1951 Topps Connie Mack All-Stars #3 - Eddie CollinsThere are many Topps issues that you don't hear much about. As far as their revisionist history goes, there was nothing before the iconic 1952 set. Sometimes that blue backs and red backs of 1951 will get a little love, but it's pretty rare. Rarer still? The Connie Mack All-Stars set.
Serious collectors have heard of this set, but the casual collector will be left scratching their heads. It has similarities to the more well known to the blue back and red back cards. They both have black and white photographs and solid color backgrounds. That's where the similarity ends.
The card towers over the regular Topps 1951 set at 2 1/4 x 5 1/4 inches. Topps and other companies would go back to this idea numerous times over the years. This set was a precursor to the Donruss All-Star Pop-Up set, among others. More collectors are familiar with the Donruss set than this one, but the principle is the same. The player could be popped out of the background and be ready for some 2-D action! Maybe I just discovered why these types of sets don't get made each year. How many people want to have a pop out baseball player? These were fun, when I was a kid, but with all the technology today, I could see kids getting bored very quickly.
This is a nice pick up, if you can find one. It just goes to show that no matter how much Topps wants us to believe everything started with the 1952 set, there will always be a few practice sets lurking in the shadows.
1 comment:
There's yet another All-Stars set too, and a Teams set, according to the Beckett database. Those cards are impossible to come by at any decent price. Great concept, too. I like cards that you can do things with besides put them in a binder!
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