The Rare 1954 Topps Ted Williams "card", Only 3 Are Known Currently

According to Trading Card Database, Ted Williams has 8 different shot cards from 1954. Two of nan cards are good known among Ted Williams collectors, arsenic good arsenic hobbyists successful general, for being peculiarly tough. The first of these owes its scarcity not to Williams himself but to nan truth that much aliases little each paper successful nan group is simply a reliable one.

1954 Wilson Franks

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The 1954 Wilson Franks card, arsenic nan sanction whitethorn suggest, was packaged pinch basking dogs. The afloat group included 20 stars of nan era and 7 early Hall of Famers, among them Roy Campanella, Bob Feller, and Ted Williams. Just really reliable is nan Wilson Franks paper of Teddy Ballgame? Here's 1 measurement to look astatine it. Ted's 1954 Topps paper #1 has been graded by PSA much than 5000 times to date. His Wilson Franks paper has been graded only 218 times.

1954 Bowman Ted Williams

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The 2nd celebrated 1954 Ted Williams rarity is 1 that should ne'er person existed. Prior to nan 1954 season, Teddy Ballgame signed an exclusive statement pinch Topps, 1 that precluded his usage successful nan Bowman set. Capitalizing connected their coup, Topps bookended its group pinch 2 cards of Williams, numbered 1 and 250. Over astatine Bowman, however, it seems nary 1 sewage nan memo! Of people erstwhile lawyers talked to lawyers, Bowman pulled nan Williams paper from its first series, replacing it pinch Ted's Red Sox teammate Jim Piersall.

The result, ironically enough, is that coming collectors respect nan Bowman arsenic a grail paper while considering nan Splinter's Topps cards comparatively ho-hum successful comparison. In truth, this is simply a paper that whitethorn not beryllium rather arsenic uncommon arsenic nan Hobby erstwhile believed. Even still, PSA has only graded nan paper 1461 times, aliases astir a 3rd arsenic often arsenic Teddy's 1954 Topps #1.

The rarest 1954 Teddy of them all?

In 1954, Williams did not simply person 2 cards successful nan Topps group but was besides featured connected nan product's packaging and advertisements. Though nan boxes nan cards came successful are incredibly collectible and highly scarce today, nary collector would respect them arsenic shot cards. Yes, they're made of cardboard, and yes, they person Ted Williams connected them, but astatine champion they would beryllium classified arsenic shot card-adjacent.

Though extracurricular nan strictest definitions of a shot card, nan shop advertizing displays for 1954 Topps mightiness beryllium viewed otherwise by astatine slightest immoderate collectors. True, astatine 7" by 11" it would beryllium 1 of nan bigger shot cards retired there, but it's rectangular, it has a bully card-like border, and it's simply a awesome looking piece.

Current PSA organization connected nan point is 0, which whitethorn bespeak its rarity but could besides bespeak nan grading company's avoidance of specified pieces. Therefore a amended measurement of nan scarcity of nan point comes successful simply looking for 1 online. Unless you are an absolute maestro erstwhile it comes to Google searches, there's a very bully chance you will find either nary results aliases possibly conscionable nan Collectibles connected SI article you're reference correct now! That said, a hunt connected X will astatine slightest move up this 1 result:

As pinch nan 1954 Bowman Ted Williams, this whitethorn beryllium different Williams portion not rather arsenic uncommon arsenic antecedently believed. Where nan original tweet connected X indicated knowledge of only 2 specified posters, 1 personification replying to nan tweet claimed to person one, fabled Red Sox collector Mark Hoyle owns another, and nan writer of nan article owns a third. Still, nan "card" is almost surely rarer than Ted's Bowman and Wilson Franks cards and would look to beryllium nan rarest of each his 1954 issues.

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