This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 9/12/2024
While most collectors don't give much thought to it, all the baseball cards produced annually start with a contract between the player and the card company to use their image. This was most apparent during the mid-1950s when players would either sign with multiple companies or give their exclusive rights to just one. Megastars like Mantle and Musial were absent from Topps or Bowman sets because of exclusivity, and Ted Williams had forsaken both to have his own set with Fleer in 1959. The featured piece of historic memorabilia is the signed contract between Hall of Famer Willie Mays and the Topps company to use his likeness for the 1954 season as well as an option for Topps to renew the agreement for two seasons hence. Mays was paid the sum of $125 per year (about $1,500 in today's wages) and the signature of Mays, very early in his career, looks vastly different than how his autograph appeared in later years, likely a result of thousands of requests as he became a baseball icon. Interestingly enough, the contract stipulated that "I hereby warrant that I haven't and will not grant the same or similar rights to others for the same or similar purposes in 1954 or during the option period here-after provided." The contract goes on to state that Topps would have to enforce these rights at their own expense, an option that they chose not to exercise as Mays also appears in Bowman and Red Man sets in 1954 and 1955. An amazing piece of baseball history that binds two legends, Willie Mays and Topps. LOA from PSA/DNA.