The Greatest Find Ever

As a young lad in the hobby I would hear the amazing stories of attic discoveries or estate finds that would blow everyone away. An unopened box of some 1950's Topps boxes or a giant stash of vintage pre-WWII cards would suddenly make a appearance in the hobby. Alan "Mr. Mint" Rosen would actively advertise his phenomenal buys of mint vintage cards he paid thousands of dollars in cash for. All the while I would lay back in my bed and daydream about one day finding something as grand. At 36 I'm still dreaming and searching.

Fortunately, the Internet provides the fodder that keeps me hoping. I have a story here that is making its rounds on various hobby boards. It includes probably the single most incredible find of unopened material the hobby has every seen.Robert Edwards Auctions has unearthed a find that boggles the mind. A collection of 1930's era unopened gum boxes has recently been consigned to them.

This material was very recently discovered. These boxes and packs were saved by a candy and gum distributor as ordering samples. The distributor kept these samples on a large shelving unit just for reference, to identify product for ordering purposes. As new products came in, sometimes boxes of old products would be shoved to the back of the sample product shelf, eventually hidden from view by more current product samples. The boxes and packs presented here were pushed so far back on the shelf that they were completely hidden from view, providing all the elements of a perfect time capsule, and allowing them to be completely undisturbed and perfectly preserved all these years. These boxes and packs, having been received directly from the manufacturers, have not been seen or touched or even exposed to light since being put on a shelf at the candy and gum distributor 70 to 80 years ago!

Wow! There are only a handful of Baseball related items (and not everything has cards in them), but the magnitude of the find surely must cause all collectors to gasp. There are packs and boxes from National Chicle, Goudey, Tattoo Orbit, Gum Inc., Dockman and many other lesser known manufacturers. Four Babe Ruth's and a previously unknown Walter Johnson card in clear packaging are included. Previously unknown packs keep hobbyist wondering, "did I really know everything about the set?"Even the folks at REA were astounded as they couldn't believe the correspondence from the seller.

"Many times people contact us with things they've found that sound too good to be true and they usually are," REA president Rob Lifson told Sports Collectors Daily. "Never had anyone written us with something like this, though. It's something that's hard to misrepresent. It really seemed like it was plausible. It just had a good feel to it. Now, after seeing what he had, I'm just speechless."

I'm speechless too. Unfortunately, I'm a bit penniless also, so I'll have to admire these treasures from afar.

Go to REA's blog for more pics or to Sports Collectors Daily for additional info.

Hat Tip: VBCF:

Blog Kiosk 3/1/2009

Ignore the drama, pay attention to the game.

• Check out these great photos from Spring Training at Boston.com.
  
• FanGraphs does a Present Value analysis of the Dodgers most recent offer and determines that Boras and Company are crazy.

  The sum of the differences between present value and future value is $2.09 million. Manny’s $25 million deferred is worth $22.91 million in today’s dollars.

  They’re haggling over $2 million dollars in value. They’ve got a sweetheart deal on the table, and they’re haggling over $2 million.

  (Hat Tip: 6-4-2)
  
• Garvey Cey Russell Lopes talks about Frank Howard and shares his 1965 Topps card.
  
• Check out this new Dodger collector blog called "Them Bums."
  
• I love the Antique Roadshow. Check out this recent find of a whole albums worth of 1914 Cracker Jack Baseball cards. Wow! (Hat Tip: SCD)
  
• Time writes a great story about the man who first spoke out about steroids, Rick Helling.

  It's unfortunate that there were a lot of people I knew who thought, 'I need to do something to keep up.' You hear the excuses of the guys who admitted it: 'I felt like I had to do it.' The way I looked at it, when I wasn't good enough to do it myself, it was time to move on. A lot of players didn't think like that. Guys always had an excuse of why they could do it.

• Forbes.com highlights vintage Baseball memorabilia as investments. Are they a hedge against this rough economy?
  

  "A Babe Ruth-signed ball is always a Babe Ruth-signed ball," says Hunt, who
  claims to have had his best year ever in 2008, including a record $5 million at
  the baseball All-Star Game. And it's not just the five- and six-figure items
  holding their own throughout the industry. Signed baseballs from living Hall of
  Famers like Willy Mays that often go for around $300 haven't seen much drop off during the tough economy, according to Dunbar.

• Mantle family buys F-bomb autographed Baseball. Mantle was known, when in the right mood, to be willing to write just about anything alongside his signature. He was a funny guy like that.
• The Sacramento Kings might move to Anaheim?
  
• Read Fielder's Choice review of the book Card Sharks which details the early miserable history of the Upper Deck company.

  When Upper Deck saw that cases of the French hockey cards were selling for $10,000, McWilliam ordered a reprinting of the cards with 960 more cases being produced. Given the secondary market value, these new cases were worth $9.6 million. The cases were distributed to Upper Deck executives and board members, and many of them sold the cases, thus increasing the supply that was on the market, and bringing the value of the cards down dramatically.

• You got to love office pranks.

