March Premium Auction Ending April 3, 5 & 6
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 4/3/2021
Graded NM-MT+ 8.5 by SGC. Rookie Card. We've all heard the remarks about Pete Rose's first card, the tough 1963 Topps high number picturing baseball's all-time hits leader as the lower left member of an arbitrary rookie quartet. Among other mild disparagements, the card has been termed, "the Al Weis rookie," and it has even inspired comments about Topps' early lack of faith in the young Cincinnati hustler. Most of this irreverent grumbling comes from Yankee collectors who bemoan the cost of adding Pedro Gonzalez to their projects, or from those dyspeptic individuals who can't accept the real world's acknowledgement of the card's scarcity, popularity or value. In the face of the shining specimen here offered, there's no room for that kind of small talk. This one resides near the pinnacle, and levity is displaced by gravity in critiquing it. Few Rose rookies have ever possessed comparable gloss. This card captures illumination on its surface, and then appears to synthesize and concentrate the light before willfully casting it back to the admirer's eyes. The four red circles on its face are seen as molten, vibrant images, from which the modest player portraits burst forth. The card's yellow and blue regions offer color that is pure and intense. Surrounding this active and immensely satisfying palette are borders of snow white and a top edge of the deepest blue. Barely a single disturbed fiber can be detected at any one of the four corners. Looking for flaws? There might be one or two pinpoint-sized print dots in the radiant-blue caption field. Then again, these could simply be minute elements of the card's dazzling presence. The card's neon-like colors challenge sight's ability to absorb and process its splendor, and any tiny "dots" may simply be effects of the card's remarkable incandescence. Overall, this is a masterpiece in a marvelous state of preservation, and a glittering, fantastic Rose rookie card by any measure available to the senses. Near Mint to Mint-plus condition.