Collectors of baseball cards striking out

[TheShadowKnows]

I think you guys missed it.I PAID 300 DOLLARS FOR AN AF15 IN 5.0! I think I made a pretty good investment choice on that one.

I paid 100 for my 4.5.Im old just like you.

[oakman29]

I think you guys missed it.I PAID 300 DOLLARS FOR AN AF15 IN 5.0! I think I made a pretty good investment choice on that one.

I paid 100 for my 4.5.Im old just like you.

Yay for us old folks,Holla!

[BitterOldMan]

Regarding the Honus that just sold for 2.2 can you give more details on that sale?

Also which Mantle are you referring to that sold for 1.1?

Thanks

 

1951 Bowman Mantle Gem Mint sold for $600k

 

1951 Bowman Mantle $600K

 

Gretzky Wagner sold for $2.8 million, but not by Wayne.

 

Wagner $2.8 million

 

 

[TheShadowKnows]

Regarding the Honus that just sold for 2.2 can you give more details on that sale?

Also which Mantle are you referring to that sold for 1.1?

Thanks

This was the McNall one it was a 8.0 nm/m.It recently sold for 2.2 million iirc

The Mickey Mantle sold years ago for 1.1 million.It was bought by a trucker origionally for 100k.He loved the card.A one of a kind 1951 Bowman psa 10.He held it for many years before selling it at auction.

[bababooey]

+ 1 on the Bobby Orr card but I'd prefer the O-Pee-Chee version

 

There is no OPC version. OPC didn't officially start producing sets until the '68 season. The Topps version is actually printed in Canada and is the most common. There is a Topps USA "test issue" version that is much more rarer than the regular Topps and commands a premium, but I'd much rather have the regular version.

So the regular Topps made by O-Pee-Chee has French & the Topps USA test is English only. Have I got that right?

[TheShadowKnows]

Regarding the Honus that just sold for 2.2 can you give more details on that sale?

Also which Mantle are you referring to that sold for 1.1?

Thanks

 

Im pretty sure the Honus (Gretzky card) sold for $2.8 million. Unless it sold again for less, but i never read that.

 

That is correct it did sell for $2.8 million. Someone posted it just sold for 2.2 I was wondering if that was another sale or were they speaking of the $2.8 million sale?

How did I miss the sell for 2.8

The card sold more than once in a year.

[supapimp]

Another honus is up for auction, expected to fetch $1.2M. Read it today on si.com.

[lizards2]

Dude I haven't seen you post in months and you return to talk about baseball cards! Take it to the water cooler.

And it seems like you are a regular chatty Cathy now. You have more posts than I do

I just wish you'd post about a real sport, and not one equivalent to bowling. John Candy sitting on a cooler full of beer while smoking a cigarette reminds me of the athletic prowess involved....,

[cbcnow]

Regarding the Honus that just sold for 2.2 can you give more details on that sale?

Also which Mantle are you referring to that sold for 1.1?

Thanks

This was the McNall one it was a 8.0 nm/m.It recently sold for 2.2 million iirc

The Mickey Mantle sold years ago for 1.1 million.It was bought by a trucker origionally for 100k.He loved the card.A one of a kind 1951 Bowman psa 10.He held it for many years before selling it at auction.

 

Thank you BidderOldMan and Hooker for the info!

[TheShadowKnows]

Regarding the Honus that just sold for 2.2 can you give more details on that sale?

Also which Mantle are you referring to that sold for 1.1?

Thanks

This was the McNall one it was a 8.0 nm/m.It recently sold for 2.2 million iirc

The Mickey Mantle sold years ago for 1.1 million.It was bought by a trucker origionally for 100k.He loved the card.A one of a kind 1951 Bowman psa 10.He held it for many years before selling it at auction.

 

Thank you BidderOldMan and Hooker for the info!

(thumbs u

[originalisbest]

The only sports card I ever kept.My 1954 Mantle.

 

Oakman, not to rain on your pictured '54 Bowman Mantle, but you recognize it as a reprint I hope?

 

Like Jeff, I love pre-'75 Baseball and likely always will. Eh, collect what you like. And as for SGC, which used to be a part of the Collectors' Society but is obviously not any longer, whatever happened to them that the split occurred? Jeff, do you happen to know?

[MasterChief]

There are some comparisons that come out of that, but for the most part it's still apples to oranges. I do see that happening over the longer term, but comics aren't nearly as abundant as cards and have more appeal than just nostalgia.

 

+1

 

The news piece was dead-on about the baseball card hobby. I was a huge collector back in the 70s and 80s, and then got back in during the early 2000s. I soon recognized that the hobby was not the same, for many of the same reasons identified in this broadcast.

