For Love of the Cards

Ugly Babes

2011-01-15T06:57:00.000-08:00

George Herman "Babe" Ruth was well known the world over.

It was because if this that there were many different cards of him issued over the years, both from the US and from several other countries as well.

Now, for a guy who was so well known, and so darn popular, why did he have so many cards that were just such horrible depictions of him? I mean seriously, look at these examples guys.

The first card I'd like to look at is his R377 Eclipse Import from 1933.

Now, I hear ya, this whole set it completely full of bad artwork, and some people like that part of it (I guess), but couldn't they of at least made him look like he was wearing pants instead of looking like a grandpa in his pj's with a blanket over his lap?

And what's up with his hand? It looks completely flattened and useless. He's not chowin' on any hotdogs with that thing

He really looks like he's about two minutes from passing away on this card. I'm just sayin'.

Here is another example that I think falls a bit short of truely representing the Great Bambino as he should be remembered.

This one is his 1923 German Baseball Transfer issue. Here he looks like a pudgy little bat boy. Honestly, he looks like he can't be a day over 8 years old and just finished filming a scene in The Sandlot or something.

Now, this last one is by far the best. This is a 1949 JK 5 Tohoku Karuta (Japanese Issue) Babe Ruth card.

Every time I see this card I laugh.

He's apparently lost his teeth and has that empty mouth look where his lower lip is pushed out like a kid who is whining about something.

Plus, according to the Japanese back then he was a blond and had matching yellow eyes.

The remarkable thing about this horrible drawing is that is unmistakably the Babe. So as bad as it is, he really was an odd looking guy and still somehow resembled this chicken scratch artwork.

Well, I just wanted to show all of you some of the worst images of The Sultan of Swat that I can remember seeing on a baseball card. Hopefully you enjoy them as mush as I do.

Enjoy the hobby all, it's a fantastic one...

ISA Grading Ad...Really guys?

2010-12-27T10:02:00.000-08:00

ISA Grading Takes Professionalism Seriously

I'm not trying to say I'm perfect and never mispell anything or use questionable grammer, but then again I'm not doing this for a living and I'm not trying to turn this blog into a business. So I don't mind if I make a mistake here or there and my readers catch them. But I was floored when I first saw this ad for ISA Grading in a magazine.

It's just one of my pet peeves I guess, but before a company sends something to print, or pays to have something produced, or what have you, I think I should be able to hold them to a higher standard than myself. Especially if they are trying to introduce themselves to potential customers and they would like to be taken seriously.

Here is the ad that had me so annoyed...

The first time I read through the ad, I found four problems. Four. Are they serious? How many people read this copy before they sent it to be printed and let their reputation be advertised as this unprofessional?

"Oh, this is were I want to send my cards to be graded. These guys are obviously detail oriented. They reviewed their own ad so closely that only 4 things were missed. I could probably be sure that any card I buy that they have reviewed should have been just as closely examined and that only only 4 scratches, dinged corners, bits of paperloss, spots of writing, or any other problem that would normally downgrade a card should be missed as well. In other words, a card they say is a '10' could have up to 4 blatant condition issues."

Let's take a closer look now.

1. They failed to capitalize their own name: In the first sentence, they typed their name "international Sports Authentication".

2. They offer "expert grading, great rates, and quick turnaroudn".

3. They ensure a "tip-notch" grading relationship as opposed to a "top-notch" one.

4. When informing us of their location, they abbreviate Michigan as "Mi" instead of the proper state abbreviation method of "MI".

I'd love to hear from a representative of the company if they want to claim these were all intentional mistakes and meant as a joke.

Hats off to ISA. You guys are true profesiionally dedecaded to makeing me feel like i'm getting the bestest review of the cards I collact.

Enjoy the hobby all.

Recent Pick Ups

2010-04-23T19:41:00.000-07:00

I've been getting a bunch of new stuff lately, both on the internet and from the last Philly Show. Is it still called the Philly Show by the way, really? Anyway, I really like that show even if some of the dealers complain about the table prices going up since Heritage started running it.

I'll try to get scans of all my new cards as well as other things, but my scanner isn't working right now. My old computer crashed and when we got a new one, we kept our old Dell printer/scanner and I can't get it to work yet with the new HP computer.

I do have images of these three new items however, and am happy to share them with you.

First up: Two new cards for my horizontal collection. These aren't baseball cards, but I really don't care. They are E77 American Caramel Co. "Prize Fighter Caramels".

I've been liking these horizontal boxing caramels more and more lately. I have a few of the "Scrappers" set from Philadelphia Caramel Co., so when these ones came up on eBay a little while ago I was excited to have a chance to pick up some examples from a different set.

After winning them, I checked out Adam Warshaw's site that identifies several of the many many different boxing issues and saw that he says that these are "very tough to find". Hey, that's cool and makes me even more happy to have them. I just hope I haven't misidentified them or something.

Okay, so the other card that I have an image of (for now) is an upgrade to one of my Jersey City C46's, John "Rube" Kissinger:

I am always excited to pick up another Jersey City card! I know what you're thinking, "This is an upgrade?" Yes, it's an upgrade.

My first one had some major paperloss on the sides of the front on both sides of his head and it has always bothered me. I picked the first one with the paperloss because I didn't have it yet and needed it. This one will someday be upgraded as well, but I'm very happy to have this one. I'm only missing Butler, Jones and Wells now to complete the 9 card subset.

There were recently a Butler and Jones on eBay but I didn't put my snipe high enough to win them. Them another Jones came up, but it was a little too nice and I knew my high bid wouldn't be enough, so I didn't get that one either. No problem, I'll get them someday.

Well, I know it's not much, only three new cards, but when I get my scanner back up and running, I'll get a lot of scans up for show.

Enjoy the hobby all, it's a great one.

Tristar Flop

2010-04-22T12:49:00.000-07:00

Like many prewar collectors I'm a big fan of the Obak sets. Between the years 1909 - 1911, packs of Obak cigarettes came with a card featuring players of the Pacific Coast League and the Northwestern League. These cards are widely considered to be some of the most beautiful prewar cards produced.

You can differentiate between the the three years quite easily. The 1909's actually have a slightly different look on the front, and the 1911's have sevaral cards that have a sort of drippy gooey-like background that are only found in that series. But the easiest way to determine the year is by flipping the card ove and looking at the back design; each year has a different back.

1909----------------------1910----------------------1911

While I could go on quite a bit longer on the original Obaks (and I most likely will in a future post), I'm actually writing this post to ask this question: What were they thinking?

"They" are Tristar Productions and they have released a new line of cards (I know what you're thinking, "Modern cards?!") that have borrowed the name of the old Obaks and the back designs for it's modern release. And for some reason, I couldn't resist seeing what they were like.

I was expectedly unimpressed and furthermore left scratching my head at how these things made it past the various stages of design and approval before they started printing them. They did nail the most spectacular part of the Obak design; the amazing sunset backgrounds.

They decided to make the player's image really dark and dropped the quality of the image so much that the guy is actually pixelated like they took the photo with a really cheap 1.5 megapixel camera.

The scan I took actually brightens up the image considerably as the card in hand looks as if there was no light in front of the guy. You can barely see him on the actual card.

Each pack comes with some old timers in there pictured with their minor league squads and this is kind of cool, except they decided to make them black and white images of the players set against the colorful background and they just don't look right.

Here are the ones I got in my pack:

I did get one card in the pack that I'm happy with though. In each pack, you also get a reprint of one of the original Obaks. I got a reprint of one of the most sought after of all original Obaks. It is the Victoria Bees of the Northwestern League player named Ten Million. Yes, that's right, his name is Ten Million. It's written right there on the card.

I've always liked this card and it will be a long time before I can actually afford an original, so it was kind of cool to pull this card from the pack.

It's safe to say I won't be buying any more of these packs, so I'm glad that I got one card I liked out my trial pack.

Happy collecting everyone, enjoy the hobby.

Recent Pick-Up

2009-08-30T19:30:00.000-07:00

I thought this was too cool to pass up when I saw it so I tossed a little bid out and ended up with a new piece for my shelf.

