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A baseball card story
ajw
Posts: 2,279 ✭✭✭
I don't know if anyone cares, but I've got a story that none of my friends really appreciate...but I think someone here will.
Anyway, the thread discussing the ongoing eBay auction of an estate that includes tons of unopened cases and sets from the 50's and on got me thinking about it. I can absolutely promise you that the story I'm going to tell is true, as I've seen this collection with my own eyes. (Here's that thread, if you haven't been following it:
Doctor's Estate )
About 15 years ago I was in high school and at the height of my baseball card collecting. My father dabbled in the market, mostly speculating on some unopened boxes and cases from the mid-to-late 1980s. At the time he did ok, but he sat on the stuff for far too long and took a bath. During that time, my father told me about a guy he knew in his hometown in northern Wisconsin. I think he and my father were high school friends and the guy stayed in their hometown as a school teacher. He probably still teaches there. One day when my family made a weekend trip to visit my grandparents, my dad made a call to his friend to see if we could come over to look at his card collection. I was thrilled, as I'd never really seen a "serious" card collector's collection.
I had no idea what to expect when we pulled up to his house. The house was a very non-descript ranch style in a typical neighborhood in a typical northern Wisconsin town. The inside was far from typical, however.
The first thing he showed us was the security and monitoring system that he had installed. He didn't sign a contract with a company. Instead he signed a contract with the town fire and police departments. If someone broke in, the cops would be there in less than five minutes. Additionally, he had a system that monitored any water in his basement, so the fire department would respond not just to fire, but also to flood. Pretty serious stuff, but it was with good reason.
I don't remember much about the main living level of the house. Some framed baseball pictures, I think, but nothing too exciting. The basement was what we came for. He had a very open basement with no fancy TV room or anything else. Instead the basement was filled from wall to wall and floor to ceiling with unopened cases of baseball cards. They were stacked on wooden pallets so they could survive several inches of water if the fire department didn't get there fast enough. As you walked through the narrow aisles, you would have cases of cards next to you stacked up to shoulder height. That was for his *entire* basement. While I don't remember the details, I can promise you that the guy had several unopened Topps cases dating back to at least the mid 1970s. I think most of them were vending, but he also had a lot of wax. I think he also had some football, but a lot fewer than baseball. Remember the sheer number of cases I saw and the time frame they were from, I'm guessing that he had at least ten cases from each year from 1975 on...but probably more like 20. As I said, I'm not sure which year his collection started in, so I guess it's possible that he had fewer cases from each season and a longer run of years. Amazing.
I'm guessing that he had a three bedroom house and the entire basement not used for the heater/mechanical stuff was filled with unopened cases. Look at the room you're in and imagine it stacked to shoulder height with unopened cases from (at least) the mid 1970s. This guy's got at least twice what would fit in that room, I'm sure. If I remember correctly, there was one small room built in the basement as a type of office. Inside that office were the contents of the owner's safe deposit boxes. He had brought them home to show me that part of his collection. He had a complete run of the major sets dating from at least the 1933 Goudeys. Of course the 1952 Topps was the highlight of the collection, and he pulled it out to show me the Mantle. As he offered the card to me, I remember pulling my hands back and saying something like, "Wow, I, ummm, don't think I should hold that. Thanks." I have no idea what kind of condition the Mantle or the other cards were in, but I seem to remember the Mantle being a bit off-center, and a lot brighter in color than I had thought it would be. I'm sure the cards were in at least EX condition, as anyone serious enough to store the cases he had must have paid at least a little attention to condition.
While I really wish my memory of the day would be more clear, I thought some of you would appreciate what few details I do have. I don't have any idea what happened to this guy's collection. If he's still got it, he could put a huge dent into the PSA populations for the 1970s sets all on his own. It's possible that he's sold parts of it, but he didn't seem like the selling kind of guy when I met him. He didn't have a lot of money invested in the cards and didn't seem that interested in what was then the current state of the hobby. I just did a google search on his name, and nothing relevant came up. So, he either sold the cards while remaining anonymous or is still sitting on them.
Wow.
AJW.
Anyway, the thread discussing the ongoing eBay auction of an estate that includes tons of unopened cases and sets from the 50's and on got me thinking about it. I can absolutely promise you that the story I'm going to tell is true, as I've seen this collection with my own eyes. (Here's that thread, if you haven't been following it:
Doctor's Estate )
About 15 years ago I was in high school and at the height of my baseball card collecting. My father dabbled in the market, mostly speculating on some unopened boxes and cases from the mid-to-late 1980s. At the time he did ok, but he sat on the stuff for far too long and took a bath. During that time, my father told me about a guy he knew in his hometown in northern Wisconsin. I think he and my father were high school friends and the guy stayed in their hometown as a school teacher. He probably still teaches there. One day when my family made a weekend trip to visit my grandparents, my dad made a call to his friend to see if we could come over to look at his card collection. I was thrilled, as I'd never really seen a "serious" card collector's collection.