 

I then got back into comics in 2003 and I'm still here. It really is apples and oranges, though there are some relevant comparisons.

I challenge all of you to pick up the book referred to in that news clip, Mint Condition, How Baseball Cards Became an American Obsession, by Dave Jamieson (2010).

 

Read that book and you'll formulate a completely different opinion. The historical events that have transpired between the two hobbies is strikingly in parallel...

 

Sounds like an interesting read, I will do so.

 

As will I.

You guys are gonna enjoy the book. It's a quick, engaging and informative read.

 

BTW...

 

As you're reading the book, I’ll bet dollars to doughnuts you'll end up thinking to yourself "Damn, replace the term 'baseball card' with 'comic book' and this book could be talking about the comic book hobby."

 

Here's a book teaser:

Mint Condition is filed to the brim with colorful characters, from a destitute hermit whose legendary–and priceless–collection resides at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, to Topp's mad genius designer who created the company's most famous card sets, and from the professional "graders" who rate cards and the "doctors" who secretly alter them to a larger-than-life memorabilia specialist whose auction house is under investigation by the FBI. A rollicking, century-spanning, and extremely entertaining history, Mint Condition is a must-read for anyone who has ever collected, flipped, or traded a card.

 

http://www.davejamieson.com/mintcondition.html

 

[oakman29]

The only sports card I ever kept.My 1954 Mantle.

 

Oakman, not to rain on your pictured '54 Bowman Mantle, but you recognize it as a reprint I hope?

 

Like Jeff, I love pre-'75 Baseball and likely always will. Eh, collect what you like. And as for SGC, which used to be a part of the Collectors' Society but is obviously not any longer, whatever happened to them that the split occurred? Jeff, do you happen to know?

Yes of course.I don't have a scanner,so I took a pic from photobucket.Not my card.

[originalisbest]

Yep, finally got to the end of the thread, I did! Thanks.

 

Anyway, would love to know how/why SGC got shunted off from the collectibles group -- they're highly regarded in terms of prewar card grading, which along with '50s cards is what interests me the most.

 

Who knows if modern phenoms like Magic and Pokemon cards will retain their impressive steam as far as the scarcer early runs going for big bucks now? I'll likely never know except as a curiosity, as they don't interest me and never have owned any.

 

Yet I enjoy collecting things that others have long cast aside as worthless, particularly stamps and some baseball cards; the advantage being that one can scratch a collecting itch for next to nothing as a result.

[Buzzetta]

Eventually it will. No matter what the nay-sayers want to believe, each year we move further away from printed media. The value of ownership over the pictures on an iPad are different with each new generation.

 

People older than me want me to believe that I must own physical copies of albums. I am happy with 23,000 songs in my iTunes library.

 

I want to believe that the next generation of kids want the comic books. The kids I come into contact with at work DO indeed have books but they would rather spend $65 on the next Call of Duty that $65 on a single comic book.

 

The collectors realm is priced above most adults. How can we expect the kids to get involved?

[Park]

Sorry if this has been said before. I watched the OP's video and my thoughts on this are that comic characters are more eternal.

 

There is only 1 spider-man, and he has been in comics for the last 50 years. The average athlete's career isn't more than 10 years.

 

Sports is a business of "what have you done for me lately." Players are VERY easily forgotten. Unless you have vintage rookies of legends expect the market to fall through very soon.

 

I was collecting a lot of Broncos and Spurs players autographed card and recently sold my entire collection on the bay because once those players retire or get traded the market for them will be gone.

 

I think the vintage comic market is much stronger, and the sports fad is much more comparable to the modern comic/ variant market.

Babe Ruth is eternal. Mickey Mantle is eternal, Sandy Koufax is eternal, Roberto Clemente is eternal. There are just as many immortals in baseball, probably more, as in comics.

I assure you, people have not forgotten about Whitey Ford, Bob Gibson, Honus Wagner, Eddie Collins, Christy Matthewson, etc.

Yes, cards do tend to take a hit after the shiny and new wear off. But what collectible in todays market doesnt?

The maxim is the same: Collect what you love, love what you collect, and if there is any money left in them then that is a bonus.

 

Big difference though is I could find some kid in the middle of any country in the world and chances are excellent that they have heard of Spider-man, Superman, Batman etc.

 

What kid in Pittsburgh has heard of Clemente? Or a kid in LA heard of Koufax? My son probably has no idea who many of these guys are. (Strangely enough, he did some report last year about Hank Greenberg. No idea where that came form.)

