[brian1961]

The 1964 Topps Giant cards are flat-out beautiful. Using some decent conjecture, the backside of the Dean Chance offers us a clue. It tells of Dean being the starting pitcher for the AL in 1964's All-Star game. Being a mid-season staple, that would tell us Topps was late to market with these. Perhaps their distributors were cold towards them, with the football season hastening.

Back in the mid-70s, I distinctly read somewhere (The Sport Fan?) that a California dealer by the name of Will Davis bought all the unsold inventory from Topps for a song. The number of cards that sticks in my mind was 6 million. Maybe one of our elder California brothers can confirm it was Will Davis. Not that it really matters now. The Wholesale Cards Company mail order firm had them available in the late 60s for a few bucks, but they also had the entire 1954 Red Heart Dog Food set available for a few bucks.

All that to say they were readily available, and cheaply too, within a few years of their 1964 production. There's something about overabundance that cools collectors' jets. Furthermore, it has taken a couple generations for collectors to warm up to over-sized cards that would not have fit in with youngsters' regular Topps. Being a large, attractive Topps card that would look great in a PSA player set registry assemblage, or a graded set that is still readily available to track down, either way works well for today's collectors. Just never think of 1964 Topps Giant All-Stars in terms of potential investment; rather, beautiful cheap eye candy.

--Brian Powell