Hobby Library

Top 75 All-Time Classic Baseball And Football Cards

by

In a ‘sort of related’ follow-up to my post the other day about the Top 25 Most Expensive Baseball Cards In 1993, are the Top 75 All-Time Classic Baseball and Football Cards In 1992.

These came from the August 1992 issue of Allan Kaye’s Sports Cards News & Price Guides (Number 9). I call it a ‘sort of related’ follow-up because I flipped through this magazine just after I flipped through the Sports Cards Magazine that had the Top 25 list; they just happened to have been published about a year apart.

I do like that the Top 75 list is organized by year; it’s already rather subjective. Unfortunately for some fans, I don’t think the 1986 Donruss Jose Canseco or 1987 Fleer Will Clark would make the cut on such a list today, nor would the 1989 Pro Set William Perry or 1990 Action Packed Jim Plunkett.

The Top 25 Most Expensive Baseball Cards In 1993

by

“For those with cash, here are the top 25 most expensive baseball cards,”…as reported in the October 1993 issue of Sports Cards Magazine.

What really stands out is that there wasn’t a single contemporary or modern card on the list (“Sorry, there are no Frank Thomas or Ken Griffey rookie cards on this list”). However, the author also pointed out there wasn’t even a Ted Williams or a Joe DiMaggio (despite their popularity in the hobby at the time). The “youngest” card was a 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle (though only 41 years old at the time), which is like including a card from 1983 on a list today.

SCD’s Minor League Baseball Card Price Guide

by

I’ve been looking for a Minor League Baseball Card reference for a while. Finally, I ran across an ad for one in a June 1993 issue of Sports Cards Magazine! There’s also a Standard Catalog of Minor League Baseball Cards out there.

I’d like to know if there are different editions; as you can see, the copy I picked up has a slightly different cover (text) than the one in the ad (2,000 sets vs. 1,900, for example).

Also, this is one of the rare examples where a book from the junk-wax era costs more than it did when it came out!

My copy is 480 pages long and begins with Dave Platta’s incredible 22-page “short” history of minor league cards. It’s a great read.

The book is arranged in two sections: pre-1970 and 1970-1992. Sets produced before 1970 are listed alphabetically, starting with the 1960 Armour Meats Denver Bears and ending with the 1950 World Wide Gum set. Sets made after 1970 follow chronologically and are arranged alphabetically by team name within each year. Upper Deck’s initial Minor League set from 1992 is the last set included.

Also, the pre-1970 sets generally include a short set history or synopsis, while the modern releases are mostly just a checklist with basic prices.

Despite the lack of detail, it’s still a fantastic piece for a hobby library, especially if you collect Minor League Baseball Cards.

A Pair Of 1983 Card Shows With Special Guest Stars

by

I ran across the following pair of advertisements for card shows in the February 1983 issue of The Trader Speaks, so I asked folks on X which they would most want to travel back to 1983 to attend.

The first was the Baseball Card & Memorabilia show at the JFK Travelodge International Hotel on January 29th, 1983, with special guest star Hank Bauer.

The second was for the Sports Memorabilia Show #5 at the Birchwood Manor in Whippany, New Jersey, held on February 26 and 27th, 1983, with special guest celebrities Carl Erskine and Jimmy Piersall.

Folks preferred the JFK show at a ratio of 7:4. However, one collector said the Bauer show was the easy choice because they got both Piersall’s and Erskine’s autos in person before.

Which show sounds the most appealing to you?

1938 O-Pee-Chee Horrors Of War Dealer Advertising Sheet

by

I found this 1938 dealer advertising sheet for the Canadian counterpart of the U.S. Gum, Incorporated 1938 Horrors of War set in Mastro’s 2004 auction catalog.

The ad sheet was part of a “Fascinating and Diverse 1930’s-1960’s Non-Sports Collection” and was described as a “Dealer Advertising Sheet; blue-on-white, no illustrations, measures 16-1/2” x 22” w/ mailing folds; text promotes upcoming HOW issue to retailers (EX/MT).”

I don’t want to dwell on the cards much, perhaps in a future post, but the basics are that while advertised as a series of 240 cards, the Canadian set fell short of O-Pee-Chee’s lofty goals. There ended up being only 72 OPC Horror of War cards, and now, because the print run was so small, the cards are really desirable and pricey.

