Offered is a near autographed set of 1965 Topps baseball cards, assembled and held for a long time period by an advanced autograph collector. This was a multi-decade endeavor for the original collector, who for the most part, beginning in the 1970s, had cards signed in person at shows and through people he knew who performed private signings. This collector used to promote and run shows on the East Coast and made contacts with hundreds of players, promoters, and agents. The amount of signed cards is 570+ with a total amount of (590) signatures. Interestingly, he had multiple signatures on multiplayer cards, and usually had the manager or well-known player on the team sign the various team cards. For example, the #8 League Leader card of Koufax and Drysdale, have both Koufax and Drysdale signatures on the card. Many of the star cards are signed.
The cards are signed with a mixture of ballpoint and/or felt tip, with the original collector having an affinity towards felt tip signed cards when he could. Only about a dozen cards have very light signatures.
A total of 21 cards have been sent to PSA/DNA for authentication and encapsulation, with all other cards previously being viewed by JSA for a complete authentication of the entire near set.
The cards which do not contain any autographs include: #2 LL, 4 LL, 10, 22, 44, 55 Conigliaro, 79 CL, 91 Cubs, 97, 99 Hodges, 100 Boyer, 104 CL, 105 Salmon, 131 Keane, 143, 155 Maris (EX/MT), 187 Stengel, 189 CL, 214, 242, 273 CL, 281, 318, 331, 348 Banks, 350 Mantle (VG/EX), 355, 361 CL, 367, 386, 398, 407, 426, 431, 443 CL, 453, 454, 495, 508 CL, 526 Hunter RC, 527, 533 McGraw RC, 535, 536, 538 Dressen, 544 Reed, 554 Ruiz, 563, 566, 578, 590, and 598 Downing. All these cards are included within the set but are unsigned.
The missing numbers (no card) include: 5 Mantle LL, 12, 20, 42, 57, 109, 134 Mantle WS, 135 WS, 153, 157, 160 Clemente, 170 Aaron, 173, 176 McCovey, 184, 201, 233, 234, 259, 300 Koufax, 354, 377, 435, 451, 483, 522, 545, 551 Orioles, and 556.
The following cards have been authenticated and encapsulated by PSA/DNA, and designated on the flip as 1965 Topps: 16 cards with #1 LL (Oliva & B. Robinson, both ink), 8 LL (Koufax, ink & Drysdale), 43 Shannon, 50 Marichal, 85 Smith (ink), 110 Santo, 126 Dodgers (Walter Alston, ink), 138 WS (Gibson, ink), 217 Alston (ink), 280 Stuart, 325 Clendenon, 423 Gonder (ink), 433 Bateman (ink), 450 Howard (red ink), 512 Peterson (ink), and 587 Sparma (ink).
The following cards have been authenticated and encapsulated by PSA/DNA, and designated on the flip as TRADING CARD: 5 cards with #225 Belinsky (ink), 410 Aparicio (ink), 485 Nellie Fox (ink), 510 Ernie Banks, and 567 Tommie Aaron.
The following are multiplayer cards with more than one signature: 15 cards with #1 LL (Oliva/Robinson), 6 LL Boyer/Mays, 8 LL Koufax/Drysdale, 11 Downing/Pascual, 41 Howard/Staehle, 166 Culver/Agee, 282 Murakami/Estelle, 403 Red Sox (Schilling/D. Jones/Monboquette/Malzone), 421 Dotterer/Ward), 449 Hinsley/Kroll), 466 Craig/Nen), 501 Gagliano/Rittwage, 521 Bennett/Steevens, 546 Hedlund/Weaver, and 573 Lonborg/Moses.
The following are two-player cards which are signed individually by each player (two cards for each #): 2 cards with #9 Wickersham & Pizarro and 226 Jiminez & Gibbs.
Some of the more valuable or difficult cards to obtain, which are part of this lot, include: #8 Koufax/Drysdale, 16 Morgan RC, and 477 Carlton RC.
This is one fully detailed collection, a painstakingly long love affair with the autographed baseball card.
