The Industry

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.

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.

Here’s what he 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.

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).