This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 12/2/2022
Identified by Joe Orlando in his book "The Top 200 Sportscards in the Hobby" as one of the hobby's ultimate rarities and most recognizable images, the 1933 Goudey Napoleon Lajoie is as notable a pasteboard as any that has ever been produced. Using a dubious if not outright unethical business practice, the Goudey company produced what was purported to be a 240-piece baseball card set. But not a single patron, no matter how many hundreds or even thousands of penny packs they purchased, was able to complete the set. Card #106 was never produced, leaving would-be set-builders in the vulnerable position of chasing after a mythical prize. And so the reason this 1933 Goudey example of that missing card #106 bears the design of Goudey's 1934 product is that the company didn't act until 1934, printing a limited quantity and then mailing a card to any collector that had formally complained in writing. In what might be an act of defiance, Goudey chose legendary Hall of Famer Nap Lajoie to be the subject that completed the 1933 set, a player who last took to the diamond in 1916. Had Goudey decided to go with aging icon Babe Ruth, who had already appeared four times in the 1933 series but was noticeably absent from the 1934 series, instead of Lajoie, there likely would have been a stampede of letters demanding the card and #106 would have had a much higher production number. Most of today's hobbyists believe that the cards came paper-clipped to a note or advertisement of some sort, leaving strong indentations that diminish most of the seemingly higher quality cards to grades of EX/MT or even lower. Offered in this lot is a prominent SGC 7.5 NM+ example that somehow managed to escape the scourges of the dreaded paper clip. Boasting extraordinary color and NM/MT corners overall, this hobby icon lands at the NM+ due to the usual slight centering shift toward the southeast. The reverse shows the usual toning with bold green print. There are very few baseball cards ever produced that carry the intrigue and mystique of the 1933 Goudey Lajoie, and even fewer to have survived in such an admirable grade.