Greg Maddux rarities

maddux69

2/18/18: My mission is to now get the 1989 Canon and 1990 Old Style Photocards encased. Each of the years have a widely different pose and I think I can nail the unknown Canon to being made in 1989. Does someone have a Standard Catalog that can search the Cubs Canon photcards?

I recently purchased what I believe to be one of Greg Maddux's rarest card, his 1988 Canon Photocard. The Canon Photocards were sent out to fans who corresponded with Cubs players via mail, this was done both in the 1987 and 1988 seasons. Many believe that the 1987 Canon is Greg Maddux's rarest card, but I believe that to be untrue. Even in 1987, the Venezuelan League Sticker has only 13 graded(previously 8) by PSA where the 1987 Canon has 18(really 19). The 1988 Canon Photocards surface rarely and very few have been graded by PSA. Here are how the two Cubs Canon Photocards of Greg Maddux stack up against each other: (update there has been a large find of the 1988 Canon Photocards in which at least 2 PSA 10s were graded along with a few PSA9's and 8's)



1987 Canon Greg Maddux graded by PSA (18*), graded by BGS (6), Graded by SGC (1)

Total graded copies by the top 3 TPGs (25*)

PSA 10 copies- 10



1988 Canon Greg Maddux graded by PSA (5*), graded by BGS (0), Graded by SGC (0)

Total graded copies by the top 3 TPGs (5*)

PSA 10 copies- 0



*The population report is incorrect due to a mechanical error, a 1987 Canon was incorrectly slabbed as a 1988 Canon. How do I know this is true? I own it. Update- Since sent in as a mechanical error and fixed.
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Edited to update totals and the following:

There are also 1989 Canon Photocards and I believe the post below is indeed the 1989 edition. Also, there are Photocards produced with the Old Style beer logo in place of Canon.



1987 Canon Greg Maddux





1988 Canon Greg Maddux


1989 Canon-

mccardguy1

I used to work for the team during this time frame and I can tell you those postcards were available to the players to send to fans. I have stacks of them for most of the other players but I honestly didnt see many Maddux's which doesnt surprise me. I know Cannon put out a set that was full color but not sure if Maddux was featured on any of those. I will have to dig mine out and see what I can find.

GDM67

Those are incredibly cool.

maddux69

I recently came across Greg Maddux Canon issued card, though the year can't be fully determined. It is either a 1989 or 1990 Canon issue, though there is no way to differentiate the years since they are blank backed and no dates. What is the best route to figure out if this issue is catalogued and then be able to send them to PSA for grading? Any help is greatly appreciated!

maddux69

In my quest for Greg Maddux Canon issues, I came across what I believe to be a 1989 Canon Photocard of Ryne Sandberg. This is a different pose than his 1987 and 1988 Canon Photocard issues and matches the pose in what I believe is the 1989 Canon of Greg Maddux. A quick search did not show the existence of any other Ryne Sandberg 1989 Photocards, which would make this one extremely rare!

craig44

Wow, if you have stacks of these, you could be sitting on a nice little find if the demand is high on these. It would certainly affect the pop reports for these cards.

maddux69

Originally posted by: craig44

Wow, if you have stacks of these, you could be sitting on a nice little find if the demand is high on these. It would certainly affect the pop reports for these cards.

Only the one Sandberg unfortunately! There are a few of his 1988 Canon listed on eBay though. If there is a hoard, the players would be the ones to have them since their purpose was to send them out as responses to fan mail. Maybe they gifted them to someone at some point or simply trashed them along the way. What surprises me is that not many are found of any player signed, maybe many saw it tedious to reply to fan mail.

GDM67

Did the team send these out, as well? The Braves used to do that in he early '90's. They would toss in a B&W photo like this and a pocket schedule when you ordered something from the clubhouse store. I have a couple (Ron Gant and Lonnie Smith) that I got when I ordered press guides.

mccardguy1

Originally posted by: GDM67
Did the team send these out, as well? The Braves used to do that in he early '90's. They would toss in a B&W photo like this and a pocket schedule when you ordered something from the clubhouse store. I have a couple (Ron Gant and Lonnie Smith) that I got when I ordered press guides.

These were made so that the players could use them to respond to autograph requests. Some players used them and some did not. I used to work for the Cubs and we would see these in and around the clubhouse. My sister answered Rick Sutcliffe's fan mail and he would sign hundreds of these while on the road and give them to my sister to use to answer all of his autograph requests. Back in the day when his popularity was huge the man received a great deal of requests.

