Filed under: Beckett Media, Hall of Fame, MLB, Topps | Tags: 2010 Topps Tribute, Babe Ruth, baseball, baseball cards, lou gehrig, MLB, Topps
By Chris Olds | Editor
A heavily scrutinized Topps baseball card featuring the autographs of nine members of the 1927 New York Yankees has been judged to be authentic, according to more than one authentication company, and will return to the auction block on Thursday.
However, the card’s examination wasn’t without a new caveat not previously mentioned publicly as the autograph of Lou Gehrig appears to have been painted around to obscure lesser signatures near it — making it more visually appealing — according to James Spence Jr. of James Spence Authentication.
How rare is this kind of alteration?
“More often than a flat item, multi-signed baseballs are often painted over to give the illusion that they appear as single-signed,” Spence said Thursday. “A company in California specializes in this type of craft.”
This aspect is noted on the Spence Letter of Authenticity, which will be included with the card when it is sold by Beckett Select Auctions , the consignment auction service division of Beckett Media. The auction will launch Thursday with an opening bid of $20,000. The auction will close on on Super Bowl Sunday following the game here in Dallas.
The 2010 Topps Tribute Legendary Lineup Cuts card features the signatures of Earle Combs, Mark Koenig, Babe Ruth, Gehrig, Bob Meusel, Tony Lazzeri, Joe Dugan, Pat Collins and Waite Hoyt — all on one booklet.
A redemption for the card was found by a collector in Missouri, who opted to sell the card through Beckett Select. The auction briefly ran in December with a starting bid of $20,000. However, Select ended the auction early as a precaution when it received multiple questions about the authenticity of the Ruth and Gehrig signatures.
Filed under: Card gallery, Hall of Fame, MLB, Panini | Tags: 2010 Century Collection, Andre Dawson, Babe Ruth, baseball, baseball cards, Baseball Hall of Fame, Bob Feller, Cooperstown, Don Mattingly, Eddie Murray, Fergie Jenkins, Jim Rice, Joe Jackson, MLB, New York Yankee, new york yankees, Panini America, Paul Molitor, Pete Rose, Reggie Jackson, Rod Carew, Ron Santo, Will Clark, Yankees
By Chris Olds | Editor
Panini America may not be an official trading card licensee of Major League Baseball, but you wouldn’t know that from the company’s legendary inclusions in the forthcoming 2010 Century Collection set.
No, there aren’t any MLB logos or airbrushed uniforms in the multi-sport and non-sport product — it’s high school and casual photography — but it’s clear that the autograph and memorabilia assets left over from the Donruss days are getting good use and much of it will be in the hands of collectors starting this week.
In fact, it’s that non-traditional photography that might make these cards stand out from others — whether the significance or story behind the photo is noted on the card or not. (They likely aren’t … in their place an authenticity statement.) For example, the Paul Molitor card shown above is from his behind-the-scenes tour of the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., back in 2004.
The bat he’s holding? It’s a Babe Ruth gamer.
Filed under: Beckett Media, Hall of Fame, MLB, Topps | Tags: 1927 Yankees, 2010 Topps Tribute, 2010 Topps Tribute Legendary Lineup, autograph authentication, Autographs, Babe Ruth, Babe Ruth autograph, baseball, baseball cards, Beckett Select, Cut Autographs, James Spence, lou gehrig, Lou Gehrig autograph, MLB, new york yankees, PSA, Yankees, Yankees cut autograph, Yanks
By Chris Olds | Editor
A heavily scrutinized Topps cut autograph card featuring the starting lineup of the 1927 New York Yankees is off the auction block and headed for additional examination.
Filed under: Beckett Media, Hall of Fame, MLB, Topps | Tags: 1927 New York Yankees, 2010 Topps Tribute, Autographs, Babe Ruth, baseball, baseball cards, Cut Autographs, lou gehrig, MLB, new york yankees, Topps, Yankees
Beckett Select Auctions, the consignment auction service division of Beckett Media, has sold a few notable cards through the years for collectors who wanted a bit more security with their high-dollar transactions.
This latest auction, which starts tonight, just might be one of the bigger items that Select has ever offered.
Beckett Baseball‘s Chris Olds and Brian Fleischer discuss one collector’s once-in-a-lifetime find with Beckett Select’s Dave Sliepka.
What’s the card? You’ll have to watch the video to find out…
For more on the auction of a legendary Topps creation or Beckett Select, visit Beckett.com/Select.
Once the auction goes live tonight, you will find the information right here.
