Canton, Michigan: Schlitz Beer Case Packed With 2000+ High Grade 1950s Topps & Bowman Baseball Cards
- Joe
- Oct 3
- 3 min read
Original owner collection discovered with sets from 1952-1958 Topps & Bowman, highlighted by Jackie Robinson, Mantle, Mays, Aaron, Mays, Koufax, & Clemente
What started as a simple request for an appraisal turned into one of the most exciting 1950s baseball card collections we have seen. A gentleman named Robert found us through our website and reached out to find out how much his childhood card collection was worth. During our initial phone call he expressed wanting to know the value of his 1950s baseball cards for insurance purposes, but wasn’t really interesting in selling, unless he got a surprise value like what is seen on Antiques Roadshow. A meeting was set up at a local library to review and evaluate his collection. Robert walked into the library with a box; a 24 bottle Schlitz beer case. Inside the Schlitz case were thousands of 1950s Topps and Bowman baseball cards!
Each stack of cards pulled out were more impressive than the last. The cards ranged from 1952-1958, including Topps, Bowman, and even Glendale Meats. There were about 100 hundreds of cards from each early 50s set, including a 1954 Topps Al Kaline rookie and multiple 1954 Ted Willlams. There were 8 1953 Glendale Meats Detroit Tiger cards. This rare regional set, packaged with hot dogs, are extremely tough to find. The 1955 Topps stack revealed a near set, highlighted by a gorgeous Sandy Koufax rookie, Jackie Robinson, Ted Williams, and 2 Harmon Killebrew rookies. A fair amount of 1955 Bowmans were also found, highlighted by a Mantle, Aaron (2), Mays (2), and Berra. To our shock, Robert had a complete set of 1956 Topps- all 340 cards! The cards in this set were especially nice, all mid to high grade. The 1957 Topps section did not disappoint either, with Mantle, Aaron, Mays, Koufax, Williams, Berra, and Banks all being present and in nice condition. Last but not least, 1958 Topps had significantly more cards than the other years with tons of duplication. Discovered in this large stack was Mantle (3), Aaron (4), Koufax (4), Mays, Maris rookie (2), Williams, Kaline (3), Cepeda rookie (2), and Killebrew (3).
Every collection is like a time capsule, and we had to know the history behind this one. Robert told us that he grew up in the 1950s and was a huge baseball fan. He got into cards and started buying packs at a local convenient store. He casually collected Topps and Bowman from 1952-1954, but really got into building sets starting in 1955. As some collectors know, Topps released cards in series throughout the baseball season. Robert realized this, and would ask the owner of the convenient store when the shipment for the next series would be. As a result, he was able to build a complete set of 1956 Topps and near complete sets of 1955, 1957, and 1958 Topps. This collection was excellently curated and kept in pristine condition. It was very obvious that Robert spent a lot of time and money building these sets. After cataloging and pricing every card, a free appraisal was provided. Robert audibly gasped when he saw the total value! He said he wasn’t ready to sell but would reach back out when that was. He said “It might be a month, 6 months or 2 years, but I will let you know when I’m ready”. As painful as it was to walk away from this collection we had no choice but to wait. 2 weeks later Robert called and asked “When are we doing this deal?”. We met back up the same day and completed the deal. Robert was paid in cash and we acquired this incredible collection!
Highlights Of The Collection
1952 Topps with Minoso, Ashburn, Doby
1953 Glendale Meats Detroit Tigers (8)
1954 Bowman Bob Feller
1954 Topps with Al Kaline, Ted Williams (3)
1955 Bowman with Mickey Mantle, Hank Aaron, Willie Mays (2), Berra
1955 Topps with Jackie Robinson, Sandy Koufax RC, Ted Williams, Harmon Killebrew RC (2)
1956 Topps Complete Set
1957 Topps near complete set with Mickey Mantle, Yankees Power Hitter (2), Ted Williams (2), Yogi Berra (2), Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Sandy Koufax, Roberto Clemente, Frank Robinson RC (2)
1958 Topps near set with lots of duplication: Mickey Mantle (3), Hank Aaron (4), Sandy Koufax (4), roger Maris RC (2), Willie Mays, Ted Williams, Al Kaline (3)
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