The highest-graded T206 Honus Wagner will be among the vintage baseball cards on display this spring and summer at the Baseball Hall of Fame.
A new exhibit entitled The Ultimate Set features the collection of Ken Kendrick, long-time collector and managing general partner of the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The group of 25 cards – which will be unveiled Saturday – spans decades and represents many players. This collection demonstrates how half a century of history altered the business of baseball cards and the game itself.
The exhibit features cards from Kendrick’s collection, which he began as a child in the 1950s, including a 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle, 1954 Topps Henry Aaron, 1955 Topps Sandy Koufax and the rare 1954 Bowman Ted Williams card.
The centerpiece of Kendrick’s collection, however, is the PSA 8 T206 Honus Wagner card once owned by Wayne Gretzky. The card changed hands for $2.8 million in a private sale conducted by SCP Auctions in September of 2007.
SCP had purchased the card from Brian Siegel, who owned it for several years and displayed it at the 2006 National Sports Collectors Convention.
A 1916 Sporting News Babe Ruth rookie card will also be among the high end cards in Kendrick’s collection that will be on display in Cooperstown.
“It is an honor to have the National Baseball Hall of Fame showcase my collection of some of the most unique baseball cards in existence at the exhibit that will launch later this week,” Kendrick said. “It was always my intention to share these cards with baseball fans and what better place to do that than in Cooperstown.”
“Ken has chosen this time to share his collection with baseball fans, and we could not be more pleased and thankful,” said Hall of Fame President Jeff Idelson. “There’s no better place than the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown to feature a collection of such prestige and reverence. We are honored to share his treasures with visitors on their pilgrimage, as The Ultimate Set is the perfect multi-generational Museum exhibit.”
The exhibit is located on the Hall of Fame’s second floor adjacent to the Today’s Game exhibit.
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