This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 6/10/2010
The year 1941 began with Franklin Delano Roosevelt sworn in for his third term as President of the United States, and ended with a devastating surprise attack on Pearl Harbor that would force the United States into World War II and forever change the course of history. And in 1941, Gum Inc. released the final set of the Play Ball trilogy, classified as R336 in the SCD Standard Catalog. While the backs were similar to their black-and-white photographed predecessor, the fronts were printed in color, often just using colorized versions of the player’s 1940 card. Trimmed down from 240 issued cards in the 1940 set, the ’41 Play Ball version contained just 72 cards and can occasionally be found in their original 12-card sheets. While small in size, the 1941 Play Ball set was big in star power, with popular issues of Mel Ott, Jimmie Foxx, Hank Greenberg, Charlie Gehringer, Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio, and the rookie card of Pee Wee Reese, among others. For Greenberg, Williams, and DiMaggio, this would be their last largely manufactured issue before temporarily leaving baseball to serve the United States in the war effort. The offered 1941 Play Ball complete set, while not presently listed on the PSA Set Registry, would place among the very best all-time sets ever assembled, with every card graded PSA 8 save for three commons, #2 Max West (graded PSA 7), #68 George Case (PSA 5), and #65 Tommy Bridges, which surpasses the rest with an assessment of PSA 8.5 NM/MT+. The three key cards to the set (Williams, DiMaggio, and Reese) are extremely strong PSA 8s, representative of the set as a whole. In all, eight of the 72 cards are the highest graded specimens in existence, with the Bridges, at PSA 8.5, being a true one-of-one, with none graded higher. The last great pre-war set, add it to your museum quality collection! *****ADDENDUM***** The offered set has been recently added to the PSA Set Registry and ranks as the #6 Current Finest and #7 All-Time Finest.