Mr. Mint Alan Rosen’s Find II

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In my post about Seven 1954 Bowman Unopened Five-Cent Wax Packs, I mentioned that they originated from the famous Paris, Tennesse, find, which I said I would detail in a future post. Well, here’s a look back at Mr. Mint’s Find II of unopened material.

First, a “find” is when old trading cards surface with significant value that few collectors know about. And usually, those finds have a great story related to them. Alan Rosen used those stories to grow his brand (before branding was a thing in the hobby) through advertising and word of mouth.

Alan Rosen – The Buying Machine – Advertisement

Mr. Mint’s Find II was his >$400k 1954 and 1955 unopened box find from 1987 in Paris, Tennessee. Thanks to the Wayback Machine, I pulled the following screen capture from Mr. Mint’s old website, describing the Find II as having over 500 unopened boxes of 1954 and 1955 Topps and Bowman baseball cards. Plus, an additional 250+ boxes of 1954 and 1955 Bowman football unopened boxes, along with some 1955 Bowman baseball sets (I’ve read they were all missing Charles King’s card, who lived in Paris, TN).

Mr. Mint’s Major Finds via the Wayback Machine

In a November 20, 1987 advertisement, Rosen also wrote that he was called to the deal by three Paris, Tennessee collector/dealers who came across the find in the basement of a former candy wholesaler. Many boxes were ruined by bugs and thrown away, and about a third were water-damaged (some vintage packs on the market from this find show brown stains on the wrapper). 

Alan Rosen’s The Find II Advertisement

You can see from the advertisement that he was selling:

  • 1954 Bowman baseball 5-cent packs for $125 and boxes for $2500. 
  • 1955 Bowman baseball 5-cent packs for $150 and boxes for $3000.
  • 1955 Topps baseball 5-cent packs for $200 and boxes for $3500.
  • 1954 Bowman football 5-cent packs for $20 and boxes for $425
  • 1954 Bowman football 1-cent packs for $10 and boxes for $1000.

Many of these products were bought and ripped to complete sets; indeed, many high-grade cards in today’s graded market came from this find. But the prices have skyrocketed for those who managed to hang on to the unopened products. Here are a few recent sales:

  • A 1954 Bowman baseball 5-cent wax pack graded PSA 8 sold for $4200 in the fall of 2021
  • A 1955 Bowman Baseball 5-cent wax pack graded PSA 7 sold for $4680 in the Fall of 2021
  • A 1955 Bowman Baseball 5-cent wax pack graded PSA 8 sold for $7200 in the Fall of 2021
  • A 1955 Topps Baseball 5-cent wax pack graded PSA 5 sold for $36000 in the Spring of 2022, yes, $36k. REA wrote that it almost certainly originated from the 1987 Paris find.
  • An empty 1955 Topps baseball 5-cent box sold for $1620 in the Summer of 2020
  • A 1954 Bowman Football 5-cent wax pack graded PSA 8 sold for $1740 in the Summer of 2020
  • A 1954 Bowman Football 1-cent wax pack graded PSA 8 sold for $420 in the Summer of 2020
  • A 1954 Bowman Football 5-cent wax box sold for $46800 in July 2020
  • A 1954 Bowman Football 1-cent wax box sold for $32400 in May 2020

It’s almost impossible to put a current market value at what a find like this one would go for today; the market saturation would be so incredible that if I found it, I would probably try to keep it a secret. 

You might think that most cards have already been “found,” but that isn’t true. We keep reading announcements about previously privately held collections, so keep your eyes open and happy collecting!

The Start Of An Era – The 1951 Topps Red Back And Blue Backs Baseball Cards

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Some folks will say the 1952 Topps set was the company’s first baseball card release because the 51s were more of a “game,” ignoring the baseball cards that were part of the 1948 Topps Magic Photos set.

Whatever you believe, this article from the second edition of Topps Magazine is an excellent primer to Topps’ early baseball card days.

1913 T200 Fatima Premium Of The Cleveland Americans Including Joe Jackson

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The 1913 T200 Fatima Team cards are popular and pricey, but even those prices get dwarfed by the premiums! REA offered this framed copy of the Cleveland Americans (Joe Jackson) at auction in July 2000.

