Original Topps production material from the ’50s rarely surfaces, especially when it documents a major on-field milestone. One such piece appeared in the November 1997 Mastro & Steinbach Fine Sports Auctions catalog: the original 1959 Topps Flexichrome for Stan Musial’s 3,000th hit, card #470.
The card is part of the 1959 Topps Baseball Thrills subset, long one of my favorites. Card #470 captures Musial’s 3,000th hit, recorded on May 13, 1958, at Wrigley Field. Musial didn’t start the game; he reached the milestone with a pinch-hit double late in the contest.
Mastro & Steinbach described the piece as an original flexichrome, an actual photograph that was hand-tinted, with vintage printer’s notations present (including the card number, 470, in the upper left corner) on the mat board mount. The artwork is only slightly larger than the finished card and was accompanied by an example of the final issued card, allowing for direct comparison. The lot was described as Near Mint to Mint and carried a $300 minimum bid.
The finished 1959 Topps #470 card has only four PSA 10 examples, with the highest sale occurring in July 2015, when the following copy sold via PWCC for $3,049.
The original Flexichrome next to the final card shows how true a translation this one was.
Happy collecting!
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P.S. If you know the provenance of this flexichrome, I’d love to hear it. Was the consignor a former Topps employee, or did it come from another collection? I also haven’t seen this piece resurface since. If you have, please let me know.
P.P.S I found this image, a near-match for the card, from USA Today. Let me know if you’ve seen the exact photo used for the card.
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