Lot # 2815: 1948 Topps "Magic Photos" Multi-Sport Partial Set (143/252) Plus 67 Duplicates Including Jesse Owens and John L. Sullivan

Presented is a very substantial collection of 1948 Topps "Magic Photos" consisting of a partial set of 143 different cards (out of 252 in the set) plus 67 duplicates, for a total of 210 multi-sport trading cards. Most assume that the first Topps card issues were in 1951. In fact, the very first Topps card issue was the unusual "Magic Photos" set of 1948. This was also Topps' first baseball-card set (not included here). The "Magic Photos" set consists of nineteen subsets, with this collection highlighted by John L. Sullivan, from the boxing series, and Jesse Owens, from the track and field series. Other notable subjects represented include Chuck Bednarik, Johnny Lujack, Jesse James, and Clark Gable. The majority of this collection consists of the movie stars, stars of stage and screen, and wrestling champions subsets. These "self-developing" cards (7/8 x 1-7/16 inches) were called "Magic Photos" because when issued they had blank fronts, and the sepia photos on the fronts could be developed by youngsters by 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. In terms of overall condition and photo quality, this group is better than the norm, with the majority having pleasing contrast and detail. Approximately 15% of the cards in this collection have been trimmed through or near the perforations, rather than detached by hand (a few non-perforated edges are also trimmed). Without further reference to these hand cuts, the condition is 13% Ex, 42% Vg to Vg-Ex, and 45% lesser (including some due mostly to back damage). This partial set consists of the following: 1) A - Boxing (1/24): #2 Sullivan (SGC Authentic). 2) B - Basketball (4/6): #3, 4, 5, and 6. 3) C - Football (5/13): #1, 5, 6 Lujack (Gd+), two 7 Bednarik (Vg and Fr), and 11. 4) D - Wrestling (21/25): Two #1, 2, two 4, four 5, three 6, 7, three 8, two 9, three 12, 14, two 15, five 16, 17, 18, two 19, two 20, two 21, two 22, 23, 24, and three 25. 5) E - Track and Field (15/17): #1 Owens (Vg+), 2, two 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, two 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, two 15, 16, and 17. 6) F - Stars of Stage/Screen (20/22): #1 Gable (Pr), two 2, two 5, 6, 7, two 8, 9, two 10, 11, 12, 13, two 14, 15, 16, two 17, 18, 19, 20, two 21, and three 22. 7) G - Dogs (17/17): #1, 2, two 3, three 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, two 9, 10, two 11, 12, two 13, 14, 15, 16, and two 17. 8) H - General Sports (1/2): #1. 9) J - Movie Stars (35/45): #2, two 3, 4, two 5, 6, 7, three 8, two 9, 10, three 11, two 13, two 14, 15, 16, 18, two 19, 20, 22, two 24, 25, two 26, two 27, four 28, 29, 30, 32, 33, two 34, three 35, two 36, 38, 40, 41, 42, and 45. 10) L - Aviation (4/9): #3, 4, 8, and two 9 Wright Brothers. 11) M - Landmarks (4/9): #1, two 2, 5, and two 9. 12) N - Inventors (4/8): #3, 5, 6, and two 7. 13) O - Military Leaders (5/10): #4, 5, 6, 9, and 10. 14) P - Explorers (1/2): #2. 15) Q - Basketball Thrills (2/5): #1 and 5. 16) S - Wild West (2/7): #4 and 5 James. 17) T - General Sports 2 (2/7): #2 and 5. This is an impressive collection of very significant and scarce early Topps cards, which has always been somewhat overlooked by collectors, perhaps because of its unusual design and dimensions. Total: 210 cards (set of 143 plus 67 duplicates).