I had heard that Ryne Sandberg employed some retired women to do the same thing but later in his career he stopped that practice as his mail was just overwhelming as you could imagine.

maddux69

Updated to show visuals and how I will be trying to get the 1989 Canon and 1990 Old Style in PSA holders

DavidPuddy

Very cool team issues.
The hardest part to being a player collector is finding documentation on oddball and team issues.
Good luck getting them into holders!

maddux69

I believe that I can accurately date the above Canon photocard thanks to Phil Stephenson. 1989 is the only year that he played in the major leagues as a Cub and was traded midseason to the Padres. Please disregard the times on my screenshots, these are the things that I think about at night and keep me up! Can anyone with the standard catalog of baseball cards check and see if there is a section for the 1989 Cubs Canon issue?

bishop

Jason---the last SCD Catalog I have that included post 1980 listings was the 2011 20th edition. Assuming the listing would have been under "Canon " it is not in that edition. The listing go from Canadian Club to CaP Cure. There are a couple of separate Chicago Cub listings for Playing Cards and Fire Safety, but not Canon

maddux69

@bishop It could be listed as a Cubs team issue as these were given to players to sign. Other team issues that were stadium giveaways in 1989 was the Marathon Cubs issue. There was a stadium issue every year, 1987 and 1988 were the David Berg sets, while 1989-1991 were the Marathon issue.

frankhardy

As far as rare Maddux issues go.....what about the 1998 Topps Sportzcubz? PSA does not grade them....BGS has only graded one (mine; I have a complete set BGS graded....all pop 1 except Jeter with 2). There are supposedly around 5 ever made.

Kid4hof03

Jason, these are great! I love this kind of stuff, I hope you have luck getting PSA to recognize them.

ReggieCleveland

Oh man, I love stuff like this. Great job, @maddux69 ! Don't stop! You can do this!

