1988-1990 Swell Greats Auto Question - Real or Fake?

FredGarvin

Have noticed a ton of those late 80's Swell Greats football cards of the HOFers being sold with autos. I can't seem to find any info on these auto cards. There is no mention of inserts with this set in publications and really no info on these sets at all. I know these are garbage sets, but with the autos they are interesting. Does anyone here have an idea where the autos came from and if they are real or fakes (there are a ton available on eBay). Many are PSA/DNA but something still seems off about these cards.

vintagechris

They were popular sets for TTM autographs.

brianwintersfan

<< <i>Have noticed a ton of those late 80's Swell Greats football cards of the HOFers being sold with autos. I can't seem to find any info on these auto cards. There is no mention of inserts with this set in publications and really no info on these sets at all. I know these are garbage sets, but with the autos they are interesting. Does anyone here have an idea where the autos came from and if they are real or fakes (there are a ton available on eBay). Many are PSA/DNA but something still seems off about these cards. >>



Those autos were obtained after the set was released by collectors either in person or TTM. Just like any auto obtained that way it can go either way. Do your homework before you buy. Not sure what you mean by them being "off".

FredGarvin

Thanks guys. As I could find nothing on the web about them I assumed they were not part of the issue but was not sure and am honestly naive about autos as I have never collected them.

A follow-up question would be about the PSA/DNA authentication for autos, I know nothing is perfect, but in your mind does PSA do a fairly good job with these or are they just as much of a crap shoot as the unauthenticated cards.

The reason I ask is again I am really not knowledgeable about the auto side of the hobby but I would like to pick up an Otto Graham card I saw that was PSA/DNA certified.

Thanks for all your help.

brianwintersfan

PSA/DNA and JSA can and do make errors. But buying something like a Graham shouldn't be an issue. He has signed enough autos and PSA has enough exemplars to more times than not make the right call.

FredGarvin

Thanks again Brianwintersfan. You hear so many horror stories about autos, that buying from anyone makes me nervous.

brianwintersfan

<< <i>Thanks again Brianwintersfan. You hear so many horror stories about autos, that buying from anyone makes me nervous. >>



Happy to help. And if you see something you like feel free to post a pic or auction link here to get some feedback. Lots of guys who collect autos on the boards who know their stuff. Good luck!

arex

<< <i>Thanks again Brianwintersfan. You hear so many horror stories about autos, that buying from anyone makes me nervous. >>


Are you related to Ronnie Garvin?

alnavman

when I was still doing shows down in Canton Ohio and getting HOF'er autos I tried to get as many as I could on the Swell football cards. I probably still have some of them, at least for the local Cleveland players....I always thought they looked nicer than getting them on photos or other items. al.

FredGarvin

Thanks for the info and the help guys.


Now for the TMI portion of my post.
My real collecting focus is the '51 Bowman and '65 Topps football and I admit to dabbling in the Chicle football slowly trying to build a mid-grade set. However, I purchased a box of 1988 Swells as a fun and cheap party favor for my 40th birthday party and subsequently disccovered this past weekend that there were large amounts of these on the market with signatures. While some people cite Jersey Shore or other tv show like this as a guilty pleasure I actually have that guilty pleasure with a couple of junk card sets (I also admit to liking the 70's Fleer Team-Action stuff). I actually like the Swells as I love football history and thought it might be fun to collect some of these cards with PSA/DNA autos (picked up an Otto Graham and Dick Lane yesturday). However, the little investor with the pitchfork on my shoulder started to rebel (why would you waste good $$ on junk cards with signatures not issues through the set?). After thinking about it for a few days, I just decided that it is perfectly ok to buy junk cards with autos because...well...it would be fun.

Thanks all.

brianwintersfan

<< <i>Thanks for the info and the help guys.


