We have made the decision to break up an EXTRAORDINARY 1963 Topps set - the #4 Master Set on the PSA Set Registry. The 1963 set is a particularly difficult set to complete in high grade due to Topps' poor quality control in the era which resulted in considerable print defects. The large and colorful border at the bottom simultaneously lends a distinctive design element and a condition challenge, as they are extremely susceptible to chipping and wear. 

The example offered here is card #472, Lou Brock, graded NM-MT 8. 1963 was Brock's final full season with the Cubs, who inexplicably traded the budding superstar to their rival Cardinals 52 games into 1964. Brock finished that year 10th in MVP voting as the Cardinals won the World Series. He would eventually break Ty Cobb's all-time steals record, finishing his career with 938, a number only since surpassed by Rickey Henderson. Cubs fans look back at this card of the Hall of Famer and wonder what might have been.

Beautiful colors immediately catch your eye on this 1963 Topps card, with the bottom blue border and red circle inset perfectly complementing the colors of Brock's Cubs uniform and cap. There is a slight registration issue with that blue border, but this card has great corners and edges, with centering just slightly west on the canvas. Some snow on the card and a handful of fisheyes in the blue border section keep this card from grading even higher than it already has, but there is tons of eye appeal on this significant entry in the set.

Only 38 of the more than 1,700 examples graded by PSA have ever received a higher grade than the NM-MT 8 offered here.