Filed under: just for fun, Leaf, MLB, Pro Sports, Topps | Tags: 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle, Babe Ruth, eBay, Hank Aaron, Joe Di Maggio, Shoeless Joe Jackson, Ted Williams, Vintage Baseball, Weird Auctions
By Andrew Tolentino | Assistant Editor
Knee deep in non-sport research, Beckett analyst Bryan Hornbeck discovered a baffling eBay listing this morning. Although the $1,000,000 listing did not sell, the most puzzling part of the eBayer-described “9 Card Collection of the Greatest in Baseball” is the eighth player selection.
Granted, every fan is entitled to a few outlying picks, and this seller even does a decent job of justifying the oddball. However, l have a feeling that hobbyists will be saying “Huh?” after seeing this audacious addition to Baseball’s best of the best.
Who did this eBay seller select? Click here to see for yourself.
Filed under: Beckett Media, Collectibles, MLB, NBA, NFL, Steiner Sports | Tags: Andy Pettitte, Autographs, Babe Ruth, baseball memorabilia, brett gardner, Chicago Bears, Derek Jeter, dwight gooden, Fenway Park, football memorabilia, green monster, inscriptions, laney high school, Mariano Rivera, Mark Teixeira, Memorabilia, Michael Jordan, Muhammad Ali, new york yankees, Phil Hughes, super bowl xx, sweetness, Tiger Woods, Walter Payton, Yankee Stadium, Yogi Berra
By Susan Lulgjuraj | Contributing Editor
Imagine sitting in a seat from the original Yankee Stadium while watching a baseball game in the comforts of your own home.
You can think about everything that seat witnessed as it was part of a history that spans back into the 1920s.
No, not one of those hard blue seats that makes you numb after sitting for two hours.
You could own a huge fielding replica glove couch that sits six to eight people. The couch is 86 inches high and 115 inches across.
Hope you have room for this thing.
Just for good measure, you will also get a Yogi Berra signed game-model glove.
This is one of the lots up for bidding in Steiner Sports Collectibles first catalog auction, which ends November 17 and 18. The items can be viewed at SteinerSports.com.
See more photos from various auctions after the jump.
Filed under: Beckett Media | Tags: Babe Ruth, elvis pressley, Jackie Robinson, lou gehrig, michael jordon, south bay baseball cards, super box, Ty Cobb
By Susan Lulgjuraj | Contributing Editor
Imagine opening the perfect box with high-end autographs of some of the best players in baseball history. Imagine getting your money’s worth out a single box.
Every. Single. Time.
Scott Allen, the vice president of South Bay Baseball Cards, thought he could create the ultimate box for their customers. The Super Box features prizes that include jerseys, bats, balls and high-end cards from those such as Jackie Robinson, Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Michael Jordan, Elvis Presley and many other stars.
“We believed we could build as good as or a better box of cards than was out on the market,” Allen said. “This has become a big ‘thank you’ to our customers. The same customers buy in each time, as well as new customers, referrals, friends of friends and more.”
Filed under: Beckett Media, Upper Deck | Tags: Autographs, Babe Ruth, Beckett Select, Jimmie Foxx, Mickey Mantle, Quad Cut, Ted Williams
By Andrew Tolentino | Assistant Editor
Like the eBay listing says, “this card needs no build up…”
Thankfully, drool travels downward; otherwise, this self-explaining colossal quad cut would be dirtying monitors click by click. Since Ruth, Mantle, Williams and Foxx are household names, the magnitude of this Beckett Select auction really doesn’t require an explanatory infomercial or the ShamWow guy’s hyperbolic pitch.
But I can’t help myself.
Featuring four elite names and two historical franchises, the 1/1 2005 Upper Deck SP Legendary Quad Cuts card is a collector’s dream and a cultural gem. Paired with vintage images, the four boldly inked Hall of Famer signatures are vivid symbols of American icons.
The living history hit was apparently pulled at a flea market in Buffalo, N.Y., and hasn’t surfaced on the market until now.
Graded as authentic and stored safely away from fleas, current pricing information and other details for the Beckett Select exclusive is available on eBay.
Filed under: Hall of Fame, MLB | Tags: Babe Ruth, Heritage auctions, Knute Rockne, lou gehrig, new york yankees, sports agents, Ty Cobb
By Amar Shah | Guest contributor
All it took was a case of beer and The Babe was his.
Before David Falk, Drew Rosenhaus and “Jerry Maguire,” there was Christy Walsh, the first super athlete agent. In 1921, Walsh, a sports cartoonist and trained lawyer, took on a new gig syndicating ghostwritten articles written by celebrities to newspapers around the country. His most famous client at that point had been Eddie Rickenbacker, a World War I flying ace turned race car driver. But Walsh had a bigger target in mind.
In 1920, Babe Ruth hit 54 home runs in his first season as a New York Yankee. Walsh found his man. However, Ruth proved elusive, avoiding the overzealous Walsh whenever he stalked him on the streets of New York City.
