What's the Holy Grail card of your favorite player?

67standup

What's the top card - the one to get, the rarest - of your favorite player? I realize it can be a different card for rare, for valuable, etc. No one-of-a-kind memorabilia items such as hair from a stray cat that sauntered into the Babe’s living room. And no proof such as original artwork of the 1952 Topps Mantle.

Yaz – #1 1966 Punchout, #2 1967 Standup, #3 1960 Venezuelan

Bighurt4

Hi, good thread. For The Big Hurt, it is the 1990 Topps with no name on the front. MMMMM, error card.

Brent

67standup

...for Mantle if it's not the 1961 Topps Dice Game, 1959 Venezuelan or 1967 Standup, what is it?

jonnyrock

67standup

I'm Ripken dumb: does he have more than one minor league card?

jonnyrock

yes.
there are two versions of his 1980 minor league card.
The red above.
And a blue


He also has several 1981 issues:

goodriddance189

55 Quaker Oats Plante #50


and 51 Laval Plante


woo ha, i own the Laval

mikeschmidt

Pretty much for many contemporary HOFers-

1980 Pepsi cards....

never issued, only three ever made of each, only one known of each to actually exist. I only know one person who has one card from this set. Probably doesn't count as an actual issue - but nonetheless something I would love to see...

67standup

This is the kind of stuff that's fascinating. Who are the three players? Where did you hear the story of only three cards issued?

theBobs

mikeschmidt

<< <i>This is the kind of stuff that's fascinating. Who are the three players? Where did you hear the story of only three cards issued? >>




There are a bunch of players in the set - perhaps 22 or so? MSA, to promote their product, put together three sheets of prototypes to take to the Pepsi people as part of a proposal for including the cards somehow in product. They left two of the sheets of cards with Pepsi. What has happened to them? No one knows - but likely destroyed or thrown away. MSA keep the third and final sheet of cards. The sheet was evenetually cut and distributed through the hobby. So there are 22 cards out there - one of each player (great players and some scrubs - Schmidt, Carlton, Keith Hernandez, Ken Landreux, etc.). I don't know when these cards were distributed to the hobby - or what one might go for today?

People talk about the 1977 Topps Orioles Reggie Jackson card. Tough. What about the 1980 Pepsi All-Star Prototype. It is singular. I would love to see one of these up for auction - and I would love to know where the Schmidt has gone - although I'm pretty sure it is in the hand of a rich, private collector that has no intention of selling it anytime soon.

One can dream.

Basilone

1974 Deckle Edge Willie Stargell PSA 9. I sold it to Virtualizard about 6 months ago...so I know it is in good hands and in the #1 Stargell Registered set.

John

67standup

Schmidt

Thanks for background. I used to have one of the larger Yaz collections - about 1300 different items - and I now recall the story behind the Pepsi cards, especially since this was one of the cards on my wantlist.

murcerfan

onegaucho

Tough to say - I don't think a "ton" of his oddball cards have been sent in for grading so it's tough to tell which one is the "holy grail"...

I'd say the 1984 Mother's Cookie card is pretty tough to find raw, nevermind graded, as is the 1984 Smokey the Bear card.
The most recognizable card of his in the hobby is the 1983 Topps card. I'm still trying to find a good deal on a PSA 10 copy.
I'd also love to track down a 1985 Donruss PSA 10 #63 regular issue. 199 graded, only 4 10s.

mudflap02

For the Ryan Master Set, I would break it down into the 4 decades.

60's- No question, 1968 Venezuelan rookie. I can't wait til I take that road trip to Caracas to track down one or twelve.

70's- 1974 Deckle Edge.

80's- 1985 Topps mini

90's - 1993 Finest Refractor.

The refractors come up every now and then, but the other three are rarer than hen's teeth. there is a Deckle as part of a complete set in the Mastro auction right now (I want to say it is a 9). One of the things I like about the Ryan set is that as massive as it is, there are very few oddball or regional issues that appear until the late 1980's, making for a lot less stuff to wade through from the early years (of course, it's all downhill from 1988 on).

Now for the stupid part - for me, my holy grail right now is a 1988 Topps #250 in a 10. That's just the ultimate Ryan card in my mind, because it's the one that sticks in my mind from collecting the set the first time around. I actually got an 8 in the mail today from Scott (thanks), but for my budget right now this is still the one at the top of my list. I have the Tiffany in 10, but I want the trash that comes out of those filthy boxes with Don Mattingly's mullet blowing in the wind and the stick and a half of glare adhering to his cheeks. My priorities are messed up like chocolate cheese, I know, but it will be mine, oh yes, it will be mine.

rbeaton

77 Venezuelan Sticker:


Robert

ptper

I collect Connie Hawkins and there are some early regional issues that are next to impossible. These include the 1969, 1970, 1971 and 1972 Carnation issues, the 1970 A-1 Premium Beer card and the 1972 Holsum Bread issue.