I had no idea what to expect when we pulled up to his house. The house was a very non-descript ranch style in a typical neighborhood in a typical northern Wisconsin town. The inside was far from typical, however.
The first thing he showed us was the security and monitoring system that he had installed. He didn't sign a contract with a company. Instead he signed a contract with the town fire and police departments. If someone broke in, the cops would be there in less than five minutes. Additionally, he had a system that monitored any water in his basement, so the fire department would respond not just to fire, but also to flood. Pretty serious stuff, but it was with good reason.
I don't remember much about the main living level of the house. Some framed baseball pictures, I think, but nothing too exciting. The basement was what we came for. He had a very open basement with no fancy TV room or anything else. Instead the basement was filled from wall to wall and floor to ceiling with unopened cases of baseball cards. They were stacked on wooden pallets so they could survive several inches of water if the fire department didn't get there fast enough. As you walked through the narrow aisles, you would have cases of cards next to you stacked up to shoulder height. That was for his *entire* basement. While I don't remember the details, I can promise you that the guy had several unopened Topps cases dating back to at least the mid 1970s. I think most of them were vending, but he also had a lot of wax. I think he also had some football, but a lot fewer than baseball. Remember the sheer number of cases I saw and the time frame they were from, I'm guessing that he had at least ten cases from each year from 1975 on...but probably more like 20. As I said, I'm not sure which year his collection started in, so I guess it's possible that he had fewer cases from each season and a longer run of years. Amazing.
I'm guessing that he had a three bedroom house and the entire basement not used for the heater/mechanical stuff was filled with unopened cases. Look at the room you're in and imagine it stacked to shoulder height with unopened cases from (at least) the mid 1970s. This guy's got at least twice what would fit in that room, I'm sure. If I remember correctly, there was one small room built in the basement as a type of office. Inside that office were the contents of the owner's safe deposit boxes. He had brought them home to show me that part of his collection. He had a complete run of the major sets dating from at least the 1933 Goudeys. Of course the 1952 Topps was the highlight of the collection, and he pulled it out to show me the Mantle. As he offered the card to me, I remember pulling my hands back and saying something like, "Wow, I, ummm, don't think I should hold that. Thanks." I have no idea what kind of condition the Mantle or the other cards were in, but I seem to remember the Mantle being a bit off-center, and a lot brighter in color than I had thought it would be. I'm sure the cards were in at least EX condition, as anyone serious enough to store the cases he had must have paid at least a little attention to condition.
While I really wish my memory of the day would be more clear, I thought some of you would appreciate what few details I do have. I don't have any idea what happened to this guy's collection. If he's still got it, he could put a huge dent into the PSA populations for the 1970s sets all on his own. It's possible that he's sold parts of it, but he didn't seem like the selling kind of guy when I met him. He didn't have a lot of money invested in the cards and didn't seem that interested in what was then the current state of the hobby. I just did a google search on his name, and nothing relevant came up. So, he either sold the cards while remaining anonymous or is still sitting on them.
Wow.
AJW.
1
Comments
Very interesting. Thanks for sharing. That must have been an amazing experience for a high school kid interested in cards. I can get that same kind of experience walking around the rooms of my house, but that's because it's stacked shoulder high with toys, laundry, and dirty dishes. We don't invite people over.
Bob
bobsbbcards SGC Registry Sets
It would behoove you to find this guy.
Now collecting:
Topps Heritage
1957 Topps BB Ex+-NM
All Yaz Items 7+
Various Red Sox
Did I leave anything out?
Your memory is a lot clearer that you realize. I had the pleasure of meeting with the same collector a couple of times at his house a few years ago. His collection was amazing. Not only did he have mainstream sets, but he had a lot of regional sets as well.
I did not see some of the very old sets as he kept those in his safe deposit box. He did have a lot of mid-70’s cases and unopened material. He let me look at a few of his 50’s - 60’s football sets. I was able to go through about 5 sets, card by card. The cards were generally very crisp and like new, as you would expect given that he collected them in their year of issue as an adult.
No surprise, the vast majority of the cards had typical production flaws, particularly poor centering. I could tell that he cared about condition, but centering was not much of a concern. I would estimate that very few of the cars would grade mint.
As for the collector, he sold all of his older items through Mastronet. He still sells occasionally on eBay, mainly unopened packs. As for the results of the Mastronet auction, he was disappointed as the collection was sold in larger lots that limited the number of available buyers. His words were that a lot of people got really good deals. Still, he had very little into his collection so he must have done pretty well.
So, I was just looking through some very old threads. I thought I'd bump this one up, as it's one of my favorite collecting memories.
Memories is what I do.
I remember this thread.
Have you tried to see if this guy is still around?
I reread it today. Thanx for sharing.
There was a seller in SCD - Bob Balanda who referenced a guy near where he lived who kind of fits your guy's MO.