1989 Tony Hawk Cromy Skate Stickers Popped On ebay... Price Thoughts On This Hawk "Grail"?
Scarlem21
Posts: 238 ✭✭✭
Well, maybe people are reading my skateboard posts LOL. I mentioned the 1987-1989 Tony Hawk Skate Fluo Fluo Stickers on my "Want to start a skateboard card collection..." thread and look what shows up... two unused stickers!!!!! I've only ever seen them stuck in albums. Now the asking price is jaw-dropping, does anyone have an idea what a fair offer would be? OR, is it so hard to find these that this is a fair price? I've seen complete and near complete albums sell for around $200 with the Hawk stuck in the book, never seen an unused Hawk. Here are links to the stickers:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/255110108959?hash=item3b65bf571f:g:kToAAOSwYx5hKAsp
https://www.ebay.com/itm/265286288836?hash=item3dc44b85c4:g:qE4AAOSwO8BhKAv0
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Comments
Your answer is within your comment. If you are familiar with this issue and have never seen an unstuck copy, then maybe the asking price is not too out of whack. It's cliche, but items are only worth what someone is willing to pay though. If those get snapped up, you know the price was reasonable to at least 1 person. If they don't sell, it's either a joke of a price OR the right buyer has just not yet seem them.
That is the kind of issue that looks like it would not have been widely collected, probably mostly stuck on skateboards and notebooks. Is Hawk even mentioned on the sticker anywhere (back)? How many of these are collecting dust because people saved them, but have no idea what they might have? The thing is, with ebay and a worldwide market, it is truly rare to find something truly rare. It is amazing how many items are out there that you might have thought was rare, pre internet. Next thing you know, you are on ebay and 50 sellers have the same thing. Not saying this is that case here, clearly it sounds more like a truly rare item. What is it worth to YOU though?
Those pictures are embarrassing for a seller wanting those prices. I put more effort than that in my sub $10 cards.
I didn't look closely at the listing before, but just took a better look. I do agree with nam812 that the effort for such a high price is several lacking, but something else stands out to me.
I know hobbyists/investors love the first issued item as a "true" rookie card and cherish then regardless, but despite the fact that the 2nd sticker is in fact Hawk, it is embarrassing that this would represent a "rookie" card. The picture is terrible. I only looked quickly, but pretty sure that was a photo superimposed on a background or the pic was edited. It reminds me of something like the Fleer Action card sets from the 70s and 80s that were NFL action shots. Yes, you can still make out certain players, but I wouldn't call it their card. The difference is, only Hawk is pictured, but still...lame representation of him in my opinion. That fact alone clearly is driving the price.
zero need to be so negative. we get it, he’s not steve garvey to you. and thats ok. but the fact that we are taking 80s photography of hawk catching air on one of the most iconic skateboards and logos ever to be created for a flimsy, rare, argentinian sticker that was never meant to stand the test of time, im sure theres a heckavu lotta people that would disagree w you. skateboards move a lil faster than nfl players sitting in formation so thats about the best youre gonna get, mid air, in the 80s. so yes, the picture today may seem terrible. was prolly pretty rad in its day. still is to a lot of folks.
as for being so embarrassing to represent his true rookie, most cromy stickers from the 70s and 80s had zero mention of who was pictured on the front. some did on the back, but then again that was peeled off and stuck in the album. and like those, im sure it had “tony hawk” written right under the space the sticker was to be affixed in the album. remember these are stickers, not cards.
you mean besides the picture of him? yep, there sure is. and its pretty iconic. its probably even more recognizable than tony himself. for true skaters, at least. sorry you cant/didnt see it, brah. 😉
it certainly has more indication of who it is than my seve rcs.
i do agree about the shoddy listing pictures though. for the prices he’s asking, a little better effort should be exhibited. definitely not landing bolts on the listing.
