Red Man Tobacco Baseball Card Website

RGOLD

I just completed constructing my website. Lots of scans, and hopefully some information of interest to someone other than myself.

www.redmancards.com

Comments or suggestions would be appreciated. I consider this still a work in progress. Hope you enjoy.

Ron Goldberg
RGOLD
rgold7000@aol.com

jwasserman

thanks for putting that site together- i really enjoyed looking through the scans. i have a few piersalls from the various years and have always loved the look of the sets

ajw

Nice site...here's a link

Redmancards.com

JonB

very nice site

magellan

Nice site Rgold ! I have just one RedMan...a '54 Mel Parnell.

ArtRossLives

Really nice site - thanks for putting it together. I've got about half of a couple of the years and you're site has me thinking about trying to complete them.

Ironmanfan

Great Site!! Unfortunately, my sole Redman is Joe Coleman.

RGOLD

Thanks for taking the time to look at my new website. For those thinking of starting the sets, my advice would be

JUST DO IT !!

While the high grade Red Man cards are pretty scarce, and can be a little expensive, there are plenty of nice PSA 6 and PSA 7's at reasonable prices.

Red Man cards tend to have tiny surface wrinkles that can make a PSA 6 card out of an otherwise PSA 8 card. The wrinkles are hard to see especially once the card is in a holder. So the PSA 6's can have all the eye appeal of higher graded cards.

I have a a nice 1954 George Kell (Chicago variety) PSA 6 that I will send to the first new collector that registers a Red Man set with at least 5 cards. Just register your set, enter at least 5 cards, send me your address, and the card is yours.

mccardguy1

rgold

I have loved these cards since i started collecting in 1973 but never bought many. now I am really liking the cards more especially graded. as a collector on a budget and in no hurry to finish a set would it be wise to start a psa 7 set??

I saw your comments on the web site about psa 1-6 not being investment quality so thats why i thought a 7 set would be nice. Obviously i would collect this set for myself but i think we all have eye towards investment when we collect psa graded cards.

I would appreciate your thoughts on getting started as well as your thoughts on doing any one of the 4 sets on a budget!!!

RGOLD

I have always felt that collecting the very best is the wisest investment decision. My 40 years of collecting experience in art, coins and other types of memorabilia has proven that the very best items hold their value and usually increase their value over time. Relating to baseball cards, I would rather own one superior condition, rare high dollar card than hundreds of lesser condition, more common inexpensive cards.

But, there is more to collecting baseball cards than any investment potential. I collect cards because of the memories that I enjoy, and the thrill of chasing a complete set.

I chose to collect Red Man cards because I love the artwork(the players really look like themselves) and the player selection(27 different Hall of Famers). Also, the cards are much rarer than 1950's Topps or Bowman cards that I can see hundreds of at a show.

PSA 8 Red Man cards are much cheaper than their Topps and Bowman counterparts given their relative rarity. But even if you could find every card in PSA 8, who is going to lay down $150,00-300,000 to complete the Red Man sets.

If I was on a budget, I would occasionally pick up the key cards in PSA 8 when possible, and collect the rest of the set in PSA 6. I happen to like the PSA 6 Red Man cards better than the PSA 7's.

PSA 6 Red Man cards typically have all the attributes of higher graded cards including sharp corners and high gloss. They usually are downgraded only because of the very hard to see surface wrinkles that Red Man cards are prone to have. They normally appear nicer than PSA 7 examples that can show corner wear.

Common Red Man cards sell for $50 or less, and you could complete a really nice looking set of one year for under $3,000.

My website refers to PSA 6 and lower cards as below investment quality. That is merely language that is common in antique and collecting circles. I would consider a PSA 6 collection of Red Man cards to be most desirable given their rarity and attractiveness, and would encourage anyone to start a set.

mikeschmidt

<< <i>I have always felt that collecting the very best is the wisest investment decision. My 40 years of collecting experience in art, coins and other types of memorabilia has proven that the very best items hold their value and usually increase their value over time. Relating to baseball cards, I would rather own one superior condition, rare high dollar card than hundreds of lesser condition, more common inexpensive cards.

>>



I would counter and say that, at least with sportscards - the vintage PSA 9s and PSA 10s of the world tend to have the greatest price variability from one year to next, with passing collecting interests, the ins and outs of supercollectors, and population variation. This paradigm has been clearly exhibited with Mantle, Clemente and Koufax, at the very least, over the past 5 years.

RGOLD

I would have to agree with you although I was referring to a more long term view, and the approach that a normal everyday collector might take. I, for one, am not able to buy a whole lot of $25,000 and up cards.

My point was that if you are truly interested in investment potential, or worried about your collections holding value, that most collectors would be better served concentrating on a few rare high condition cards rather than bunches of not really rare mid condition cards.

Regarding the collector's question about Red Man cards, I feel that most normal collectors, without mega budgets, would be very happy with the look of PSA 6 cards, and could occasionally, as their budgets allowed, upgrade to PSA 8 on the key cards.

theBobs

Good stuff RGold, thanks for sharing your knowledge in creating the website.

Brian

mccardguy1

rgold,

you have got my interest with your website!!!!

as a follow up to my previous post.......Would you concentrate on 1 particular set or given the fact that there are not very many total cards in the 4 year checklist would it be crazy to attempt to complete all 4 sets??

