Lot # 1694: 1961 Topps Complete Set (587)

Presented is a very sharp-looking complete set of one of the era's most popular issues, crisp and clean throughout. The 1961 Topps set includes five different Mickey Mantle cards and was Topps' first venture into the popular League Leader subset. The Most Valuable Player subset, an extremely difficult high-number run, and the rookie cards of Juan Marichal, Billy Williams, and Ron Santo also highlight this set. Condition is 29% Nr/Mt to Nr/Mt-Mt (approximately two-thirds Nr/Mt), 60% Ex to Ex-Mt, and 11% Vg to Vg-Ex (including a couple with a slight miscut and eight with a slight trim). We have selected 11 cards for grading and encapsulation by SGC. Keys: #2 Maris (slight trim, otherwise Ex), 10 B. Robinson (Ex), 35 Santo RC (Ex+), 44 AL HR Ldrs (Ex), 80 Killebrew (Ex-Mt), 120 Mathews (NM/MT 8), 141 B. Williams RC (Vg-Ex), 150 Mays (Vg), 160 Ford (Vg-Ex+), 200 Spahn (Ex), 211 Gibson (Vg-Ex), 228 Yankees Team (Ex), 260 Drysdale (Ex-Mt), 287 Yastrzemski (Ex-Mt), 290 Musial (Vg-Ex), 300 Mantle (EX+ 5.5), 307 Mantle WS Gm. 2 (Ex-Mt+), 344 Koufax (NM 7), 350 Banks (NM/MT 8), 360 F. Robinson (Ex-Mt), 388 Clemente (slight trim, otherwise Ex-Mt), 401 Ruth Hits 60th (wax on reverse, otherwise Nr/Mt+), 405 Gehrig Benched (Ex-Mt), 406 Mantle Blasts HR (Ex-Mt), 415 Aaron (EX/NM 6), 417 Marichal RC (NM 7), 425 Berra (Ex+), 429 Kaline (slightly tilted miscut, otherwise Nr/Mt+), 430 Mazeroski (Ex+)443 Snider (Ex-Mt), 475 Mantle MVP (EX/NM 6), 478 Maris MVP (Vg-Ex+), 482 Mays MVP (Ex+), 484 Aaron MVP (Vg-Ex), 517 McCovey (NM 7), 571 Mazeroski AS (slight trim, otherwise Vg-Ex+), 572 B. Robinson AS (NM 7), 574 Aparicio AS (slight trim, otherwise Ex-Mt), 576 Maris AS (Ex-Mt), 577 Aaron AS (miscut left edge, otherwise Nr/Mt), 578 Mantle AS (NM 7), and 579 Mays AS (EX/NM 6). 1961 will always be remembered as a "magical year" in baseball history, and a high-quality, mid- to high-grade complete set of 1961 Topps as offered here will always be a highly prized "time capsule." The equivalent SMR value for just the 11 SGC-graded cards (factoring in the one half grade at the lower whole-grade level) is $3,550. Total: 587 cards.