Thanks for the comments guys. Messaged the seller, he said he will get some better photos up of the Hawk Stickers. He's fielding offers on these but is hoping to get somewhere closer to his asking price than what I can offer, too rich for me at this time. Also, I'm in Canada and this listing is being sold using the dreaded Global Shipping Program, which alone adds a lot of extra money to the price. It doesn't happen often but occasionally groups of these stickers pop up for sale, maybe I'll get lucky and find a Hawk sticking out from the pile. That tactic has worked for me before but it takes patience. If anyone here wants to take a shot at the Hawk I say "go for it". Cheers guys,
Jeff
Also, I've seen every page of this album. The spots where the Hawk's go don't mention his name so there is only the photo that tells you it's Hawk. There is a spot on another page in the book that mentions Hawk in the caption, but the Mike McGill sticker was numbered for that spot by mistake. Quality control and attention to detail were very poor for this album. The other error I caught was Christian Hosoi in Bod Boyle's spot in the album. That same mistake was also on the Cromy Skate Game Card of Boyle, showing Hosoi in the photo by mistake.
1st, I have ridden a Tony Hawk deck. That doesn't make me Tony Hawk. But, This is likely Tony Hawk. In these pictures he is skating goofy footed. Most skaters don't skate in this stance. Tony Hawk does. Like a lefty pitcher in baseball. Maybe more rare.
I think there are 5 Tony Hawk cards in this set. These are probably the least desirable ones. The sticker book does not label these as Tony Hawks. There is a sticker in the book that the book labels as Tony Hawk. Only a couple of these stickers say the skaters names on the stickers.
The best Hawk sticker in the set is labeled Tony Hawk in the book and says Egg Plant on the sticker. It shows Hawk wearing a Mike McGill shirt. I've own a Rob Roskopp shirt that I wear sometimes. Doesn't make me Rob Roskopp. You can see Hawk wearing McGill shirts in lots of videos. They're both Powell Peralta, Bones Brigade team skaters.
Then there is a collage sticker that actually says Tony on it with an arrow pointing to Hawk. A group shot. This sticker is interesting because of some of the other guys on the sticker.
Then there is a group shot of Powell Peralta skaters where you can clearly see Hawks face. A team shot.
Then there are these two stickers. Which are in the, art, section of the book. Which are kind of like highlights cards.
This is the first time I've seen these two stickers auctioned out of the book. I've only been watching this stuff real close for a couple years though. It's interesting that they were posted one bay right after this post was made.
nice post, cg! i remember guys wearing each others shirts, but cant say i remember hawk riding a mcgill or ray barbie or vice versa. do you? genuinely curious. per the pic above, i was skated goofy too. connecting all the dots from board, stance and image, id bet dollars to donuts this is hawk. but whatever number in the album states tony hawk under it would be the true rookie, imo.
I believe it's McGill in Tony Hawk's spot in the book. I believe that photo was of McGill on the Animal Chin ramp.
You're right, I do believe it is McGill on the Animal Chin ramp.
I'm not sure how I feel about that.
Recently I watched a video with Hawk riding a Steve Steadham deck. It's not rare. Obviously, most hawk decks aren't ridden by Hawk.
Who is on the Hosoi Cromy game card? Is that young Hosoi or just some random dude?
Also, is "Kid" Neil Blender?
Not 100% sure if that's Hosoi on the Cromy Hosoi card, maybe it's young Hosoi. Hosoi is for sure on the Bod Boyle Cromy card. And I do believe that is Neil Blender on the "Kid" card. That deck is a vintage Neil Blender Model, the one where the figure is lying down drinking a coffee.
I bought the #106, thanks for the heads up/sorry to scoop.
Love this thread. Need a checklist so Psa can start grading them
Fantastic pick-up, I'm sooooooo jealous! Do any of you guys know what it would take for PSA to grade these? It's obviously Tony Hawk on these stickers... would that be enough? And, does anyone have any idea the exact year these Cromy Skate Stickers and Cromy Skate Game Cards were issued? I've heard 1987 and 1988 and 1989 and 1988-89. Most people call these 1989 though. Researched the Cromy company, they went out of business in 1995.
If you look at the back of the sticker book, everything they advertise is from 1986 or 1987. Also, every deck they picture in the book is from 1987. Nothing later that I have spotted.
