The Topps Chewing Gum company decided to close out the turbulent decade of the 1960s with its most expansive issue to date, producing a 664-card issue that remains extremely popular among collectors to this day. Along with attractive rookie cards of Hall of Fame inductees Reggie Jackson, Rollie Fingers and Earl Weaver, the set contained the final cardboard representation of Mickey Mantle. The issue is known to have centering issues and print defects, and many examples are found with diamond cuts and/or stray print marks, making high-grade examples a challenge to track down. The sheer size of the set, combined with these condition obstacles, creates a difficult for set builders looking to compile only high-end examples, and many collectors are content with building a solid mid-grade set. Our consignor, however, has chosen to shoulder the burden of amassing a top-notch assemblage, and was simply not content with having an abundance of NM or lesser cards. In fact, even many NM/MT 8 specimens did not make the cut for the offered set, as it was put together with an eye toward having as many high-end specimens as possible. This amazing set includes a total of 434 graded cards, with all but 10 being NM/MT 8 or better! In all, there are 8 cards graded GEM MINT 10 by PSA, 264 cards graded PSA MINT 9, 8 cards graded NM/MT+ 8.5 by PSA, 143 cards graded NM/MT 8, a single SGC 88 NM/MT 8 card, 1 card graded NM+ 7.5, and 9 cards graded NM 7 by the Newport Beach evaluating firm. The Mantle card, a yellow letter variation, is among the NM 7 specimens; nearly all other major stars are in NM/MT 8 or MINT 9 holders. The ungraded portion of this high-end set is equally impressive, being approximately 20% MINT, 70% NM/MT-MINT, and 10% EX-EX/MT. A little additional investment into grading will most likely yield a set that would hit the registry somewhere around the top 10. Offering tons of pack-fresh qualities and exuding nearly unfathomable levels of visual appeal, this impressive offering is sure to command lots of attention! For a complete breakdown of the graded cards contained within, please visit our auction software.
PSA 10 GEM MINT (8 cards): 29, 84, 514, 543, 554, 613, 624, 648; PSA 9 MINT (264 cards): 2, 4, 15, 16, 20 Banks, 23, 24, 30, 32, 35 Morgan, 37, 38, 42, 44, 46, 47, 50 Clemente, 53, 58, 59, 61, 66, 67, 73, 75, 76, 77, 79, 80, 81, 87, 92, 96, 106, 108, 117, 118, 119, 123, 124, 128, 129, 132, 133, 135, 136, 140, 142, 145, 147, 148, 149, 151 (2 variations), 152, 154, 157, 158, 161, 164, 172, 176, 179, 190 Mays, 195, 197, 199, 205, 216, 217, 219, 222, 223, 224, 227, 228, 233, 240, 242, 243, 247, 249, 250 F Robinson, 251, 252, 257, 264, 269, 271, 274, 275, 278, 279, 280, 283, 284, 285, 297, 300, 304, 307, 309, 311, 315, 316, 318, 323, 324, 327, 329, 333, 335, 336, 338, 339, 340, 346, 347, 349, 354, 356, 360, 361, 363, 365, 366, 369, 372, 374, 377, 379, 382, 383, 385, 386, 390, 392, 393, 395, 396, 397, 404, 408, 411, 413, 415, 438, 442, 448, 449, 454, 457, 464, 466, 468, 471, 473, 474, 482, 485, 486, 487, 490, 491, 492, 493, 497, 504, 505, 507, 508, 511, 513, 515, 517, 518, 519, 520, 521, 523, 526, 528, 529, 530, 532, 534, 535, 537, 539, 541, 544, 545, 546, 547, 549, 550, 551, 552, 555, 557, 558, 559, 563, 565, 566, 571, 572, 573 Palmer, 579, 580, 581, 582, 583, 584, 585, 586, 588, 589, 591, 592, 595, 598, 599, 601, 603, 605, 606, 607, 608, 610, 611, 612, 614, 617, 618, 619, 620, 621, 622, 625, 626, 629, 630 Bonds, 631, 632, 633, 634, 636, 637, 638, 639, 642, 643, 644, 645, 647, 651, 652, 653, 654, 658, 659, 661, 663; PSA 8.5 NM/MT+ (8 cards): 70, 89, 208, 234, 317, 425 Yaz AS, 430, 567; PSA 8 NM/MT (143 cards): 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 27, 28, 36, 41, 43, 49, 52, 54, 63, 65, 71, 83, 85 Brock, 90, 94, 95 Bench, 98, 100 Aaron, 101, 105, 116, 120 Rose, 121, 122, 127, 130 Yaz, 134, 139, 143, 168, 171, 187, 188, 191, 193, 200 Gibson, 215, 221, 226, 232, 237, 238, 239, 245, 255, 258, 260 Jackson, 261, 262, 265, 266, 267, 270, 272, 286, 287, 288, 295, 302, 308, 310, 314, 320, 321, 326, 330, 331, 337, 343, 355, 364, 375 Killebrew, 381, 387, 391, 398, 399, 400 Drysdale, 403, 409, 410, 412, 416, 420, 421, 423, 424, 427, 428, 432, 434, 435, 436, 450, 456, 460, 463, 465, 467, 478, 480 Seaver, 483, 484, 486 WL, 489, 495, 499, 501, 503, 510, 522, 524, 533 Ryan, 538, 548, 556, 564, 568, 577, 587, 590, 593, 594, 597 Fingers, 600, 609, 615, 616, 635, 645, 641, 646, 649, 650 Williams, 657, 660, 662, 664; SGC 88 NM/MT 8 (1 card): 440 McCovey; PSA 7.5 NM+ (1 card): 294; PSA 7 NM (9 cards): 99, 150, 153, 175, 192, 370, 500 Mantle YL, 570.