This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 6/10/2010
The 1956 Topps baseball release remains one of the most persistently popular sets in cardboard keepsake history, with exploding submission numbers on record at PSA and an increasingly glaring deficiency of high-grade examples. In addition to its popularity and difficulty, there are multifarious reasons to collect the '56 Topps set. Most importantly, with its early 1956 purchase of Philadelphia's Bowman Gum Company, the '56 set marks The Topps Company's virtual monopolization of the baseball card market, a monumental feat celebrated by new and innovative procedures as well as the continued practice of tried and true methods. Like its two predecessors, the 1956 cards employ both a portrait and an action picture, yet the newly conceptualized action shot consisted of a full image as opposed to just a cut-out, thereby spawning such unforgettable images as Mickey Mantle soaring into the outfield bleachers to rob a home run, or Jackie Robinson and Willie Mays sliding in for a score, perhaps just after stealing home. Other innovations in the 1956 set include the popular and today immensely coveted team cards, several of which report multiple challenging variations that help comprise the “master set”, as well as famous "rookie" cards of League Presidents, Williams Harridge and Warren Giles, plus the first-ever Topps checklists. As if to eventually counter these novel introductions, however, the 1956 set marked the last time Topps would employ artwork (or artistically enhanced images), and it also marked the last of the great over-sized sets of the early ‘50s, a tradition going back to the groundbreaking 1952 set. Notable inclusions are Ted Williams, Jackie Robinson (his last Topps card), Mickey Mantle (his first Topps card since 1953, just in time for his 1956 Triple Crown Award), Luis Aparicio (his rookie card) and Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Roberto Clemente, Sandy Koufax, and the coveted team cards of rival powerhouse clubs, the New York Yankees and Brooklyn Dodgers. What is offered here, with extreme pride, is one of the greatest compilations of 1956 baseball cards ever assembled, a nearly complete master set that checks in at number 19 on the current finest set registry list. Just eight cards short of 100% completion, this unbelievable set spent years in the making at the hands of our consignor, who has generously allowed us the opportunity to place it on the auction block as he turns his attention to other endeavors. With an overall GPA of 7.28, the set is overwhelmingly comprised of NM 7 and NM/MT 8 examples, with four MINT 9s and just 10 cards grading below the NM 7 level. Missing are: 11 Cubs Team No Date Name Left, 95 Braves Team No Date Name Left, 100 Orioles Team Dated, 100 Orioles Team No Date Name Left, 253 Noren, 260 Reese, 271 Castlemen, and 306 Roberts. As one of the most masterful compilations of one of the most sought-after and nostalgia-inducing pasteboard efforts in collectibles history, this astonishing set registry cornerstone will make the hair stand up on the nape of the most advanced collector’s neck! Please consult either the PSA set registry or the lot description in our auction software for a complete breakdown of this tremendous offering.