John

1935 R321 Goudey 4-in-1 Uncut Sheet of 6 cards

by

An item you won’t see often, this one from Mastro’s December 2002 catalog, “a very scarce 6-1/2’’ x 7-3/4’’ final process uncut sheet that contains six 1935 Goudey cards on the front and a complete puzzle-back photo of Chuck Klein on the reverse.”

They wrote that the sheet was in VG condition with a tear near the upper left corner and a stain in the lower right.

The sheet features Dickey, Lazzeri, Ruffing, Vance, Traynor, and Ott.

The major auction houses have moved a few other R321 sheets over the years; Heritage sold this one with Foxx, Dean, and six other HoFers in November 2014 for $2868. 

Heritage also sold a panel with Babe Ruth and nine other HoFers in November 2014 for $4063.

And REA sold this twelve-card sheet (with the Detroit Tigers team on the back) for $8,812 in the spring of 2008.

1953 Bowman Color #33 Pee Wee Reese PSA 10

by

Collectors often describe the 1953 Bowman Color Pee Wee Reese as one of the prettiest cards ever made. And there’s just a single Gem Mt 10 in PSA’s Pop Report. I ran across it in a Mastro Fine Sports Auctions catalog from May 2000.

Would this card be a “10” today? Who knows? Judging the card’s condition from a small catalog photo is tough. But they wrote that the card has a very faint rough cut along the top and bottom edges and said the image is centered at 55/45.

1967 Topps “Who Am I” Unopened Wax Box

by

I shared a nifty 1967 Topps Who Am I Proof Paul McCartney card the other day; on the same page of the auction (two lots later) was one of the remaining unopened boxes!

It remains a pricey box; REA sold one for $5925 in their Spring 2013 catalog.

More recently, BBCE offered this one on their site, which they authenticated, for $29k.

For completeness, here’s a wax wrapper.

Circa 1940’s Tommy Henrich Wheaties Advertisement

by

Tommy Henrich spent his entire MLB career with the Yankees, and this circa 1940s Wheaties ad shows him in his Yankee uniform along with a cartoon and cereal box. It was offered in a September 2000 auction.

It was described as being in Ex condition, framed and matted, and 21’’ x  11’’ in size.

If you have more information about this “Breakfast of Champions” piece, please leave a comment.

The December 1981 New York 1 Show Featuring Mickey Mantle and Duke Snider

by

I ran across this advertisement for “The Largest Show Ever Held in New York” in the December 1981 issue of Trader Speaks.

Mickey Mantle and Duke Snider were probably decent draws to a show offering free admission! And they appeared on both days of the show.

I’m curious about which items made up the display of the hobby’s ten most valuable cards. If you know, drop a comment. By the way, many collectors used to order from Gelman’s catalogs. Unfortunately, I don’t have any of them in the Hobby Library to share yet.

1967 Topps Who Am I Proof Of Paul McCartney

by

I ran across this 1967 Topps “Who Am I?”-style test proof card of Paul McCartney in Mastro’s American Premier Catalog Auction that featured the “Topps West Coast Archive.”

You can see that GAI graded the card as Mint 9 and added the “1st Graded” notation. Goldin sold another McCartney proof card with a “1st Graded” notation in January 2021 for $540, but curiously, it’s graded NM-MT 8. I suppose there are subtle differences in the quote block (like the Fred Newman cards pictured below).

The set’s checklist ended up at 44, but Topps did a lot of experimenting. In the spring of 2017, REA sold an uncut sheet of the test issue for $1680. In the description, they wrote, “Presented on this sheet are twelve cards (printed twice) which were not included in the final production of the set, and were created by Topps specifically as test proof cards. These twelve cards never saw public distribution, and were produced utilizing materials for internal use only, as a test design concept for a set that was, of course, fully executed.”

Notice the 1967 Topps Baseball cards?

The sheet features Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, two different poses of Lyndon B. Johnson (one as Senator and one as President), Robert Vaughn, David McCallum, Bob Bruce, Dean Chance, Al Dark, Jimmie Hall, Lee Elia, and Fred Newman.

REA has also sold a handful of GAI-graded proof cards with the same GAI notations as the McCartney and a pair in Topps Vault cases.

The Worst Football Cards?

by

The February 1993 issue of Baseball Cards feature called Readers’ Choice not only had a reader call (incorrectly, IMHO) the 1951 Bowman Paul Richards card the worst baseball card of all time, but it also featured this gem from Dan Tisdale about a pair of 1974 Topps football cards.

Here’s each card in full color. What do you think? Are these the worst football cards? Lineman didn’t get the love from Topps in the ’70s!

×