This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 5/20/2011
It doesn't take much of an expert to recognize that the presented specimen of Jim Brown's 1958 Topps rookie card, arguably the most iconic Hall of Fame rookie card in the vintage football cannon, is a clear cut above the lion's share of copies available in the grade of NM/MT 8. The offered copy scores high marks in the condition areas most commonly found to be deficient on this increasingly famous issue. While not perfect, the obverse, or front, features MINT centering, nearly perfect from top-to-bottom, and justified to the left a hair's breadth too far to be called GEM MINT. Next, the black backdrop of the peek-hole design typically shows extremely poor saturation of the black ink, whether from stacking "hot" sheets in the factory or stacking cut cards in packs and/or in unprotected collections. Again, while not perfect, here we see a deep spread of buttery black that comes closer to complete coverage than almost any other example we've ever encountered. And we've seen quite a few! Just last year we sold one of the only 5 existing PSA 9s for nearly $30,000, and, in addition to those coveted five, only 2 others have ever graded higher at PSA (both 8.5s). Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the all-important image of the future "greatest football player ever" (Sporting News, 2002), is an absolute anomaly for the issue, showing the recent Syracuse graduate and 1957 NFL MVP in all his colorful Cleveland splendor, and with none of that unappealing fuzziness that typically distorts the image because of faulty registration. Do some comparison shopping yourself, and we know you'll agree.