| ocjack |
08-20-2023 11:54 AM |
Marriott Hotels, the company that bought the original drawings in the Topps Auction, created a 2000-issue run of the Mantle and Mays signed portraits which were originally sold in the sports bars of their hotels.
A few years later, when a Topps artist named Dvorek claimed he had painted the originals. He was paid to re-paint the cards and they were issued in a numbered series along with artist proof numbers. As I recall, no one, including Topps was able to confirm that Dvorek had actually painted those particular cards and a friend, a professional artist, told me that if he had painted them in the 50's, his skills had severely declined with the new drawings.
I have not seen the prints allegedly printed by Topps, but since they didn't offer them prior to their sale of the originals (at least not confirmed by TGC in the Letter of Authenticity), I don't see how they would have had the rights to re-issue a print series using those images at a future date.
But then, this is only my opinion and some of what I still remember.
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