The nostalgic blue and yellow contrast surrounding Roy Campanella rates as a top design and key star for 1952's enigmatic high number series. Topps clearly held Campy back for this last series, knowing a Brooklyn player of his magnitude would keep kids searching packs and hoping to unwrap this famous face. His card biography lays the groundwork for his Hall of Fame career, with a string of All-Star appearances into 1956 and more MVP awards to come (1953 and 1955). Its overall look is charming, fits the 1950s zeitgeist for how we remember those neighborly Dodgers, and you can imagine Roy chatting with fans before a game with this expression on his face.

This SGC EX 5 card reflects lightly touched corners, straight borders, and strong print quality that meets that technical grade. Front centering is a bit northwest, roughly 75/25, with an even frame. Back centering is westward and shows a bit of its neighbor. The other factors invite us to imagine what might have been, a bit like fans did for Campanella after his own career-ending car accident in early 1958. Speckles dot its front surface, as could happen with vintage cards when shuffled or stored loosely. It's uncreased, reflecting the key difference between VG and EX for some graders. Another pro could be harder on its speckled look. It remains a strong, colorful example from 1952's toughest series with far fewer graded than teammates from earlier series Duke Snider and Gil Hodges. This EX 5 sits in the top 20% of SGC examples, with just under 250 total in its population report.

Size: medium
Condition: yes