This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 10/11/2019
The current high bids for the cumulative group of singles, $41,142.00 is currently higher than the total for the complete set, $26,203.00 (this lot is currently losing)
They look similar to the 1980 Topps series with some minor changes, but they are truly one of the rarest issues of the post-war era! Created by Topps and Mike Schechter Associates (MSA) for a proposed Pepsi Cola promotion, three sheets of prototype cards (complete front and back) were presented to Pepsi for consideration. When the deal fell through, two of the sheets were returned to Topps with the third being cut up and sold into the hobby. At the 2011 National Sports Collectors Convention, Topps Vault auctioned off one of the complete uncut sheets returned to them containing all 22 cards in the series. Individual, unfinished progressive proofs have left the Vault and surfaced online over the years. But with the scant number of cards known to exist, it’s possible that this is the scarcest Topps test issue of all-time and at minimum shares the spotlight with the famed 1961 Dice Game series (actually produced in 1963) and 1966 Punch-Outs as the rarest of all Topps test issues. The 1980 Topps format was used as the basis for the prototype with Pepsi logos added to the front and back. The overall color scheme was changed to match the colors of the logo, predominantly red and blue. And even with such a small collection of cards, there is one notable error in that the example of Ron Guidry has a reversed image, showing him as a right-hander facing the plate to his left when the actual 1980 Topps card correctly images him as a lefty facing the mount to his right. Another piece of cardboard “drama” is that all of the cards use the same photo as the mainstream 1980 Topps set except for the Mike Schmidt card, which is actually the image on his 1979 Topps card. As you might imagine, the individual SGC grades are quite impressive as well, with a GEM MINT 10 - #12 K. Hernandez, MINT+ 9.5 - #3 Brett and 4 Yount. MINT 9 - #2 Molitor, 5 R. Jackson, 6, 7, 8, 16, 18 Winfield, 20 Carlton, and 21. NM/MT+ 8.5 - #10 Palmer, 11 Gossage, 13, 15, 17, 19, and 22 Sutter. NM/MT 8 - #1 Carew and 9 Guidry. NM+ 7.5 - #14 Schmidt. There’s no doubt that had the deal with Pepsi been completed, this collection would have been as massively produced as other promotional sets of the time period as to make the cards essentially worthless. But instead, we offer the single most elusive collection produced by Topps in the last 40 years if not of all-time! This set is being offered two ways; in its entirety as well as individual lots, with the final sale determined by the greater total of the set versus the sum of the lots. Our website will automatically reflect whichever portion has received the highest bidding total. Placing a bid on this lot constitutes bidding on the complete group.