I really like items with the centennial logo on them. 1939 and our beloved game was a hundred years old already. Unreal. Anyway, it's not the most amazing pick up but it sure as heck looks pretty cool don't you think?

Good ol' Abner Doubleday in the center of the Centennial logo. I assume all of my readers know that he actually had nothing to do with the creation (or evolution) of the national pastime. Obviously this tidbit of information wasn't known back in 1939.

It's interesting to note that the 1939 record book didn't have the same red border as the other years did. Now, I'm not an expert on these books, so if you know any more info than I do and the fact the color is not red points to this being a fake then please let me know. I have seen others with this same color though, so I'm pretty sure this is authentic.

I like to pick up items that will decorate my office shelves someday when I have a home office that I can turn into my baseball room. Not everything I pick up is so old either, sometimes I pick up some nice modern stuff too. Well, thanks for checking this out and letting me share it with you.

Enjoy the hobby all, we got a great one...

Hobby Reference Not to be Missed

2009-08-30T19:27:00.000-07:00

There are many things in life that we take for granted, and whenever I realize that I have been taking something for granted, I try to make up for it in some way.

To that end, I wanted to make sure that anyone who reads my blog is sure to become familiar with one of the very best Vintage/Prewar Baseball Card resources on the internet. If you haven't already become familiar with them, you absolutely MUST check out OldCardboard.com.

They have a wealth of information about our hobby's different vintage baseball card sets. They are focused only on baseball which I particularly like as I don't really collect anything but baseball. Their site is easy to navigate and I am constantly referring back to it for card images or checklists or just some general info about a set.

They offer all of the following for your reference needs:

1. Set descriptions and images - Each featured set has a brief description as well as at least a couple of images to help identify the set.

2. Galleries of tons of sets - Many of the featured sets have full set galleries with images of all cards in the set. The T206 set is one of these and they have images of all 524 cards.

3. Checklists of tons of sets - Most, if not all, of the featured sets have full checklists listed.

4. Links to eBay's top 100 Vintage Card dealers - This is a great reference for when you want to find a new search on eBay.

5. Monthly e-newletter - This is an amazing reference tool with updates to the site listed as well as great articles and upcoming auction info.

6. The best Prewar magazine published today, fittingly called "Old Cardboard" - This is seriously the greatest current vintage baseball card publication out there with well written articles with full color images, set galleries, and even collector profiles.

7. Plus a bunch of great links to all sorts of related sites from collector's personal sites, other references, auction houses, show calendars, etc.

Please check out this outstanding hobby resource if you haven't already. The guys behind the site and the magazine are a couple of great contributors to our hobby and we should all be doing something to support their efforts and help them keep up their great work.

Enjoy the hobby all, it's a great one.

New Link :: David B. Vintage

2009-07-04T09:18:00.000-07:00

There is one dealer of vintage sports cards and memorabilia that stands out as a truly great and honest seller on eBay. His eBay seller name is davidbvintage and he has recently launched a very nice new website as an additional forum to offer collectors his consignors items.

If you have never dealt with David on eBay you can rest assured that he is the most honest seller out there and he has great stuff to offer.

Do yourself a favor and check out his new site here:

I've also added him on my links at the side of my blog for all of you.

If you have items that you would like to sell, you can consign them to DavidBVintage and have them sold for you on eBay or on his website. Details are on the website. His reputation and feedback level on eBay make him one of the best consignment choices around and I can only imagine his website will be become a wonderful place for vintage collectors to find new additions to their collections as well.

Enjoy the hobby all, it's a super duper one.

Recent Pick Up

2009-06-16T11:09:00.000-07:00

I am very excited about this pick up everyone!

On my Jersey City want list, there are a few cards that I am not too confident in my chances of ever picking up. At least not any time in the next several years. This is due to both rarity and cost.

If you follow my blog at all, you know that my budget as a collector is pathetic by most standards. I live on the hope that at some point in my future, I will have gotten far enough into my career that I will be able to really spend what I would like to on cards. Until then, I'm picking up beaters at best.

This is no exception. However, this is one of the cards on my wantlist that I never thought I would find, let alone find in a condition that I could afford and still look presentable.

I submit for your viewing enjoyment a T215 Red Cross Tobacco Billy Purtell of Jersey City. When you're done drooling, please keep reading. :)

This card also exists with the ultra rare Pirate back and, of course, I will be forever trying to find that one in comparible condition so that I may be able to afford it. To be honest, this one was a little out of my price range, but I couldn't let it go.

When else would I ever find one? Of all the Red Cross backs to show up for sale, how often is one specific common going to be the one offered? Know what I mean?

Now, I know what you're thinking, "But Andy, his jersey says Chicago, not Jersey City." And you are correct. But the caption reads Jersey City.

And that's all that matters when you're putting together a wantlist for a specific team right?

So, I'm very happy to have added this card to my collection recently. I'm not going to be beating this one for a while. I do have a lot of recent pick ups to post though. I haven't really shared any of my new cards in a long time, so I'll start posting some of them for you all soon.

Enjoy the hobby all. It's a great one.

Hans in Blue

2009-06-16T10:30:00.000-07:00

After years of immersing myself in the vintage baseball card hobby, I feel like I can identify most cards by type. It isn't very often anymore that something shows up that I haven't ever seen before.

That said, I was pleasantly surprised when someone posted a picture of this Honus Wagner card on a the Net54 vintage card message board.

My first thought was that he was playing a joke on the board and he was good at Photoshop. However, after contacting the poster, he assured me that this was an uncatalogued Wagner card.

He had won it on eBay a while back and said it had originally sold in a Mastro Legendary Auctions in August 2004. At that time it was part of a larger lot of prewar cards. (A nice lot I must say). Check out the original auction listing here.

Apparently, there are only 2 examples of this card known at this time. I love finding out about a new card. It's even better when that card is of the caliber of a Wagner. Better yet? When there are only 2 copies known to exist!

I wanted to make sure to share this with anyone who follows my blog (I know I'm not posting as much as I should, but I'm glad some of you are still checking it out) because this is the sort of thing you need to know when you're serious about your hobby.

One of the two examples was labelled at one point as a "w-unc" by PSA. I assume they gave it the W label because it is blank backed, but from what I'm told, it's not much like a strip card other than the blank back.

The other known copy, sold in a Heritage Auction in April 2009 and resides in an SGC holder with the label, "C. 1910 E-Unc Candy". This makes a bit more sense to me than a W label. Check out the Heritage listing here.

This SGC example closed at $4,481.25 with the buyer's premium. I'm a bit surprised at this figure to be honest. I would have thought that such a rare Wagner would have brought a lot more than this. I guess maybe the fact that it isn't well known and doesn't have any advertising on it kept the price down, but seriously? Only two known and less than $5K?

I think with a little good press in the hobby and the right exposure, one of these babies could fetch a much better sum in a good auction.

I guess time will tell. Personally, I think it's an awesome card. Even if it doesn't have the most clear image or any advertising.

Well, enjoy the hobby all. It's a great one.

t206museum.com was a FRAUD!

2009-05-09T16:35:00.000-07:00

I know I have been absent from my blog for some time now, but I haven't been absent from our great hobby!

I've been working a lot after moving from CA to NJ and I apologize to all of you who really enjoyed by blog. I'm going to try to be a bit more regular again going forward.

On to the front page story...

It has recently been revealed that t206museum.com was a sham that was set up by a scam artist who used it to hype T206 "rarities" and "oddities" so he could profit on fake cards that he made. It has been discovered that he was the creator of the Old Mill Black Overprint backs. These are all fake. He even had one for sale on his site for $35,000.00.

Read much more detail here than I'm going to go into on this post, so please check it out and know that I'm not taking any credit for it.

I used to check out this site when I first started getting back into cards years ago and I'm shocked by this realization. What a terrible fraud to play on collectors.

This goes to show you that just because a card is graded, even by PSA or SGC, doesn't mean it is real. Be careful out there all, but still enjoy the hobby...