Walsh even managed to get himself kicked out of the Ansonia Hotel where Ruth was living. But according to Tom Stanton, author of “Ty and the Babe,” in the winter of 1921, Walsh was waiting for Ruth when he overheard a grocer next door to the hotel taking a beer order from Ruth’s room.
Filed under: MLB, Topps | Tags: 2010 Topps, 2010 Topps Chrome, Babe Ruth, baseball, baseball cards, Buster Posey, Carlos Santana, Chrome, Ike Davis, Jason Heyward, lou gehrig, Mickey Mantle, Mike Stanton, MLB, Starlin Castro, Stephen Strasburg, Topps Chrome, Ty Cobb
Update: On Oct. 22, Topps announced that it will be adding autographs of Buster Posey and Jason Heyward to the program. There will be 100 signed versions of each card with Refractors numbered to 90 and Green Refractors numbered to 10 also to be found in the packs.
—
Topps Chrome hasn’t yet arrived but there’s already an extra reason to pick up a hobby box — a wrapper redemption focusing on the best rookies of 2010 and the best players in baseball history.
The company announced on Thursday morning a program that will put an exclusive pack of three Chrome Rookies & Legends variation cards into the hands of any collector who sends in 24 2010 Topps Chrome hobby wrappers.
The cards are part of a 15-card set promotion that will run through Feb. 28. Every 1oth pack of the cards will include Refractors.
See the complete checklist and get the address after the jump.
Continue reading
Filed under: Hall of Fame, MLB | Tags: Babe Ruth, Babe Ruth autograph, baseball, Hall of Fame, Mamie Ruth, MLB, new york yankees, Yankees
A Babe Ruth photo originally owned for his sister sold for $22,546 Wednesday through SchulteAuctions.com.
The image (above) was the headliner as part of a collection consisting of five original photos and an inner book cover, which was signed, dated and personalized by The Bambino to “Mamie” Margaret Ruth-Moberly. The items were consigned by the family to the Woodstock, Md.-based auction house and were never before been publicly available.
Adding to the $22K photo’s appeal was a photo of “Mamie” holding the signed photo.
While that photo attracted 39 bids, the next-highest selling image, a photo signed by Lou Gehrig also personalized to Ruth’s sister, sold for $11,183 after 37 bids.
Among the other pieces sold were five other Ruth-signed items — $7,902 for a signed photo of The Babe and his wife, down to $1,292 each for a pair of Ruth family photos signed with just a “Babe” signature.
To view all of the auctions and the signed items, click here.
Chris Olds is the editor of Beckett Baseball. Have a comment, question or idea? Send an e-mail to him at colds@beckett.com. Follow him on Twitter by clicking here.
Filed under: MLB, Rippin Retail, Stephen Strasburg, Topps | Tags: 2010 Allen & Ginter, 2010 Topps, 2010 Topps Baseball Value Box, Babe Ruth, baseball, baseball cards, Cal Ripken, MLB, Stephen Strasburg, Strasburg, Topps, Yankees
Beckett Media’s Chris Olds rips into a 2010 Topps Baseball Value Box, a new item that hit retail shops this week.
What will he find inside? Watch and find out …
Filed under: Hall of Fame, MLB, the National | Tags: Autographs, Babe Ruth, Babe Ruth autographs, Babe Ruth sister, baseball, baseball memorabilia, Hall of Famer, Mamie Ruth, MLB, new york yankees, Schulte Auctions, Yankees
A collection of autographed Babe Ruth photos originally owned by his sister and never seen by the public have hit the auction block through SchulteAuctions.com.
The collection consists of five original photos and an inner book cover, which was signed, dated and personalized by The Bambino to Mamie Margaret Ruth-Moberly. The items have been consigned by the family and have never before been publicly available.
Adding to the allure of some of the items are photos from the Ruth family as well. The exact signed photo above, for example, can be seen in a photo of Mamie, which will come with the piece. That photo can be seen at right.
In addition, there also is a photo signed by Lou Gehrig, which also is personalized to Ruth’s sister.
The auctions are active now though the Woodstock, Md.-based company and continue until Aug. 31.
Each of the photos have been certified by either James Spence Authentication or PSA/DNA.
Filed under: Card gallery, the National | Tags: Autographs, Babe Ruth, baseball, baseball cards, basketball cards, football cards, hockey cards, Memorabilia, new york yankees, NSCC, the National, Topps, Yankees
Babe Ruth, anyone?
There’s simply so much to be found at the National Sports Collectors Convention that it would take days to see it all.
Here’s a small sampling — some traditional, some unusual and some just flat-out weird — of what caught our eye on Saturday at the nation’s biggest sports card and memorabilia convention.
See it all after the jump.
