Summer is flying by. There aren't a lot of downsides to staying active, being productive, and enjoying life... but losing track of time seems to be one of them.
I had originally planned on writing this post yesterday... but a 5,000ct. box of basketball cards that needed to be sorted and lunch plans distracted me. Oh well... better late than never.
In the spirit of the Mid-Summer Classic, I wanted to share a pair of cards from my favorite Topps All-Star subset of all-time. I'll start things of with Stan the Man:
1958 Topps #476
If you collected cards back in the 80's and read Beckett Baseball... then you probably remember the acronym, FTC. Beckett would this next to a Topps card in their price guide when a player already had a rookie card with another company.
The best example I can think of is the 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle... which is often referred to as his rookie card. Actually that honor goes to his 1951 Bowman baseball card.
Stan Musial's two rookie cards are from the 1948 Bowman and 1948 Leaf sets. Topps produced a trading card set called Magic Photos that included nineteen baseball related cards. Unfortunately... Musial wasn't one of them.
Topps didn't have an official card of Musial until the inserted the card above into packs a decade later. According to the internet... "insufficient compensation" was the main reason Musial didn't sign a contract with Topps until 1958 (after Topps donated $1,500 to a charity of Gussie Busch's choosing).
Although it would have been cool to see Musial in the 1956 Topps set... I've gotta say... this card is one helluva FTC.
It was the key card in my 2020 COMC summer haul. I purchased it right around the same time last summer for $60.20. I normally don't publicly speculate on the values of trading cards... but I'm surprised this sixty-three year old baseball card featuring one of the greatest hitters of all-time is so affordable.
The other card is a little more pricey:
1958 Topps #487
This card represents the oldest Mickey Mantle card in my collection... and it without a doubt the most beautiful. Seriously... take a few moments to just soak in the beauty.
Okay enough staring at these two beautiful cards, let's get to today's question of the day:
What is your favorite Topps all-star cards (either design or specific cards) of all-time?
Scroll up... and you'll see mine.
Happy Wednesday and sayonara!
14 comments:
That really is a great set. I have the Musial, my only card from the subset. Not the Mantle obviously! I would also love to get my hands on the managers card from that set, Stengel and Haney.
Awesome 58s! Topps made a 56 musial as part of their 2011 lost cards inserts set if you are curious as to what a 56t card of the man might have looked like.
My fave topps all star design is the 1978 shield on the player's base card. I was never really a fan of separate all star cards.
WOW! The Man and the Mantle! Not bad at all. Kind of tough to beat that '58 AS design.
That 58' set is right up there.
I like 1993. I collected a lot that year and those always felt special.
‘58 is nice. ‘68 and ‘69 were good design, as were ‘87 and ‘91 for newer ones. ‘92 are probably my favorite ones as far as newer ones because they are the first ones I pulled from packs, and they looked different enough from the base cards that you could tell they were something special. The newer ones (‘03-now) are pretty much similar to the base design, so they don’t really do much for me.
My 1960 Topps All-Star AL Kaline, from the year I was born.
Those are such cool cards, but geting the card of Mr. Tiger was special.
'75 is my absolute favorite with '76, '77 and '78 close behind. Like gcrl, I don't like the separate all-star card as much. But the years when Topps had all-stars share a card, like in 1974, 1993 and 1994, were the worst.
I think the '58s are my favorite - I'll have to look into that one day (and maybe write a post about it!). The stars on the '73 design are cool too.
One of the best deals I've ever gotten on a baseball card was finding that '58 Musial at the flea market for A DOLLAR. The Mantle's still on my dream list, however.
Have to say that I'll always have a soft spot for the 1980s All Star Glossy inserts.
Yeah, good call.
I always liked the 76 All-Stars,especially Johnny Bench.
the diamond king - i had to look up the managers card from that subset. good call.
gcrl - i'm sure they'll make another 56t musial with one of their project cards as well. it's only a matter of time. good call on the 78t red, white, and blue shield.
dennis - one of these days i'll rank my favorites. have a feeling the 58t will be on top
johnnys trading spot - totally agree
the lost collector - i couldn't picture them, but finally found the images on comc.
jeremya1um - the 69t all-stars are another one of my favorites. i'd have to do a little more research... but possibly #2 all-time for me.
john sharp - the 60t all-star cards are nice too. i don't think my birth year set had an all-star subset.
night owl - i do like the simple all-star banner on the 77t cards... but my favorite out of the ones you listed is the 78t all-star shields. as for the 74t combo all-star cards... i do think it's cool when two hall of famers share the same card like the fisk/bench and carew/morgan cards.
nick - i tried to find 73t all-star card, but came up short. finding that musial for a buck is one of the best deals i've ever heard of. congratulations
nick vossbrink - me too. one day i'd love to own all of them and display them in a binder
sg488 - that 76t bench is an all-time classic.
I love the 1958 Topps Musial too. That's a great looking card. I would also have to go with the 1984 Topps Ozzie Smith All-Star card. That was the second year I collected, but the first year I remember paying attention to the All-Star cards.
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