@CardGeek Do you have the sticker book for 1989, and if so is there a checklist?
I don't think its from 1989. heh. There are no dates in the book.
I do have the book. The checklist is just numbers. Nothing more.
I am jealous you bought the card. I'm not jealous if you paid more than like 100 bucks for it. It was priced 1200 bucks. The guy initially priced it 600 bucks. Or something. Then doubled the price. I passed at 600.
I paid $850. Might seem high but this is a true rarity and I think will be regarded as his 'alternate' rookie card, so to speak.
Tony Hawk had earlier skate stickers released by Powell Peralta. I'm not sure where the line is on these collectibles. What makes them significant?
The 1987 Donruss opening day Bonds with Johnny Ray's picture on it is still considered a bonds RC or 2nd year card. If it had Johnny Ray's name on it, I don't think that would be true. Similar to the Cromy Hosoi situation.
I take your point. I'd say the Powell Peralta stickers were not intended to be collected, but these were made and marketed in the same mode as the other stuff we all collect.
Not a fan of skating and I probably would have skipped by it with no clue who it was if I had a handful of those stickers. I have no shame in that. As for my feelings about them, just an opinion, which you can and clearly disagree with. So many folks can't seem to hear the opposite side of what they believe without some butthurt. Anything other than "great item", "you scored" or something skippy like that seems to come across as attacking, which it was not.
Given the additional information, such as this is a foreign issue, helps explain things a bit more. Still, I am not a collector who believes the all mighty rookie issue of someone is all that special, so aside from the rarity factor that I can respect, I still personally feel it would be a lame representation of the "greatest" "card" of Hawk. My favorite regular Topps Garvey card for example is his 1977 Topps.
Close on the years. Just researched some of the Cromy Game Decks on the back of the Album that the Hawk stickers go with. The ALF Game Deck has the copyright year of 1987 on the top card. The M.A.S.K. Game Deck has the copyright year of 1988 on the top card. So, I'm thinking this album was manufactured in 1988 and sold to the public in the years 1988-1989.
This is right up my alley. I loved discovering new rookie cards and dealing with Psa to get them slabbed. I recently was looking at an email from 2013 between me and panini customer service to get the evidence for 2003 megacraques ronaldo graded. The first thing you need to get this slabbed is a definitive checklist and need to get it uploaded at 2 different places online. Then any information that can verify the date and that it was licensed. Good luck. Would love to see these in a slab
I haven't looked closely at many of the Cromy card game sets. I know the wrestling cards have dates on them. You're saying the Mask set is dated 1988. I would think that once they started putting dates on the sets they wouldn't have stopped. I would figure that means that the Cromy Skate set was made before the Mask set.
Do you know if any of the other Cromy game sets have dates? Specifically the ones on the sticker book?
Obviously the Cromy Skate game was made before the Cromy Skate stickers.
Try to find images of every page of the album or any of the packs they came in might have a date somewhere there
I have images of every page of the album. There is no date. The skateboard decks and advertising is the best indication of when it was made. Like, that Tony Hawk deck in the picture above is a 1986 Tony Hawk. They released 1 or 2 new decks a year at that time. Reissues weren't a thing back then.
If the Tony Hawk card in the set is actually a picture of Mike McGill from "The Search for Animal Chin" video, though. It's likely many of the other pictures weren't taken specifically for the sticker book. Old pictures. It's possible this wasn't licensed.
Rambo set on back cover has a copyright of 1985-1986. So, the back cover shows an assortment of Cromy game card decks released between 1985 and 1988. Most images on the Cromy Skateboard Stickers of the North American Skaters were lifted from Thrasher Magazines, some were action shots from editorial pieces and some pictures came from ads in Thrasher.
Had some luck over the weekend... Purchased a collection of 132 Cromy Skateboard Stickers from a seller in Argentina. Photo was not the greatest and didn't see all of the stickers I'm getting but I noticed two Tony Hawks and two Rodney Mullens in the photo he had. I'll let you guys exactly what I get when they arrive!!!!