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August 3-22, 2008

This is our 33rd Year of hobby columns

Ted Taylor’s Collector’s Corner

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TOPPS HITS ANOTHER GRANDSLAM WITH ALLEN & GINTER ART CARDS

As new card products go, the Topps ’08 Allen & Ginter was among the most highly anticipated of the current year.  They did not – and do not – disappoint.

The fun starts with the retro box – itself worth saving – and continues as you bust open the 24 packs inside.

Now, remember, this is called “World Champions” so they are not all going to be “baseball” cards.  That took a little getting used to as almost half of what comes out of the packs is something other than a traditional card.

Still, I found the smaller-sized cards (actual A&G from 1887 size) to be fun – and there’s one in every pack.  There are also thicker cards that each define a state of the union, illustrate the state flag, and a player from that state.  Shane Victorino of the Phillies is portrayed on the Hawaii card, Nick Swisher represents Ohio, Nate Robertson, Kansas and so on.

The box promises two premium items – either relic, autograph, printing plates, original 1887 cards or 1 of 1 relics (see Wooly Mammoth reference later in this story).  My box produced four relic cards – three uniform swatches, Manny Ramirez, Todd Helton and Adam Dunn and a bat shard card of J. D. Drew.

Those cards that were not baseball players included everyone from Wild Bill Hickok to hot dog eating champion Joey Chestnut.  Also in my box  were Marie Curie, Harriet Tubman, Bram Stoker, Charles Dickens, Mary Shelley (looking risque’ in a low cut gown) and Benjamin Franklin.

Sports cards that were not baseball cards included Jeannette Lee (billiards), Takudzwa Ngwenya (rugby), Pete Weber (bowling), Mark Spitz (swimming), Lisa Leslie (basketball) and so on.  Dubious ones were Billy Mitchell (Pac Man), Andrew Litz (air guitar, really), Allen Fisher arm wrestling and two buildings – Empire State and The Gateway Arch.  There’s even a Grand Canyon card.

The art is fascinating on the baseball cards – all of it looks retro and some of it is quite small – Eric Byrnes, card #35, for example. The set doesn’t break a lot of ground with new images – most players included are the usual suspects in a set like this – Chase Utley, Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Curt Schilling, Gary Sheffield, Alfonso Soriano, Jimmy Rollins and so on.

There are 10 Wooly Mammoth DNA cards in Allen & Ginter – all the rest of the DNA cards are 1 of 1. The WM cards feature hair strands from a real Wooly Mammoth (whatever that has to do with baseball I don’t know, unless Connie Mack’s A’s elephant was, really, a wooly mammoth. There are also “Big Foot” cards numbered to 200 (no not that guy, but the truck of the same name) in the set. Team Orange baseball cards are scarce – one in every six boxes and they are of ten players.

Overall the set is a long homerun.  It was worth the wait and all the fun I expected opening my box.  Get one. If you don’t you’ll be sorry later.

THE DAY BABE RUTH PLAYED FOR THE PHILADELPHIA ATHLETICS

Babe Ruth was a member of Connie Mack’s Philadelphia A’s and played in a game for them. Nonsense you say, it never happened.

Well it did. It happened in Spring Training 1925.This intruiging story was resurrected from a scrapbook of sports items and appeared in May of 1965 in The Milwaukee Sentinel.

The story reports that New York sportswriter Joe Villa had predicted that “..if Ruth doesn’t begin the season in perfect physical condition, he’ll begin to hit the long slide down. Bambino is growing old like the rest of us and cannot hit homeruns for ever.” (Babe was only 30 at the time and had batted a league leading .378 with 46 homers in 1924.)

Babe was in Hot Springs, AR when Villa’s column hit and he weighed 245 lbs. at the time.  Shortly after reporting to the Yankees in St. Petersburg, FL, he fractured the third finger of his left hand and missed a week of spring training.

For some reason or another Manager Miller Huggins allowed Ruth to join the A’s at their Ft. Myers training site and to appear with them in an exhibition game with the American Association’s Milwaukee Brewers. The date of the game was March 4, 1925.

Imagine this A’s lineup? Max Bishop, 2b; Bing Miller, rf; Babe Ruth, lf; Joe Hauser, 1b; Al Simmons, cf; Mickey Cochrane, c; Jimmie Dykes, 3b; Chick Galloway, ss and the A’s hurlers were Lefty Grove and Ed Rommel.

Ruth was hitless in three trips, foiled by a lefty named Dinty Guerin.

The Babe had a down year in 1925 batting .290 in just 98 games with just 25 homers. Two years later and with all due respect to Villa’s predicted decline, the Babe hit 60 homeruns and batted .356.

Ironically, Connie Mack had always felt that Jack Dunn (Orioles owner) should have sold Ruth to the A’s, not the Yankees.  But he did manage him that one afternoon.

Stories also persist that Mr. Mack was contemplating stepping down as A’s skipper after the 1934 season and, briefly, considered Ruth as his successor. It is said that he changed his mind after watching Claire Ruth dominate the Babe during the famous “Tour of Japan”.  Ruth would have been a huge favorite in Philadelphia, likely as the A’s player-manager in 1935.  It’s a shame in never happened.

NEW HOBBY PRODUCTS

            Topps 2008 NFL Football cards. This product features Brett Favre on the cover in his Green Bay Packer uniform.  Assuming Brett plays this year it isn’t likely it’ll be as a Packer – but then, who knows?  The package promotes one relic or autograph per box.  There are 36 packs of ten cards each in the box and autographs under the categories of Performance Highlights Autographs and Dynasties Tribute Autographs and relics under the same headings.  All the big names are featured in both the relics and autographs categories. They also tell you to “Look for all 30 Topps Player Collection cards!” Be sure that you do!