I was able to pick up a 1970 Carnation at Fort Washington about three years ago and have never seen any of the others.

mikeschmidt

<< <i>For the Ryan Master Set, I would break it down into the 4 decades.

60's- No question, 1968 Venezuelan rookie. I can't wait til I take that road trip to Caracas to track down one or twelve. >>




If only it were that easy! My wife's family is from Caracas - and I can safely assure you that it just doesn't work like that. You are talking about a country that is anywhere from 60-80% impoverished, has such bad infrastructure that to deliver personal correspondence, you hire someone to deliver it for you [e.g. forget about the post office], and no one really ever cared about baseball cards there - even in the "rich" neighborhoods. Everyone is a baseball fan - but no one has ever thought of baseball cards as a big business - which is precisely why the vast supermajority of all vintage Venezuelan cards are in horrible shape. If you're lucky - someone may have pasted them in an album. Finding vintage VZ cards really necessitates having business contacts down there who can help you out. And even then it's not a large value proposition to either of you - as most cards don't command a premium...

carew4me

Rod Carew: 1968 Topps Discs

I have seen a picture but never in person.

CON40

For Nolan Ryan, I like Mudflap's list and I gotta go with him on the 68 Venezuelan... I have seen it once in my life and it was offered to me for sale, but at the time I had no children to sell on the black market, so I had to pass on it!!! But, now I am prepared for the next VZ I encounter. I have two beautful little sons!

I like the decades idea , so for the 70s, I'll go with the 73 Topps Puzzle or Candy Lid for Ryan... you just never see them! Anyone got one for sale?

For the 80s, the only real tough one is the 85 Mini, and the 93 Refractor is still on my want list...

My favorite Ryan card I own? Either the 74 Deckle or the 76 Laughlin Diamond Jubilee (total vintage cheese!)

murcerfan

Keith,
The Topps Puzzles are from 1974.......I just sold one this past fall (can't find the pic).
The problem with that piece is that the right border was always cut off (the Dick Allen also has this problem). The photo is the same as the 74 deckle, only in color, as are all 12 players.

CON40

murcer;

Love that 74 Deckle! Thanks for pointing out my mistake on the 74 Puzzle to me... I am a bit fuzzy this morning (very late night at a concert to see my old idol Colin Hay -- I'm dating myself) as I was also trying to remember 73 pin-up and got cross-wired (got one of those?)...

Interesting note on the puzzle miscut. I had bid on one on eBay maybe 2 years ago and I think that one was miscut and I was severely outbid as it went for like $400 or something.

murcerfan

I just walked back up my road from the mailbox and was leafing through Kit Youngs catalog on the way.
Lo and behold, a '73 candy lid Ryan jumped right out at me, you may want to pursue it.
I do not have any Pin-ups at this time except the Murcer..and maybe a Williams ??

That puzzle you remember sounds like mine...boy!....was it that long ago ?

CON40

murcer;

I saw that Kit Young candy lid on eBay a couple months back... minimum bid was $50, but I held off because the tab was missing and it seemed a tad pricey for the grade. Is this the same lid or a better one? Do you think I should pursue it if it's still at that price?

Yeah, that 74 Puzzle had to be 2 years ago... I bid about $250 on it despite the cut. I don't recall who eventually won it.

67standup

Agreed: for Ryan it's the '68 Venezuelan, it would probably fetch between $1000-$1500 in VG. There are complete sets of 1970 AND 1973 Candy Lids in the Edward's auction, also a 1968 Topps Disc set (on sheets.) I'll be bidding on the latter as this is only the second time I've seen any discs for sale; the 1967 Topps Test discs are a bit scarcer.

carew4me

67su,
Do you have a link to the Edward's auction?
Thanks.

67standup

No link, but address is: http://www.robertedwardauctions.com Actually, they have the 1967 Topps disc set which is slightly more difficult than the 1968 set. Lot's of good stuff, I feel more competitive than I did in Mastro's.

Tabe

I collect David Carr, but only college uniform cards. So with that in mind, the "Holy Grails" for me are probably:

1) "The World's Largest Jersey Card" - Sage put this together for the 2002 National Convention. It was an oversized jersey card (I wanna say 24" x 36" in size, possibly smaller) that contained a full #8 from one of Carr's college jersey cards. It sold on Ebay, but hasn't been seen since. I asked Sage for pictures of the card, since I didn't save any from the auction (wasn't a Carr collector at the time), but they can't find any.

2) 2002 Sage Jersey Master Edition - 1/1 jersey card of Carr. This one was up for auction on Ebay about a month ago. I had a bid in mind, ready to go, and the frigging seller ended the auction early!

3) 2002 Topps Finest Auto Refractor - the regular auto is #'ed to 1200 or 1299, this one's #'ed to 175. Comes up fairly often on Ebay, I've just never sprung for one.

