This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 10/16/2015
The current high bids for the cumulative group of singles, $192,977.00 is currently higher than the total for the complete set, $188,955.00 (this lot is currently losing)
With their introduction to the baseball card market being met with mixed reviews, the Topps Company looked to improve upon their inaugural 1952 issue. Taking a page from competitor Bowman's playbook, Topps launched their 1953 edition by placing Jackie Robinson in the pole position as card #1, with Roy Campanella, Pee Wee Reese and Eddie Mathews also moving from the previous year's troubled high-number series to the '53 set's first series. This gave collectors a chance to quickly grab a copy of popular stars that they might have missed out on in '52. Also available from the start was card #82 Mickey Mantle as Topps attempted to hit the ground running against Bowman, who had expanded the size of their cards to better match Topps' innovative design. The artwork of the 1953 Topps set was vastly improved, according to most collectors, and stands as one of the most attractive baseball collections ever produced. Originally intended to consist of 280 cards, the final result dropped to 274 when six were forced out by Bowman due to continuing legal battles over player contracts. The featured collection would be nearly impossible to assemble today if started from scratch; a complete 1953 Topps set that ranks #3 on the PSA Set Registry with an overall 8.41 set rating. Every card in this collection carries a minimum grade of PSA 8, with #41 Slaughter, 77 Mize, 114 Rizzuto and 63 others graded PSA 8.5, and 54 cards graded PSA 9, including amazing MINT specimens of #27 Campanella, 37 Mathews, 61 Wynn, 66 Minoso, 76 Reese, 86 B. Martin, and perhaps the finest specimen of #224 Satchel Paige in existence. For a complete breakdown of grades and population, please visit our website for a link to the PSA Set Registry. While offered here as a complete set, the cards are also available individually and will be sold based upon the higher total between the set price versus the sum of the prices of the individual cards. PLEASE NOTE: The Irv Noren card in the image in the catalog is wrong. It should be a PSA 9 MINT as you can see in the images below. Sorry for the confusion.
LINK: 1953 Topps #3 Set on PSA Set Registry