Summer Premium and Catalog Auction July 31 & Aug 8
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 7/31/2015
Graded NM 7 by PSA. Hall of Famer, and a notably rare "Short Print" entry.
Among a total of just 82 examples holdered by PSA, a mere 17 copies of this storied collectible have exceeded the offered piece's NM 7 assessment.
At the dawn of the gum card's glorious "Golden Age" in 1933 and continuing to the present day, confectioners have sought to establish a covenant with the majority of their clients. Simply, this was a matter of faith: collectors would buy pack after pack of a specific product, the idea being to obtain a full set of the cards associated with those packs. At least one of each number, in other words. Duplicates were part of the game, and thus expected, but willful omissions were not.
It was a dramatic breach of trust, then, that saw Goudey consumers holding up their end with vigorous gum-buying, while the number of sets completed through this activity remained stuck at precisely zero. Soon, it was determined that absolutely no one could find card number 106 in what appeared to be a 240-piece sequence.
Just a few, more assertive buyers complained directly to the Massachusetts-based manufacturer, and hobby lore documents that these individuals were rewarded with apologetic letters from Goudey ... with card #106 enclosed. (Later, of course, perfidious "skip-numbering" schemes were employed on a grander scale - à la 1948 Leaf - but 1933's Depression Era folks wouldn't tolerate it.)
In the collectibles industry of modern times, there remain far too few 1933 Goudey #106's to complete even a fraction of the aspiring sets. Factoring condition into the equation along with scarcity, a splendid, barely circulated example of this treasure - as illustrated here - projects an absolutely compelling allure.
This exceedingly attractive and famously elusive piece boasts exceptional color quality and the merest traces of careful, admiring handling. The card's surfaces - front and back - are bright and enticing, and its corners are confidently well-shaped. More than eighty years after being dropped into an envelope by a contrite Goudey executive, the offered specimen remains perfectly equipped to finish a high-quality near set that's been waiting to welcome it. Here is one of the hobby's most prestigious and sought-after items, in splendid Near Mint condition.