1939 R303-B Goudey "Black & White" Premiums Complete Set (24) - #1 on the PSA Set Registry!

This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 8/9/2015

Each card has been graded by PSA. Presented is a 24-card complete set of R303-B Goudey Black & White Premiums. With its remarkable 7.72 GPA, this assembly merits undisputed "#1 Current Finest" placement on the PSA Set Registry! These very appealing, oversized paper collectibles, issued by Goudey Gum Co. in 1939, comprise a truly marvelous gallery of baseball greatness: fourteen of the release's two-dozen subjects are Hall of Fame enshrinees. Each piece presents a pleasing illustration of a star player on its front; the likenesses are unencumbered by distracting team logo or lettering details, and each is adorned with the subject's name in script. The backs feature an intriguing series of useful "How To ..." baseball topics that artfully mix text and line drawings.

The Premiums represent a nicely contrived effort by Goudey to expand its candy-counter line-up. As a benefit of their 4-3/4" x 7-3/8" size and superb print quality, the items are much more visually impactful than standard gum cards, and the sight of each star - rendered in this stylish format - is pleasantly memorable. With their increased capacity for artistry, though, the Premiums accrued additional condition sensitivity.

Large size and fragile paper construction combined to make the Premiums inordinately susceptible to the effects of handling. (Unfortunately, at the time these R303-B's were distributed, the modern storage supplies that could have safely protected the vintage treasures wouldn't be seen for nearly fifty years.) High-grade copies of these eye-catching Premiums are thus legitimately rare, a fact that serves to highlight the exclusivity of the barely circulated, perfectly matched "Black & White" array presented here.

Fewer than 450 PSA-graded R303-B's (Black & White) exist at the time of this writing, and a maximum of ten complete sets could be constructed using the members of the present population. The issue's "Current Finest Possible Set Rating" stands at 7.938, and the offered assembly's peerless 7.72 figure comes very close to that pinnacle. All of this "#1" set's entries are low-single-digit examples at their respective tiers. Tiny quantities of higher-graded examples have been validated in just seven of the 24 subjects, and an amazing twelve of the offered cards are true "1 of 1, none graded higher" specimens.

Includes: Graded PSA MINT 9: 5 cards w/Feller, Foxx, Gomez, Lombardi and Simmons; PSA NM-MT+ 8.5: 2 cards w/Chapman and Cronin; PSA NM-MT 8: 8 cards w/Case, Goodman, Gordon, Herman, Higgins, Mancuso, Vaughan and York; PSA NM 7: 4 cards w/Dickey, DiMaggio, Heath and Keltner; PSA EX-MT+ 6.5: 3 cards w/Greenberg, Kreevich and Vosmik; PSA EX-MT 6: 2 cards w/Appling and Ott.