(LOT 70)
1954 Topps #128 Hank Aaron Rookie PSA 8 NM-MT
Prestigious high-grade rookie cards of our National Pastime's greatest stars continue to rock the hobby with an infinite demand for the inaugural cards of Ruth, Cobb, DiMaggio, Williams, Mantle, Mays, Jackie Robinson, Aaron, Clemente, Koufax, Rose, Ryan and so many more of our National Pastime's greatest heroes. The unparalleled demand for these cardboard immortals is clearly evident by some of the price tags realized for cardboard icons such as the '52 Topps Mantle, 1955 Clemente and 1954 Aaron rookies. Incredible as it may seem, a 1952 Topps Mantle in an SGC 9.5 GEM MINT holder fetched a record number of $12.6 million for any card, a PSA 7 NM 1916 Babe Ruth M101 rookie has privately sold in excess of $3 million, two Roberto Clemente PSA 9 MINT '55 Topps rookies have surpassed $1 million, and a PSA 9 MINT '54 Topps Aaron posted a staggering $0.7 million in August 2022.

With regard to Hank Aaron, one of the most undervalued post WWII cards has always been his 1954 Topps rookie card. Fortunately, this inexplicable disservice to Hammerin' Hank's first cardboard issue no longer exists, with many sales for his high-grade 1954 Topps gem achieving extremely high pricing points including consistent $50k - $60k+ sales for various PSA 8 examples sold within the past year. Presented here just happens to be one of the finest preserved 1954 Hank Aaron Topps rookie cards you will ever encounter, a breathtaking PSA NM-MT 8 marvel that his managed to retain a majority of its original factory issued qualities over the past 69 years. This miraculous time defying offering would stand as one of the cornerstone pieces of any prestigious collection, with its breathtaking aesthetics extremely consist with a number of the 9 MINT examples we have seen.

Regarding Aaron's remarkable legacy, due to the ongoing steroids issue in professional baseball, many die hard baseball fans still consider Aaron's 755 lifetime home runs the all-time mark, dismissing Barry Bond's "tainted" 762 statistical high mark. Additionally, Aaron is a member of the elusive 3,000 hit club and is the undisputed owner of the most lifetime RBIs (2,297) and Total Bases (6,856) in MLB history. For these reasons alone, more hobby enthusiasts continue to jump aboard the Aaron bandwagon, seizing his prized high-grade cardboard artifacts as they continue to achieve stratospheric pricing levels. Similar to other legendary inaugural MLB cards such as the Babe Ruth M101 and Mickey Mantle/Willie Mays '51 Bowman subjects, the Aaron rookie was significantly undervalued for quite some time, and has finally earned its rightful standing amongst the hobby's most desirable and valuable inaugural cardboard keepsakes.

Regarding its near-immaculate eye appeal, the crystal-clear Aaron portrait image and black & white fielding pose are both set against a brilliant orange hued background, with the classic illustration somewhat favoring the right edge between three bright white borders. Pin-point corners consistent with the assessment, gleaming surfaces, sharp edges, and a clean verso are the final awe-inspiring attributes justifying the hallowed PSA 8 assessment. Considering Hammerin' Hank's immortal standing among baseball's greatest players, you can easily make the argument that his high-grade 1954 Topps subjects still retain considerable growth potential, especially bearing in mind that from a statistical perspective, he stands heads and tails above his post-WWII rookie card peers such as Mantle, Mays and Clemente!

MIN BID $15,000
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