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1952 Topps Baseball set owned by hobby pioneer Lionel Carter up for bid at Heritage
Among longtime sports card collectors and dealers, there are few hobby names more revered than pioneer Lionel Carter.
Known for his high-grade vintage cards, Carter was one of nine collectors voted into the Card Collectors Hall of Fame in 1971, along with such noted hobby pioneers as Jefferson Burdick, Walter Corson, Charles Bray, E.C. Wharton-Tigar and John D. Wagner. As the last surviving member of the exclusive group, Carter collected long enough to bridge the gap between the hobby’s early years and the beginning of the modern hobby.
He was best known for collecting vintage baseball cards that were well-centered and of the highest grades, like his mint-condition 1933 Goudey Napoleon Lajoie, a pristine 1951 Bowman Mickey Mantle and his collections of 1939 Goudeys and 1948-49 Leaf cards. As Heritage Auctions notes, most of Carter’s cards went straight from wax packs into his well-organized albums, where they remained until 2007.
Carter's collection of 1952 Topps Baseball cards is considered one of the best ever, with one of the largest assortments of Mint and Gem Mint examples ever assembled. Heritage has 73 high-grade 1952 Topps baseball cards pedigreed from The Lionel Carter Collection in its May 11-13 Sports Catalog Auction.
According to Heritage’s description of the set, “Short of opening 1952 Topps 5-cent wax packs, a collector might never again see the same spectacular qualities that lie within Carter's magnificent set. In particular, all cards feature sharp corners, bright white borders, beautiful surface gloss, crisp edges, vibrant colors, and most importantly, every single one is 100% original as issued by Topps in 1952.”
While the collection does not include such valuable gems as the 1952 Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays and Jackie Robinson cards, the common cards are all graded PSA 9 and 10. Heritage experts even joke that Carter is better known than “most of the players on these cards – Ken Raffensberger, say, or Dick Kryhoski.”
“I expect the 1952 Topps cards from The Carter Collection are going to rewrite the record books for commons cards from the 1952 Topps set,” Chris Ivy, director of sports auctions at Heritage, says.
Heritage’s May auction also includes a wax box of 1962 Topps Baseball cards with 24 unopened packs. The offering is the first of its kind for Heritage and the first 1962 box authenticated by the Baseball Card Exchange in a decade.
The auction also features some of the hobby’s most rare baseball cards, including a select group of signed baseball Exhibits cards from the 1920s with autographed cards by Babe Ruth, Walter Johnson and a 1925 rookie card signed by Lou Gehrig.