I like these cards and looking at your kell and a few others...psa 6's look great and a occasional upgrade like you suggested sounds right up my alley.

also, are there particular dealers that you have found that are fair in selling already psa graded red mans or are there any trustworthy dealers you have found that sell raw???

thanks

andrew

RedHeart54

Great site! The scan of the unopened pack with the Reese was especially educational. I always wondered exactly how the cards were packaged with the tobacco pouch.

packCollector

Ron ,did you see this that just ended at hunt , I didn't win it because of their faulty email system not telling me that I was outbid or the auction would be ending

packCollector

that pack is one of the coolest things I have ever seen !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The53Kid

Ron,

Thanks for sharing your website, I already added it to my favorites list. I just started building all 4 sets, and they are all listed under "The53Kid". Like you, I was drawn to these because of the outstanding artwork and colors. After looking at the pop reports and the prices, I decided to build the sets in mostly 7's with some stars and my favorite players in 8. And I have discovered there are some outstanding looking 7's out there. If the corner wear is on the tab, you end up with a perfect looking card because your eyes are drawn to the picture and not the tab.

And just my luck that I already registered my sets before your offer. Maybe if I add 5 new cards I'll be in the running. So far I have had good luck in finding 54's and 55's. And as I add cards I will also include scans on the registry.

Question for you. What percentage of your sets would you say were bought raw versus already graded. Seems the knack for identifying trimming and creases might be tough.

Thanks,
Bruce

RGOLD

I would try to complete all 4 sets. Initially, it should be pretty easy to find about a fourth of the 208 total cards. After that, I think the cards are hard enough to find that working on all 4 sets may be necessary to keep your interest.

If you wanted to concentrate on one year, I would select the 1952 set which seems to be rarer and sells for higher prices. Also, the Ted Williams card only appears in 1952.

The only dealer I have found that carries a large inventory of Red Man cards is 707 Sportscards. Most of the cards can be found on eBay at cheaper prices if you are willing to wait for them to show up.

When I started my sets, I was fortunate to purchase a wonderful complete raw collection. I can't imagine there being a nicer one. The cards looked flawless and were stored in beautiful leather binders.

I had all 208 cards graded. I received 48 PSA 8's and 53 PSA 7's, which is about what I expected on those cards. The surprise was that the rest graded mostly PSA 6. That's when I learned about surface wrinkles.

I recently had a dealer tell me that he was submitting 50 Red Man cards, and they were sure to be PSA 8. Less than 10% were graded PSA 8, the rest PSA 6 or lower. The surface wrinkles can be really hard to see even to the trained eye.

My experience buying raw cards on eBay has been horrible. I have stacks of Mays and Musial cards that were described as being in mint condition. They either have bad corners, creases or surface wrinkles, or they have been trimmed. Expect raw cards to grade PSA 6 or lower, and pay accordingly.

Red Man advertising posters are usually available on eBay. I assume they aren't originals produced in the 1950's. Many are signed by Enos Slaughter who used to attend a lot of shows. I rarely see unopened original packs for sale. Looking at how the cards were originally packaged makes you realize how hard it was for any of the cards to survive in mint condition.

aconte

Ron,

Great website indeed. Congrats on putting it together. Your passion for these cards is addictive.
And I agree on the fact that Psa 6's and 7's can be some of the best deals and prices are nice
for these tough gems.

Red mans Rock!

aconte

dbj77

Nice site. Red Man's do rock!! I have to say that the Red Man community is one of the nicest group of guys I've ever met. Aconte, TheBobs, RGold, Mr.Redman, they've all helped me collect my sets and offered tons of information. If you have any questions about Red Mans these guys know their stuff.

Ripken

I love the Redman cards too. Maybe it's sacrilege, but I completed all 4 sets WITHOUT tabs over about a 10 year period ending 2 or 3 years ago. The investment potential isn't there, but I did it relatively inexpensively and my sets aren't bad looking. I think I bought some very nice common cards for $3-5 each. Not bad for cards that are indeed much, much more scarce than regular issue Topps & Bowman. I've never quite understood the incredible premiums on 'with tab' cards for any issues that have tabs. Are they harder to find? Absolutely. But if you're really into baseball, baseball history or obtaining old baseball cards, who cares? They don't really add that much to the eye appeal do they? Just my opinion. Great site, Ron. The unopened pack is something I've never seen. If you have the history behind it, please share.

GoSoxBoSox

Damn,

None of my Red Man's are registered and I have 4 cards from the 1953 set, 4 from the 1955 set, 3 from the 1952 set, and 3 from the 1954 set - all PSA. Than I have roughly the same amount for each in SGC holders.

I just don't have 5 from one year in PSA holders .....crap!!!

Serenity now!!!

The53Kid

WooHoo! Looks like I'm gonna take the prize.

Special Thanks to Ron for the card and for inspiring others to discover these great cards! Here a list of what I was able to add after the Ft. Washington show and a few deals with other board members(Thanks Doug!).

1953 - Added two new cards
1954 - Added 6 cards
1955 - Added 4 cards, updated 1, have another to register but have to wait for it to be taken out of another member's set. Plus I bought Boone, Busby and Mueller in SGC 84 holders(from Shoeless Joe's).

Check out my 54 set, scans are posted for all sets.

1954 Red Man Set

I'll continue my quest to assemble all 4 sets.....Thanks

aconte

53Kid,

Very nice set! I like that Mathews card. It is one of my favorites since it is only available in the 54
set. Good luck with the sets.

aconte

The53Kid

Thanks Aconte!

I splurged on the Mathews going for the 8, but it was such a cool looking card.

dbj77

Nice Job Bruce, Good luck with your sets.