A New Jersey hobbyist was recently shopping around an estate sale, trying to find some vintage Beatles vinyl for his daughter when he struck up a conversation with the owner of the home being downsized. After the dutiful father mentioned that he was into sports memorabilia, the man took him aside and pulled a rubber blanket out of a closet. On it, were reversed images of 1956 Topps baseball cards.
Turns out, the unusual item was used in the creation of the second series of 1956 Topps (cards 101-180). Shroud like images of Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, Harmon Killebrew, Duke Snider and others are visible—two of each, in fact. The blanket houses the reverse images of cards that would make up nearly two complete sets, short eight cards. A total of 15 Hall of Famers can be found upon close inspection.
In the offset printing process, a series of rubber blankets is used to transfer the images from metal negatives to whichever type of material is being used. Each blanket adds another color to the process, so the newly-discovered blanket was the final step to adhering the players’ names and faces to the blank cardboard canvas.
“It doesn’t display as dramatically as an uncut sheet, but upon close inspection, you can really see the familiar images in reverse,” said Dave Sosidka of Epping, NH, who is helping the owner find a new home for the item. “To think that this piece of rubber could be responsible for most, if not all, of the 1956 Topps Mickey Mantle cards in existence is pretty remarkable.”
Most Mantle collectors have a special place in their hearts for the 1956 Topps card, as it was Mantle’s triple crown season, when he batted .353 with 52 homers and 130 runs batted in and was named American League Most Valuable Player.
“I’ve been around card shows for over 40 years, and I’ve never seen another one- of any set,” Sosidka said. “It’s probably very fair to say that this is truly a rare, unique item. Most of the people I’ve spoken to with knowledge of the printing business tell me that these were routinely destroyed when whatever project was finished.”
Sosidka says the exact provenance of the piece isn’t known but it’s believed the owner may have had a relative in the printing business more than 60 years ago who brought it home at some point.
The sheet, which measures approximately 38″x 54″, will be on display at the Rich Altman Shriners Show in Wilmington, MA on April 28-30 at tables 38-39. Sosidka can be reached at [email protected].
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