Vintage Sports Cards – Baseball – Basketball – Football – Hockey
Only a few complete 24-stamp sets of 1938 Signal Oil Oakland Oaks Stamps are known to the hobby, including this one, which was auctioned off in December 2005.
The 24 Pacific Coast League player stamps in this lot were each mounted in their original album.
The collection’s album has a big scuff on the left side, but the stamps were described as in excellent to near-mint condition.
Here’s George Woodruff’s portrait of Ted Williams that Fleer used as the photo on the box and wrapper of their 1959 set!
Mastro sold the 8” x 10” portrait in July 1998.
And yes, Topps used the same picture on the Splendid Splinter’s 1954 (#250), 1955, and 1956 Topps cards.
In terms of dating the photo, Memory Lane Inc. sold a Type 1 example for $1,501.20 in October 2017 and estimated the issue date right after Williams’ return from his final 1953 Korean War stint.
Back in 2011, at the National Sports Collectors Convention in Chicago, IL, Topps held an auction exclusively for VIP ticket holders on Wednesday, August 3, at 2:30 PM. It featured “10 magnificent TOPPS items direct from the Vault!”
One of the items was this 1957-58 Topps basketball card Bill Russell canceled paycheck.
Here’s how they described it: “Direct from Topps legendary vault, comes Hall of Famer Bill Russell’s very first Topps basketball card cancelled paycheck. Mr. Russell was the key card in the celebrated 1957-1958 Topps basketball card set. The 1957-58 Topps basketball card set was the first basketball card set issued by Topps and is the most important of the three major basketball sets issued prior to 1969 (the other two are Bowman’s 1948 set and Fleer’s 1961 set). The reverse is endorsed by Mr. Russell, in bold black ink. Overall condition is very-good-plus. PSA/DNA Certified Authentic. A Topps Vault certificate of authenticity accompanies this one-of-a-kind piece of Topps hoops history.”
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.
Here’s a super cool item from Guernsey’s Mickey Mantle Auction in December 2003: A 1953 New York Yankees team photograph inscribed by Mickey Mantle.
It’s got player autographs in the border beneath the image and two signatures of Mickey Mantle. One over his image, and the other following an inscription he wrote: “One of the all time Great teams in Yankee history. Five straight world championships-Mickey Mantle”
Here’s the cover of the auction catalog.
The 1991 Upper Deck Denny’s Grand Slam Hologram cards were so popular that the partners doubled down on the promotion the following year with this awesome teaser ad that I pulled from the August 1992 edition of Baseball Cards Magazine.
Denny’s then ran this ad the next month, showcasing the cards.
Denny’s partnered with Upper Deck for six total releases (1991-1995) before switching to Pinnacle for their 1996 and 1997 sets.
This ultra-scarce complete 1970/71 Topps Hockey wax box, with all the packs authenticated by GAI was offered for sale in August 2004.
The box was described as VG with minor surface abrasions on the unpunched lid and packs with the following grades: Mint 9: 2 packs; Nm-Mt+ 8.5: 9 packs; Nm-Mt 8: 10 packs; Nm+: 3 packs.
If you’re in the vintage unopened hobby niche, you know how tough hockey items are to find. The PSA Pop Report currently shows 29 graded 1970 Topps hockey packs, and I suspect many of them are cross-overs from this GAI lot.
Regarding pricing, BBCE Auctions sold this PSA 8 wax pack for $2225 in November 2023.
