Vintage Pack Facts hopes to shed some light on one individual release each week in terms of the variety of packaging methods used, prices at the time, a little about the set itself and more. Topps expanded its set from 598 cards in 1966 to 609 in ’67 but youngsters wouldn’t know it until late in the year as it continued to produce cards in series that were time … [Read more...]
Minnesota Priest’s Cards Bring Strong Prices in Charity Auction
Baseball cards can pay for a lot of scholarships. If you’ve got the right ones, anyway. Father John Ubel certainly did. A lifelong collector, the rector of the Cathedral of St. Paul in Minnesota scooped up rookie cards of Jackie Robinson and Hank Aaron about a dozen years ago for several hundred dollars apiece. He was a fan, but hadn’t kept up with the … [Read more...]
7 Career-Chronicling Phil Niekro Baseball Cards
Catching knuckleball specialist Phil Niekro was an adventure. "Niekro struck out a hitter once and I never touched the ball," recalled Bob Uecker. " It hit me in the shinguard, bounced out to Clete Boyer at third base and he threw out the runner at first." "Knucksie" carved out a 24-year career baffling hitters with his fluttering tosses. Sometimes he was virtually … [Read more...]
Collecting Vintage O-Pee-Chee Mickey Mantle Cards
Mickey Mantle's baseball career was rounding third and heading for home when London, Ontario-based O-Pee-Chee began producing bubble gum cards through a new partnership with Topps. Thankfully for collectors who have enough trouble affording his American made issues, the Canadian Mantle checklist is pretty small. For just about any collector, completing a run of … [Read more...]
Cobb, Jordan, Ruth, Unopened Cards Push REA to $9.1 Million
On a night when Michael Jordan was back in the news, it wasn't surprising to see Jordan items bringing some of the biggest prices at Robert Edward Auctions, but some top pieces from icons who passed on long before MJ weren't forgotten. An autographed Jordan jersey photo-matched to wear during the 1992 Olympics set a record price for any 1990s Jordan shirt when it … [Read more...]
Notes: Another Ungraded Goudey Find
One good 1933 Goudey find deserves another. Just a couple of days after Heritage Auctions revealed the consignment of a huge lot of ungraded Goudeys including all four Babe Ruth cards and a Nap Lajoie comes word from Robert Edward Auctions of another "raw" set. No Lajoie here, but every other card in the set is included--and now off for grading. This one was put … [Read more...]
Topps Heritage 2016 Info and Checklist
Topps’ 1967 baseball card set was visually appealing and boasted the largest checklist to date (609 cards). With the hobby release of 2016 Topps Heritage Baseball scheduled for March 2, Topps is hoping to recapture the simplistic beauty of the original. The checklist is available at the bottom of the page. Ode to the Original The 1967 set was a sparkling departure in terms of … [Read more...]
Vintage Set Break of the Month: 1967 Topps Baseball
Against the backdrop of increasingly turbulent times, kids a quiet, but growing number of adult collectors could still count nickel packs of baseball cards to provide a little diversion during the spring, summer and early fall of 1967. That feeling comes back this month with the launch of the Burl’s Sports Vintage Set Break of the Month. A complete low to mid-grade set is … [Read more...]
Ramblings: Willie, Choo Choo and Horace Among 1966 Topps ‘Stars’
As anyone who has collected or dealt in mid-1960's Topps cards can verify, many of those 1966 and 1967 Topps single print high numbers are just brutal cards to acquire. We are going to do some quick hits on some of those key cards and why they were or are popular today. Let's begin with Willie Davis (#535). One of my favorite lines ever was when Bill James wrote that Davis’ … [Read more...]
1967 Topps Rod Carew PSA 10 1/1 Sells for $59,800
The only PSA 10-graded 1967 Topps Rod Carew rookie card sold on the first day it was offered in Memory Lane's latest I Own it Now sale on Thursday. The record-setting price was $52,000 plus a 15% buyer's premium which pushed the realized price to $59.800. The card was originally part of the Dmitri Young Collection which sold at auction last spring. The buyer who flipped … [Read more...]