YouTube Link: maierc107:

Mastro: Burn That Jersey

Here are some goodies from Mastro's recently closed auction; including a jersey that makes me want to cringe.

Why bother buying packs of cards searching for "big hits" when you can make your own? Here is a custom homemade card featuring a authentic cut signature of Lou Gehrig. I've seen these before on the internet and am always amazed how great these custom cards look compared to today's cards found in boxes. This particular card sold for $2,100.00.

Auction Link: Lou Gehrig Custom Made Auto Card:

This is the first time I've seen a store display box flap for the 1950's Jackie Robinson dime bank. I would be surprised if any more existed. It sold for $275.00.

Auto Link: Jackie Robinson Dime Bank Display Counter:

Can you ever get enough of Babe Ruth in a Dodger uniform? It sold for $225.00.

Auction Link: Ruth in Dodger Uniform Pic:

Someone must be able to figure out who this guy is. Below is a unknown Brooklyn Dodger cabinet photo from the late 19th century. It sold for $500.00.

Auction Link: 19th Century Unknown Brooklyn Baseball Player Cabinet:

Must burn this now! This is a work of Dr. Frankenstein. Below is a split jersey of the Dodgers and Giants featuring autographs of Ralph Branca and Bobby Thompson of "The Shot Heard Round The World" fame. In this lot you also get a signed bat, ball and photo. It sold for $225.00.

Auction Link: Shot Heard Round the World Lot:

Finally, A Counter

After 4 offers from the Dodgers, Boras finally decides to make a counteroffer to the Dodgers. It took long enough didn't it.

Scott Boras made a counter offer using the same basic language and numbers of the club's two-year, $45MM offer, but without the deferred payments. Boras told the Dodgers that they have until noon to strike a deal.

I don't blame McCourt and company for the last offer with deferred payments. After all, the framework of a $45MM deal over two years is the most important ingredient. The deferred payments is just a ploy to finally get Boras to make a commitment because, at this point so far, Manny and Boras have refused to negotiate in good faith.

When one side refuses to formally counter several other offers (especially good offers) how can the offeror be expected to continue to bid against themselves? This entire process is a negotiation that requires that both sides work together to hammer out a deal. One side, the Dodgers, in my mind, has gone above and beyond in their duties in this negotiation. They have made 4 offers! It is incumbent on the offeree to come back with a counter. Apparently, Boras finally has. And now, we have the makings of a potential deal. (It took longer than desired to get Boras off his perch) Nevertheless, it is now time to get it done.

Update: I wanted to add that you shouldn't expect a done deal until this weekend at the earliest- probably early next week. Boras's deadline for noon today is irrelevant.

Hunt: February Internet Auction

Another Hunt Auction, More Dodger Goodies.

This is a rarity. Below is a 1951 photo postcard featuring Jackie Robinson, Don Newcombe, Roy Campanella and Dan Bankhead with restaurateur Jason Bowman. It advertises Bowman's Cocktail Lounge on the reverse and says,

"Having a wonderful time at Bowman's. There's never a dull moment when the Dodgers are playing baseball."

It sold for $210.00.

Auction Link: Vintage Postcard:

This is the perfect gift for a child spending the afternoon with Dad at the ball game in Ebbetts Field. Below is a circa 1950's doll measuring 8 inches tall. It sold for a affordable $50.00.

Auction Link: Dodger Doll:

This is the ultimate vintage Dodger photo scrapbook. 60 autographs are featured in this 1950's Montreal Royals album with many of them having corresponding photos attached. I would love to see all of the other pages. It's a treasure trove.

Includes Al Giofriddo, Bobby Morgan, Bert Haas, Don Thompson, Carman Mauro, Shotgum Shuba, Tom Lasorda, Dan Bankhead, Clyde King, Jim Hughes, John Podres, Walt Alston, Chuck Connors (yes the actor), Jim Gilliam, Duke Snider, and others.

It sold for a healthy $440.00.

Auction Link: Montreal Royals Auto Book:

Here are 2 pairs of game worn jerseys and pants, a batting helmet, cap and game ball of Dodger hurler Chad Billingsley. He wore our colors during the 2002 IBAF World Junior Championships and won a bronze meal. He won 3 games and lost none with a 2.45 ERA. It sold for $201.00.

Auction Link: Chad Billingsley Game Used Uniforms:

B&L Auctions: Baseball in Germany 1870

Above may be the earliest evidence of American Baseball being played outside of the United States. It is a cabinet photo of the 1870 Lincoln Baseball Club.

They played in Bonn, Germany. Little is known of this team. All of the players are named on the back of the cabinet and thru research we have learned that several of the young men were from the New York city area. They attended the Kortegarn Institute in Bonn during the 1870 period. Whether the team was formed in America and traveled to Germany or was formed there is unknown. Most of these boys originated from the New York area and may well have known each other. Two were brothers, two more it appears were cousins... This cabinet presents the team in their uniforms with their baseball gear, including several bats and interestingly enough what appears to be American flags in the background... Kaiser Wilhelm is said to have played baseball with the young men.