands as the single most significant baseball card of the 1960s!