 

Go ask your average HS kid in anytown USA about Whitey Ford. Dollars to donuts says you will be lucky if some of them think he was the President at one time.

 

I love baseball. I know who all these guys are and I even appreciate the guys that I have never seen play but they all have a shelf life in the consciousness of the public. Most of them have passed the expiration date.

 

If I asked my son's (10 years old) class tomorrow who has heard of Iron Fist and who has heard of Sandy Koufax, I would be quite surprised if any of them have heard of Koufax. I would also say that more would have heard of a run of the mill B list Iron Fist.

But if you ask any kid in Boston and they will know who David Oritz or Dustin Pedroia are, and the same can be said in New York with Derek Jeter!

Baseball has new stars every year,while comics have the same old Spidey,Batman, and Supes every year.

 

Who said anything about Ortiz or Pedroia?

 

Stating Koufax and Clemente and Christy Mathewson are eternal in the context of anyone actually knowing who they are and increasing the collectability of their baseball cards is a non starter when compared to the public persona of Spider-man, Superman etc.

 

Bringing up Pedroia and Ortiz is, I want to say a straw man, but it doesn't actually have anything to do with the conversation.

[Park]

Sorry if this has been said before. I watched the OP's video and my thoughts on this are that comic characters are more eternal.

 

There is only 1 spider-man, and he has been in comics for the last 50 years. The average athlete's career isn't more than 10 years.

 

Sports is a business of "what have you done for me lately." Players are VERY easily forgotten. Unless you have vintage rookies of legends expect the market to fall through very soon.

 

I was collecting a lot of Broncos and Spurs players autographed card and recently sold my entire collection on the bay because once those players retire or get traded the market for them will be gone.

 

I think the vintage comic market is much stronger, and the sports fad is much more comparable to the modern comic/ variant market.

Babe Ruth is eternal. Mickey Mantle is eternal, Sandy Koufax is eternal, Roberto Clemente is eternal. There are just as many immortals in baseball, probably more, as in comics.

I assure you, people have not forgotten about Whitey Ford, Bob Gibson, Honus Wagner, Eddie Collins, Christy Matthewson, etc.

Yes, cards do tend to take a hit after the shiny and new wear off. But what collectible in todays market doesnt?

The maxim is the same: Collect what you love, love what you collect, and if there is any money left in them then that is a bonus.

 

Big difference though is I could find some kid in the middle of any country in the world and chances are excellent that they have heard of Spider-man, Superman, Batman etc.

 

What kid in Pittsburgh has heard of Clemente? Or a kid in LA heard of Koufax? My son probably has no idea who many of these guys are. (Strangely enough, he did some report last year about Hank Greenberg. No idea where that came form.)

 

Go ask your average HS kid in anytown USA about Whitey Ford. Dollars to donuts says you will be lucky if some of them think he was the President at one time.

 

I love baseball. I know who all these guys are and I even appreciate the guys that I have never seen play but they all have a shelf life in the consciousness of the public. Most of them have passed the expiration date.

 

If I asked my son's (10 years old) class tomorrow who has heard of Iron Fist and who has heard of Sandy Koufax, I would be quite surprised if any of them have heard of Koufax. I would also say that more would have heard of a run of the mill B list Iron Fist.

But if you ask any kid in Boston and they will know who David Oritz or Dustin Pedroia is and the same can be said in New York with Derek Jeter!

Baseball has new stars every year,while comics have the same old Spidey,Batman, and Supes every year.

And that is who the kids are collecting! They are collecting players the same way we did when we were younger. Mike Schmidt, Dale Murphy, Andre Dawson etc.

 

Are any of these kids collecting Koufax and Clemente? A few maybe?

 

Pretty sure they aren't collecting Whitey Ford or Christy Mathewson. While they may be eternal to the hardcore baseball junkie, they are anything but to the average baseball fan and/or the man on the street.

 

Spider-man, Superman, superheroes etc. have proven to be eternal regardless of what medium they are presented in. I am not buying the latest baseball video game because it has Christy Mathewson in it.

[Park]

Sorry if this has been said before. I watched the OP's video and my thoughts on this are that comic characters are more eternal.

 

There is only 1 spider-man, and he has been in comics for the last 50 years. The average athlete's career isn't more than 10 years.

 

Sports is a business of "what have you done for me lately." Players are VERY easily forgotten. Unless you have vintage rookies of legends expect the market to fall through very soon.

 

I was collecting a lot of Broncos and Spurs players autographed card and recently sold my entire collection on the bay because once those players retire or get traded the market for them will be gone.

