Collecting pre-war cards is generally a challenging pursuit. Often, these cards are more than 100 years old and are difficult to track down. And even in the cases where cards are plentiful, it can still mean an expensive activity. Adding to the difficulty in assembling pre-war sets are shortprinted cards. These shortprints are even rarer than the regular cards and can make … [Read more...]
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Value of The Top 20 Baseball Cards in 1989 Will Have You Drooling
If you had money to invest 30 years ago, you could have put it in any number of places, depending on your willingness to take on a risk or two. The stock market. Real estate. Precious metals. You may have been the subject of much derision if you had opted to put at least some of it in baseball cards, but it wouldn’t have been a bad idea, as long as it wasn't 1989 … [Read more...]
Baseball History on Display at NSCC
They weren’t for sale, but several valuable pieces of sports memorabilia and high-end cards had a museum-like showcase at the National Sports Collectors Convention. SGC gathered them together and created a display in the corporate area, complete with glass showcases for each and video displays telling the story of the player and the memorabilia. Security guards were … [Read more...]
T206 Big Four Stand the Test of Time
The 1909-11 T206 white border set is arguably the most famous baseball card issue of all time. Driven by massive popularity, it's a set that has been widely pursued by collectors for more than a century. Among the 524 known cards, four stand out among the rest. To the hobby, these are known simply as 'The Big Four.' Honus Wagner T206 The biggest of the big is the easily … [Read more...]
Honus Photo Brings Big Bucks; Brady Back on Panini; New Badlands Card Shop
One of a few surviving images of Carl Horner's early 20th century photo you see on the world's most recognizable trading card sold for $38,789 early Sunday. RMY Auctions offered the 3 1/2" x 4 3/4" photo in its July auction. Carrying a 1912 file stamp date on the back but produced a few years earlier, it is considered the second finest example of its kind. … [Read more...]
Original Carl Horner Image of Honus Wagner Hits Auction Block
You’re familiar with the artwork that became the most famous baseball card ever made, but what about the photograph? A few original images of Honus Wagner produced inside Carl Horner’s Boston studio in 1903 have survived to this day and one of them is on the auction block where bidders are already circling. The 3 ½ x 4 ¾” image of Wagner, dressed in his buttoned-up … [Read more...]
Only a Matter of Time Before Honus Wagner T206 Record Challenged
It's hard to believe but we'll soon be at the two-year mark of when a Honus Wagner T206 card sold for a record $3.12 million. The specific Wagner that achieved that mark is nicknamed as the 'Jumbo' Wagner because of its oversized bottom border. But despite the fact that the record has stood until now, it's likely only a matter of time before it is broken. Long-term, there … [Read more...]
Hall of Fame Plans Permanent Baseball Card Exhibit
The Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is planning a large, permanent exhibit focused on the history of baseball cards and they’re asking for donations to make it happen. The museum has raised $675,000 of the $800,000 needed to design and build ‘Shoebox Treasures,’ which would open sometime next year. According to museum officials, the exhibit will take a … [Read more...]
Notes: “The Missus Wants to Burn Them”; Stanton’s 1st Pinstripe Sells; Wagner Goes Poof; Collector Casting Call
North American sports fans don’t have a monopoly on collecting stuff that spills from one room to the next. “The Missus Wants to Burn Them All” screamed the headline in the Daily Mirror of London over the weekend. Their story was on a man who owns hundreds of thousands of football (soccer) programs—so many he’s had to find creative places to store them. From … [Read more...]
Record Price for Mint 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle
One of the six 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle cards graded PSA 9 (mint) has a new owner--at a new record price. Late Thursday night, the card offered through Heritage Auctions sold for $2.88 million including the buyer's premium. It's the most ever paid for a post-World War II trading card. Owned for about two years by collector/dealer/former NFL lineman Evan Mathis, … [Read more...]