Classic Cobb

2009-02-09T11:55:00.000-08:00

I just saw this image of Ty Cobb and had to share it with all of you.

I can't believe I never saw this one before. If you look real close you can sort of see how Ty used to intimidate those players who chose to actually cover the bags.

Awesome!

Enjoy the hobby all...

1912 Boston Garter - Matty

2009-02-08T16:53:00.000-08:00

Boston Garters were issued over a three year period between 1912 and 1914 with very different styles used each year.

The inaugural issue, pictured here, is by far the most attractive. It is not argued by many that the designs suffered from one year to the next with the final year's offering being little more than a black and white photo with a little Boston Garter ad on it.

This example of Christy Mathewson's card has always been one of my favorites. The image is fantastic with Matty relaxing before the day's contest. Perhaps contemplating how he will handle the afternoon's line up.

But what I love most about this card, is that while Matty sits in quiet solitude, he seems completely unaware of the blatant bludgeoning of the player just outside of his window. I always wondered why the artist decided to show a player being beaten by a baseball bat so clearly in the background. I could see if it was an ump, but another player?

I just wanted to share this observation with any of you who hadn't seen it before.

Enjoy the hobby all, it's a great one...

What a Deal!

2009-01-14T18:29:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm pretty upset that I missed this one folks.

Actually, I'm more upset that I didn't put a snipe on it as I would've beat this winning bid for sure.

While perusing eBay last night I saw this card, and since I like to pick up beaters for cheap, I decided to take a closer look at the listing. As you can tell from the front, it's not much to get excited about.

However, after scrolling down into the listing, I noticed what makes this such a steal.

At first I thought there's no way this could be for real. I must be missing something here. But it all looked good.

The best part about this card is the back. It wasn't listed anywhere in the listing, but the back is a Red Cross back making this not a T206, but a T-215 instead. And, from what I can tell from the image, the caption at the bottom of the front is brown and not blue making this a Type I example, that's the more rare of the two if you're keeping track.

I'm certainly not an expert on these, but I know they are in damand and they command much more money than the same T206 pose in the same condition.

This one did sell for more than what it's common T206 counterpart would have, so I have to assume the bidder knew what he was looking at.

The closing price including shipping: $42.83

Nice job to someone out there. This is just another example of a good deal on eBay. Their out there if you just keep looking for them.

Enjoy the hobby all, it's a super duper one...

Mellomints Tin Bothers Me

2009-01-13T21:45:00.000-08:00

This old tin for Mellomints candy was auctioned off in REA's 2004 auction and the description has always annoyed the crap out of me.

Every time I am flipping the old 2004 catalog and I see this tin I get a little more perturbed. The description reads in part:

If you think your Mello Mint collection is complete, think again! Offered is a circa 1910 Mello Mint tin, measuring 8 inches tall and 10 inches in diameter, designed to be used by candy stores to dispense the presumably very delicious Mello Mint treats.

While I can't argue that this particular tin did contain Mellomint treats, they were certainly not the same thing that is related to the rare E105 Mello Mint cards. They have nothing in common other than the similar name.

The cards were distributed with Mello-Mint (notice the hyphen and so "s" at the end) gum, not sugar confections as the tin advertises.

The backs of the cards have the logo of the gum pictured and it clearly states, "Smith's Mello-Mint, The Texas Gum" and it further clarifies that the card are, "wrapped with each 5¢ package of SMITH'S MELLO-MINT GUM". This seems pretty clear to me that these cards were never packaged in tins like the one pictured above and sold in the REA auction under the premise of being related to the cards.

How could this tin possibly be listed as it was in such a respectable auction house's catalog? That really annoys the hell out of me. What the hell?

Thoughts anyone?

Enjoy the hobby all...

New Pick Up

2008-11-30T18:14:00.001-08:00

I went for a trip to the local antique mall with my wife this afternoon and picked up a nice little piece.

There are several very attractive advertising peices for Tuxedo Tobacco which feature several different stars of the deadball era, most notably Christy Mathewson and Walter Johnson. I've included images of two ads featuring these two hurlers for reference here.

No, I didn't find one of these advertising pieces. That would've been like hitting the lottery. But I did see a familiar looking item up on a top shelf of a vendors stall.

There, mixed in with a bunch of uninteresting items, way up on the top shelf, was a Tuxedo Tobacco Tin. The exact same tin that is featured in these ads. This one is a bit damaged, rusted, dented, etc., but I just had to have it.

So, I wanted to share my new pick up with you and see what you think. Let me know, leave me a comment of shoot me an email. These tins aren't worth a whole lot, but I don't usually see the Tuxedo ones at the antique malls that I've been in. It was a nice little thrill on a rainy day, when it was just my wife and I spending some time together.

Enjoy the hobby all, it's a really neat one...

The Great T206 Back Stamp Project

2008-11-14T23:00:00.000-08:00

I am very happy to be making the Official Announcement of my new project to you all...

The Great T206 Back Stamp Project

For a long time now I have been very interested in the various stamps that appear on the reverse of many T206s. If you follow my blog then you know that I have recently picked up several cards with my favorite type of back stamp, the purple number stamp, and that I have decided to focus my T206 adventure primarily on only picking up new cards that have a stamp on them.

Well, I have also decided to begin documenting all of the various back stamps that I come across along the way, whether I ultimately own them or not is of no concern here. So, with the help of all of you and all other collectors who are introduced to the project, I hope to create a database of as many examples as we can. I'm hoping some interesting patterns may emerge and some cool stamps will be found.

My purple number stamps are already featured as their own type within the project, and I have another type coming soon (with an unbelievable number of examples collected already). This is just one way that I am enjoying this wonderful hobby. And I'm hoping that my fellow collectors will join me in this adventure.

There are two online parts to this project; the BLOG and the WEBSITE.

The Blog: The blog is where all new cards will be posted. Any updates to the project will be posted here whether it is a new card, or the announcement that a new type has been determined and a new page added to the website.

The website: This is where I will be archiving all of the images that I get. I'm hoping that my fellow collectors will participate and send me scans, whether you own the card or just find the image somewhere.

Please take a moment to check out both parts of the project and let your collector friends know about it too. The more people that participate, the more amazing the archives will be.

Enjoy the hobby all, there are so many ways...

One "Big Four" Deserves Another

2008-11-10T18:08:00.000-08:00

Our friends over at Sports Collectors Daily have just posted a story about another of the "Big Four" cards from the T206 set, the Doyle Nat'l error card.

I just can't rob their story, so here's the link to their story.

I did want to mention, however, that this is one of the many bits of hobby knowledge that you should really have if you are going to be taking part in the vintage baseball card hobby.

Some unscrupulous sellers might try to pass of the several other Doyle cards that say Nat'l on them as the very and coveted error version. Below is a little visual for you.

Notice that all three of these Doyle cards have the same caption at the bottom: DOYLE, N.Y. NAT'L.

Some beginning collectors may have heard of the super rare Doyle error that says Nat'l on it and be fooled by one of these cards. Now look at the more common version of the Doyle that has an error.

Notice that this version does not have the NAT'L after the N.Y.

This is the common version. Feel free to try to find the error out there in the hobby somewhere. Really. I mean it. Good luck. Let me know if you ever find it. Ever.

The late great Larry Fritsch, one of the great hobby veterans, the first full time mail order dealer spent years looking at hundreds, if not thousands, of Doyle's in search of one before he found a single example. And that was before the rest of the hobby was privy to the fact that it was an error. In other words, nobody else was seeking it or keeping it from him because they thought the one they had was rare. It just doesn't show up anywhere.

I'm very excited to see this one is going to be auctioned off in an upcoming REA auction. I can't wait to see what it brings when the hammer drops.

Enjoy the hobby all, it's a great one...

Another New Wagner!

2008-11-07T19:56:00.000-08:00

Wow, people, another new T206 Honus Wagner has entered our hobby.

