Masterpieces and Uncommon Commons XXVIII
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on:
7/30/2010
One on the toughest Topps test issues to surface are the ultra scarce 1968 Topps “All Star Baseball Plaks” with Topps manufacturing plastic player busts for 24 of the game’s greatest stars. Packaged in like model airplane components, the busts had to be removed from a spruce and were intended to be affixed to a base carrying the player’s name. Hall of Fame immortals such as Mantle, Aaron, Mays, and Clemente are among the finest players in the set. For the extremely advanced collector, obtaining the two checklist cards is a significant barrier to overcome. A checklist card sized approximately 2-1/8” x 4” was issued for each league, with each checklist carrying the 12 respective league’s player portrait images (six on the front and six on the back). Presented here just happens to be National League Checklist#2 in an unprecedented PSA “Near Mint 7” holder. Incredibly, PSA has encapsulated only 9 examples with the remaining 8 residing in “Authentic” holders. With that in mind, irrefutably, this miraculous offering stands as the uncontested “king of the hill”!
The twelve players depicted on this magnificent card reads like a “who’s who” of baseball stars. The obverse side includes: Hank Aaron, Roberto Clemente, Richie Allen, Tommy Davis, Orlando Cepeda and Don Drysdale. The flip side reveals: Willie Mays, Rusty Staub, Tim McCarver, Pete Rose, Ron Santo and Jim Wynn. In total, five Hall of Famers are included with a super high end “notable”, the legendary Pete Rose! Reflecting all of the required superb technical qualities for a “Near Mint” specimen, the twelve colored portrait images all provide superior color contrast and crystal clear focus. Framing the pictures on both sides of the card are virtually flawless black borders, and the stellar perimeter includes pin point corners and sharp edging. Bold yellow typography reading “BASAEBALL PLAKS – (PLAKS 13-24)” on the obverse and “COLLECT ALL 24 BASEBALL PLAKS” on the reverse side, accompanied by with both accompanied by bright red backgrounds provide the finishing touched to this Cooperstown worthy masterpiece. Only some peripheral surface wear beneath the “P” in “PLAK” on the reverse side as well as an almost microscopic white “spec” neat the upper right border framing Clemente’s image prevent this card from achieving even a higher technical assessment. Yet, considering the unprecedented disparity between this SOLE graded “Near Mint 7” offering and its closest eight competitors that have only managed “Authentic” assigned grades, EVERY elite PSA Set Registry collector should go the distance on this miraculous “1 of 1” cardboard gem!
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