Topps Finest Baseball released on Wednesday and one of the big hits has already been pulled. A customer at Oliver’s Sports in Wichita, Kansas unwrapped the 1/1 Shohei Ohtani Superfractor on Wednesday.
It won’t be staying in his personal collection. The card quickly made its way to eBay where it’s got a hefty Buy it Now price.
The Bowman Superfractor, which came with a big bounty from Blowout Cards has yet to surface.
It’s hard to imagine but at the last game before the 1970s renovation of Yankee Stadium, some souvenir hunting fans came to the ballpark with hand tools. One can imagine the uproar today but apparently security guards looked the other way as fans came prepared to go home with a piece of New York baseball history.
One of the items taken down that day was the “296” sign that was attached to the fence just to the left of the right field foul pole. The “short porch” was famous in its day, inviting hitters to try to poke a homer that would be an out in most ballparks. That sign went home with a man who kept it in a closet for decades. After his recent death, it was passed down to the man’s brother, who consigned it too Clean Sweep Auctions. Unsure of its value, the auction company opted to start the bidding at $200. It sold late Wednesday night for $55,344 including the buyer’s premium.
David Seideman of Forbes.com tells the tale of the sign–and shows us a couple of images from when it was in use inside the House That Ruth Built.”
Vintage cards as commodities? It’s hard to deny how well many cards have performed for those who chose to invest or simply sold collections they’ve held for years. Rick Limpert of the Tech of Sports podcast interviewed PWCC’s Brent Huigens on the topic.
You can listen below.
Dealers who set up shop in hotel rooms across the country and invite folks to bring in their collections in hopes of buying some fresh to market material and maybe make a big score, are often disappointed.
Every once in a while, though, something good happens. Michael Osacky of Baseball in the Attic is on one such trip now and told one local newspaper writer about one of his best buying days ever.
Here’s a funny story about a couple in Great Britain who have been a little low on cash and decided to draw every sticker in the Panini World Cup album. The do-it-yourself project is even better since they’re not exactly world class artists. The Daily Mirror has a story that’s worth a few minutes of your time.
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