(LOT 98)
1969 Topps #260 Reggie Jackson Rookie PSA 9 MINT - Only One PSA Example Graded Higher!
MR. OCTOBER MINT ROOKIE!!! Who could ever forget that momentous 1969 baseball campaign that sufficed as our National Pastime's centennial celebration, turning back the clock a century of time to when baseball's true founder and pioneer, Harry Wright, started the inaugural 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings professional baseball team. Some 100 years later, the illustrious Topps Chewing Gum Company celebrated this landmark event by issuing one of their finest sets, a colossal 664-cardboard 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 10,900 encapsulated Jackson subjects, a meager 0.4% 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 tantamount 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 unsightly titled images. Fortunately, this impeccable marvel has eluded both of those stigmas, portraying a timeless Reggie Jackson half-body pose that boasts near-perfect centered between four blinding white borders (with only an ever-so-slight trace of partiality towards the left edge is evident).

Immaculate surfaces, blistering sharp corner tips, resounding resolution, and a host of vibrant hues are the final highlights for this spellbinding Topps masterpiece that has stubbornly defied "father-time" over the past 55 years. Its esteemed stature among the most sophisticated enthusiasts is justified by another PSA 9 example fetching nearly $100K in February 2022 (with several other PSA 9's realizing $90K+), as well as that single PSA 10 subject shocking the hobby via its seven-figure+ price tag in February 2021. 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 PSA 9 Reggie Jackson rookie truly stands tall as another miraculous memento from that glorious 1969 calendar year, seldom surfacing for the taking and truly destined to be a centerpiece attraction in any elite PSA Registered set or "Mr. October" world-class gathering!

MIN BID $20,000
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