Hobby Library

1953 World Heavy-Weight Championship Marciano Vs. Walcott Tickets

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I ran across this ad, from Mastro of all people, in the July 1981 issue of Trader Speaks, looking to sell or trade full unused mint tickets for the world heavy-weight championship boxing match between Rocky Marciano and Jersey Joe Walcott at Chicago Stadium. 

He mentions having five different tickets, each with clear portrait photos of the boxers, for $10 each (or for trade). 

After exploring the PSA registry, it looks like Mastro was advertising a combination of phantom tickets for April 10th (white, orange, pink, and cream) and the actual fight on May 15th (blue and orange variations). Here are all the examples from Heritage Auctions.

When PSA first started grading tickets, I don’t believe they were not putting the ticket color on the slab, like the following example.

The Innovative ’80s From 3-D Cards To The Metal Gallery of Immortals

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Topps wasn’t going to acknowledge what led to them trying out some new things in their own magazine, but I think we all know the end of the Topps monopoly and competition from Donruss and Fleer drove the innovation.

Nevertheless, Pearlman’s article in Edition 9, The Winter 1992 release of Topps Magazine, provides a nice overview of some unique ’80s releases. In the comments, let me know which one’s your favorite.

St. Louis Cards Sports Collectors Club 8th Annual Spring Sports Collectors Convention

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Here’s another morsel of card show history, this one from the April 1983 edition of Trader Speaks. It’s an advertisement for the St. Lous Cards Sports Collectors Club and their 8th annual spring sports collectors convention, held May 20-22, 1983, at the Cervantes Convention Center, four blocks from Busch Stadium.

I’d love to see that Lou Brock painting in color; if anyone knows what it is, please leave a comment. I’d also love to time travel back to some of these early ’80s card shows, meet some legends of the game, check out cards before grading, and see what was popular at the time.

The Second National Sports Collectors Convention

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Bill Heitman wrote this light-hearted review of the Second National Sports Collectors Convention, held at the Plymouth Hilton in Michigan in 1981. It appeared in the September 1981 issue of Trader Speaks.

A couple of notes: I hadn’t realized the second National was a conversion of an already successful show. Second, it’s cool how tight-nit many “hobby influencers” seemed to be in 1981. Next, I wish today’s National conventions had more seminars like this one. It tracks that Mr. Tiger, Al Kaline, would be a popular signer at a Michigan card show. Bill’s closing quote is PERFECT, “If the spirit of the National Convention survives, we will all still have fun in this hobby.”

PS: The magazine was too big for my scanner, so I did my best to “glue” two scans of separate pages together; this was the “centerfold.”

The Illustrated Wrapper Checklist Compiled By Christopher Benjamin

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While you can find all of the information from The Illustrated Wrapper Checklist on TCDB or online auction house archives, Christopher Benjamin’s project was significant in 1980.

If that name sounds familiar, that’s because Benjamin was a prominent hobby writer, particularly for non-sports cards. The following ad was in Alan Kaye’s Sports Cards News & Price Guides premier issue and included the following bio, “Christopher Benjamin has published The Card Collectors Bulletin, the “original” hobby magazine. He is editor-in-chief of Non-Sports Update and has authored more than a dozen books and monographs about cards and collecting.”

The guide started with a few words to the collector, thanking them for their purchase, explaining the project, and thanking folks for their contributions.

Then, there were sequential photos of significant baseball, football, basketball, hockey (they’ve always been tough to track down), and non-sports wrappers.

I particularly like that Benjamin included a few boxes and tins on the inside back cover.

If you’re a fan of hobby publications, The Illustrated Wrapper Checklist is a must-get, just are back issues of The Wrapper which was advertised on the back cover.

Topps 40 Years Of Baseball Four Decades Of Greatness Feature

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In 1991, Topps Magazine ran a feature called Four Decades of Greatness, featuring four players in each issue, one from each of the previous four decades, who were great players and a large part of Topps baseball cards.

Here’s a list of who they included for each decade:

  • 50s: Mickey Mantle, Ted Williams, Stan Musial, Yogi Berra
  • 60s: Willie Mays, Sandy Koufax, Hank Aaron, Roberto Clemente
  • 70s: Reggie Jackson, Carl Yastrzemski, Mike Schmidt, Pete Rose
  • 80s: Nolan Ryan, Ryne Sandberg, Jose Canseco, Rickey Henderson

When I first shared these on X, one collector wrote, “Well the thing that jumps out most immediately is including Musial in the 50s, when Topps made like two cards of him in that decade. And The Man appeared on Bowman, Red Man, Red Heart, Berk Ross, and others in that time, so it’s not like he was exclusive.”

What do you think? Biggest snub? Oddest inclusion?

The Official Pete Rose 1983 Price Guide To Baseball Cards

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I was flipping through the June 1982 issue of Trader Speaks when I came across this ad for The Official Pete Rose 1983 Price Guide to Baseball Cards. It looked familiar, and that’s because I have a copy of the book in the Hobby Library!

The ad is great, and I love how they highlighted Burger King, O-Pee-Chee, SSPC, and TCMA, along with Topps, Donruss, Fleer, and Bowman.

The book is “pocket-sized” at ~4 1/4” x 5 3/4” but is jam-packed with information. Thomas E Hudgeons III edited it via The House of Collectibles Inc. To follow are a couple of scans from the book (which you can pick up for $7-8 on eBay).

I love how the card producers helped prepare the book!

Here’s the table of contents; it’s always nice when guides have something unique beyond prices and checklists, and this one has quite a bit, including some information from Pete Rose (of course).

The first sets in the guide were 1951 Topps Blue and Red Backs, followed by the 1952s.

This is the ‘Full Color Collectors Card of Rose’ highlighted on the cover.

And lastly, here’s the back cover.

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