COACH’S CORNER AUGUST AUCTION

The August Coach’s Corner Sports & Celebrity auction features a pair of Hall of Famer signed baseballs, a game-worn and certified Roger Maris New York Yankees jersey, Pablo Picasso art and much more. Bidding is already underway on the internet and closes on August 15.  This is the ninth of 13 auctions planned for 2008 by Coach’s Corner. There are a total of 4,813 items up for sale in this auction.

The number one item is a baseball signed by 24 Baseball Hall of Famers with Babe Ruth on the sweet spot and including Jimmie Foxx, Honus Wagner, Ty Cobb, Homerun Baker among others.  The ball is a Spalding Official National League (Frick) in VG condition. Estimated value as high as $35,000.

The second item is a Roger Maris game-worn New York Yankees #9 home pinstriped jersey from the 1966 season.  It is a size 42, button-up model. Estimated value could be in the $25,000 range.

Listed as the third item is another Hall of Fame signed ball.  This one has 23 signatures on it including Cobb, Cy Young, Mickey Cochrane, Wagner, Foxx, Bill Dickey among others.  It’s in excellent condition, but has no manufacturer’s logo and estimates put the value well in to five figures...

Item number four is a Mel Ott, sweet-spot signed, MacGregor Pony League baseball. The signature is in blue ink. Ott signatures are scarce and the book value for something like this is in excess of $20,000.

The fifth listing comes from the world of art and is an 11x14 piece of Pablo Picasso art. The subject is a love scene and it is dated and hand signed by the artist in black ink.

The entire auction can be viewed on the web at www.myccsa.com

RESULTS FROM THE LAST AUCTION . . .

A Spalding Official National League baseball sweet-spot signed by Babe Ruth sold for $6,300 followed by two Mickey Mantle-related Topps baseball cards rated “Pristine 10” selling for $4,258 and 4,052 were the top selling items in the July Coach’s Corner Sports and Celebrity Auction. In all there were 5,019 items up for bid.

            The Ruth ball graded out at 6.5 overall and was one of four balls that brought solid prices in the auction.  The others sold for $1,775, $1,676 and $1,260 respectively – the prices varying according to condition.  A 1933 Goudey Babe Ruth baseball card graded a 6.5 Ex-Mt sold for $1,769.

            The two Mantle related cards were a 1959 #461 card entitled “Mantle’s 42nd Homerun” that sold for $4,258 and the other was a 1964 Topps #331 entitled “A. L. Bombers” and picturing Roger Maris, Norm Cash, Mantle and Al Kaline. Another Mantle-related card also brought a hefty price of $1,405 and that was 1961 Topps #406 that pictured Mantle’s 565 foot homerun.

            The fourth highest selling item went for $3,510 and was a baseball signed on the sweet spot by President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Also among Presidential signatures two Lyndon B. Johnson signed balls sold for $2,641 and $2,205 while a Harry S Truman ball sold for $2,500. A cut signature of George Washington sold for $1,723.

            A collection of 78 slabbed and graded coins brought $2,755 and a sheet containing 14 significant baseball autographs signed at the Cooperstown Baseball Centennial brought $1,915...

Identical winning bids of $2,100 were good enough to capture signed baseballs of Jack Chesbro and Walter Johnson (a second Johnson ball sold for $1,654).

THE HOBBY TICKER

            eBay just won an important decision in a New York court that ruled that the auction company is not liable for counterfeit items (in this case Tiffany jewelry) and that it is up to the company (in this case Tiffany) to police their own trademarks.

            A French court, last month, ruled that eBay most pay luxury goods maker LVMH a whopping $61 million for allowing counterfeit versions of its products to be sold on their website.

            Their “exclusive” deal with two autograph authenticators (PSA & JSA) is also under fire from a Pennsylvania legislator who is pushing them, hard, to drop the exclusivity requirement.  What prompted this were numerous complaints from hobby show dealers across the state who attempted to sell items on eBay that had been signed and authenticated at their shows.  “We pay for the guest, we pay for an on-site authenticator, and then they say we have to use theirs.  It’s simply not fair and it smacks of insider collusion,” said one show promoter, who also happens to be a lawyer.  Stay tuned on this one.  I doubt the hobby press will touch it.

            Goose Gossage called ex-Phillie slugger Dick Allen “the best player I ever saw” during Hall of Fame induction ceremonies.  The Goose’s cards and memorabilia instantly climbed in value following his Cooperstown enshrinement – ditto that Dick Williams stuff you’ve been saving.  Reports from C’town confirm a “very light” weekend during the induction.  Shopkeepers, in general, were not happy with the crowds.  Pete Rose, of course, was in a card shop signing autographs.  It’s too bad Shoeless Joe Jackson wasn’t there.  Both men belong in the Hall of Fame.

            What’s on your mind ????

Don’t be bashful.  Drop us a line (ted@tedtaylor.com) and let us know what you think. Has the recession impacted your hobby purchases?  (We’re hearing a lot of reports to that effect. People are selling collections for pennies on the dollar.) Did you ever feel cheated when buying a hobby product? What you like about new products – or don’t like.  Have you ever been frustrated with a deal on eBay or at other auction houses? Thanks for reading the column.  Your feed-back is important.