The Post War Cards Newsletter #50
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⚾️ Nat Turner’s 1954 Topps Baseball Box And Its Hobby History
One of the big stories of this summer’s National was Nat Turner’s 1954 Topps baseball unopened wax box containing all 36 original packs that the Baseball Card Exchange cracked out of a GAI holder and authenticated for him.
Turner wrote, “Every pack was pristine, many of them stuck together as if the (and most likely the case) box had never been opened at all. These were produced in Canada but are American Topps cards, four card packs, 36 of them in total. According to Steve, many of the packs looked like 9s if graded individually. I know of one other box that was found alongside this one that remains unopened. Rumor has it another box found at the same time was opened, and it contained an Ernie Banks RC that became a PSA 10.”
There’s been a lot of debate about whether BBCE’s label of ‘1954 Topps Baseball Unopened Wax Box (4 Card Pack)” was the best option or if it should have been something like ‘1954 Topps/OPC Baseball, 4 Card - Undated Pack, 36 Count Box,’ but to me, I’m not going to get lost in the weeds, it’s between BBCE and Nat. If he ever sells the box, folks will know what it is.
There have also been many conversations about what series of cards are in the packs, but that’s also a bit of conjecture. The common belief in the hobby has been that OPC distributed the first series of 1954 Topps baseball cards (#s 1-50) in Canada with gray backs. But, there are dated and undated 5c Canada/OPC printed packs which leads one to believe each could have held different series.
I’m not here to judge the label or guess what’s in the packs - there’s just one way to verify that! What I can do is share a bit of hobby history.
Let me start by saying you have to take ANYTHING Mastro wrote in their catalogs with a dump truck of salt, but the GAI 7.5 graded 1954 Topps Unopened Five-Cent Wax Box (36-Count) was sold in their December 2005 auction.
Here’s the entire page with the box.
The next item in the catalog was a Completely Graded 1954 Topps Baseball Five-Cent Wax Box (36 Packs).
Then indeed, the next lot was the 1954 Topps #94 Ernie Banks graded PSA Gem Mt 10, which has since been re-holdered. For space in the newsletter, I won’t include page 517, but on it, lot 2443 was a Gem Mint 10 1954 Topps Clem Labine, lot 2444 was a Gem Mint 10 1954 Topps Joe Collins, lot 2445 was a lot of 21 high-grade 1954 Topps cards, and lot 24446 was a lot of 18 PSA 9 graded 1954 Topps cards.
The last page of 1954 Topps items had a GAI 8-graded pack, a lot of 5 more, and an empty box.
I’m happy to see this item surface, and hopefully, collectors will find these scans from the December 2005 Mastro auction helpful in future conversations.
Happy collecting!
✍️ Great Hobby Writing
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Baseball Cards Come to Life: Cake or gum? 1975 Thurman Munson
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