The tenth-rated complete set of 1952 Topps baseball, with all but four of the 407 cards graded PSA 7 or better will be broken up and sold in Memory Lane Inc.’s Spring catalog auction, set to open April 26.
Pieced together by a meticulous collector over a period of years with a focus on overall eye appeal, the set includes 140 cards rated 8 or better. The iconic 1952 Mantle card carries a 4.5 grade. The break-up of the remarkable ’52 set is just the tip of the iceberg in the 1,150-lot catalog, in which hundreds of rare and high-grade cards from all sports will join rare photographs and memorabilia.
Pre-War collectors will gravitate toward an offering of more than two dozen rare 1914 Cracker Jack cards including Christy Mathewson, Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner, Walter Johnson and numerous other Hall of Famers. There is also a rare, high-grade copy of Ty Cobb’s 1912 Helmar Silk, a host of T206 cards including multiple Ty Cobbs and several rare back variations, a PSA 9 1935 National Chicle Knute Rockne and more.
Two more ultra-scarce pieces from the “Northeast Find” of 19th century baseball documents and signatures are in the auction: one in the hand of John Montgomery Ward and the other including the autograph of Tim Keefe.
Memory Lane will also offer a collection of 30 Type I photographs with Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Ty Cobb,Hank Aaron and Jackie Robinson among those featured. Autograph collectors will salivate over a virtually flawless 1930s Lou Gehrig signed hotel postcard, written in response to an autograph request and multiple Babe Ruth autographs.
As always, the catalog features hundreds of high-grade post-War rookie cards and Hall of Famers, highlighted by a 1954 Topps Hank 
Aaron rookie (PSA 8), a ’54 Ernie Banks rookie (PSA 9), a 1965 Topps Joe Namath rookie (PSA 8.5), a 1951 Bowman Tom Landry rookie (PSA 10), gem mint 10 examples of Roberto Clemente’s 1961 and ’63 Topp
s cards and Hank Aaron’s 1964 and ’69 Topps, complete sets and single cards from the 1950s and up in all sports and high-grade 1958 Hires Root Beer baseball singles.
Fans of vintage unopened product will find a 1959 Fleer Ted Williams box, a three-box case of 1978 Topps baseball rack packs, a vending box of 1980-81 Topps basketball (Bird-Johnson rookie card) and various other boxes and vintage packs.
The auction will continue through May 19. For a free catalog, or to register for the auction, visit Memory Lane’s website or call (877) 606-5263.
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