Philip Weiss Auctions of Long Island, NY will be auctioning off a newly discovered example of the iconic card commonly referred to as "Holy Grail" of the baseball card world. Following is the description from their website:

Honus Wagner. T-206. Graded. SGC Graded Honus Wagner 3. This is a Golden Opportunity to own a "Fresh to the Market " example of the "Holy Grail" of Baseball cards. Found in the basement of an Oceanside home, this card has been in the possession of the same family since it was printed. It is impossible to say how many more of these reside unknown in basements or attics but now is the chance to add this to your collection. With the price of this card steadily on the rise, do not miss this opportunity to purchase a beautiful example of this card. Please view the scans carefully or examine in person, some believe this might even be graded on the conservative side.

They have estimated the value between $500,000 and $900,000, which seems like a pretty big spread if you ask me. It is a very nice example of this card, which is usually found with several flaws commonly in the form of multiple creases. Click here to see the actual listing.

Just for fun, here is a link to a nice collection of images of the Wagner card: The Wagner Gallery

The lesson here is to always keep your hope alive, you just might find the next big hobby gem in your neck of the woods someday.

Enjoy the hobby all, it's a super one...

A New Book

2008-10-25T20:01:00.001-07:00

There is a new book available out there that is related to our super hobby of prewar cards.

It's written by a collector and is available for purchase on Lulu.com. Click here to get to the ordering info. It's called "A Card's Life" and was written by John Dreker. I haven't read it yet, but plan to order a copy and check it out.

I just figured that some off you might be interested and would check it out. The description below is taken directly from Lulu.com.

The life of two old baseball cards and the boy who owned them as told by the cards themselves. A Card's Life follows the joys and sadness of these two baseball cards as they grow old together,the baseball stories they tell,and the ones they embellish. It leads you from their very creation up until modern day as they follow the life of the young boy who cherished them,and his family.

Enjoy the hobby all...

A Nice Find at the Antique Mall

2008-10-24T19:06:00.000-07:00

I want to start out by apologizing about the long break between posts recently. My pc got a virus and it took a little while to clean it up. I didn't want to do anything on it until it was taken care of and that meant no posting for a couple weeks. It's all better now, thanks for sticking with me.

******************************

I was at a local antique mall recently and came across this wonderful item.

Now, I know this isn't my regular thing here, it's not prewar, it's not a card, but it is a cigar box so that's got to count for something.

It's a Pedro Ramos endorsed hand made cigars box from the 60's. It is in wonderful condition with no real damage, just a bit of minor aging issues such as some dirty areas.

I thought this was a great item, but it just doesn't fit in my collection. So I decided to see if anyone else was interested and low and behold I found someone wanted it. I was so happy. This other collector agreed to cover the cost of the box from the dealer at the antique mall and the shipping and I agreed to go back and pick it up for him and ship it out.

Then something of interest happened. I received an email from another collector letting me know that he would be happy to pay me more than three times what the other guy was going to pay me for the box. Well, I had already agreed to get it for the other guy. After all, I wasn't selling the box myself, I just thought it was a cool piece and since it didn't fit my collection, someone else might have the same interest I did in it. I let the second guy know that it was already claimed and thanked him for is offer and then asked him if the box was worth a lot as I had no idea about the value. He let me know that it is in fact a very difficult box and that it would probably sell for 10 times what the antiques dealer was selling it for.

How cool is that! I was very happy to have helped out the other guy and he let me know that he really just thought it was a cool box and wanted to put it on a shelf in his office. So remember people, there are good deals out there if you are keeping your eyes open and look around, and there are good people out there in this hobby too. Try to be one of the good people. It makes being part of the hobby so much more fun.

Enjoy the hobby all...

Have I Done It?

2008-10-15T15:00:00.000-07:00

Have I finally done it, after all these years?

Have I finally found what has been missing from my collection for so long?

I think I just may have folks. I think I finally have...Focus! What started it all? Well, I have been very interested in T206's that have a specific type of stamp on the back that was likely put on them by a collector long ago. The stamps are dark purple numbers like the one pictured here. I first saw this stamp years ago and always wished I had bought the card. When I saw another one a while ago on eBay, I snatched it up and my interest was renewed when I got it in hand.

Recently a flood of them showed up eBay again, all from the same seller. I was in the middle of my move when one of them appeared again and, with the help of a fellow collector, I was able to acquire it. I was very excited to add another specimen to my collection. I now had two of them!

When I saw another one posted on the Full Count message boards, I just about lost it. I asked about it and was informed that the seller had just sold a whole bunch of them on eBay and I had missed them all! I was crushed. I actually contacted the buyers to see if any of them would be so kind as to help me with my goal of collecting these stamped cards but none of them responded (yet, I'm still hoping).

I did notice that three of the one the seller listed didn't sell and I contacted them to see if they were still available. Not only did the seller still have these three, but they had two more to offer me as well. I snatched up all five of them and now had seven of them.

It was at this point when the inspiration for focus hit me. I was now very willing to let go a lot of the cards I already had in my collection in order to turn them into cards that would fit my new focus. So this is what I have decided...

For the next year, I will focus and only pick up new cards that fit into the following categories:

1. T206 : with the purple numbers stamped on back

2. T206 : with any other actual stamp on the back, not just some ink stain or mark

3. T206 : HOFers

4. All Jersey City players from any set

5. W572

6. W516-1 : with Becker Prize backs

7. R318 Batter Ups

8. All Remar sets

9. Prewar Horizontal Cards

Well, at least it's somewhat focused isn't it? I think it gives me a nice way to pick up T206s, of course the Jersey City players have to be in there and the others give me a chance to pick up cards of players from many different years and periods resulting in a nice player selection.

I'm very interested in the stamp backed T206s if any of you have any and would be kind enough to help me out in my pursuits. hint hint.

Wish me luck in my new quest. It's going to be tough for me to stick to these parameters, but I think this will make my collection even more enjoyable for the next year. I'll also try to post more often when I do add something new.

Enjoy the hobby all, it's a great one...

Tolstoi card above is not mine

Huggins & Scott : Oct. 22-23, 2008

2008-10-05T20:00:00.000-07:00

The current Huggins & Scott auction has just opened for bidding and I wanted to highlight a few lots that I particularly like in this one.

Personally, I like Huggins & Scott auctions because they offer a very nice variety of lots that span several budgets for collectors. They have some extremely nice stuff as well as some lower grade stuff that you just don't find in the major auctions like REA and Mastro.

For example, lot number 704: 1909-1911 T206 White Border Near Set (520/524) - Missing the Big Four. This is a wonderful collection of the monster with all but the four toughest cards present, but they aren't all in high grade. There are a lot of cards in beater shape including a Cobb with holes in it and several other HOFers with paperloss on the fronts. But what a great group of cards! This set has the many other tough cards including the O'Hara and Demmitt St. Louis and Elberfeld Washington examples.

Another extremely nice lot is number 55: 1910-11 T3 Turkey Red Cabinets Addie Joss Proof SGC Authentic. This is one of my favorite images of Joss and the T3's are simply georgous cards.

This example isn't just a T3 though, it's a proof for crying out loud. It's in great condition with unreal colors and clarity displaying the printer's marks at the centers of the edges and a blank name plate at the bottom. What a spectacular looking card.

How many of these proofs could have survived from this set? And of those, how many are Hall of Famers? In my opinion, this is a very important card.

I can't post about highlights from this auction without mentioning the big ticket item affectionatley known as "The Matchless Ball". This is a game-used ball from the 1934 All-Star game that is signed by a myriad of stars. Babe Ruth signed in his usual sweet spot space and other signers include Foxx, Simmons, Walter Johnson, Ben Chapman, Joe Cronin, Gehringer, Gehrig and others for a total of twenty signatures.

This is simply a dream ball for me. The usage that is displayed and the star power that graces the leather make this ball very important in the history of the game. The strenght of the actually signatures does not detract anything as far as importance for me. I can just imagine this ball being passed around after the game and each player happily penning his name on it while smiling and talking about the game. I wish I could afford this ball, but I will be happy to simply have an image of it on my blog.

There are many other great lots in this auction, so please check it out here. I just wanted to mention of couple of pieces that I really liked.

Enjoy the hobby all, it's a wonderful one...

