Spring 2019 Premium Auction Closing May 11
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 5/12/2019
In 1979, Brooke Bond Tea released a gallery of legendary Olympians, pictured on 40 different trading cards, for the U.K. market. Presented here is a group of 20 complete sets. Each set contains 40 cards; one set has been opened to show contents, the other 19 remain in the glassine wrapping as they left the factory. Condition is presumably NM or finer throughout with perhaps a few small corner faults from storage/handling of the sets. The sets are all original versions, with backs printed in green ink (a reprinted version released in later years had black-printed backs).
A career-contemporary card of boxing champion Muhammad Ali is the release's key item. (One Ali example in this offering has been graded MINT 9 by PSA.) Other then-active and retired stars pictured on their own cards include Mark Spitz, Jesse Owens, Nadia Comenici, Johnny Weissmuller, Wilma Rudolph and Sonja Henie.
The set's full checklist includes #'s 1 Fanny Blankers, 2 Emil Zatopek, 3 Paavo Nurmi, 4 Owens, 5 Rudolph, 6 Ann Packer, 7 David Hemery, 8 Lasse Viren, 9 Abebe Bikila, 10 Alberto Juantorena, 11 Mary Peters, 12 Al Oerter, 13 Lynn Davies, 14 Mary Rand, 15 Bob Beamon, 16 Vera Caslavska, 17 Larissa Latynina, 18 Olga Korbut, 19 Comaneci, 20 Nikolay Andrianov, 21 Ali, 22 Teofilo Stevenson, 23 Vasiliy Alexeyev, 24 Bob Braithwaite, 25 Weissmuller, 26 Kornelia Ender, 27 Shane Gould, 28 Dawn Fraser, 29 Pat McCormick, 30 Spitz, 31 David Wilkie, 32 Richard Meade, 33 Harry Llewellyn, 34 John B Kelly, 35 Rodney Pattisson, 36 Rosi Mittermaier, 37 Jean-Claude Killy, 38 Henie, 39 Irina Rodnina and 40 John Curry.
Tremendous "break" value!