Madduxforever

That is my sold Cubs Canon Maddux card. I am 99% sure that those are from 1990. I am attaching my communication with PSA about my attempted submission (26 cards from the 1990 set).

~~~ I just heard a theory that the Cubs Old Style cards may have sponsored in 1989 instead of Canon - and it is definitely possible. I have a few of the Old Style cards including a Maddux, and I will try to post a picture later.

~ Jon

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I collect all Cubs Canon & David Berg cards and sets, and am #1 on the PSA set registry for all years.

bobsbbcards

I like the idea that the head researcher grabs a catalog and when the set isn't there declares it doesn't exist. Researchers are the people who created the catalog in the first place--not the ones who read it later.

CARDSANDCOINS

CARDSANDCOINS

1988 old style palmeiro

Madduxforever

Here is my Old Style Maddux

maddux69

Here are my two Greg Maddux Old Style that are the same year as yours Jon. Also here is a Jerome Walton that definitively identifies the 1990 Old Style cards.

maddux69

I just realized that Jerome Walton's 1990 Old Style uses the same photo, only cropped, than the Canon below. I don't know what to think now!

Kid4hof03

The research going on here is great, I love these issues, it's always hard to pin down the dates and even how they were distributed. Not to hijack the thread, but does anyone have any Andre Dawson's from these issues? I'd love to add one to my collection.

ReggieCleveland

Jason, I wish you the best. I know exactly what you're going through both in the research and in dealing with PSA's "researcher."

I've sent them a variation where the athlete's name on the back of the card was spelled incorrectly. I included a correctly spelled version in the same submission so there would be no confusion. I mean, they authenticate the cards easy enough. They can tell if the variation is a fake or a real card. So I figured with both of them right in their hands what else is there to prove? Nope. Not cataloged in any hobby resource. It's like something out of Gilliam's Brazil.

Good luck.

Arthur

Madduxforever

I have all of the Dawson cards except the Old Style ones. I have a '87 Canon PSA 10 Dawson that I may list on Ebay this week.

Madduxforever

I have the 1988 & 1990 Cubs Canon Complete sets listed on eBay right now, if anyone is interested. I will probably list a 1987 set minus the Maddux this week too.

Madduxforever

I have the run of Maddux Canon/Old Style cards up on Ebay right noe. PSA 10 1987 Canon, and a signed Old Style.

mccardguy1

@maddux69 said:
I just realized that Jerome Walton's 1990 Old Style uses the same photo, only cropped, than the Canon below. I don't know what to think now!

I know if I want the straight answer I need to go to the guy who knows this stuff.

I have a friend who was cleaning out his father in law's house and ran across this Maddux Old Style auto. I know this was issued after I left the employment of the team (1987) but did you ever nail down a year of issue for this? I read your information above and maybe I missed it. Also, even though it is personalized which lowers the value, any thoughts on value? IT does have the pin holes and while it isn't creased it has been a bit handled which really does not take away from the overall look.

I want to be fair to my friend and get him the highest dollar but since my name is Andy I wouldn't mind having this in my collection either. Its one of the better Maddux autos I have seen and that isn't saying much. LOL

Thank you for any information you can provide.

maddux69

I never could nail down a year for those, or the other Canon for that matter. If there was a checklist somewhere that would make it easier as one could go through and cross reference that with the rosters each year. That is a nice auto no doubt, you can always tell the earlier signature from the rest since he actually tried to sign his name instead of further scribbles! I am not sure if there is much of a market for it unfortunately. Even with the 1987, I have held back from getting one of them signed...well mainly bc of the cowt of him signing would make it prohibitive. Sorry I couldn't be of much help...one day I hope to get to the bottom of it!

mccardguy1

@maddux69 said:
I never could nail down a year for those, or the other Canon for that matter. If there was a checklist somewhere that would make it easier as one could go through and cross reference that with the rosters each year. That is a nice auto no doubt, you can always tell the earlier signature from the rest since he actually tried to sign his name instead of further scribbles! I am not sure if there is much of a market for it unfortunately. Even with the 1987, I have held back from getting one of them signed...well mainly bc of the cowt of him signing would make it prohibitive. Sorry I couldn't be of much help...one day I hope to get to the bottom of it!

Thank yo for the info. I know that since these were mainly made for the players and not released to the public...at least I do not think they were it can be difficult to nail down a date. I have some acquaintances who worked in media relations at the time I worked for the team and I am going to reach out to them to see if they have any clue as to what year these were produced. Media Relations were responsible for the publicity photos and items for the players to sign.

maddux69

@mccardguy1 said:

@maddux69 said:
I never could nail down a year for those, or the other Canon for that matter. If there was a checklist somewhere that would make it easier as one could go through and cross reference that with the rosters each year. That is a nice auto no doubt, you can always tell the earlier signature from the rest since he actually tried to sign his name instead of further scribbles! I am not sure if there is much of a market for it unfortunately. Even with the 1987, I have held back from getting one of them signed...well mainly bc of the cowt of him signing would make it prohibitive. Sorry I couldn't be of much help...one day I hope to get to the bottom of it!

Thank yo for the info. I know that since these were mainly made for the players and not released to the public...at least I do not think they were it can be difficult to nail down a date. I have some acquaintances who worked in media relations at the time I worked for the team and I am going to reach out to them to see if they have any clue as to what year these were produced. Media Relations were responsible for the publicity photos and items for the players to sign.

That would be great because I am at a dead end without any further info. Maybe they might know someone still in the organization that might have access to information as well.

Madduxforever

So I have a new wrinkle to this post. I have come across a "New" card that I have never seen before, and I believe it may be the 1989 Canon Maddux. Additionally it looks like they removed the email exchange that I had with PSA about trying to get the 1990 Canon set graded. I don't know why they would do that, but oh well. The picture of the Maddux 1989 Cubs Canon is my current profile pic.

Madduxforever

I believe this is the unseen and elusive 1989 Cubs Canon Greg Maddux

emar

Hey Maddux guys,
<-----see avatar, I've had a disliking for the Braves, maybe forever.
However!, As a young baseball fan, I found it compelling to watch Maddux work his magic.
Finally, it looks like the card market will be giving him his much deserved recognition.

maddux69

Wow, that is mind blowing that another is out there! How did you come across this one? That means that there should be one for every year Maddux was a Cub; 4 different Canons, 2 different Old Styles and 1 Edy's.

jayhawke

Those are some great photocards. I picked up an '87 Venezuelan, they are always OC l/r. It will get graded one of these days.

maddux69

Just got the Edy's back from Derrick's PSA/DNA sub

Kid4hof03

I'm not a Maddux guy but I love this thread. Nothing like tough to find regional and team issued items. Great stuff!