New Pick-Ups - From Philly Show

2008-09-30T17:40:00.001-07:00

Okay all, here are some pics of what I was able to pick up at the show last weekend.

I'm very excited about this first item as it knocks another Jersey City card off of my list. I've been wanting this T201 fairly bad for about a year now but just haven't found one that I really liked for a good price. This one was just right for me and I snatched it up from Clean Sweep the minute I saw it.

It's an example picturing William Abstien (1b) on the front and John Butler (c) when it's folded over. I've always heard that these are fairly thin fragile cards so I've been wanting to see for myself when I picked this card up. While it is thinner and more susceptible to creasing than other cards of the era that I am familiar with, it's not as thin as I had originally thought. I can see why there are a lot of examples with bad damage around the crease from being folded in the past though.

This being the only Jersey City card in the entire T201 set, I have finished this set's checklist. Woohoo!

Moving on...

Here is a new T206 with a back stamp. You'll be hearing a bit more about my fascination with these cards in an upcoming post, but now I'll say that I was quite happy to pick up this fine example ot Nichols.

As you can see there is a large H stamped on the reverse. It appears that the stamper wasn't pleased with his first attempt and decided to stamp another two times.

Next we have a couple more 1949 Remars, Loyd Christopher and Bud Foster. These cards are not exactly difficult to find, but I really like the fact that they represent the Oakland Oaks Pacific Coast League team of the late forties and early fifties. Plus the 1949 set has a nice card of Billy Martin and the '46 and '47 sets have Casey Stengel in them. I'm finding these cards fun to collect because they are so affordable and I can pick them up now then for something different than my usual pick-ups.

This last pick-up is very special to me.

I've been picking up cards with a certain type of back stamp for a while now and I was able to pick this one up from a very nice hobby veteran named Ted Zanidakis. He is very knowledgable when it comes to the T206 set in particular and has completed the set several times and handled thousands and thousands of T206's in his time in the hobby.

This Mike Powers example has a rare Hindu back with a purple number 42 stamped on it. I love T206's with these purple number stamps on them (again, more about this in an upcoming post). I've also always loved the Powers cards, so this is a happy addition to my collection.

I hope you enjoyed seeing my new pick-ups. I had a really great time at the show and hope to make it to many more in the future. I feel lucky to live close enough to drive to the show for a day and still make it home afterwards.

Enjoy the hobby all, it's a great one...

Pics of the Month :: September 2008

2008-09-30T08:21:00.000-07:00

I hope you enjoy this month's pics everyone. I almost missed the end of the month again, sorry about that. Please let me know if there are any players you would like to see some pics of and I'll try to locate some of them for you

Whoa! Everything is spinning....I'm feeling Dizzy!

Dizzy Dean, Cardinals 1934 World Series against Detroit

Dizzy Dean, 1936

Dizzy Dean 1934 - 37

Enjoy the hobby all, it's a great one...

All pics were borrowed from www.baseball-fever.com

100th Philly Show - A Great Time Was Had

2008-09-27T14:26:00.001-07:00

Ever since I knew I was going to be moving back east from CA, I was hoping to get a chance to go to the Ft. Washington Show.

If you've never heard of this show, you should check out the website here, especially if you live withing a few hours drive of Reading, PA. I know what you're thinking, "Philly Show, Ft. Washington Show, Reading, PA? Which is it man?" The show has moved around a little bit since it started in 1975, so it's been known as a few different names. You can read a little about it on their website.

I got a chance to go to the show last night and it was awesome. There were a lot of national dealers in attendance as well as many auction houses including Mastro, Huggins & Scott, Clean Sweep, Hunt, American Memorabilia, and Heritage Galleries. PSA and SGC were there taking submissions while GAI had a space reserved but nobody was there.

Now, I had heard that this show was a treasure trove of vintage cards and memorabilia, but I had no idea what I was in store for. There was so much stuff that I almost didn't make it through the whole show in the three and half hours that I was there. I walked around slowly taking it all in, the cards, the gloves, the game used jerseys and bats, the pennants, the programs, vintage hats, Spalding guides, trophies....I could go on and on for a while here, but I'll spare you the boring reading part and move on.

I was able to pick up a few things on my wantlist, which is very exciting for me. I'll scan them and get you some images to look at soon. I wanted to get a quick post in today while everything was still fresh from last night. I wish I could go back, but I don't have the time the rest of the weekend. I'll try to post again tonight, or tomorrow with some images and some more details about the trip.

Enjoy the hobby all, it's a fantastic one...

T206 Horizontal Subset

2008-09-21T18:10:00.000-07:00

When I first started getting into prewar cards, I was naturally drawn to the T206 set for it's colorful lithography, the shear size of the set and it's availability.

After beginning to learn about the set and after looking at hundreds of images of different cards, I found that I was very much drawn to the horizontal poses in the set. I found out that there are 6 cards in the set in a horizontal format. They are: Birmingham, Mullin, Murphy, Pattee, Pelty and Powell. I decided rather quickly that I wanted to obtain this subset of six cards.

I found that there seemed to be a little premium attached to them and I figured there were just a lot of other collectors that had the same goal as I did. That didn't surprise. I later found out that not only is the Pattee a very attractive card (which I had always thought was why it costs a bit more than the others) but it is also from the 150 subjects only group. The Pelty card is also from this group. Cards from this group, which consists of only 11 (possibly 12) cards from the entire set, are a bit tougher to find than the other cards.

Of note, the Pattee card is theorized to have been omitted from the set after the first series because his last year in the majors was 1908. I must say, this sounds like a pretty good theory to me. What a nice image though, one of my favorites in the entire set. (Another of my favorites from the set, coincidentally, is the Mike Powers card which is also a 150-only card).

I was finally able to complete this little subset a little over a year ago. Of course, I could have done it much quicker, but I kept wanting to pick up different cards and so I added a new one every now and then. I do love seeing all six of them together and thought you might like to see them as well.

Thanks for sharing these with me everyone. Enjoy the hobby everyone, it's a good one...

Jersey City Skeeters in Training

2008-09-17T06:31:00.001-07:00

I grew up in New Jersey and I love this state. So when I first started learning about Prewar cards, I was thrilled to find that Jersey City had a minor league team that was represented in the T206 set. In fact, the first Prewar card I ever bought was a T206 Hannifan, Jersey City.

I am always looking to add to my Jersey City collection and was very excited to have found this original cabinet photo of a couple of players (or at least one player) from the Jersey City Skeeters in Bermuda. The mount is in terrible shape, but as you can see, the photo itself is mostly intact with just the top right corner affected by the damage.

I was fortunate enough to have added this item to my collection a while ago and wanted to share it with you all. It is one my favorite items in my collection to this point. If you can help me identify the people in the photo I would very much appreciate it.

Also, written on the mount is "Burmuda" which is why I said the photo was taken there. Did teams, and specifically minor league teams, travel to the islands for games or training back then? I need to put some time into researching this a bit.

Enjoy the hobby all, it's a great one...

Not Exactly Prewar, But...

2008-09-10T18:58:00.000-07:00

Okay, so this post isn't about prewar cards in particular, but it is about the

hobby. The entire hobby.

While going through a bunch of old boxes of stuff that I had stored away, I happened upon some interesting cards. A few of them are pictured at here. I couldn't remember where the heck these came from and I just sort of put them aside and kept rummaging through the box.

It wasn't until I actually flipped one of them over that I realized where I had picked these beauties up. It was at the 5th National Convention at the Aspen Hotel in Parsippany, New Jersey!

My family had just recently moved to New Jersey from Michigan and I was still a youngster. My dad took my brother and I to a "baseball card show" and I remember being completely floored when we got there. It was so huge I was actually a little scared to walk in at first. After a while however I was buzzing from table to table amazed to see actual Donruss rookies of Donnie Baseball.

I had no idea there was even a period of baseball cards called Prewar. I had never heard of a caramel card and wouldn't have known who Walter Johnson was if someone asked. This was 1984 though, the Prewar market wasn't like it is today (at least that's what I have gleaned from hobby veterans over the years).

