John

1976 Topps Football Cello Cases

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I thought some of you might enjoy reading about this motherload of 1976 Topps Football Cello cases that REA auctioned off in July 2000 (the auction with eBay that presented ‘The Wagner Card’).

At the top, you can see that the three lots included five full unopened cello cases, four full cello boxes, 43 cello packs, and ~2,000 loose cards. And as mentioned, 1976 Topps has Walter Payton’s rookie card!

More recently, BBCE had a case with one of the same product code (same case?) at the National in 2015 and one with wrapped boxes ($110k) at the 2018 National.

These days, BBCE-authenticated 1976 Topps Football Cello Boxes sell for $10-15k.

Check out The Unopened Archive for more!

1978 Topps Baseball Vending Boxes And Cases

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Set building was a much bigger part of the hobby in the late 1970s and early 1980s. That really stood out when I was flipping through the January 1978 issue of The Trader Speaks and saw how ads for 1978 Topps Baseball Vending Boxes/Cases were written.

Before we go through each of the four ads, a couple of things: first, there was no mention of wax or cello products, and second, these were pre-sales with expected delivery in March/Early April.

The first ad related to 1978 Topps was an early bird special from Stephen Garrihy.

First, he targeted set builders directly, offering one, two, or three. Then, he offered 500 ct boxes (vending) for $6.50 for one, $11.50 for two, and $6.00 for each additional. You could also order a case of 24 boxes for $94.00. What’s interesting is the offer of ten free cards for folks who bought two boxes to fill in missing numbers within a set build.

The second ad was from Okey Blankenship.

He also first offered complete sets and then single vending boxes, as well as vending cases for sale.

Edward Mathewson chronologically had the third 1978 Topps baseball ad in the ‘zine. He offered a similar missing card offer for collectors who ordered two vending boxes.

The final ad was from G. S. Gallery. They offered one, two, or three vending boxes with a guaranteed 726 card set.

They also offered credits toward future purchases, ‘vinyl see-through pages,’ and a ‘1978 Baseball Yearbook’ for sale.

By the way, here’s what 1978 Topps Baseball Vending Boxes (~$3k these days) and Cases look like.

Check out The Unopened Archive for more!

1978 Beckett Price Survey Update

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I shared Dr. Jim Beckett’s first price survey results a few weeks ago. Well, the following year, he kicked off an update with the following bit of hobby history that I scanned from the January 1978 issue of The Trader Speaks: Dr. Jim Beckett’s Price Survey Update!

David Kathman on the net54 boards pointed out that SCD published the 1978 survey update results in their July 15, 1978, issue, with an abbreviated version in the 1978 edition of the Sport Americana Baseball Card Checklist book. I believe The Trader Speaks published the updated results in their April 1978 issue; I just don’t happen to have that one in the Hobby Library to be able to include a scan.

Then, in 1979, Beckett’s first price guide book, The 1979 Sport Americana Baseball Card Price Guide, was published with the help of Dennis Eckes.

The rest is history!

1982 Union Oil Dodger Player Portraits

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Marc Sarchet highlighted the incredible 1982 Union Oil Dodger Player Portraits in the March 1983 issue of The Trader Speaks with some information that seems to have been lost to the modern (digital) hobby. So, I’ve decided to highlight the set on my site.

Beckett includes the following information about the 26-card set on its website:

Artist Nicholas Volpe drew members of the Dodgers for a Union Oil giveaway. These color portraits are painted in pastel; one portrait a week was given away at the stations. The cards measure 8 1/2″ x 11″ and the backs contain statistics and other biographical information. An album which contained 20 plastic sheets to hold these cards was sold by the Dodgers for $6.

So, Beckett didn’t include information about the set’s extension beyond 20, the timeline of its release, the confusion from station owners, the lag between the 20th and 21st prints, the cost of sets or 100 print boxes, or that the Dodgers sold an album to house the set; here are a few photos of it.

Neither Beckett nor Sarchet mentioned that Volpe also painted fantastic Dodgers sets in 1962 and 1969. Also, elsewhere, I’ve read that the portraits were free if you bought at least 8 gallons of fuel at 76 Gas Stations.

And yes, PSA will slab these oversized portraits.

1952 Topps Baseball Advertisement

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Here’s a Hobby Libary pick-up I made at the 2024 National, a 1952 All-Star Game program.

Why? Oh, there’s an ad for a baseball card set you may have heard of in it: 1952 Topps.

PS: The NL beat the AL in the game 3-2 behind Jackie Robinson and Hank Sauer’s home runs.

Check out The Unopened Archive for more!

1941 Joe DiMaggio’s Restaurant Postcards

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One of the most colorful and unique hobby-adjacent collectibles you can add to your collection is a circa 1941 Joe DiMaggio’s Restaurant Linen postcard. I picked up this variation and its souvenir envelope for just $27.

Ron Menchine wrote a few books on baseball postcards and said, “The most famous and probably the best of the brothers who have played baseball were the DiMaggios. They grew up near the San Francisco waterfront, so it’s not surprising that they parlayed their fame and money into a popular restaurant on Fishermen’s Wharf.”

The variation with the three brothers along the top has the following specs, according to Menchine in his 1999 Baseball Postcard Collection book:

  • Publisher: Joe DiMaggio’s Restaurant, San Francisco, CA
  • Manufacturer: Curt Teich Co., Chicago, IL
  • Type: Linen
  • Postmark: Not Used
  • Value: $100-$150

The other variation of the restaurant’s postcard has two interior, an exterior, and a Joe DiMaggio picture on the front.

If you’re into graded items, PSA has graded four with interior views and seven with all the brothers, and SGC has added two of each of those copies. SGC also has two labeled as ‘Joe DiMaggio’ in their Pop Report, but I think those are old-flip three-brother combos, like the following example. I’ve also seen a Beckett slabbed postcard before.

Mickey Mantle’s Holiday Inn Matchbooks

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Folks might not know that Mickey Mantle owned a Holiday Inn hotel in Joplin, Missouri, with his friend Harold Youngman; Lodging Magazine wrote an excellent overview. The hotel opened on January 1, 1957, with a gift shop; today, souvenir items are really popular amongst Mantle collectors, including the matchbooks.

I only have the example pictured above, but essentially, there are five variations: the Diamond Match Division (PSA-graded pop of 121), The Diamond Match Division-Gold on White (PSA-graded pop of 10), Universal Match Corp (PSA-graded pop of 66), Universal Match Corp-Gold on Dark Brown (PSA-graded pop of 2), and Universal Match Corp-Yellow Background (PSA-graded pop of 16).