1957 Topps

Billy Martin’s Final Topps Contract As A Yankee Player: A One-of-a-Kind Piece of History

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Here’s a cool piece of hobby history, dating back to Mastro & Steinbach’s August 1997 Fine Sports Auctions Catalog; Billy Martin’s 1957 Topps Baseball Card Contract and Check!

I wish I had a better picture because it’s a wonderful piece from which I’d like to learn more, but I can’t make out the text; it’s a true one-of-one! Here’s the description:

Official one-page contract between Topps Chewing Gum and Alfred (Billy) Martin for the right to produce a Billy Martin card for Topps 1957, 58, and 59 baseball card sets. Dated July 20, 1956, and signed by Sy Berger (Topps, Inc.) and Billy Martin, the contract displays several folds and peripheral wear, with Near Mint to Mint signatures of both Berger and Martin. Accompanying the contract is a Topps check for $5 (made payable to Martin) as deposit toward Martin’s $125 compensation due each season for the use of his photograph. Check exhibits several light folds and an insignificant staple mark, endorsed on back by Martin (NR-MT to MT signature) and cashed through the New York Yankees account. Martin’s final Topps contract as a New York Yankee!

Here’s an example of Martin’s 1957 Topps baseball card from its PSA CardFacts page.

Happy Collecting!

The Original Artwork for Gordie Howe’s 1957/58 Topps Hockey Card

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The Official 13th Annual National Sports Collectors Convention Auction, held July 8-10, 1992, included a ton of incredible items, including the original Flexi-Chrome for Gordie Howe’s 1957/58 Topps hockey card! Superior Galleries only provided color scans for about 1/5 of its items on color plates at the beginning of the catalog; luckily, they included this one!

They described the item as follows:

This is the original artwork for the Gordie Howe card of that year A very rare and desirable item. Framed and matted with the Flexi-Chrome, and beneath it the actual card which has been autographed by Gordie Howe. This originally came out of the Gurnsey-Topps auction in 1989. A very rare hockey piece.


Overall Excellent condition. $6000-8000

Here’s a scan from Guernsey’s Topps Auction catalog showing the Gordie Howe Hockey Flexichrome. It sold for $1,600 plus the 10% buyer’s premium.

The PSA/DNA Certified Pop Report contains nine 1957 Topps Gordie Howe cards; this PSA 5/Auto 9 sold for $1,112 on eBay in February 2023.

Check out The Original Artwork Archive for more!

Five Incredibly Rare Hockey Wax Packs

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Mastro offered five scarce hockey wax packs in their August 2004 Sports Premier Catalog Auction. Here’s the oldest, from the 1954/55 Topps set featuring a “who’s who” of hockey greats: Kelly, Howe, Worsley, Bathgate, and Sawchuck!

Also included were a 1957/58 Topps Five-Cent Wax Pack, a 1958/59 Parkhurst 5-cent Wax Pack, a 1961/62 Topps Five-Cent Wax Pack, and a 1965/66 Topps Five-Cent Wax Pack.

For good measure, a 1954/55 Topps display box was also part of this catalog!

PS, this auction also included a few lots I’ve discussed previously:

Happy collecting!

Check out The Unopened Archive for more!

A Curious Item – The “Original Artwork” For Darrell Johnson’s 1957 Topps Baseball Card

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I ran across an item in Ron Oser Enterprises’ December 2000 catalog that perplexes me. It was described as a 3 1/2” x 5 1/2” flexichrome artwork for Darrell Johnson’s 1957 Topps card, but I always thought flexi’s were used to color black and white images.

I reached out to The Topps Archives, and he pointed out that flexi’s can look different but also thought they were only used to color black-and-white images. He also wondered if Topps just cut out the image with an Xacto knife as it would have already been in color. He pointed out that it sort of looks like an alternate for Johnson’s 1958 Topps card, which has a slightly different pose.

Any ideas? Did Topps have other plans for the 1957 Topps set? Were they going to use the cutout for another set?

Update: 23 December 2024

After I shared the images on X, Keith Olbermann shared that the item was for sale on eBay at the time, with an asking price of $800. He wrote, “The scan is much clearer and suggests your conclusion is right. Look at the trimming around the image of Johnson. If I remember correctly this was a Wingfield photo taken in DC and appears in one of the Jay Publishing ‘unofficial’ Yankee yearbooks 1957-8-9…in b&w.”

The eBay auction description provided a bit more detail, particularly about its source: “Original artwork for the 1957 Topps Darrell Johnson baseball card. Artwork measures about 3 ½ inches × 5 ½ inches and depicts the pose used for the 1957 baseball card. Artwork is in excellent condition and the lot includes a 1957 Topps baseball card of Darrell Johnson. The artwork has a small note that reads: ‘Topps Artwork from the Gelman Collection.'”

Roselle Avenue then shared this cool custom card with all of us.

Happy collecting!

Ridiculous Collection Of Vintage Baseball Wax Boxes

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In the spring of 2008, along with The Greatest Collection of Vintage Bowman and Topps Football Display Boxes, someone also consigned the most ridiculous group of baseball boxes to Mastro Auctions, which included the following:

  • 1936 Goudey “Big League Gum” One-Cent Display Box
  • 1939 Gum, Inc. “Play Ball America” Baseball Centennial One-Cent Display Box
  • 1941 Gum Products, Inc. “Double Play” One-Cent Display Box
  • 1950 Bowman Baseball One-Cent Display Box
  • 1951 Bowman Baseball Five-Cent Display Box
  • 1952 Bowman Baseball One-Cent Display Box
  • 1956 Topps Baseball Five-Cent Display Box, “Dated” Version GAI NM+ 7.5
  • 1957 Topps Baseball One-Cent Display Box
  • 1958 Topps Baseball One-Cent Display Box
  • 1961 Topps Baseball One-Cent Display Box
  • 1962 Topps Baseball One-Cent Display 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!