I want to highlight the lower-left corner of the advertising sheet; you can see a call out to the May 9th, 1938 issue of Life Magazine that highlighted the set. I managed to grab a copy of the magazine off eBay for just $13.45 (including shipping)!

Page two of the magazine included the photo sources of what was to come. You can see that pages four and five have pictures credited to Gum, Inc.

Pages four and five highlighted the 1938 Horrors of War set (and true bubble-gum artists).

Here’s the full spread:

The magazine’s table of contents followed the card spread on page seven and called the features “Speaking of Pictures: Bubble Gum’s War in China.”

1934 Goudey Set With Albums

by

Mastro offered a complete set of 96 1934 Goudey cards in their November 2000 auction. That’s a cool enough set on its own, but what set the lot apart was the inclusion of the two albums Goudey produced to house the 1934 production.

The lot’s description started with a description of the set, which included 69 graded examples and two PSA 9s (#56 and #66). But to me, the albums were the lot’s crown jewel, and the auction house included quite a description of them:

Not widely known is that Goudey produced two albums to accommodate their 1934 production. They were created with the tradional colors of dark blue for the National League and red for the American League. (This is contrary to the colors reported in the 2000 edition of the S.C.D. baseball annual.) For the sake of simplicity, the album pages afford 10 designated spaces for cards per team, plus an introductory section for the league’s respective All-Star selections. All this was well-engineered as the 96 card production represented the 16 teams in excellent distribution. For each album, any open page represented one team, and the teams are sequenced in each according to their league standing from 1933. For good measure, each team’s vital statistics are profiled in an orderly format. A little secret is divulged in their pages however. The All-Star selection in each reports the game’s score for the 1934 showcase. Lead time to produce the albums the albums following the July 10th All-Star Game is tantamount to their late season appearances very likely with the sparsely distributed high numbers only. This is further supported by a one-page entry in both albums itemizing the 12 baseball quizes appearing on the last series card numbers 73 through 4. And, of course, the albums invite the reader to find the answer on cards 85 through 96. As for their condition, we may forgive the mild rusting of the staples especially on the strength of their immaculate condition otherwise. The National League album is slightly faded around the perimeter of the front cover which is mentioned here only for the benefit of accuracy. Both albums are unhandled; their pages firmly intact, and without blemish. The accomplishment of a complete set of ’34 Goudey is a mighty task in itself, but now, and here, is the opportunity to take this issue to its highest level one that includes both of its very rare albums.

The minimum bid was $9,000.

I’ve only found a few “recent” sales. REA sold this faded pair for $1,035 in the spring of 2004.

REA added that the “Albums were available by mail in exchange for a very expensive 50 wrappers each, and, according to advertising materials, some store owners also gave an album as a special prize to the youngster who bought the very last pack of 1934 Goudey baseball cards to finish the store’s display box.”

Heritage sold the following National League album for $210 in November 2021 and an internally damaged pair for $286.80 in May 2014.

Hopefully, the next time a pair comes to market, I’ll have enough money to afford them because, in 2024 or beyond, I suspect they’ll go for well over $1k.

1980 Baseball Card And Sports Memorabilia Show With Brooklyn Dodger Guests

by

One of my favorite things from back issues of The Trader Speaks is seeing all the game’s greats who were regular signers at card shows. Brooklyn’s second Baseball Card And Sports Memorabilia Show had Cal Abrams, Gene Hermanski, and Billy Loes!

The advertisement was printed in the January 1980 issue to promote the March 1980 show.

Cal Abrams represented a lot of his buddies via a company named Cal Abrams Sports Inc. Abrams, Hermanski, and Loes all played for the Dodgers together. Cal Abrams played for the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1949-1952, Hermanski played for them in 1943 and from 1943-1951, and Billy Loes was a Dodger in 1950 and from 1952-1956.

The Trader Speaks printed the following advertisement, a month earlier than the one pictured above, in December 1979.

You can see that the company also represented Clem Labine, Stan Lopata, Willard Marshall, Frank Thomas, Joe Pignatano, Carl Erskine, Sal Yvars, and Ken Raffensberger.