Jefferson Burdick Collection at The Met in New York

 By Michael Osacky for Kovels.com

Seeing decades’ old high grade vintage baseball cards “out in the wild” is the highlight of any baseball card collector. During the opening of the “The Old Ball Game: New York Baseball, 1887-1977” exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, I viewed the Jefferson Burdick baseball card collection. On display are nearly 400 cards. These cards feature New York baseball clubs dating back to 1887. Many cards are on display for the first time.

For those who do not know, Burdick is known as the “founding father” of baseball cards. Burdick saw the pieces of cardboard as historic artifacts and not for investment purposes. He developed arthritis in his early 30s which limited his ability to perform everyday tasks. In 1947, Burdick informed The Met that he intended to donate every card and piece of memorabilia that he owned. Over the course of 15 years, from 1948 to 1963, Burdick visited the museum and painstakingly glued each card into albums and inventoried the entire collection. Burdick pasted the final card from his collection into an album at The Met on January 10, 1963. The next day he checked himself into a hospital and passed away in March 1963.  

I walked the exhibit with the curator of the exhibit, Allison Rudnick. “The joy in seeing people look at the exhibit organized around a specific theme, N.Y. baseball, is very special,” Rudnick confided in me.

There are different years, issues, and players represented in the collection on display. The first cards that jumped out to me are the Cracker Jack baseball cards. Cracker Jacks were only printed in 1914 and 1915. One card was inserted into each package of the caramel coated popcorn. The oldest and largest cards on display are the 1888 Allen & Ginter baseball cards. These cardboard relics are just as vibrant today as in 1888.

Many card collectors think the idea of bubble gum being inserted into packs of baseball cards originated from Topps in the early 1950s. Goudey Gum Company in Boston was the first to pair gum with baseball cards in 1933. There are numerous Goudey gum cards on display. The set is littered with hall of famers, including Babe Ruth. Ruth has four different cards in the set. Card #53 has a yellow background and is the most difficult to find. Rudnick did a great job of doing research and choosing exactly which cards to display for maximum impact.

A few passersby in the exhibit were very familiar with early 1950s Topps and Bowman card issues. These men remember going to the five and dime stores in the 1950s and buying the same cards that are on display. One of the men told me, “This collection reminds me of my childhood. It was so great and much more simple back then.”

This high quality exhibit is just one of the many exhibits at The Met. If you are in the New York area, stop by and see the cards yourself. Seeing the cards in person will leave you with a smile on your face and memories of yesteryear.

The Burdick exhibit titled “The Old Ball Game:  NY Baseball 1887-1977” is on display in New York through November 13, 2016. For more information, go to http://www.metmuseum.org/press/exhibitions/2016/the-old-ball-game.

 

Photos are courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York

Don’t Trim a Baseball Card

By Michael Osacky 

Trimming a card is the same thing as altering it.  The value is essentially nill.  Collectors do NOT want a trimmed card under any circumstance.  The best investment I have ever made was to buy a ten cent ruler at Target.  I know the dimensions for every baseball, football, and basketball card.  If I believe a card to be trimmed, I simply take a measurement to determine.

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, people glued their cards into scrapbooks.  That is how they stored their cards.  They would also hide the scrapbook somewhere in the home in case of a break-in.  I have seen beautiful scrapbooks today with tobacco cards glued in.  If I try and remove these cards, the entire back of the card may be removed.  Therefore, glue also impacts value negatively.

Childhood Memories Come at a Price

 By Michael Osacky for Kovels.com

A reader in last month’s column emailed me to ask about a collection of 1952 Topps baseball cards he still has from his childhood. He has fond memories of these cards growing up as a child in New Jersey.  He would take his pennies earned from delivering newspapers to the nearest Five and Dime General Store to buy packs of 1952 Topps baseball cards. Inside every penny pack was one baseball card and one stick of chewing gum. Nickel packs were also distributed nationwide that contained six cards in each pack.

The specific question asked was, “How much are my baseball cards worth?”  I get this question a lot.  Without knowing exactly what cards he has and seeing the condition, I am unable to suggest an approximate value.