 

I think the vintage comic market is much stronger, and the sports fad is much more comparable to the modern comic/ variant market.

Babe Ruth is eternal. Mickey Mantle is eternal, Sandy Koufax is eternal, Roberto Clemente is eternal. There are just as many immortals in baseball, probably more, as in comics.

I assure you, people have not forgotten about Whitey Ford, Bob Gibson, Honus Wagner, Eddie Collins, Christy Matthewson, etc.

Yes, cards do tend to take a hit after the shiny and new wear off. But what collectible in todays market doesnt?

The maxim is the same: Collect what you love, love what you collect, and if there is any money left in them then that is a bonus.

 

Big difference though is I could find some kid in the middle of any country in the world and chances are excellent that they have heard of Spider-man, Superman, Batman etc.

 

What kid in Pittsburgh has heard of Clemente? Or a kid in LA heard of Koufax? My son probably has no idea who many of these guys are. (Strangely enough, he did some report last year about Hank Greenberg. No idea where that came form.)

 

Go ask your average HS kid in anytown USA about Whitey Ford. Dollars to donuts says you will be lucky if some of them think he was the President at one time.

 

I love baseball. I know who all these guys are and I even appreciate the guys that I have never seen play but they all have a shelf life in the consciousness of the public. Most of them have passed the expiration date.

 

If I asked my son's (10 years old) class tomorrow who has heard of Iron Fist and who has heard of Sandy Koufax, I would be quite surprised if any of them have heard of Koufax. I would also say that more would have heard of a run of the mill B list Iron Fist.

And those kids will have read exactly how many Spidey/Supes/Bats comics?

Edit to add:

So, they hear about those character where? I would bet good money that it isnt because they have read comics.

 

What does that have to do with anything though?

 

The conversation was about old time players being forgotten. While they may be eternal to you, the majority of baseball fans have no idea who they are. I was/am a huge baseball nut. I am having a hard time remembering who Mathewson played for. When I remember or look it up, it will pizz me off but the point is that I don't know off the top of my head. (Giants as a guess?)

 

While it may be a toss up between Spidey and say, Pujols as to recognition, there is no contest between Spidey and Koufax. Your point that they haven't heard about superheroes through comics kinda proves my point. Comic book characters can be appreciated without ever having touched a comic book. Baseball players are not developing a fan base through their cards or movies or video games.

 

 

[Park]

Yeppers. I agree. And now what Topps is doing is including a lot of the older players into their sets. Base cards of Mick, Babe, Lou Gehrig, Cy Young, Sandy etc. That will help expose the history of the game as well as get kids interested in the older cards, perhaps, as they age.

 

 

Let's hope so.

[Gatchaman]

It was a pretty poor report by CBS. That baseball card show was a hole in the wall. That`s like me going to a local comic show with a camcorder around my area and showing just a bunch of dealers set up waiting for collectors to show up. The National drew 30,000 fans last year. Sure it`s not like the heydays of the 1990`s, but what is?The quality vintage baseball cards are still in demand and mass produced cards are undesirable. If you do a completed Ebay search you will find cards like Babe Ruth,Mickey Mantle and Ted Williams constantly sell in the thousands. For every one Walking Dead modern comic that sells in the thousands there are at least 5 to 10 hot modern chase sports cards going in the thousands. Baseball set attendance records last year.Everytime I went to sold-out Fenway Park I saw thousands of young people and women rooting the Red Sox on.The best way to sum up the CBS news report is how after they said baseball card collecting was dead that they ended their piece with the news that a T-206 Wagner sold for $2.8M.

 

As someone who is active both in vintage comics and cards, I would have to agree that this was a very slanted piece of reporting and in a lot of ways very old news relative to the segment of the market it chooses to focus on. It would be like doing a report on the death of comic books and talking about the "Valiant glut" or the comic shop implosion of the early 1990s, without talking about eBay, auction houses, certification, etc. I didn't see a single graded card in the coverage. The card market has certainly changed since the early 1990s (just as the comic market has), but it is by no means dead or IMO dying.

 

Another thing to is to take in account that when cards were being produced before the 80's they rookies and star cards weren't the same as the modern "chase"/jersey/signature cards. Vintage cards will always hold their value, but as soon as one of these newer players gets injured their cards devalue. I would rather invest my $1,000 in a vintage rookie or star card than on an insert card after 1987.

 

We have to also consider that just because people are spending $100's or $1,000's of dollars on moderns today doesn't mean that they are going to hold their value later. Vintage, in most cases, has stood the test of time, while we have seen to many modern collectables lose value for some reason or another.