This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 8/19/2016
The current high bids for the cumulative group of singles, $318,951.00, is currently higher than the total for the complete set, $280,000.00 (this lot is currently winning)
Searching for ways to keep baseball-minded bubble gum chewers buying their product in the twilight weeks of the 1952 season, Topps reserved popular diamond stars like Mickey Mantle, Roy Campanella and Jackie Robinson for the final series of production. Topps also added a large selection of rookie cards to the high-numbers, monitoring the newbies who had made the greatest impact and quickly getting them under contract. National League Rookie of the Year Joe Black, runner-up Hoyt Wilhelm and third place co-finisher Dick Groat were all included, but the series needed a slugger, someone with the potential to become "the Mickey Mantle of the National League," to leave an indelible mark on their inaugural set. And so, 20-year old Eddie Mathews, who tied Groat for 3rd place in ROY voting, was bookended with Andy Pafko as the closing card of Topps' first foray into the baseball card world. Although Mathews posted a pedestrian .242 batting average, his 25 homers easily outpaced all other rookies. His league-leading 47 round trippers the next season only confirmed Topps' faith in the young slugger, and after 17 seasons with 512 lifetime homers, Eddie Mathews punched his ticket to Cooperstown. Presented is an incredible PSA 7 example of Mathews' coveted 1952 Topps rookie card that has survived in far fewer numbers than most debut cards. PSA's population report shows that there have been less than 650 submitted specimens. Compared to other popular cards in the set (#1 Pafko at about 1,500 and 261 Mays at about 1,600), as well as from the limited run high-number series (#311 Mantle at 1,350 and 312 J. Robinson at 850), the 1952 Topps Eddie Mathews rookie card is far more scarce than most realize, and because it's the last card in the set, much more condition-sensitive. Only 18 others have graded higher than this PSA 7, and it's hard to imagine any of those matching the featured card for its almost flawless centering, delivering a well-registered central image of Mathews within a strong white border that is equidistant at every edge. The corners and edges stand up to NM specs and easily surpass them, while the reverse, not quite as centrally framed, gives the hobbyist a clean canvas with deep, easy to read print. With prices for 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle cards reaching astronomical prices over the past two years, it's only a matter of time before the second best card in the set follows suit.