My new prized card - 1963 Roberto Clemente

In the back of my mind, it's always been a goal to build the ACTUAL set that I was in love with, the 1963 Topps Baseball set.  It's a big set, expensive for the stars of the day and frustrating because I don't want any of my cards slabbed.

So when I set out to get my first card for the set, there was really only one choice of which I could start the collection; it had to be the Roberto Clemente card #540.

I'm not going to say exactly what I paid, but I think it was worth it.

The card is perfect in that it has no creases and the corners are still amazingly rigid and sharp.  There is some rubbing on the front surface - probably from storage in something other than our modern day plastics.  The back is clear as can be.  No smudging, no rubbing and no scratches.  You can read the back of this card as well as the day it was printed.  That was a big selling point for me.

The only issue with this card - and with many of the cards of this era - is the centering.  None of the picture is cut off, that was key for me buying it.  But the border is uneven.  All in all, I can live with that.  Everything else this card offers is so perfect that I can handle the off-center cut as long as the picture is intact.

Let me say that now that this card is in my hand, It's in my TOP 3 personal cards of all time.  The other two cards are Nic Batum RC's, but I couldn't put an order to which of my top 3 gets the top spot.

So here it is, my new investment -

All in all, not too shabby.

I don't believe in grading my cards, but I'd mark this one pretty high in most categories outside of the centering issue.

So readers, did I pick a good one?  And what are your TOP 3 cards?