(LOT 326)
1969 Topps #260 Reggie Jackson Rookie Card - PSA 9 Mint – Only One PSA Example Graded Higher!
The 1969 baseball campaign was our National Pastime's centennial celebration, with baseball's true founder, Harry Wright, jumpstarting the first professional baseball team (Cincinnati Red Stockings) a century ago in 1869. The prestigious Topps Chewing Gum Company celebrated this landmark year by issuing one of their finest sets, a colossal 664-card treasure chest with its prized subject being the #260 rookie card of the legendary Reginald Martinez Jackson. Indeed, it is certainly Reggie Jackson who spearheads this magnificent gathering, and it is his breathtaking inaugural card that is presented here in a seldom-surfacing PSA 9 MINT holder. Of the nearly 8,500 encapsulated Jackson subjects, a meager 0.5% have managed to achieve this hallowed assessment, with only a SOLE example graded higher! Indeed, the chances of capturing that single PSA 10 marvel is virtually non-existent, justifying why collectors painstakingly pursue one of the "9 MINT" specimens. Dubbed "Mr. October", Reggie Jackson's nickname was well-earned, with the slugging Hall of Famer dominating the playoffs and Fall Classic equal to or better than any player who ever graced a baseball diamond. Leading both the Oakland Athletics and New York Yankees to five World Championships during the 1970s, his unparalleled clutch hitting was a key factor for many of those titles, especially in 1977 when he walloped three home runs on three consecutive pitches in the Game #6 clincher at Yankee Stadium.

He ended his outstanding 21-year career with a staggering 563 round-trippers and 14 All-Star game appearances, with his monstrous home run in the 1971 All-Star game at Detroit's Briggs Field towering over the right field roof and hitting a light transformer! That said, this grand rookie card resides as the perfect testament for all of Jackson's world-class feats, and finding an extremely well-centered subject such as this museum worthy offering is synonymous to finding a needle in a haystack. It is no secret that the 1969 Topps cards were plagued by skewed illustrations including poor centering and aggravating titled images. Fortunately, this immaculate example has eluded both of those stigma's, portraying a timeless Reggie Jackson half-body pose that is extremely well centered between four blinding white borders (only a trace of partiality towards the left edge is evident). Impeccable surfaces, razor sharp corner tips, crystal-clear clarity and virtually unimprovable sparkling hues complete this mesmerizing gem that has stubbornly defied 51 years of potential wear. The 1969 campaign would see the Amazing Mets upset the Baltimore Orioles to capture a world championship, as well as Neil Armstrong become the first human to ever walk on the moon, prompting Armstrong's iconic quote - "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind." With that in mind, this "9 MINT" Reggie Jackson rookie card truly stands tall as another miraculous memento from that glorious 1969 year, destined to be a permanent fixture in any world-class cardboard compilation!

MIN BID $25,000
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