Graded: 2012 Topps Five Star Bat Barrels #WM Willie Mays 8.5
As the ‘90’s rolled into the 2000’s, sports card manufacturers went all in on memorabilia. In 1999, Upper Deck offered A Piece of History 500 Club that included bat memorabilia from players like Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Reggie Jackson, Mike Schmidt, and Ernie Banks helping generate a trend that is ongoing today with modern day relics. In 2012, Topps joined in the fun with a 1-of-1 Willie Mays showing the slugger’s bat barrel with engraved name.
The Say Hey Kid needs no introduction to baseball fans, but to remind all, the 24-time All-Star is one of the game’s all-time best and a true five-tool player.
For Topps, the manufacturer released the Five Star set in November as a new high-end product after great reception to a similar line released for football in 2010. The baseball product included Jumbo Jersey, Jumbo Jersey Gold, Legends Relics, Letters, Dual Patch, Triple Patch, Quad Patch, Octo Patch, Active Autographs, Gold Ink Autographs Red and Purple, Autographed Relics, and a whole lot more.
For relics related to players’ bats, there were Bat Knobs and Bat Barrels/Plates with 29 of each distributed as 1-of-1 items for collectors. Some of the player plates featured were Lou Gehrig, Mickey Mantle, Ozzie Smith, Stan Musial, Ty Cobb, Johnny Bench, George Brett, Eddie Mathews, Carl Yastrzemski, Cal Ripken, Babe Ruth, and Al Kaline.
As noted by the BGS slab, one of the issues with the release came from Topps. Collectors often received the cards in packs with the edges and corners in less than perfect conditions.
The six cards per box were sold at $500; three boxes constituted a case.
The value of the 2012 Topps Five Star Bat Barrels #WM Willie Mays 8.5 card can only be guessed.
As for Mays, the legend started his MLB career with the New York Giants in 1951 earning Rookie of the Year honors retiring in 1973 after a two-year stint with the New York Mets. The Hall of Famer hit .301 for his career with 3,292 hits, 660 homers, 1,909 RBIs, and 339 stolen bases. In 1954 the New York Giants swept the Cleveland Indians in four games for Mays’ only World Series win.
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