Wednesday, July 3, 2024

Vintage star cards roundup

Here's a Greg Morris lot that was very oddball-heavy. Lots of Venezuelan cards. '64 and '68 have very different backs. '66s are just kind of greyer on the front and redder on the back. Other highlights include two Babe Ruth subset cards. There's my first '53 Bowman B&W (Stu Miller). Two '61 Fleer cards of men in suits. The Ford Frick card mentions that MLB headquarters were in the RCA Building in New York. It is now known as "30 Rock" (30 Rockefeller Center). That year Frick got a lot of attention due to Roger Maris's asterisk.

The prior week saw slimmer pickings, though I did knock off another big name for my 1970 Topps booklets. Now just need Gibson and Mays. Occasionally I bid on a cheap football card, and I did that week. The Ditka had a lot of gum stuck to it that I was able to get off by scratching lightly, it looks better not than it did when I took the photo.
I bid more than I usually would for a lower-tier HOFer (no offense to Ashburn, a fine player who doesn't seem to have a strong market for his cards). However, this was one of a kind as someone wrote what appears to be a 1954-style phone number on the side. Even though the dash is in the wrong place I assume that's what it is. Bonus points for a great view of Manhattan apartment buildings outside of the Polo Grounds.
Vintage Stan Musial card for two bucks, great deal at any condition.
Happy to add another vintage Aaron for about $10.
Even better was a '61 Mays at that price. The ghouls all come out when a star dies, thinking there will suddenly be a big market for their cards. They overestimate how much collectors will overpay immediately after a death, leading to a temporary oversaturation of the market. I think that's why this one was so cheap.

 

2 comments:

  1. I wonder if it's the non-collectors who end up paying big money for cards of athletes (especially legends) who recently pass away. Like you state... most of us wouldn't fall for that. But a non-collector who just wants a cool card or autograph of a favorite player from their childhood might.

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  2. The Ditka and Olsen are cool. I somewhat recently found a copy of that Musial at the local antique mall for fifty cents. Pretty good shape too.

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