Filed under: Beckett Media, Collectibles, Hobby Stories, In The Game, Leaf, MMA, Panini, Stephen Strasburg, Sweet pulls, the National, Topps, TriStar, Upper Deck | Tags: 31st National Sports Collectors Convention, Babe Ruth, Baltimore, In The Game, Leaf, Panini America, Press Pass, Tim Tebow, Topps, trading cards, Upper Deck
BALTIMORE — Following two and a half days immersed in the 31st National Sports Collectors Convention, I bittersweetly boarded a plane in Baltimore Friday afternoon to head back home. Bitter: I had to leave The National! Enough said. Sweet: I was mere hours away from reuniting with my sainted wife and two sons.
Not to worry: The ever-capable Chris Olds and a superstar slew of Beckett folks remained in Baltimore, as did an inordinate amount of personal highlights, including four maddeningly delicious crab cakes, quality time well spent with loyal Beckett customers, longtime friends and neat new ones.
I saw tons of cool autographed Tim Tebow memorabilia, but not nearly enough Tebow singles. I saw a bunch of excited collectors pulling some absolute cornerstone cards while participating in redemption programs for In The Game, the new Leaf, Panini America, Press Pass, Topps and Upper Deck. I saw a Brett Favre lookalike (Gary Williams from Kentucky) on Thursday morning, a walk-off Orioles victory from the cozy confines of Camden Yards on Thursday night (Tom and Mindy Noonan, you people are saints), and enough cool Babe Ruth memorabilia to last until, well, at least a year — until the 32nd National in Chicago.
Heck, I even signed a few autographs (no, really, I did) and made an appearance on the Card Corner Club radio show. Indeed, I left Baltimore with tons of great memories — and an iPhone full of photos . . .
Filed under: Beckett Media, Hall of Fame, MLB, Topps | Tags: 600 home run club, 600 home runs, A-Rod 600, Alex Rodriguez, Alex Rodriguez 600, Babe Ruth, Barry Bonds, baseball, baseball cards, Hank Aaron, MLB, new york yankees, Sammy Sosa, Willie Mays, Yankees, Yanks
By CHRIS OLDS | Beckett Baseball Editor | COMMENTARY
It ain’t what it used to be.
That’s the easiest way to sum up the 600 home run club — not because of suspicions of performance-enhancing drugs or steroids, but because they are a reality reflected in the record books.
There was a time when just three players in baseball history had reached that plateau, three unquestioned legends in the game — Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth and Willie Mays.
Sure, we have since heard other legendary tales about Ruth beyond the field. And sure, we have heard about the ugly things that Aaron faced in his march toward the top of the record books. And, of course, collectors have heard their stories about Mays at card shows. But those three players’ performances were never in question.
And, again, 600 ain’t what it used to be.
In 1931 at age 36, Ruth became the first player in MLB history to reach the mark. Thirty-eight years later, in 1969, a 38-year-old Mays joined him. Two years after that, in 1971, so did a 37-year-old Aaron.
For 31 years, Aaron, Ruth and Mays were the only members of that elite class of hitter, unquestioned royalty of the game. Countless other greats — Frank Robinson, Harmon Killebrew, Reggie Jackson, Mickey Mantle and more — all came up short despite having careers of longevity and consistency that easily produced Hall of Fame results.
Filed under: Free Stuff Friday, MLB, the National, Topps | Tags: 1952 Topps, Andy Pafko, Babe Ruth, Babe Ruth Topps Tribute, baseball cards, Box busters, Brooklyn Dodgers, Dodgers, Free Stuff Friday, MLB, new york yankees, NSCC, the National, Topps, Yankees
We’re back with another batch of Free Stuff Friday contests where we get cool stuff into collectors’ hands just for answering trivia questions with answers found on Beckett.com.
Here are the latest … check ’em out …
No. 1 — A “CopOut” DVD (two winners)
No. 2 — A National Sports Collectors Convention VIP package (courtesy of Blowoutcards)
Weeklong Contest — A 2010 Topps Tribute Babe Ruth memorabilia card (only 99 exist)
Filed under: Hall of Fame, MLB, Topps | Tags: 2010 Topps Tribute, Babe Ruth, baseball, baseball cards, Free Stuff Friday, MLB, new york yankees, Topps, Topps Tribute, Yankees
We’re back with another Free Stuff Friday — our weekly ritual where we try and get some cool stuff into the hands of our readers just for answering some simple card-related trivia.
How can you win? Follow the directions below and answer the questions below in a comment right here … it’s that simple.
Tips: Don’t try stuffing the comments box — it’s one try per person per contest and we’ll check IP addresses — and make sure to include your name and email address so you can be contacted if you win.
Get the question(s) after the jump …
The Beckett Blog 