1973 Topps Comics Willie Stargell PSA MINT 9 - Highest Graded!

Sold For:

$960

Year:

1973

Auction:

2019 Spring

Lot #:

1595

Category:

Postwar Baseball - 1970s to Present Cards

Graded MINT 9 by PSA. One of only three examples graded at this level by PSA with none higher! Presented is a superb high-grade example of Hall of Famer Willie Stargell from one of the rarest, most colorful, and most fascinating of all Topps Test issues: The 1973 Topps Baseball Comic Bubble Gum test set. The offered example is part of the top-ranked complete set on the PSA Set Registry, which boasts an impressive 8.81 overall GPA. This set never was distributed to the public but was printed and some comics were even packaged with gum. The "cards" in the set were actually also wrappers, designed to wrap around a large, rectangular stick of bubble gum, with the comic design appearing on the wrapper's interior side. The design of the set appears to have been inspired by Topps' Bazooka Joe comics, but are much larger, higher quality, include a photo, and were intended to serve as the exterior wrapper (as opposed to an interior wrapper, as was the case with Bazooka Joe comics). The Baseball Comic wrappers each present a mini-bio of the featured player, in comic strip form, with a small color inset photo of the player in the upper left. The reverses are all the same, featuring the exterior wrapper design with advertising for "Baseball Comic Bubble Gum" and a small image of the Johnny Bench comic from the set. The Baseball Comic Bubble Gum set is extremely noteworthy to collectors due to its rarity, distinctive design, and the fact that so many significant stars are included (and the 1973 Topps Comic is one of the "Holy Grail" rarities for each of the many stars in the set). Stargell is one of fourteen Hall of Famers featured in the set. This card is essentially perfect in all respects! Bright, crisp, and perfectly clean, both front and back, with vibrant colors, four sharp corners, and near-perfect centering. This is a superb high-grade Hall of Famer from this unbelievably rare Topps test issue. Reserve $300. Estimate (open).