So there ya go

Tabe
www.tabe.nu

qmayer

I could have sworn I saw a 68 VZ Ryan at the AC National this past year. I think I saw it at the 707 Sportscards table, next to their stack of 68 OPCs and regular 68 Topps. If I'm remembering correctly, there was only one, beat to hell, for something like $300-400. I was out to get the regular rookie and saw it, but thought I could pick one up at a later time. I hope I am wrong about seeing it.

Justin

MorrellMan

This has got to be the toughest Koufax, I've seen two in almost 20 years, I own 'em both and this is the best one:
1959 Morrell Koufax; looks just like the '61, only it ain't. The only difference is the back - '61 has 1960 stats; the '59 looks like this:

with Koufax's name, of course. Is there anyone out there that has one of these? Hello?

speeder

no 1968 venezuelan card has gotten a higher grade than psa-5, there are 18 total cards that have been graded. ryan has 3
cards, 2 psa-5`s and 1 psa-3-4. bench has 3 cards, 1 psa-5 (your lookin at it) and 2 psa-3-4. the best pitcher and the best catcher,bar none !! the other card shown, is another of my favorites.

ydsotter

PTPER,
I am the other Connie Hawkins collector...
I agree with your holy grail assessment...
let's add the comspec issue in there as well.
Are you doing the master player set on the reg?
Geoff


edited to add: Steve taft does have an A-1 and carination issue...

Bearsnum34

my fav player growing up was mike schmidt...probably his 73 rookie card..I have yet to find it for sale in a 10...that is the card I am holding out for, currently putting the set (73) together raw but getting the stars in psa I want to wait to find mike in a 10 if poss.
there have been 2 graded a 10...oh, well one can wish!!!

jrinck

Speaking of Schmidt, this card I've always been fond of because of the look on his face. No doubt that last swing and miss was strike three! So while not the Holy Grail of Schmidt cards, certainly one of the more memorable...



P.S. Scan lifted from an Ebay auction, and I'm not vouching for the authenticity of the auto.

marty

Con
Here is a puzzle. Like Dave said, they are almost all miscut.



If you are interested in it, please email me. I have others and the wrappers from these also.

my email

I always liked Mays. I have had the Topps and Bowman cards, and I have been able to make a trade to get his 1952 Coke Tips card. I have not received it yet.

jimtb

I collect Trammell and like most modern era players, the oddballs are what are rare. For Tram, the 1982 Topps cards without the black ink are tough, I've never actually seen one in person. From a condition standpoint, the 1977 Burger King Cards are very tough. They were wrapped tightly so the corners are always dinged. This is not to mention the fact that they are almost always off-center. No 9's exist, and only 2 8's.
Jim

speeder

here we go,

speeder

one more time,

murcerfan

If only Topps had printed those '74 deckles in color.

EdsBaseballCards

Pete Rose 66 Kahn's. Anyone seen this one. TOUGH

dbj77

jimtb,
My last submission had 3 1978 Burger King Tigers cards on it. Trammell, Whitaker and Morris. Morris came back an 8, Whitaker came back a 7 and Trammell came back a 7. I was not too happy, I thought the Trammell looked as good as the Morris. AlanAllen has one of the PSA 8 Tram's.

On Ebay almost a year ago someone was selling half a wax box of the 1978 Burger King Tigers cards, I bid on it but it went too high for me. I wonder if they graded any or are just sitting on them all.

jimtb

dbj77- I sent in three BK Trams in January, just to get a feel for the grading. I got an 8OC, a straight 7, and a 6. I saw that box on ebay, it went for well over a hundered bucks. one of these days I'll get a 9...
Jim

murcerfan

<< <i>Pete Rose 66 Kahn's. Anyone seen this one. TOUGH >>

MorrellMan

MF - Beauties every one of them

murcerfan

for 20k .......+-.......... you can be the proud new owner.

see Uncle Monstro for details

MorrellMan

awright awright how 'bout the 6 Drysdale?

murcerfan

I spent my lunch money on this the other day.
I prefer a bit of wear on my cards (and even a possible wrinkle).......they fit in better up here in the backwoods.


edited to say: Not really a HG card but one of my favorite Kahns...many of my favorite Kahns are from the Football sets.

MorrellMan

Those pure cards are just awesome.

Hmmm, let's see if I do this right
Text

This should be a link to my 59 morrell set - pics FINALLY went up this morning!

ptper

ydsotter

My Hawkins collection is not in graded form. Possibly someday I will grade them but not in the near future.

I should also mention that the 1972 Arena issue is pretty tough, but I was lucky enough to find that one. I collect anything that has to do with the Hawk, so if anyone has anything I'll be willing to listen

EdsBaseballCards

WOW MF
Thanks for the look at the 66 Kahn's Rose. Any interest in unloading? LMK Thanks ED