John

1950-52 Bowman and Topps Display Boxes

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Vintage, empty display boxes just weren’t as popular as they are today when, in April 2003, this trio was auctioned off in a lot TOGETHER.

Included were a two-piece red and blue 1951 Bowman 120 Count One-Cent Box, a one-piece red and blue 1952 Bowman 24 Count Five-Cent box, and an incredible two-piece red and green 1952 Topps 24 Count Five-Cent Box.

The 1952 Topps box is particularly rare. It has a blue and white “NEW SERIES” label on the front pane of the bottom of the box.

Check out The Unopened Archive for more!

1957 Topps Paul Hornung Rookie Card Original Artwork

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Here’s the original artwork used as the foundation for the 1957 Topps Football Paul Hornung rookie #151.

The flexichrome, a full-color painting on a black-and-white photograph, is 3-3/8” x 4-3/4”, larger than the finished card. The back of the art piece has working pencil marks and adhesive residue.

The item came from the 1989 Guernsey’s Auction, where Topps sold a large portion of their archives.

Check out The Original Artwork Archive for more!

Bob Cousy Basketball Shoe Advertisement

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This would be an awesome collectible for Boston Celtics fans, a B.F. Goodrich Bob Cousy “P.F.” Basketball Shoe Advertisement. 

The “P.F.” All-American was B.F. Goodrich Company’s shoe made to compete with Converse’s “Chuck Taylor.” I’m sure having Cousy endorse the product helped; he was one of the most popular players in the 1950s. 

The item was available in MastroWest Auction’s March 2000 catalog and was described as a 22″ x 20″ cardboard piece in Ex-Mt to Nr-Mt condition.

1950 Bowman Football Uncut Sheet

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This 36-card uncut production sheet of 1950 Bowman football cards is a legitimate work of art. I definitely need to pick up an early Bowman-era sheet to display in the Hobby Library.

It consists of cards 109 through 124. Card 144 in the bottom right corner is missing a piece, and there is also a stain, mostly evident from the back, which affects four cards.

Lelands sold the following pair of 36-card uncut sheets in December 2001 for $1491; one is the same but without the missing piece.

Check out The Uncut Sheet Archive for more!

1972 Topps Candy Lid Test Issue Uncut Proof Sheet

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The Spring 1982 issue of Baseball Cards has a great article by Bill Bossert called Uncut Sheets Tell the Untold Story. He shares this incredible proof sheet for Topps’ 1972 Candy Lids test issue in it.

Update 20 March 2025: After sharing A 1973 Topps Test Candy Lid Uncut Sheet From The Hobby Library Archives, Keith Olberman shared a nice point of clarification about its connection to the sheet pictured above:

FYI this sheet is the second version of what has mistakenly been labeled “1972 Topps Candy Lid Proof Sheet” – the one with the hockey team photos and other detritus behind larger versions of the photo used on the lids. These – and the “1972s” – are both from 1973. Look closely and you’ll see they’re the same player photos. Topps only made two “lids” sets, in 1970 (has team logos) and 1973 (all logos blacked out).

Here’s what Bossert wrote about the set and sheet:

I hope that sheet wasn’t cut up. However, I did find this 1972 Topps Candy Lid Test Proof Willie Mays card that was sold by SCP Auctions for $622 on January 29, 2008.

You can see that Topps printed the Mays card on previously used stock, and there are a few other proof’s out there.

Check out The Uncut Sheet Archive for more!

Signed 1953 American Card Catalog

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The American Card Catalog is a foundational piece of the hobby. It was the first major attempt to categorize all known American card issues under a common numbering systems. So older American Card Catalogs are highly collectible, but this 1953 copy is special because both Jefferson Burdick and Charles Bray signed it. 

Here are some later reprints from the hobby library (1960, 1967, and 1988).