1963 Topps #202 Red Sox TEAM card

The 1953 Topps set is a collection of gorgeous portraits drawn by the leading sports artists of the day. Key cards in the 1953 Topps set include: Jackie Robinson, Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays & Satchel Paige. Satchel Paige had his name spelled incorrectly (2 'L') on the card front.

As with all Topps sets from the 1950's & 1960's, 1953 Topps was issued in series, (#1-85, #86-165, #166-220 & #221-280) with the final series "High Numbers" the least produced, least available and thus the most costly. Topps and Bowman still at war likely accounts for the 6 missing #'s from the High Number series.

Neat oddball set with a very unusual mix of players. A promotional lead-in for "Cardboard Dreams" a soon to be sportscard magazine. Promo cards were given out at a few regional baseball card shows mostly in So. Cal.
MLB filed lawsuits against similar magazines and the magazine was cancelled before 1st issue leaving just a small run of promo cards (limited to 5,000) and some scarce proofs.

      SERIES 1                   SERIES 2
  #1 Willie Mays            # 9 Mickey Mantle                
  #2 Nolan Ryan             #10 Nolan Ryan & Sandy Koufax   
  #3 Tony Gwynn             #11 Frank Thomas & David Justice
  #4 Wayne Gretzky          #12 Brett Hull                  
  #5 Jose Canseco/Madonna   #13 Ted Williams & Joe DiMaggio 
  #6 Ken Griffey Jr         #14 Barry Sanders               
  #7 Bo Jackson             #15 Dan Marino                  
  #8 Michael Jordan         #16 Magic Johnson & Larry Bird  

 Prototype #1: Nolan Ryan / Wayne Gretzky / Bo Jackson / Jose Canseco & Madonna
 Prototype #2: Mickey Mantle / Nolan Ryan & Sandy Koufax 
               Ted Williams & Joe DiMaggio / David Justice & Frank Thomas

Auctioneer Guernsey's went thru Topps offices gathering over 3,000 items for the auction. Topps spokesman reported auction sales of OVER $1.5 million !!! Additional sales were made from a mail-only auction. Collector Keith Olbermann, at the auction, described it as an archaeological dig.

Topps archive material continued to accumulate after the auction ending up with another treasure of over 250,000 transparencies, uncut sheets, color separations, art, photos, slides, proof sheets & wrappers, canceled checks, contracts and one-of-a-kind items to sell.