I never knew I had been to National. I guess I didn't remember that part of the show. So all these years later, I have been reminded of this wonderful experience and wisened to the fact that I have, in fact, been to a National Convention in the past. And all because of the backs of these cards that I saved all these years in a box.

I love this hobby, Enjoy it everyone...

Card Shops

2008-09-01T08:47:00.000-07:00

Well, I've been back in Jersey for about a month and have already found two local card shops and another store that has some cards but mostly vintage toys and kids stuff from the 70's and 80's.

Not a whole lot of vintage cards to be found however. The oldest were 50's Topps, which I do like, but nothing prewar. I didn't really think I would find any prewar stuff in a card store although I always ask the owner just in case. I actually had a guy in Colorado once look at me like I was an idiot when I asked him and he asked me to name some cards that I was talking about. When I rattled off a bunch of sets he just said no and went back to talking to his regular customer about shiny new stuff.

I really like card shops, even if they don't have a lot of vintage stuff. I do collect more than just prewar cards and I can find some things in local shops that I want. I'm working on a 1954 Topps set, 1975 Set, 1981 Set and several other regionals, but I can also always pick up supplies from a local shop and I just like to chat with the owner's and be around cards. If you're addicted like me, then you know what I'm talking about.

I do have to ask the question, "Why are so many card shops such cluttered messes?" Seriously, one of the shops near here looks like it was once a big bustling city made of sportscards and supplies (and mail?) that was recently bombed and hit with rockets and now looks like it is in ruin. Completely unorganized piles (or piles that have toppled) of cards on top of random half full boxes of supplies next to old issues of Beckett... You know what I'm talking about. If you ever have, or currently do, own a shop and it was like this, please let me know why. I'm very curious. Rest assured though that the mess does not bother me at all, I rather enjoy the hunt through it all to find the one 1975 Topps card that I can use for my set buried under a bunch of basketball cards.

If you are near any card shops, please support them and give them some of your business. I know that better deals are found elsewhere a lot of the times, but local card shops are a great thing and I feel that part of being active in the hobby, and making a contribution to it, is supporting the local shops. So let them know how nice it is to have them around and thank the owner for being there.

With that, enjoy the hobby all, it's a great one...

Pics of the Month - August 2008

2008-08-31T15:00:00.000-07:00

Presented for your enjoyment, Pics of the Month: August 2008.

Pete Alexander, 1917

Edd Roush, 1920 (left) 1927 (right)

Wally Schang Phil. A's Catcher 1913 - 14

Heinie Groh, Reds 3b Ya gotta love that bat.

Enjoy the hobby all...

I'm Back!

2008-08-14T08:21:00.000-07:00

Just a quick note to anyone who follows my blog.

My wife, daughter and I have made it across the country safely and are in the process of settling in to our new place in Jersey. I'll try to get some new posts up in the coming days (I have a couple ideas waiting to be written) but for now, I just wanted to say hello and say....I'm Back.

I'd really like to thank everyone who checks out this blog. It means a lot to me to see that people are reading. Please keep checking back with me as I continue to spill my thoughts on this amazing hobby and email me any thoughts you may have about it as well.

I'll post again soon, 'til then --- Enjoy the hobby all!

A Great New Site

2008-07-29T00:17:00.000-07:00

This post is going to be short and sweet, but if you are into prewar baseball cards, and most likely are if you are reading this, then you have to check out this new site.

Baseball & Tobacco

Tobacco pack expert Jon Canfield has put together the most comprehensive site dedicated to the packaging that our little lovable cards came from. He has images for most of the packs that you can think of, with only the most extremely rare examples missing.

Please take a look at it and enjoy all the work Jon has done on this site. This is an amazing addition to the reference library of all prewar baseball card collectors.

Thank you Jon for all of your hardwork.

Enjoy the hobby all...

A Nice Surprise From My Wife

2008-07-28T23:50:00.000-07:00

My wife is a great woman. She is probably the only person alive who truly knows how much I love prewar baseball cards and baseball history and all of this stuff.

When I came home from work on Friday (my last day before our big move) she surprised me with a wonderful little gift. First she had gone to the post office to mail a couple of packages for me, that was a gift in itself, and second she had picked up these awesome new stamps that the post office has issued.

These things are so cool! They are the post offices way of celebrating the 100th anniversary of Jack Norworth's "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" song.

My first thought was, "Wow, these really have a nice authentic 19th century look to them". And then, while checking out one of my usual hobby message boards, I came across a post by a very knowledgable member with a most amazing revelation...

The image IS an authentic 19th century picture.

Fantastic! I'm telling you people, I will never cease to be amazed by the people in this hobby.

Post Frequency :: Stick With Me Guys

2008-07-28T00:04:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone,

I just wanted to say a little something to anyone who checks out my blog from time to time. I wish I could post more regularly for you, I really do, and I hate excuses myself, but I really just haven't found enough time to give you new material all the time. I know, that's pretty lame, but it's true.

Part of it because I have been working six days a week for the last year and half and going to school at night for the past 2 years. Another part is my wonderful two and half year old daughter. She is wonderful, and she takes precedent over any hobby.

That said, I try to find some time to post as often as I can, and I hope that those of who enjoy my blog will stick with me as I continue grow with it and continue to follow my journey in this wonderful hobby. I promise that I will make every effort to continue to update as often as I can and I will try not to throw a bunch of fluff at you just to have an update. I try to post interesting material when I do update.

Now, my family and I will be moving from wine country California to beautiful central New Jersey, the same place that I grew up in. I'm very excited about this, my wife a bit less so, but she is warming up to the idea. This will obviously put a slight crimp in my plans to post more often, at least for the time being as we move.

I have a couple posts in the pipeline right now and will have them both published by tomorrow night for you, but then my next update will not be for a couple of weeks. Please check back with me after that and keep coming back. And please, let me know if there is anything you would like to see me post about; collector spotlights, specific sets, whatever you can think of is great.

Anyway, thank you so much for all of you who visit me here. I really enjoy doing this and hope that you do to.

Enjoy the hobby everyone, it's a great one...

Obaks and the Purple Stamps

2008-07-18T21:07:00.000-07:00

Obaks are a wonderful little group of tobacco cards that were produced between 1909 and 1911 and they represent players from the Pacific Coast League and the Northwestern League.

They are known for having some extremely beautiful and colorful images on them. However, I wanted to talk a bit about something on the backs of many of them. It appears to be very common for a 1910 Obak to have a purple ink stamp on the back. Sometimes these stamps are actually legible, but most of the time I have found them to be more of an ink blotch that an actual stamp.

What are these stamps from? I'm sure there are stamps on Obaks that are not purple, and may be something specific, but the vast majority of the stamps I see on them are this exact color purple. In the image above there seems to be a 7 at the top left. Is that the beginning of a date stamp? I seem to remember seeing date stamps in this purple color, but I also seem to remember an actual name stamped as well.

Sometimes the stamp is barely there too. The example on the left has the purple ink on it, but it looks like nothing in particular. If someone were stamping the backs of their cards for some reason, wouldn't they want it to actually be a decent stamp? This stamp is pointless. It just defaces the back of the card.

I know that when these cards were issued, and even into the 1960's, collecting baseball cards wasn't a big hobby. People didn't care what condition their cards were in like they do now with grading and flipping and the whole investment side of the hobby. But why would someone just ink up the back of Obaks?

Was it just one person with a purple stamp? Was it done at the printer's factory? Was it one collector's way of labelling his own cards? And why do they show up on the 1910 series more than the other two? The 1909's are so rare, maybe they just weren't as plentiful back then, and therefore our purple stamp afficianado may not have collected them. But if he was so into the 1910's that he wanted to stamp them all, why not continue with the 1911 series when they came out?

Have you ever noticed these stamps? Do you know what they are or can you give me any insight into them at all? Do you have one that is very legible to share with me? Let me see it, send me a scan.

Here's a few more to see. Click on them to see the larger images.

Click on "comments" below to leave me a comment please.

Enjoy the hobby all...

Huggins & Scott :: Cobb Star Player w/ Barker Stamp

2008-07-09T09:36:00.000-07:00

What's in a name?