The 1952 Topps baseball set is a widely collected set even today in 2016.  The set contains 407 cards and the size dimensions of the cards are 2-5/8 x 3-3/4.  These “large” cards were designed to take market share away from Bowman Baseball Card Company who previously produced much smaller cards.  Mickey Mantle’s rookie card #311 is the key card in the set.  The cards were distributed across the country in six different series (times of the year) during 1952. Cards #311-407 were printed and distributed in the fall of 1952. Unfortunately, the 1952 Topps baseball cards didn’t sell extremely well in the 1950s.  In the fall of 1959, salesman turned executive Sy Berger was shocked to learn of the massive quantities of unsold 1952 baseball cards. The executive team had been going to circuses and sideshows for years and peddling the cardboard relics. However, nobody wanted the cards. With 1960 around the corner and the need to make space for future inventory, Sy needed a plan to quickly dispose of these 1952 Topps baseball cards. Sy rented a barge, loaded up all the cards onto the barge, drove out to the Atlantic Ocean, and then dumped the cards into the water. On that fateful fall day of 1959, tens of millions of baseball cards were hurled overboard. We know there were mass amounts of Mickey Mantle rookie cards on the barge because it was printed later in the year and many of sixth series of cards never even made their way out into the marketplace. By the fall, baseball was nearly over and football was in full swing.  Additionally, the children had already spent their summer paychecks and allowances.

I am starting to see some price appreciation with this set of baseball cards from 1952. Many moms threw out these baseball cards when their sons went to college or moved out of the house. These sons are now empty nesters and looking to downsize. They have some disposable income and want to buy back their childhood memories. The cards are obviously more expensive today than in 1952 but childhood memories and experiences are priceless. 

 

 

 

 

Hidden Treasures of a Championship Chicago Bulls Collection

 By Michael Osacky for Kovels.com

As I travel across the country visiting with individuals and appraising collections, there’s always something different and unique that catches my eye. Recently, after I appeared on a radio show, I received a phone call from a woman who lived very close to where I grew up and attended high school. Her uncle was a former Chicago Bulls player during the ’90s and had received six of the championship rings that come with winning an NBA championship. The family wanted to know how much each item was valued at.

I spent an entire Saturday going through item after item, and putting a price tag on everything from a Michael Jordan signed rookie card to a gold and diamond pennant that was presented to the wives/girlfriends of the players after they won the NBA championship in 1996.

Many of the items were unique and were only obtained through the Bulls organization. Game-worn shoes, team-autographed banners, and expensive jewelry kept me on my toes throughout the process. In a few rare instances, I wasn’t immediately sure of the approximate value, so I put those items to the side and kept digging for more. As I worked, different members of the family would walk in and explain various pieces. The stories were endless. I could have stayed in the house for weeks on end, just listening to the incredible stories of what it was like to be part of the Chicago Bulls in the 1990s.

Darkness began to settle in and my time with the collection and the family was nearing its end. I asked the family what they found to be the most enjoyable part of the day. Their response? “Seeing you smile from ear to ear throughout the day.”

If you have other tips, please feel free to comment below.

 

 

Goudey Gum Baseball Cards and the Missing Card

By Michael Osacky for Kovels.com

The 1933 Goudey Baseball Card Set is widely considered by vintage baseball card enthusiasts as one of the top collecting card sets in the history of card collecting.  Additionally, it was the first American card set to pair bubble gum with baseball cards.

Each of the 240 cards in this colorful set features hand drawn pictures of baseball players.  There are 140 cards of baseball players that have been enshrined into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.  Many players have multiple cards in the set.  Babe Ruth has four cards and Lou Gehrig has two cards.  Of the four Ruth cards, No. 53 is the hardest to find.

As 1933 came to a close, children across the country recognized that everybody was missing card No. 106 from the Goudey set. Children repeatedly visited their local five-and-dime store to hopefully find card 106 to complete their set.  Unfortunately, the card never was printed.  The sales and marketing team at Goudey wanted to keep kids coming back to the candy store to buy more and more packs of cards to complete the set.  Parents across the country would write to the Goudey Gum Company in Boston to express their disgust.  In the Spring of 1934, card No. 106, Nap Lajoie, was printed and mailed to everybody that wrote a nasty letter looking for the card.

In my recent find of 1933 Goudey cards, I did purchase a few Babe Ruth cards.  Both cards are creased and not in the best condition.  However, it is extremely difficult to find cards from 80+ years ago in mint condition.  The Nap LaJoie was missing from the collection as was expected.  Over 80+ years later, card No. 106 is still impossible to find.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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