This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 12/15/2023
We've been fortunate to offer all sorts of amazing items over the course of the company's history, but every so often, a museum-quality piece comes along that still brings us back to the joy of our childhood days when we unwrapped that wax pack to find one of our favorite stars there to greet us. And at a time when Joe DiMaggio was just passing the torch to a kid named Mantle, there was another megastar about to make his mark just across town as one of the greatest baseball players in major league history, New York Giants centerfielder Willie Mays. A "five-tool" star with no weakness, Mays consistently demonstrated his dominance in hitting (.302 lifetime average, over 3,200 hits, and a batting title), hitting with power (660 homers, four-time home-run king), base running (four-time stolen base leader) and fielding (12 consecutive Gold Glove Awards). Though the '51 Bowman card of Mickey Mantle will likely always reign supreme as the most significant post-war rookie card, one cannot deny that the debut piece of "The Say Hey Kid" is one of the most powerful issues of the post-war era. Offered is an exemplary PSA 8 example that boasts a flawlessly registered image within its pure white borders, deeply defined with various hues of brown supporting the bright white of his home jersey and the jet black coloring of his Giants cap. With a lack of stray print that afflicts most Mays rookie cards, the aforementioned colors are free to proudly flaunt their bold pigmentation, making the eye appeal so strong that you have to make an effort to look away. The corners easily meet the criteria for NM/MT status and the centering is outstanding, with a few degrees of being dead-on perfect. The reverse has been splendidly printed with deep blue ink set against clean gray stock, perfectly centered on the canvas. An exemplary specimen of one of the most important cards in our hobby! To date a mere 9 copies of this card have been graded at a higher level than the offered example.