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Baseball cards of Shoeless Joe Jackson, Ty Cobb sell for record $800,000



<< <i>Tuesday, Nov 30, 2004

Baseball cards of Shoeless Joe Jackson, Ty Cobb sell for record $800,000 US


WILLOWBROOK, Ill. (AP)
- A complete set of 1914 Cracker Jack baseball cards featuring Shoeless Joe Jackson and Ty Cobb has been sold for a record $800,000 US.
The cards did not have the usual caramel stains found on many Cracker Jack cards and were in pristine condition, said Doug Allen, president of MastroNet Inc., an auction house in this Chicago suburb. He said the previous record for a complete set of baseball cards was $360,000.

"Condition and rarity are what make high-grade cards, and this particular collection was fortunate to have both," Allen said earlier this week.

The New York woman - who along with the buyer asked to remain anonymous - found the 144- card set with 2,500 other baseball cards in a shoe box in her home. The cards originally belonged to her uncle, who died during the Second World War, and the woman's father kept them until his death last year, Allen said.

The set includes a rare Christy Mathewson card that looks "like it was printed yesterday," Allen said.

Sportscard Guaranty, which evaluated the cards for authenticity and quality, called the set "monumental."

"It's hard to find words that would do this set justice," Sportscard president Dave Forman said in a statement. "The Joe Jackson card . . . is the finest prewar card our firm has ever graded.

"In my opinion, it is the best prewar card in existence period."



© The Canadian Press, 2004 >>






Skip

I'll take the cards & flowers when I'm living and the BS when I'm dead!

ANGEL OF HOPE


Skip
TUSTIN CA

Comments

  • frankhardyfrankhardy Posts: 8,098 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Why can't I find something like that in an old house! Oh, just once!

    Shane

  • WinPitcherWinPitcher Posts: 27,726 ✭✭✭
    is this the set that many feel was never included in a box of CJ?
    Good for you.
  • kobykoby Posts: 1,699 ✭✭


    << <i>The New York woman - who along with the buyer asked to remain anonymous - found the 144- card set with 2,500 other baseball cards in a shoe box in her home. The cards originally belonged to her uncle, who died during the Second World War, and the woman's father kept them until his death last year, Allen said. >>




    Incredible. The woman released only 144 out of 2500 cards so far. If the rest of the cards are outstanding like this group, that will turn the collecting world upside down. It will be interesting to see what else they have!
  • mikeschmidtmikeschmidt Posts: 5,756 ✭✭✭
    Steve: Of course they were never in a box of CJs. Much like all the high-grade finds of Stahl-Meyers, Wilson Franks, etc.
    I am actively buying MIKE SCHMIDT gem mint baseball cards. Also looking for any 19th century cabinets of Philadephia Nationals. Please PM with additional details.
  • VarghaVargha Posts: 2,392 ✭✭
    How about those 1915 CJ's that were never glued in a scrapbook or were they . . . ?
  • Stone193Stone193 Posts: 24,409 ✭✭✭✭✭
    This is a great set - if not from the boxes and there was no mail in offer in 1914...presentation set?
    Anyway, these look too good to be true.

    image

    your friend
    Mike
    Mike
  • AllenAllen Posts: 7,165 ✭✭✭
    Wow- what if a Wager like that is in that box? That is very impressive. It is hard to believe that they are in that shape even after being stored in a box- its amazing that they never got banged around a little or anything. I would think some cracker jack cards were probably carried out by employees- a set could make a cheap Christmas gift to a kid or something. They were worthless at the time.
  • They've been talking about this set over at the SGC forums.

    http://www.sgc1914crackerjack.com/

    image
  • This story has been fictitiously replayed in my head numerous times. Only it begins a little different...

    SFX: Phone ringing

    GRANDPA: Hi Marc.

    MARC: Hi Grandpa, what going on in Michigan...how about those Lions?

    GRANDPA: The Lions have no defense.

    MARC: But they've got some up-and-coming receivers.

    GRANDPA: The reason I called was Grandma was helping Mrs. Schwartz with her yard sale last weekend, and they found some sporting cards or something in a couple of shoeboxes. Do you still collect those cards?

    MARC: Uh, yeah...I dabble in them from time to time.

    GRANDPA: One of the shoeboxes was full of really tiny baseball cards, looked like something out of a painting. There was also a box full of baseball packages that still had the wrapper on them.

    MARC: They weren't opened?

    GRANDPA: Nope.

    LONG PERIOD OF SILENCE
    FOLLOWED BY THE SOUND OF A FLICK OF A LIGHTER

    GRANDPA: You still there?

    MARC: Uh, yeah...

    GRANDPA: Are you smoking again, sounds like you're smoking.

    MARC: No, no. I quit Grandpa. Tell me about those packs that weren't opened. What did they look like?

    GRANDPA: They reminded me of the holidays...green and red and I think they had big baseballs on them.

    LONG PERIOD OF SILENCE
    FOLLOWED BY THE SOUND OF GLASS CLANGING

    GRANDPA: Marc?

    MARC: Yeah, I'm here.

    GRANDPA: Are you drinking whiskey or something?

    MARC: No, no. I quit Grandpa.

    MARC: GULP!

    MARC: So Grandpa, what's a round trip ticket from Honolulu to Detroit costing these days?





    image
    everywhere you go
    there you are

    marc in Hawaii
  • Stone193Stone193 Posts: 24,409 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>MARC: So Grandpa, what's a round trip ticket from Honolulu to Detroit costing these days? >>


    image
    Mike
  • mikeschmidtmikeschmidt Posts: 5,756 ✭✭✭
    Steve:

    Likely a factory set that never left the factory. Given to a CJ employee or something of the like. Similar to the 1951 Bowman sets that have recently surfaced....

    Never distributed - never left the factory. Not a presentation set - just a nice set as a gift to an employee...
    I am actively buying MIKE SCHMIDT gem mint baseball cards. Also looking for any 19th century cabinets of Philadephia Nationals. Please PM with additional details.
  • Are these photographs or drawings of the player on the Cracker Jack card?
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