Now for the TMI portion of my post.
My real collecting focus is the '51 Bowman and '65 Topps football and I admit to dabbling in the Chicle football slowly trying to build a mid-grade set. However, I purchased a box of 1988 Swells as a fun and cheap party favor for my 40th birthday party and subsequently disccovered this past weekend that there were large amounts of these on the market with signatures. While some people cite Jersey Shore or other tv show like this as a guilty pleasure I actually have that guilty pleasure with a couple of junk card sets (I also admit to liking the 70's Fleer Team-Action stuff). I actually like the Swells as I love football history and thought it might be fun to collect some of these cards with PSA/DNA autos (picked up an Otto Graham and Dick Lane yesturday). However, the little investor with the pitchfork on my shoulder started to rebel (why would you waste good $$ on junk cards with signatures not issues through the set?). After thinking about it for a few days, I just decided that it is perfectly ok to buy junk cards with autos because...well...it would be fun.

Thanks all. >>



Yeah but by adding that auto to a junk card, you turn it into a cool card. I would much rather use something like a Swell card for a TTM auto compared to an expensive original from the 50's or 60's. Collect what you like and don't listen to that little voice in your head.

FredGarvin

Thanks Brianwintersfan, sometimes you need to remind yourself why you got into the hobby (not that $$ has ever been my motivation as I only collect sets I like, but sometimes the focus of what something is worth or will be worth starts to creep into decisions).

brianwintersfan

<< <i>Thanks Brianwintersfan, sometimes you need to remind yourself why you got into the hobby (not that $$ has ever been my motivation as I only collect sets I like, but sometimes the focus of what something is worth or will be worth starts to creep into decisions). >>



Well I worked in a friends card shop part-time from 2002-2010. I tried to explain to the young kids who were only worried what their cards were worth a little lesson. If they woke up the next day and their collection was worthless would you still want it. If the answer was yes then they were collecting for the right reason. The hobby has to mean more than just $$$. Sure that's a bonus but it should not be the main focus. Just my .02 cents.

FredGarvin

Great way to look at it.

I should know, I am afterall one of those who got caught in the mid 80's to early 90's buying a ton of "investment" cards that turned out to be pure junk.

I remember I must have hoarded 30 Eric Lindros rookies (o-pee-chee ones not the Score ones as they were going to be worth double ), as he was going to be the next Gretzky and I would be flush in cash in no time.

Thanks for the tips.

brianwintersfan

<< <i>Great way to look at it.

I should know, I am afterall one of those who got caught in the mid 80's to early 90's buying a ton of "investment" cards that turned out to be pure junk.

I remember I must have hoarded 30 Eric Lindros rookies (o-pee-chee ones not the Score ones as they were going to be worth double ), as he was going to be the next Gretzky and I would be flush in cash in no time.

Thanks for the tips. >>



A lot of us did that back then. Don't feel bad

PowderedH2O

I remember quite well being one of those people that got the Swells signed. Stamps were 25 cents then, so I could send out a couple of these cards and an index card out for 50 cents round trip. Back then, most of the HOFers signed freely. I would say that in 1990 I was able to get 75%-80% of the living players to sign them with no problem. I wasn't trying to put together any sort of a set. So, I have them on different seasons. Most are 1989, since that was the set I had the most of.

cardsnbeads

I love the 1988 Swell Cards. I have almost every living Hall of Famer that signed ttm in 1990s. Practically the only guys that didn't sign when these sets came out were Namath, Jim Brown,Hornung, Csonka , and a couple others. It is a great set. I bought packs for a quarter each and the guy at the card shop gave me half the set for free when I first did autographs in the 1990's as a little kid. So many of those guys are gone now.

psychump

As far as I can tell these are facsimile sigs... Complete 135-card SET, NM/MINT .... W/facsimile autos of original 12 500 HR Club: Aaron,Ruth,Mantle,Mays,Ted ...

FredGarvin

Nice to hear stories about the auto cards from this set as it should be fun to build. Does anyone who may have been collecting these out there have a pretty good handle in general how many of the HOFers cards from this set might be out there with signatures (how many were alive when the set came out?). I saw one lot for sale out there with about 81 or so autos (unslabbed), pretty good for a 144 set. However they wanted 2k for it which seems a little high given the autos were collected after issue.

As I have never really looked for one, were there any other football sets produced such as the Swell set that focused only on HOFers?