REA wrote:

This large team photograph of the Cleveland Americans was issued as a special premium by Fatima Cigarettes. The Cleveland Americans are considered by many to be the most desirable in this series as this team includes Joe Jackson (standing second from left). T200 premiums, which are giant versions of the T200 Fatima team cards packaged with Fatima cigarettes, feature team photos on thick cardboard mounts and are ideal for display. These large premium team cards are among the rarest of all baseball tobacco issues, and were available only by mail in exchange for forty coupons which were included (one per pack) with Fatima cigarettes. This Cleveland Americans premium was the prize (both in terms of the team and condition) of a find of eight T200 Fatima premiums which surfaced and were sold at auction in June of 1998. Strong Nr/Mt condition with flawless contrast. Beautifully matted and framed. 11 3/4″ x 19 1/2″

More recently, REA sold and re-sold the following example for $18,800 in the spring of 2010 and $29,625 in the spring of 2012.

Also, it looks like someone got a pretty good deal when they picked up this mounted example in the fall of 2018 for “just” $6,000.

The Charlton Hockey Card Price Guide

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I love finding advertisements for items I have in the Hobby Library; here’s one such piece from Allan Kaye’s Sports Cards News & Price Guides April 1992 edition for the massive, 1000+ page Charlton Hockey Card Price Guide.

The advertisement mentioned the release of their third edition, but the photo is of the second, so I’m going to take that as “close enough.” Here’s the cover of my “hobby used” copy.

There certainly aren’t as many hockey guides as baseball ones in the hobby, so the fact that this one is so extensive makes it a must-have for collectors; look at the vastness of the table of contents.

A highlight for me is that the book contains more than sets; there are pieces related to card grading and counterfeits.

You also get a few nostalgic ads within the book; not much was “limited” in the early 90s concerning production.

Keeping the scans in numerical order, here’s an example of how they described counterfeits.

Of course, most of the book is the price guide; here’s how they showed those: the price movement chart was a nice touch.

The Charlton Hickey Card Price Guide also includes an excellent player checklist.

And here’s the back cover.

1953 Topps #207 Whitey Ford Original Artwork

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I ran across the original color artwork used for Whitey Ford’s 1953 Topps baseball card while flipping through Sotheby’s February 1992 Important Baseball Cards and Sports Memorabilia Catalog. It represented a quick flip from its sale in Guernsey’s 1989 Topps Auction.

First, Sotheby’s included few details, just that it was a full-color original artwork and that the lot included an example card in near-mint to mint condition. They described the original artwork as being 3 1/2 by 5 in.

But like I said, Sotheby’s wasn’t the first auction house to offer this Topps original artwork. It was first made available to the hobby in Guernsey’s Topps Auction in 1989, along with the original full-color paintings of Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle, Bob Feller, Jackie Robinson, and Roy Campanella’s 1953 Topps baseball cards.

Guernseys included cropped color photos of all six art pieces in the front (page 17) of the catalog; here’s a scan of the Ford.

The specific auction lots were found later in the catalog. Ford shared page 72 with Jackie Robinson. Notice the expected $2,000-3000 price.

The Ford did a little better than that; it sold for $35,200. Interestingly, less than three years later, Sotheby’s expected the Ford to be sold for only $20,000-25,000.

To round things out, here’s the original news photograph from the early 1950s that inspired Ford’s 1953 (and 1954) Topps baseball card. Heritage sold this PSA/DNA Type 1 example for $1,920 in November 2017.

“Early” Basketball Card Prices In 1992

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This advertisement from Trading Cards magazine in February 1992 is pretty darn interesting for its listing of “older” Fleer and Topps basketball sets. What item would you most like to time travel back for?

When looking at this, I had to step back from the fact that the company behind this ad is called National Sportscard “Investments” and that 1989 Fleer in 1992 was considered “older.” That is three years, but 1961 Fleer basketball would be an “older” set to me.

Anywho, here are some “nostalgic” prices that stood out:

  • 1986 Fleer basketball set w/ stickers for $799.95
  • 1986 Fleer basketball Michael Jordan Mint card for $399.95
  • 1980/81 Topps basketball wax pack for $24.95
  • 1985/86 Star basketball Michael Jordan $1,495

Happy collecting!

1990 Sportflics/Score Nolan Ryan 11th National Sports Collectors Convention Card

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The 1990 National Sports Collectors Convention was held in Arlington, Texas, so Optigraphics (the owner of Score and Sprotflics) produced a special Nolan Ryan promo card that they distributed to folks who toured their manufacturing facility the week of the show.

I came across the card for the first time a few weeks ago while flipping through Christie’s East October 1993 Sports Memorabilia Catalog.

During the 1990 National Sport Collectors Convention in Arlington Texas, Score Inc., a major baseball manufacturer produced only 500 special cards of Nolan Ryan for distribution to attendees who toured their manufacturing facility. About 250 people availed themselves of the opportunity and. to their delight, were presented with one of these cards, the rarest issue of a Ryan card. Of the remaining 250 cards, 100 were given to Nolan Ryan and the rest to charities. The reverse of the card has a 3-D like motion image of Ryan pitching.