Everyone has one, and everyone knows someone elses, but no one knows them all. If you share an interest with others, then chances are pretty good that you will both know many of the same names, even if you don't actually know the people.

Baseball fans all know the name Babe Ruth, however they don't all know the name Snake Wiltse (Hooks' brother who also had some major league experience). Similarly, in our wonderful hobby, most people, whether vintage or modern collector, know the name Al Rosen (it's forced on us all), but not everyone knows Charles "Buck" Barker.

Buck was a hobby pioneer and he gave us all more than we can imagine. He worked with Jefferson Burdick, the father of the American Card Catalog (ACC), in the infancy of the hobby. He helped identify and catalog card issues and, in fact, recalled that none of the other editors of the ACC contributed to the "R" and "W" sections of the ACC, but that he compiled them and Burdick made corrections.

In the Huggins & Scott Auction closing tonight and tomorrow night, there is a card that once belonged to Mr. Barker. We know this because he politely stamped his name and address on the reverse of the card. He did this quite often as cards from his collection do show up out of the shadows for sale once in a while.

As you can see in the image, the stamp is very clear and complete. Now, it's not just that this is a card with Buck's stamp on it, although I think that is awesome enough by itself. No, this is significant because this is not some ordinary card.

This card is a particularly rare 1928 Star Player Candy card of Ty Cobb. This is a card depicting Cobb in his final season as a ball player when he was playing for the A's. The description offered by Huggins & Scott suggested that this card is "perhaps also the scarcest of all Cobb cardboard relics".

The description goes on to say, "A hobby mystery for decades, exceptionally few examples of any card from this uncatalogued series have surfaced". What I find odd is that the series was uncatalogued while Buck Barker had one in his collection. I have to assume he acquired it after the final printing of the ACC.

I know I'm not the only one who appreciates this card for the fact that Barker once owned it. There are several people out there who, in addition to collecting cards, also collect ephemera such as correspondence from hobby pioneers like Burdick and Barker. This card is currently sitting with 27 bids at $5,500.00 and the bidding stops at 11:30pm tonight. Let's see where it ends.

I love this hobby...

Pics of the Week - slight change

2008-07-09T09:22:00.000-07:00

What was I thinking? A post every week of just pics? It would be a great idea of I posted every day and the pics were mixed in with a bunch of other posts, but let's be honest here, I don't post every day. Don't get me wrong, I'd be happy to post that often, however I just don't have the time right now to devote to posting.

With my average post coming once a week, my blog would turn into a big prewar-pic love fest. (Not that there's anything wrong with that) But that's not what my blog is all about.

So, we'll have a Pics of the Month post instead. And I'll try to make it an enjoyable monthly feature with some great images. I'd still like to hear from you, so please let me know what pics you'd like to see and I'll do my best to please.

Anyway, sorry for the momentary lapse of reason and I'll work on not letting that happen too often.

Enjoy the hobby all...

Pics of the Week

2008-07-07T10:20:00.000-07:00

Here is a new idea for the blog everyone. I'm going to put up a few pics related to the players and times (and the game of course) that are depicted on the cards we love.

Each week, I will pick a few images that I find on the web and share them with whoever is checking back with me here. I love these old photos of baseball back when it was all about the game, not the money or endorsements. Back when Ty Cobb would hide the ball in his pants after a dirt cloud slide into third, and while everyone was looking for it he would race home for a run. Back when Fred Merkle forgot to touch second and Johnny Evers knew it.

So without further adieu, I present the first Pics of the Week...

April 23, 1915, League Park, Cleveland, Joe Jackson sliding, Jimmy Austin is playing 3B, George Hildebrand is Umpire

Tris Speaker, September 28, 1912

One of my favorite players - Hal ChaseHal Chase, N.Y. Highlanders 1B - 1911

What a character this guy was...Rube Waddell, St. Louis Browns' P, 1908-09

Please feel free to let me know if there is any player you would like to see a picture of and I will try to accomodate you. I hope this is a well received idea and I hope the people that I am borrowing images from don't mind. None of the images are mine, so I'm certainly not taking credit for them.

Enjoy the hobby all...

T206 Magie on eBay

2008-06-26T17:11:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-20T09:47:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-10T22:06:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-09T09:31:00.001-07:00

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?

2008-06-02T21:39:00.000-07:00

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....

W553's - Good eyes guys

2008-05-21T23:32:00.000-07:00

Well, I don't have pic (and I'm still upset with myself for not saving one), but a nice little scrapbook was sold on eBay this evening and inside were 10 very nice looking, and quite rare, W553's. Included were Frisch, Goslin, O'Doul, Simmons, Gehrig, Ruth, Cochrane, Grove, Grimes and Hornsby. Could you ask for a better 10?

With only 15 subjects currently catalogued, this is a significant new addition to the hobby. These cards are all, arguably more rare than the super awesome coolest of cool T206 Wagner. (read with some sarcasm obviously, but still true)

I had a snipe on this lot too, by the way. The biggest snipe I have ever placed on a lot on eBay and it didn't even register. The lot sold for $1,683.09. The seller's last 50 or so lots averaged about $5 - 10, so this might have dropped them to the floor when the ending came and all the snipes finally hit.

At first I was a bit dissapointed that I didn't even come close to the lottery here. But as I thought about a little more, I was just happy that I had seen these cards, knew what they were, and knew that there was a gem to be had this night. And I am now pleasantly content knowing that there were others who saw them, but they just had bigger pockets.

Once again, another reason I love this hobby. These little moments of excitement are hard to beat sometimes. Enjoy the hobby everyone.

Recent Pick-Ups

2008-05-04T17:58:00.000-07:00

Here are a few cards that I have recently picked up...

I've always wanted this card because of the colors and the period cather's equipment, escpecially the mask. It always seems to sell for a premium since it is a 150 only series card and so many people want it. I was able to pick this one up for a wonderful price due to big paperloss of the reverse. But the front is a stunner in my opinion.

I have just started to pick up some Batter Ups and I really like them a lot. I always thought they were much larger than they really are. They are actually small cards. I like the many different poses and the different player selection of this set due to the different time period. They are from 1934 - 36. Here is the Cramer example.

Here is another horizontal card for my collection. I love horizontal cards and have just recently put the 6 card T206 subset together. This one is an E92 Dockman Davis.

And the final pick up for this post is a T213-2 Coupon card. This set is a tough one to complete. I'm pretty sure that this set will take off in the future. HOFers are already selling for big money, but I don't think there is as many people actively working on the set for the other cards to be worth what I think they should be worth. I try to pick these up whenever I can get one for cheap. This one was very inexpensive because it is a skinned example. You wouldn't know it by looking at the front though, and it looks great on the front. Condition isn't that big of deal for me.

That's it for know folks. I have some more stuff coming in the mail in the next couple weeks, so I'll have another Recent Pick-Up post pretty soon.

Enjoy the hobby everyone, it's a good one.

T206 Frank Chance Printer's Scrap

2008-04-29T13:10:00.000-07:00

Printer's scraps are one of the many wonderful parts of the T206 phenomenon. Many collectors actively seek out these "mistakes", or "garbage" if you will. I mean, let's face it, these were never meant to be enjoyed by anyone when the printers were messing around and testing printing plates, or color passes or whatever. They were trash. And for some reason, someone at the printing factory decided to keep them.

I, personally, find them fascinating. It's too bad for me that they usually sell for quite a bit more than I can afford to pay.

Here is a very interesting example that recently sold on eBay. I was watching this card because I wanted to see what it was going to sell for in the end. I took into consideration the following things:

1. It is a Hall of Famer.

2. It is a popular card of said HOFer.

3. The card didn't make it to the final printing pass where the name, team caption would have been added.

4. There are not one, but two Cycle ad backs stamped on the front of the card.

5. One of the Cycle ads is printed backwards. (This is more likely the result of another sheet with Cycle backs being placed on top of this while the ink was still wet, called a 'wet sheet transfer')

Taking this into consideration, I was guessing it would sell for $300 - $400. I was a little surprised when it ended at $525.99 after 20 bids. That just goes to show you that these cards get a lot of action and when it's an important card thats involved, even in this condition, it will bring some good money.

