1958 Topps

Mickey Mantle’s 1958 Topps Contract Extension: A Hobby Treasure

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A true piece of hobby history! Mickey Mantle’s 1958 Topps contract extension—signed by Mantle, Frank Scott, and Sy Berger!

The scan above is from Mastro’s November 1999 Fine Sports Millenium Auction, where it sold for $4,119. Here’s the complete item description:

A truly unique document released from the Topps archives over a decade ago. This is the actual contract extension signed by the 26-year-old superstar, giving Topps the right to produce baseball cards with the Mick’s image in 1959. The standard one-page contract extension is typewritten on Topps Chewing Gum stationery and is dated Oct. 1, 1958. It basically states that Mickey Mantle and Topps agree to extend their original agreement dated April 1, 1957, and that all the same terms and conditions apply (meaning he probably got five dollars and a toaster!). Signed boldly in blue ballpoint pen by Mickey Mantle, accepted by Topps executive Sy Berger, and witnessed by Mickey’s agent, Frank Scott. Accompanied by a letter from Guernsey’s, the auctioneers who originally sold the Topps archive. An important document linking the King of Baseball Cards to his maker.

When Guernsey’s auctioned it off as lot BB462 in 1989, they described it as a “Topps extended contract of exclusive 1957 agreement, signed by Mantle on 10/1/58.” It sold for $1,300 ($1,430 with the 10% Buyers Premium).

Guernsey’s also sold the “original exclusive contract signed between Mantle and Topps, 4/1/57, binding for years 1958-60.” Reading the extension, I think the pictured contract just extended the agreement into 1961, and wasn’t about giving Topps the right to produce Mantle’s card in 1959 as Mastro wrote, but, I’m not a lawyer!

Guernsey’s sold 11 different lots of Mantle contacts and checks in their famous Topps Auction; the one I’d most like to see is the original Bowman contract for the 1951 baseball season that Mantle signed on 4/17/1951!

Happy Collecting!

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!

Beyond the NFL – Topps Football Cards from the AFL, USFL, and CFL

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A couple of older hobby periodicals have so much alpha that I recommend completing the back issue runs to everyone. One example is Topps Magazine; sure, it had a lot of self-advertising, but it also had great pieces like this one about Topps’ Non-NFL sets.

How many of you have all 14 Topps AFL, CFL, and USFL sets Dwight Chapin mentioned in this article?

Now, let’s see how pricey some of the cards mentioned in this Fall 1993 article are today (Near Mint 1993 prices compared to recent PSA sales).

  • 1958 Topps Cookie Gilchrist: $22/$151 PSA 6 in October 2020
  • 1961 Topps Joe Kapp: $20/$109 PSA 8 January 2024
  • 1961 Topps Jack Kemp: $110/$221 PSA 9 June 2020
  • 1964 Topps Checklist #176: $125/$1,480 PSA 9 in May 2024
  • 1965 Topps Joe Namath: $1,250/$36,400 PSA 8 in May 2024
  • 1966 Topps Funny Ring Checklist: $325/$4,446 PSA 8 in September 2023
  • 1984 Topps USFL Jim Kelly: $185/$91 PSA 8 in October 2024

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!

1958 Topps Roger Maris Salesman Sample

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I was pretty excited when I saw this hand-cut 1958 Topps Roger Maris Salesman Sample card graded authentic by SGC pop up on eBay back in July 2024; it’s a really cool piece of hobby history.

Back in Newsletter #28, I wrote:

As the name implies, salesman-sample sports card panels were used by salesmen as samples to vendors (e.g. grocers and candy-store owners) to illustrate an upcoming release of cards to promote sales. These panels were produced in limited numbers, making surviving samples quite rare.

The front of the panels looked like regular-issue cards, while the back had a small advertising pitch for the new product. In some years, the backs also had redemption information or a sample card back.

Here’s an example from Heritage Auctions of a complete 1958 Topps Salesman Sample.

On the front, you can see that the three cards are just a random strip of three from an uncut sheet, while the back has advertising copy and an example card’s back. So, depending on a card’s location on an uncut sheet, it could be on any position on the front and, therefore, have any piece of the back (unless Topps placed it on a sheet’s edge). So a salesman sample with a 1958 Roger Maris front could go Frank Bolling/Wally Burnette/Roger Maris, or Wally Burnette/Roger Maris/Del Rice, or Roger Maris/Del Rice/Bill Fischer.

The cut Maris pictured above has the top of the back printed on its back, but it could have any; however, this SGC authenticated one is the only one in either PSA’s or SGC’s Pop Report.

The SGC-graded 1958 Topps Roger Maris “#47” cut Salesman Sample card sold on eBay for $785 on July 8th, 2024. Unfortunately, the buyer didn’t pay, and the owner had to relist the card. It was sold again on July 23rd for $538. The $538 price is reasonable when you compare it to other examples. REA sold a Don Drysdale cut sample for $156 in February 2023, and a Hank Aaron sold for $1,499.99 on eBay in April 2024.

The Maris sample card appears to have been purchased by another dealer who re-listed it on eBay with a Buy-it-Now price of $949.99.

Original Artwork For The Unproduced 1958 Topps Don Drysdale and Early Wynn Card

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I ran across this incredible original artwork of Don Drysdale and Early Wynn in an April 2000 Ron Oser Enterprises auction catalog. They advertised it as an unissued original that didn’t make the cut for the 1958 Topps series.

The striking piece was described as being 4 1/2” x 6”

1958 Topps wasn’t the first set to feature multiple players on a card. 1953 Bowman Color had a Rizzuto/Martin card and a Berra/Bauer/Mantle. 1954 Topps had the O’Brien Brothers’ card. 1957 Topps had the Yankee’s Power Hitters and, my favorite, the Dodgers’ Sluggers.

Topps then included Slugger’s Supreme, World Series Batting Foes, and Rival Fence Busters in the 1958 set before expanding to 17 baseball combination cards in their gigantic 1959 release.

If you know anything else about the history of the Drysdale/Wynn card, please let me know. Oh, what could have been!

Update 1: Keith Olbermann wrote, “It’s possible. But Wynn didn’t go to the White Sox until 1958 and Drysdale didn’t make an all-star team until 1959. It’s much likelier this is from the ’59 ASG or World Series, and was rejected from the 1960 set.”

Check out The Original Artwork Archive for more!