While the card show inside Fanatics Fest in New York may have leaned a bit heavier toward modern cards, box breaks and the like, one of the best items at the show was carried in on Friday—an 89-year-old rarity that’s become one of the hobby’s best new discoveries of the year.`
It started with a recent social media post seen by a Long Island man as he sat in his vehicle in the middle of his work day. The owner of an electrical services company, “Robert” had arrived at a jobsite about ten minutes ahead of schedule.
“Nine out of ten times, I’d probably ring the doorbell. This time I decided to sit in my truck and browse the Facebook Marketplace,” he explained to Leighton Sheldon of New Jersey-based Just Collect, which had a booth at the show. It turned out to be a fortuitous move.
“I found somebody selling an old vintage trunk filled with vintage sports magazines.”
The $75 asking price seemed like a good deal for a box with old publications so after wrapping up his electrical work, he made the ten-minute drive to the seller’s home.
The trunk had belonged to an elderly friend of the Facebook seller. The original owner had died about 20 years ago at the age of 95 and the trunk wound up with the Facebook seller who had been holding onto it ever since.
The publications dated back many decades but when Robert and his wife got home and began sifting through the stacks of items, they uncovered a true baseball card rarity: a 12-card uncut sheet of 1935 Goudey 4-in-1 baseball cards—with Babe Ruth.
The ’35 Goudey set was printed as a “puzzle back” set and the reverse of the newly discovered sheet contains a full team photo of the 1934 American League pennant winning Detroit Tigers. It’s one of nine different puzzles Goudey created for the backs of its cards.
Some puzzles could be completed with six cards while others—like the Tigers one that adored the back of this sheet—had 12 cards.
Others included:
Chuck Klein
Frankie Frisch
Mickey Cochrane
Joe Cronin
Jimmy Foxx
Al Simmons
Cleveland Indians
Washington Senators
Not surprisingly, the sheet does have some corner and edge wear but is otherwise in good condition. The card featuring Ruth and three 1935 Boston Red Sox teammates is along the right edge.
Uncut sheets from Goudey’s 1933-1935 sets do exist, but are exceptionally rare. An online search for a similar 1935 Goudey 12-card sheet with Ruth comes up empty.
A Long Island dealer offered Robert $5,000. He wisely turned it down and made his way to Fanatics Fest Friday and told his story to an incredulous Sheldon, standing behind the company’s booth in the card show area of the massive Javits Center.
“It was very special,” Sheldon told SC Daily. “I knew how important the item was as soon as I saw it. I was holding an epic piece of baseball card history in my hands. I love great stories and the background behind this was incredible.”
A deal for $35,000 was quickly struck. Just Collect then brokered the sheet to Robert Edward Auctions, which had a willing buyer waiting.
That’s not the end of the tale, though. The trunk also held a second 1935 uncut sheet with Just Collect working to find a new home for that one as well.
And yes, it’s just like the first one, with the final bubble gum card from Ruth’s playing days now out of the old trunk and ready to become a star attraction in someone’s collection.
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