Featured here is a very significant original Type I photograph of Eddie Mathews dating to his 1952 rookie season. It's easily recognizable by card collectors as the same image used to produce Mathews’ second-year issue (card #37) from the esteemed 1953 Topps set.
The right-handed slugger clubbed 512 home runs during his illustrious career, the majority of which was spent with the Milwaukee Braves. Regarded as one of the greatest third baseman ever to play, Mathews was a nine-time NL All-Star and twice (1953 and ’59) led the Senior Circuit in long balls. With 2,315 hits to his credit, he was voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1978.
The promising young slugger had yet to turn 21 years old when this striking 7” by 9” portrait was snapped of him sporting the classic Braves home flannels. International News Photos has stamped the reverse alongside various editorial pencil and pen notations. Encapsulated by PSA/DNA as a Type I, the photo presents in outstanding condition, fully intact, with mostly clean borders and few surface blemishes to speak of.
These trading card prototype photos, whether off the original or duplicate negative, are heavily coveted among collectors nowadays, especially when it comes to vintage Hall of Famers of this caliber. Only Mathews’ 1952 Topps #407 rookie card image would surpasses this example in terms of prestige and value. (FYI, we recently sold the highest-graded ’52 Topps Ed Mathews for a record $161k, nearly doubling the previous record for the #407 card set eight months earlier.)