Hobby Library

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

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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.

The Worst Football Cards?

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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!

The Favorite Cards From The 1991 Topps Baseball Set By The Readers Of Topps Magazine

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I’ve shared this photo of “The Topps 10” 1991 Topps baseball cards before, and I’ll do it again because the photography in this set is top-notch; some say it’s the best of any Topps set ever.

I may not order them the same way the readers of Topps Magazine did since I think the image of Cecil Fielder barrelling toward Carlton Fisk is a true classic, but that’s ok.

In addition to these ten, you could argue for the inclusion of many others, like the Sandberg or Ripken record-breaker cards, any of the White Sox cards with the 1917 throwback uniforms, some of the great landscape shots like Shane Mack’s, or portraits like Mariano Duncan. And lastly, let’s remember this fellow, Chipper Jones!

1952 Bowman Baseball Original Artwork, Proofs, And Retouched Cards

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Today, a piece of Bowman history I learned from the Spring 1982 edition of Baseball Cards – The Complete Sports Collectors’ Magazine. The initial artwork of Willard Ramsdell for his 1952 Bowman card showcased him as a member of the Reds. However, a trade to the Cubs for Frank Hiller on January 3, 1952, prompted a retouching of the artwork before the set’s release.

In the Fall of 2014, Robert Edward Auctions sold the original artwork for $2700.

When I shared the cards on Twitter, Keith Olbermann added, “Same for Cliff Mapes. The first proof has him in a browns uniform. Second has him in Detroit (and it’s 1953 sized). Issued card has him with Detroit.” He also shared this photo.

Check out The Original Artwork Archive for more!

1956 Topps Baseball Uncut Promotional Sheets

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I shared a pair of 1956 Topps baseball 110-card uncut sheets a little while ago. Well, according to an article and this photo from the Spring 1982 issue of Baseball Cards, Topps also used uncut sheets as store promotional items. Has anyone seen another photo/item like this one?

The article said, “The descriptive advertising poster was pasted in the center of the uncut sheet to hype the sale of ’56 cards.” The author also argued that although the ‘poster’ proclaimed everything in 1956 was the biggest, he contended that the cards were the same size, had similar stars, and were only second in series/set size.

Check out The Uncut Sheet Archive for more!

Complete Topps World Series Card Guide

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“The 111 World Series cards Topps included in its regular sets from 1960-1981 are not only nostalgic treasures but also increasingly valuable collectibles.” Topps Magazine Fall 1990 – Edition 4.

Do you have a favorite among these? Mine is the 1964 Topps #136 World Series Game 1 Koufax Strikes Out 15.

A close second would be the 1971 Topps #332 World Series Celebration! I love those black borders.

Joe DiMaggio Autographed Limited Edition John Martin Collectors Print

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If you attended the Kansas City Sports Collectors Convention in August 1981, you had the chance to pick up a Joe DiMaggio autographed collectors print done by John Martin. Here’s an ad for it from Trader Speaks.

You can read that Martin limited the number of 18′ x 24” prints to 325 and signed them, along with DiMaggio. Autographed prints were $75, while unsigned copies were $60 at the convention.

I tracked down this copy, numbered 35/325, on the website Everything But The House, where it sold for just $91 in September 2017 (most prints by Martin sell for a couple hundred dollars these days).