In keeping with the topic of Printer's Scrap, I thought I would share a few pictures of other examples. I don't own any of these, they are just images that I have borrowed from various places.

These examples show the same cards, just repositioned in the second image to show how the back printing matches up suggesting that these cards were layed out in this manner on the uncut sheet that was being used by the printer to test his presses. I'm not sure why the sheet would then be cut into actual cards after that though.

This final example is perhaps my favorite back printing freak so far. This is the back of another card that has not only been printed with several other back advertisements, but also has a ghost image of Hall of Fame hurler Cy Young.

Take a close look at this mess of ink. There is an off center Piedmont back printed on it, resulting in a "four corners" style misprint. There is also the El Principe de Gales back printed both upside down and rightside up. Then the sheet went through for another printing with the Brown Old Mill southern league back, upside down. And the Cy Young image has the yellow process background layer printed. Now, if you turn the card around, you'll notice there is also another yellow process background that has been printed, only I can't confirm the player. I don't think it is Young though.

So this sheet went through the printer at least 4 times just for the ads to be printed. The Ghost image could be the result of a wet sheet transfer, but I like to think it was actually run through the printer and it was meant to be printed on the actual sheet.

The funny thing is that the other side of this card is a normally printed Southern Leaguer Mullaney, Jacksonville.

If you have scans of any other really amazing printer's scrap, please email them to me. I'd be interested in seeing them and I would post them in my blog if it's okay with you.

The Beckett T206 Wagner

2008-04-23T20:38:00.000-07:00

The Beckett Wagner is just one of 546 new T206's to enter the hobby from a new find that came from a non-collector who had inherited the cards years ago.

The Wagner, along with the other cards from the find, are currently up for sale in the Robert Edward Auctions Spring auction. I have to agree with REA when they state that this is a very attractive low grade example of this hobby gem. I have a particular soft spot for cards that are beat up pretty good. I like to know that they were enjoyed long ago, that someone handled them and showed to friends, carried them around with them, had a bunch of them in a box and they all got banged up over the years.

This card is a great beater as far as I'm concerned. It has evenly rounded corners and even some creasing and a bit of paperloss, but the image is bold and vibrant with a great background color. Even Hans' rosy cheeks are clear in this image.

We all know this is the "Holy Grail" of baseball cards and that it has legendary status, and most people outside the hobby (I assume) attribute this to the rarity of the card. There are, however, a great deal of cards that are more rare that the T206 Honus Wagner card. In fact, there are many Wagner cards that are more rare than this one. But, this Wagner is from the greatest of pre-war baseball card sets; the T206 White Border set. I am not trying to argue that this is not a rare card though. People have different opinions about how to define "rare" when talking about baseball cards. But with around 50 examples estimated to exist of this card, let's call it rare for now.

In the not so distant past this card would bring headlines when it would become available for sale. The Gretzky/McNall Wagner would get national headlines (okay, maybe not headlines, but at least national coverage) when it came up for sale each time. But right now, as I type this, there are TWO of them up for auction at the same time! Simply amazing! The example pictured above is being sold in the Robert Edward Auctions Spring 2008 Auction and the second example, an SGC10 example, is being sold in the Heritage Auction.

But wait, this gets better. The uncataloged Joe Jackson card pictured to the left is quite rare as well. In fact, in Mastro Auctions, Inc. current auction catalog they say that "just two examples, in total, are known to exist". I would say that is pretty rare. This example is the exact one that Mastro is offering up right now.

Well, if in fact there are only two examples known to exist then you can see them both right now. The other one is currently for sale in the same REA auction mentioned above. Regarding the card's rarity, REA says in their catalog that the one they are offering is "the only example of this card we have ever seen".

This is amazing folks. This is one of the things that I love about this hobby. Most people can not afford the T206 Wagner, and a lot of people can not afford one of the Joe Jacksons here, but we can all enjoy them because of these auction houses and the internet.

I have no idea what this Jackson will end up at when the bidding ends, but we all know it will be nowhere near either of the two Wagners being offered. And I don't think that is a surprise to anybody. I guess rarity isn't the only thing that puts value on a card.

I, for one, am very interested to see where the hammer falls with these four cards. Not to mention all the other amazing items in these auctions. There are even three T206 Magie Errors being offered just in REA alone. And Heritage has three of the four biggies from the T206 set, Wagner, Plank and Magie.

Enjoy the hobby everyone. It really is a wonderful place to spend some time.

Barry Halper Auction 1999

2008-04-18T22:56:00.000-07:00

I just recently picked up the auction catalog for the Barry Halper sale that Sotheby's had in 1999. I have read about Barry's collection, and have seen several pieces from it in the past, but I never saw the catalog and had no idea what was actually in the auction. I was so curious to finally see the details of the auction, so when I got the catalogs (yes, there are two of them because his collection was so massive) I was very excited.

If you have never seen what this man had in his collection, then you must get a hold of these catalogs and spend some time browsing them. His collection seriously rivaled that of the Baseball Hall of Fame. He had some very important baseball memorabilia.

It wasn't just the cards that have me in awe either, although he did have many great cards. It was the game used items, the personal items of the greats of the game, the shear scope of the collection that floored me.

Remember George Brett's pine tar game? Barry had the actual ball that Brett hit for the home run, the uniform he was wearing, and even the actuall pine tar bat. George did, however, ask Barry for the bat to be returned and he replaced it with another bat that had been used to hit three homeruns in a 1978 AL playoff game against the Yanks. Remember Bill Buckner in 1986? Barry had Bill's glove and shoes from that historic moment. Ever hear of Cy Young? Yeah, Barry had one of his game used jerseys. And what about Cap Anson? You remember, waaaaaay back in the day? Yup, one of his jerseys was in Barry's collection also.

I could go on and on with all the crazy stuff he had. It must have been so amazing to sit in his collection room and just look around at everything in sight. Someday I would like to have an office in my house that is home to the many pieces that I have collected in my life. Luckily for me, my wife wants me to have this room also. Isn't she great.

Barry Halper - 12/03/39 - 12/18/05

Kards for Kids Project - Part 1

2008-04-11T17:17:00.000-07:00

Recently, a very generous offer was made on a Vintage Baseball Card forum that I am a member of. Hundreds of sets of 1983 and 1984 Indy Car racing driver cards were offered free to anyone who would agree to pass them along into the hands of kids. When I read the initial offer, I jumped at the chance to do what I could. Well, yesterday I received 50 lbs. of cards from UPS.

I’ll be searching for children’s charities in my county in Northern California to whom the cards will be donated. There are so many sets that I am hoping to find a few different places that will benefit from them. When I find some good organizations, I will post some more info.

I hope some kids will get a smile out of these cards.

Pictured is an example of the Mario Andretti card from the 1984 Set.

And so it begins....

2008-04-10T12:20:00.000-07:00

Here's to hoping that I can keep this thing going and let anyone who cares follow my love of the wonderful hobby of collecting vintage (prewar mostly) baseball cards and it's related items. I'm planning on making this a place to post my recent pick-ups, talk about items that I would really like to own, showcase items that are up for auction that I think are very special. Basically anything that is related to early baseball cards and the history of the game.

I'm also getting more and more interested in the history of baseball in Jersey City, NJ. Particularly the Jersey City Skeeters of the Eastern and International Leagues. I'll be writing about this topic as well as I learn more of their history.

I have my collection currently online using a geocities free website and I've placed a link to it on the right side of my blog if you'd like to check it out. I may be changing it from geocities to another provider with more customizable options in the near future, so please check it out again from time to time.

I hope you enjoy following my love of this hobby as I continue to grow my collection and knowledge of not only the cards, but also the game of Baseball. Over the last 10 years or so, I have become increasingly more passionate about these things. I know there are a lot of others out there that are just as passionate, and even more so, than myself. I'd be happy to meet other collectors, so please feel free to drop me a line, leave a comment, or whatever.

Thanks for taking the time to share my passion.