DiMaggio and Williams in their most historic seasons. Pee Wee’s rookie card. Foxx. Hubbell. Ott. Gomez. The 1941 Play Ball set is one that has been popular with collectors for decades. This month, one set is being broken up and offered as the Burls Sports Vintage Set Break of the Month.
A total of 72 slots—one for each card—are now available at BurlsSports.com.
The most valuable cards in the set have been graded by SGC with Williams at 40, DiMaggio at SGC 30 and Reese grading 55. The remainder of the set is mostly in VG to VG-EX condition, with some of the cards grading EX.
The idea for a vintage set break is pretty straightforward. A vintage set is made available by a seller and collectors can then buy a slot (or more) for a set price. Once all slots have been sold (one for each card in the set), a random drawing is done by computer (usually via Randomizer.com), the break is presented live online and the cards are then distributed by mail. The card(s) you receive are determined by the luck of the draw. With every card sold, no one gets ‘skunked’. Everyone who purchased a slot will receive a card.
The price for a slot in the 1941 Play Ball set break is $40.
“The really neat thing about this set is that because of its small size, the chances of landing a Hall of Famer are about one in five,” said Burls Sports’ owner Justin Burleson.
Last month, Burls launched the Vintage Set Break of the Month with a mid-grade 1954 Topps set. Eighty different collectors purchased $9 spots and Burleson said of the 30 people who have responded to a survey afterward, 97% indicated they would participate again.
The ’54 set included several iconic rookie cards. Collector Robert Pellegrino drew the Hank Aaron rookie, James Ferguson scored the Ernie Banks, and John Eppstein landed the Al Kaline.
Vintage set breaks are an outgrowth of the increasingly popular online case and box breaks for current card products.
The broadcast of the set break will take place on Burls Sports Ustream channel (http://ustream.tv/channel/burlssports), with the date to be announced about 7-10 days after all slots have been sold.
About every 30 days, Burls Sports will announce a new set and we’ll provide a link where you can sign up and participate.