2019 October Legends Closing October 19
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 10/20/2019
Encapsulated and assessed "Authentic" by PSA. In 1967, Roger Maris was traded from the New York Yankees to St. Louis. As a result of the event's timing, the Topps card that was designed to portray the slugger as a Yankee was only produced as a "Proof" and was never formally released. (The "regular," as-issued 1967 Topps card depicted Maris with his new team, the Cardinals.) Only a small supply of the Maris/Yankees cards was ever printed; all of them ultimately wound up in the hands of the legendary Woody Gelman, a member of the Topps braintrust, who distributed a few to friends and collectors. Gelman eventually offered the cards for sale as a line-item in his "Card Collectors Company" mail order catalog, but the vast majority of the Maris/Yankee pieces were incinerated when that outfit's building and inventory were destroyed by fire in the late 1970's. The few examples that remain in the hobby are blank-backed, and typically display an extremely off-centered design orientation. Offered is a clean example of the desirable variation. This item features the type's expected image misalignment and reveals mild evidence of handling at the edges and corners. A worthy specimen of a mythical Topps rarity!