In my 43 years of being involved in the card collecting hobby, and business, I thought I had seen almost everything. Then I saw an item that surprised even me!
Let me state that I am not the owner or consignor of this item, nor do I have any affiliation with Lelands. I rarely post, but feel that this item is significant enough from a historical point of view to warrant doing so. I have seen most major rarities and unusual items in my time working for a major grading company (SGC) and a major auction company (REA). I have personally handled thousands of important items over decades spent collecting and dealing in cards and memorabilia, but none like this.
In the current Lelands auction, there is a 1956 Topps 2nd series Printing Blanket sheet, with a complete 2nd series, including Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays, all with reversed images! I had the opportunity to see the sheet in person prior to it appearing in the auction, and prior to the Sports Collectors Daily article a short time back. Although not as vibrant as a normal uncut sheet in overall appearance, pictures don’t do it justice. I was blown away!
To the best of my knowledge, among the few 1956 Topps uncut sheets that have surfaced, there has not been a 2nd series sheet ever found, auctioned, or displayed publicly. Also, to the best of my knowledge, there has never been a card related printing blanket from any year offered for sale or auction. These printing blankets were used for a brief period to print the cards, and then simply tossed in the garbage - unable to be reused in any way.
This sheet was used to transfer the images from the aluminum printing plates to the cardboard card sheets. As such, it likely printed many, if not all, of the Mantle and Mays cards in the 1956 Topps set.
Here is a link to show how this sheet was used. Printing blankets are still used today in the printing business. The green sheet/blanket in the Trelleborg video is a similar equivalent to the 1956 printing blanket.
https://youtu.be/2AnQgeZ1sgo
This is a very unique piece of Topps card history that gives insight to quantities of each card, as well as placement, on the sheet. I encourage any parties interested in seeing the sheet in person, or acquiring it for their collection, to do so at the National at the Lelands booth (by request per the auction listing), as it will most likely go into a private collection once the auction ends. There is also the possibility the sheet will get cut up into individual cards to be sold to player collectors as production proofs, as have other unusual sheets in the past. There are a lot of Mantle and Mays collectors!
For full disclosure, I am interested in acquiring the sheet and may bid on it. However, I am also interested in way too many other collectibles as well…..so we’ll see! Thanks for reading, and please feel free to comment!