The Topps Company dominated the baseball card market for 70 years by always looking forward and their 1954 set is proof positive. Gone were the artist's renderings and bottom edge nameplate of their first two offerings, replaced by real color portraits and black and white action shots. The backgrounds were a bright, one-color backdrop with the name moved to the top edge, which didn't have a border. While they no longer had Mickey Mantle under contract, they boasted exclusive rights to three of the most significant rookie cards ever produced; Hank Aaron, Ernie Banks, and Al Kaline. But the set is plagued by poor centering, keeping many sharp examples from reaching the upper level of the PSA population report. If that didn't make things difficult enough for the high-grade collector, over half of the reverse has a deep green edge that is susceptible to chipping, further hindering the effort. As a result, less than 15% of all 1954 Topps cards graded have reached as high as PSA 8. But in this case, that 15% is 100%! The featured set is one of the finest ever assembled, ranking #3 on the PSA Set Registry with an incredible 9.098 set rating. The collection includes one PSA 10 GEM MINT card (#196 Jok), with 194 cards graded PSA 9 MINT (including #10 J. Robinson, 13 B. Martin, 20 Spahn, 30 Mathews, 37 Ford, 45 Ashburn, 50 Berra, and 132 Lasorda RC). Two cards are graded PSA 8.5 (105 and 182), and the rest of the set is graded PSA 8. Yes, that means amazing PSA 8 graded cards of #1 T. Williams, 17 Rizzuto, 32 Snider, 94 Banks RC, 128 Aaron RC, 201 Kaline RC, and 250 T. Williams). Nearly half of the set (119 cards) are at the highest level ever graded by PSA while another 58 cards report only one example graded higher. For a complete breakdown of the grade for each card in the set, please visit our website for a link to the PSA Set Registry. This collection is being offered as a complete set as well as each card offered individually, with the final method of sale determined by whichever total (the set versus the sum of the individual lots) is higher.
LINK: 1954 TOPPS #3 FINEST SET