John

The Hobby’s Biggest Scam

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I jokingly shared a scan of the May 1993 issue of Sports Cards (former Baseball Cards) magazine and tagged Dr. Sports Antagonist, who wrote, “Coincidence that “scam”, “profits” and “investments” are all on the same cover?”

Another collector then asked what the hobby’s biggest scam was. After some folks made guesses, I shared Steve Ryan’s article about refurbished cards and memorabilia having become the hobby’s biggest scam.

As Junk Wax Heroes replied, the entire article proves, “Time is a flat circle, so many times I see stuff in old Becketts that still goes on today.”

4 Of The 5 PSA Graded T206 Lenox Cigarettes Fred Payne Cards

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Here’s a T206 Lenox Cigarettes Fred Payne card that was offered for sale back in 1993.  

It was a part of Sotheby’s Important Baseball Cards and Sports Memorabilia auction catalog from March 1993. They described it as “one of the scarcest backs in exceptional near mint condition” and gave it an estimated final price of $500-600.

I’ve dabbled in T206 collecting in the past, but never very seriously. PSA says the extremely rare backs in the set belong to Drum, Lenox, and Uzit (the Ty Cobb back is the ultra rarity). Looking in their Pop Report, there are just five copies of Fred Payne’s Lenox-backed card: a PSA 5, a PSA 2, a PSA 1, and two graded PSA Authentic. 

I did some research and came across four of them.

PWCC sold the PSA 5 for $5160 in October 2023. It’s the same example that Sotheby’s sold. 

By the way, REA previously sold the PSA 5 for $3900 in the Spring of 2016. They also sold the PSA 1 copy in September 2021 for $2040.

Heritage has sold the nicer authentic copy twice: first, in June 2021, for $1500, and then, in May 2024, for just $630.

Heritage also sold the authentic altered copy for $666 in May 2023.

1948/49 Leaf Premiums Complete Set, Advertising Cards, Display Box, And Wrapper

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This incredible lot of nine 1948/49 Leaf Premiums, advertising cards, a display box, and wrapper were offered together in December 2004.

The way Mastro kicked off their description, bashing the base set, is pretty funny, “Universally, hobbyists agree that Leaf’s baseball card program of 1948 was an embarrassing debacle. By current standards, the issue is brightly popular due only to all the production’s unfortunate nuances. However, just a few of today’s best-tutored collectors are aware that there was a premium card supplement then available as well.”

Anyway, they explained that Leaf put one of the 5-1/2” x 7-1/4” pictures inside at the bottom of each counter box and that whoever bought the last pack would get the premium. Or, a collector with ten wrappers could also get a premium. 

The premiums in this lot were described as being in pretty great shape: Grover Alexander (EX+), Cochrane (EX), Gehrig (EX+), Walter Johnson (NM), Mathewson (EX+), McGraw (NM), Babe Ruth (NM), and Ed Walsh (NM). The instructions describing how to get premiums was NM, the advertising card was EX, the Ruth Variation was VG/EX, the wrapper NM, and the two-piece box was VG-VG/EX with some corner wear and a puncture.

1958-59 Boston Celtics Team Autographed Poster

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This incredible 1958-59 Boston Celtics Team Autographed Poster was offered in Sotheby’s Important Baseball Cards and Sports Memorabilia auction in June 2005. It included all 11 players from the NBA Champion team, plus coach Red Auerbach and trainer Buddy LeRoux.

The 1958-59 Celtics swept the Minneapolis Lakers in the 1959 NBA Finals, then known as the NBA World Championship Series, and kicked off the Celtics streak of eight straight titles between 1959 and 1966.

The Near mint to mint-conditioned image was described as 20” x 24” in size and with flawless signatures by Bill Russell, Bob Cousy, Sam Jones, and Bill Sharman. It came with an LOA from PSA/DNA.

I found the following example of the same picture, but without the text beneath the image showing, on eBay (June 2004) for just under $3k, accompanied by an LOA from Beckett. The autographs are in slightly different locations for each player, so it’s a unique piece.

Cal Ripken Signing His 1992 Donruss Elite Signature Series Cards

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I’ve seen a few photos of Cal Ripken Jr. signing his 1992 Donruss Elite Signature Series cards over the years, but this one from Trading Cards April 1992 issue is new to me.

If you’re into this amazing card from the golden era of baseball autograph inserts, be sure to check out my previous post that highlighted a 1992 Donruss Elite Series Advertisement. And I may be working on something else related to this era of cards…

1969/70 Topps Basketball Uncut Sheets

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When this 1969/70 Topps basketball uncut sheet was auctioned off in April/May 2008, it was one of only two known examples to the hobby. 

The sheet is approximately 28” x 42” and features the entire 99-card set in a 9 x 11 arrangement. The sheet’s overall quality was described as ~Ex because of wrinkles affecting many of the single subjects (like Alcindor), creases, tears, and other faults. This consignor originally acquired the sheet from the Topps Vault.

From his archives, I know that Christopher Sanchirico once, or still, owns this example of a 1969 Topps basketball uncut sheet.

And then, just a few months ago, in February 2024, Heritage auctioned off this example of a 1969 Topps basketball uncut sheet, which sold for $216k despite a few pinholes and wrinkles from being rolled up for most of its existence. 

The Frank Nagy 1909-11 T206 Honus Wagner

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Here’s the Frank Nagy 1909-11 T206 Honus Wagner as presented in MastroNet’s Sporst Auctions of Distinction in December 2005. GAI noted the card’s lineage on the reverse flip.

The card’s description in the catalog was pretty fluffy, which I’m not sure is ever really needed for cards of this magnitude. It sold for $456,057.

In a 2007 article about Nagy, Sports Collectors Digest shared that Nagy got the Wagner from Preston Orem in the early 1960s for $100. The T206Resource and net54 board members report that the card is now slabbed via SGC at a 1/2 grade lower of 3.

To add a bit of “Hobby Library” flair to this post, Nagy featured the card on the cover of the November-December 1962 issue of The Sport Hobbyist.

I wonder if a copy of that magazine was included when Nagy’s Personal Collection of Hobby Publications was auctioned off.

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