T206 Magie on eBay

One of the Big4 is currently listed on eBay and at $11,000.00 it still hasn't reached the reserve.

The T206 Sherry Magie (Magee) error card is one of the hardest cards to acquire in the T206 set and cards of this stature are not usually put on the auction block of eBay but someone has decided to roll the dice with this one.

There are several reprints of the top dog, Honus Wagner, on eBay everyday and occasionally there is a reprint Magie, but this one is the real deal. This example has been graded PSA3 VG and it does look nice.

I know of one sale for a PSA1 at $7,900.00 (at least that was the asking price and it has been declared sold) and that one had a very nice front. What brought the grade down was paperloss on the reverse. That's not a big deal to me.

I'll be very interested to see if this one meets reserve and at what level the final bids will reach.

Enjoy the Hobby....

Storage and Display

I have always had the image of a nice home office that is essentially my "Baseball Room". Filled with baseball memorabilia, cards on display, cabinets, autographed balls, vintage equipment and so on and so on.

Well, over the years I have been accumulating a bunch of pieces that will someday go in this room, but I don't have a room. All of my stuff is in boxes, hidden away from sight, most of it is actually in a storage facility. (That makes it sound like I need a whole storage facility to house my collection. Far from it, there's a couple of boxes in there with my baseball stuff.) I do have my cards with me though. I get a lot of joy out of flipping through those little wonders. But even those are kept in a box, out of sight until I pull them out.

I sometimes wonder how other collectors store and/or display their wonderful collections. So, how about you? What do you do with your cards and memorabilia? Do you use albums for your cards, or are they in individual holders in a box like mine? Do you have some on little easels on shelves or on a desk? I know of one collector who had a wonderful way of mounting a bunch of graded cards as a border that went around his entire room with each card side by side. And another collector whose cards were on the walls housed within very nice looking display cases that held about 80 to 100 cards a piece. His collection looks very impressive displayed in this manner.

Some collectors have this whole Memorabilia Room thing figured out just right though. Check out this little corner of heaven that sets the standard to which my goal is set for my own room.

All of the images in this post are from the collection of Joe Kirschner from the New York metro area. He has been collecting these treasures for the past 11 years and has done a very nice job. His room is filled with enough stuff to keep a person busy for a couple days just to take it all in. Look at all of these vintage uniforms! They may not be Barry Halpers revolving closet of Babe Ruth's and Lou Gehrig's and every other HOFer, but these things are the genuine article. Vintage uni's from players that loved the game for the game, not for anything else.

Of course, this is mostly memorabilia, and I am more of a card guy, but I can't deny this stuff is awesome. In fact, like I said earlier, I also pick up this sort of stuff when I can find it at a price I can't turn down, but the fact that whatever I buy ends up in a box in storage keeps me from really seeking it out at this time. Someday though.....aaaaaaah.....someday.

Now, what about cards! How does one properly display his cards? Please share with me what you do. I'd be very happy to post about your collections and the many ways you have found to display them.

Keep your eyes on the prize people and enjoy the hobby, it's a great one.....

To see more more of Joe's collection, you can visit his website here. There are also several other collector's displays showcased on Joe's website.

The Temple Cup Print

Actually, this painting is called "The Base Ball Game", and it was painted around1897. It depicts a game at the Polo Grounds in New York and many people believe it could be depicting the 1894 Temple Cup Series game between the Baltimore Orioles and the New York Giants. Whatever the case, it is one of the most beautiful baseball paintings I have ever seen. I just wanted to share it with any of you who haven't seen it before.















Enjoy the hobby all....

Image borrowed from Robert Edward Auctions 2005 Auction Lot 682

Kards for Kids Project - Part 2

Well, it seems it is harder to do a good thing than I had originally thought.

Background: A couple months ago, I agreed to take a couple hundred sets of 1983 & 1984 Indy car race driver cards for free with the promise of donating them to children somehow. I was thrilled with the chance to put some smiles on kids' faces. Even if the cards weren't the hottest, newest things around, I would think kids would be happy to just get them for free and look at them. I know I would have been when I was a kid.

So, that said...

I have tried several local children's charities and a children's hospital and none of them would take free cards to give to children. There must be some kind of rediculous red tape that prevents them from accepting this sort of thing, but honestly, is this that wierd of a request?

I was expecting someone on the phone to say, "Cool, yeah send them over, we'll pass them out, no big deal, thanks a lot". I'm now looking at other avenues to try to get these sets into the hands of little kids. If you know of any children's charities near you, please give me their contact info and I'll contact them. Also, I'm thinking of maybe doing my own fund raising in my area that involves giving the cards to kids somehow and then making a cash donation to a charity. I know they won't turn that down, and the cards will still end up in kids' hands.

Got any ideas? I'd love to hear them. Email me or leave a comment please. I'll keep you all updated as this continues and let's all hope that it ends well. Thanks for any help.

As always, enjoy the hobby, it's a good one.

Collection Focus :: What is Yours?

Is a collection without focus really a collection, or just a bunch of cards?

I have yet to really set a solid focus to my collection. I have often thought about it, and sometimes try to convince myself that I need to focus. I just can't seem to decide on any specific rules to place on my collection. I but and trade for anything that I like. I must admit that I do have some sets that I am currently adding to, and I have some categories (for lack of a better word) that I like more than others; horizontal cards, anything Jersey City, T206 (always), T213-2 Coupons, W572, W516-1, W520, R318 Batter Ups and C46 (after I have acquired all of the Jersey City players I will continue to work on this set) to name a few. But I can't seem to say no to a low price beater from any set that I don't have a sample from either.

I admire collectors who can say to themselves, "I'm only going to persue this one set" or one team, or one period, or whatever. It's just not for me. Then again, maybe all the cards that I pick up that aren't in the above mentioned categories are just waiting to be traded to someone else who has a card I want for one of my categories. Maybe I do have a focus to my collection and I just don't know it. Hmmmm.

I certainly feel that a collection doesn't need to have a definative focus in order to be a collection. I hear it all the time, "collect what you like". That advice speaks volumes on this topic. I certainly collect what I like, and sometimes it fits a focus, and sometimes it doesn't. But it's all part of my collection.

So what is your focus? Do you have one? How did you narrow it down and have you been able to stick to it for a long time? I really would like to hear from you. Please leave a comment or email me.

Enjoy the hobby all....