1951
TOPPS 75 TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION AUCTION
18. 1951 Topps Red Back Unopened Pack w/Connie Mack All-Stars and Team Cards
As Topps began looking for a stronger foothold in the industry, in December of 1950 it acquired the licenses necessary to produce and sell baseball cards with candy, for the upcoming 1951 season. The 1951 Red Backs were part of the company’s strategy - not exactly baseball cards as we know them today, but a two-player card game, pakaged and sold in a bewildering array of formats. Initially, the “red back”
The bag was designed to be torn open, the panels separated, and the die-cut Connie Mack All-Stars - already among the most condition-sensitive issues in the entire postwar hobby - were intended to be folded into stand-ups. That any of these packages escaped this fate is remarkable; that this one did so intact and has survived the “vintage break” phase of the hobby is close to miraculous. A similar such example sold at public auction for more than $7,500. Public appearances since have been virtually nonexistent. Eventually, Topps used its remaining inventory to separate the cards and issue the “Doubles” packs we see more often today. Many of the surviving “Doubles” packs we see today originated from a 1980s find of a large quantity in the Philadelphia area. The 29-Cent packs appear to have only been issued with Red Back cards, as the Blue Back cards were issued in penny and nickel packs (again with caramel), two-card “Doubles” packs (without caramel), and eight-card cello packs. Presented here is that rare 29-cent artifact, advertised as a “Baseball Card Game.” Its original package and two-staple seal appears intact and original, with some wear at the edges of the header card as well as some age-related wrinkling to the bag itself, though the cards inside appear relatively pristine. For the advanced Topps collector, the unopened specialist, or anyone assembling a run of the company’s first baseball year, this is the sort of item that does not come around on a schedule - our records indicate that it last came around 14 years ago. An exceptional piece of history, one of the most difficult-to-find vintage Topps packs.
game cards were issued in five-cent packs that contained two 2-card panels, a Connie Mack All-Stars or Topps Team card, and a piece of caramel. The packaging was poor, however, with caramel staining cards and reports of children becoming sick from the caramel, which, along with a lawsuit threat from Bowman, resulted in Topps rethinking its packaging. A result of that is likely the most ambitious format: the 29- cent “Baseball Card Game” pack. By a wide margin the rarest of the different 1951 packaging formats to survive intact, the 29-Cent pack included a complete, 52-card Red Back set in its original two-card panel form, along with an instruction sheet and a bonus of Connie Mack All-Stars and Topps Team cards, all sealed in a custom Topps bag. It is difficult to overstate how little of this material survived.
MINIMUM BID: $5,000
19. 1951 Topps Connie Mack All-Stars Mickey Cochrane (HOF) - PSA VG+ 3.5 MINIMUM BID: $100
20. 1951 Topps Connie Mack All-Stars Eddie Collins (HOF) - PSA VG+ 3.5 MINIMUM BID: $200
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CLOSES OCTOBER 31, 2026
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