One of the clearest examples of art directly transitioning to card production, the 1960 Topps Flexichrome original artwork for Charlie Grimm (#217) highlights Topps’ process at its finest.
This piece, with provenance to Guernsey’s 1989 Topps auction, recently appeared in Heritage’s 2025 Fall Sports Catalog Auctions but failed to meet its $500 reserve. Here’s how they described it:
Found in the Topps Archives and originally sold in the August, 1989 Guernsey’s Auction in New York City is this one-of-a-kind, hand painted flexichrome use to create card #217 of Charlie Grimm used for car #217 in the 1960 Topps series. Charles Grimm enjoyed a lengthy career, twenty seasons from 1916 to 1936, with half of those years wearing a Pittsburgh Pirates or Chicago Cubs jersey. Grimm retired with a .290 batting average, 2,299 hits, 908 runs, and 1,077 RBI. As the Cubs manager for 19 seasons (1932-1938, 1944-1949, 1960) he took Northside faithful to three pennants in but no world Champion accolades. Grimm bled Cubs blue as he remained with the team in various roles for another 15 years. When he died in 1983, his widow carried out the dream of all Cubs fans… his ashes were scattered over Wrigley Field. Gauche on thin card stock and mounted to illustration board. The art measures 3-1/8″ x 4-1/4.” The illustration board is approx 4-1/8″ x 7-3/4″ with a stocker and area of stain which doesn’t affect the art. Comes with LOP from Guernsey’s Auction.
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P.S. Here’s the front and back of the artwork.
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