Lot # 1400: 1956 Topps Hocus Focus Collection (44) Including 22 PSA-Graded Cards

Presented is an impressive 44-card collection of 1956 Topps "Hocus Focus," including eight (plus two duplicates) out of the 23 baseball players featured in the set. This fascinating set, issued by Topps in 1956, is a multi-themed issue including sports stars, historical figures, movie stars, and famous landmarks. These "self-developing" cards (1 x 1-5/8 inches) are somewhat similar in design to the 1948 "Magic Photos" series because when issued they had blank fronts: the sepia photos on the fronts could be developed by youngsters exposing them to the sun. The self-developing process produced very inconsistent results, and many cards that have survived have photos that are very poorly developed. The photo quality of this assemblage is better than the norm, with the majority having adequate contrast and detail. Twenty-two cards have been professionally graded and encapsulated by PSA. PSA Grading Composite: NM 7 (1 card): #8 Parnell. EX-MT 6 (2 cards): #33 and 43 Groat. EX 5 (2 cards): #32 Wright Brothers and 57. VG-EX 4 (8 cards): #17, 69 Rosen (MC), 98 (MC), 100, 103 Moon, 109 Mathews, 115 Graham Bell, and 122 Spooner. VG+ 3.5 (1 card): #85. VG 3 (6 cards): #49 Zernial, 54 Rocky Marciano, 67 Rivera, 90, 107 Basketball, and 123. GOOD 2 (2 cards): #25 and 93 Billy the Kid. Also includes the following 22 unencapsulated cards: #14, 17, two 18, 22, two 29, 37 Lindbergh, 53 Custer, two 58 T. Roosevelt, 59, 62, 66 Lincoln, 67 Rivera, 70, 71, two 83 Robert Ryan, 88, 112, and 122 Spooner. The condition of the unencapsulated balance is 18% Vg-Ex, 59% Gd to Vg, and 23% lesser. This is a rare opportunity to acquire a very attractive collection of this fascinating and scarce vintage-card issue, which has always been somewhat overlooked by collectors, perhaps because of its unusual self-developing design and small dimensions. Total: 44 cards. The size/weight of this item requires that there will be an additional shipping charge for this lot.