Christie’s

I noticed that Christie’s expected the card to sell for $600-800. The price seemed high to me, and when I checked eBay, I ran across the Beckett 9.5 graded example pictured above, with a Buy It Now price of $200. BaseballCardPedia’s card synopsis covers more of the card’s history and addresses the price drop.

To commemorate the 11th Annual National Sports Collectors Convention taking place in their hometown of Arlington, Texas, Optigraphics (the parent company of Score and Sportflics) produced a special Sportflics card of Nolan Ryan. The front of the card is lenticular and features a reprint of Ryan’s 1990 Sportflics card. The back is a reprint of Ryan’s 1990 Score card, with the logo of the NSCC.

Only 600 copies of the card were produced with Optigraphics giving Mr. Ryan the first 100. Approximately 300 cards were given out to those who took a tour of Optigraphics’ facilities the week of The National with the remainder given to various charities in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area.

At the NSCC itself, Score/Sportflics held a press conference where Mr. Ryan personally destroyed the press plates.

During the NSCC, this promo card was regularly selling for $1000 to $1500 with a sale of $3000 confirmed by the Chicago Sun-Times. Professionally graded copies (Gem Mint or better) regularly sell for a tenth of that now.

BaseballCardPedia

BaseballCardPedia and Christies disagree about how many Ryan promo cards Opitgraphics printed, 600 vs. 500, and how many they gave out where. Beckett’s card description appears to align with BaseballCardPedia; however, they might have just referenced each other.

This standard-size card was issued by Optigraphics (producer of Score and Sportflics) to commemorate the 11th National Sports Card Collectors Convention held in Arlington, Texas in July of 1990. This card featured a Score front similar to the Ryan 1990 Score highlight card except for the 11th National Convention Logo on the bottom right of the card. On the other side a Ryan Sportflics card was printed that stated (reflected) either Sportflics or 1990 National Sports Collectors Convention on the bottom of the card. This issue was limited to a printing of 600 cards with Ryan himself destroying the printing plates. 

Beckett

Now, it turns out REA attempted to sell (their site says unsold) a 1990 Nolan Ryan Score/Sportflics Signed Baseball Card Display in the spring of 2007. 

Given the source material in the display, I suspect REA has the best data; here’s what they had to say:

This one-of-a-kind Nolan Ryan signed item is the actual printing plate used to create the specially produced limited-edition 1990 Score/Sportflics Nolan Ryan baseball card that was issued in conjunction with the 1990 National Collectors Convention. The printing of that special card, of which only 600 were ever produced, was done by Optigraphics, a card manufacturing company located in Grand Prairie, Texas. The card was made as a special promotion and was only distributed to members of the 1990 National Collectors Convention who participated in a special tour of the company. The card featured Ryan on both the front and reverse, with the front and back displaying, respectively, the images used on that year’s Score and Sportflics baseball cards of Ryan. The typography on the card makes special note of the 1990 National Collectors convention. Barry Halper was a part-owner of Score and Sportflics at the time and was personally involved in working with Ryan and arranging for the production of this card. The plate, which was destroyed by Ryan at the plant, has been inscribed to Barry in blue Sharpie, “Sorry you can’t reproduce these. Nice job with the card. Your Friend Nolan Ryan 4/28/92.” Ryan destroyed the metal plate by cutting through the card images with large shears, thus insuring that they could never be reproduced. The sheet measures 24 x 28.5 inches and has been beautifully decorated with photos and articles commemorating the event. Attached to the sheet are five small color photos of Ryan, taken on that day, including photographs of him cutting the sheet, touring the factory with Barry Halper, and holding the specialcard. Also included in the display are two cut newspaper articles covering the event as well as two examples of the card (one showing the front, the other the reverse). The sheet, in turn, has been mounted and framed to a total dimension of 30 x 34 inches. From the Barry Halper Collection. LOA from James Spence/JSA.

REA

There are obviously a few subtle differences between the promo and base cards; here’s a regular 1990 Sportflics Nolan Ryan card:

You can see that the promo card only used the front, with the key difference being the text area under Ryan’s action shots, which highlights the “1990 National Sports Collectors Convention” on the promo.

And here’s the 1990 Score Nolan Ryan card:

The big differences are that the promo card replaced the “1989 Highlight Texas Rangers” logo with one for The National in Arlington, added MLBPA and MLB logos, and added Score’s copyright information under Nolan Ryan’s name. The copyright information implies that the Score side is the back of the promo card, and Sportflics is the front.

One last thing: if you want a PSA-graded sample, they’ve graded 54 of these Nolan Ryan promo cards, including 19 Gem Mint 10s.