CARD LANDED

1936 Wheaties Series 3

Landed it for a good price! Super stoked!

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This 1936 Wheaties set features cards measured at 6x 6 ¼ and included 12 cards in the set. 

Usually cut from the back of cereal boxes, it is very rare to come across a card that is well-cut, such as this example above. It does have 3 pin holes in the card, which was not uncommon during the time that is was produced. Kids would routinely pin them to their walls or bulletin boards to give homage to their favorite players.

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[Information gathered from Old Cardboard]

[Image from darby-s]

May be landing a new card soon...

A Frustrating Situation

It was 11am.

At the National Sports Collectors Convention two weeks ago in Baltimore, Maryland, I happened upon a card I needed; a 1938 Goudey Heads Up. It looks identical to this card, but it has cartoons around it:

Reference this link (not my card). That is what the card looked like, but it was not graded. I knew this deal had the card for a very long time, about 4 years, which is a long time to sit on a card. The starting price for the card was $395, which was WAY more than I wanted to spend on it.  For that day, it was marked 20% off, which brought it down to $320, still much more than I wanted to spend on it.

With much help from my friend, I negotiated the price down to $200, which I was comfortable paying. I was on top of the world. I could not have been happier, spending the day with a best friend and picking up a card I needed for a price I wasn't upset with.  I brought the card right over to SGC to be graded.

It was 12pm.

We perused the show for the next 2 hours waiting for the card to be graded. Coming back to the SGC booth I'm thinking to myself how I could not wait to finally have the card in hand.  I was elated, excited, anxious, all of the above.

My day was about to be ruined.  It wasn't the worst news I could have possibly gotten, but it's pretty close.  Under heavy examination, the top border of the card came back slightly trimmed, making the card grade 'authentic' instead of a number grade, which would have designated the card was original and untampered with.  In a frenzy, cursing the world, and in somewhat disbelief, I walk back to the dealer who sold me the card.

This would happen to me.

It was 2:15pm.

My strategy going into this conversation with the dealer was to not be hostile, and ask what we could do to remedy the situation. They did not fight with me at all, instead they were very understanding of the situation and refunded my money completely, and even paid for half of the grading fee, which was a considerate gesture.  

At this point, I was without-card, and lost 3 hours of valuable time looking for a card to replace the one I lost.  

Luckily I find this to replace it, but the feeling of the day ending like this is shitty, and on the 1 1/2  hour drive back to Fairfax, VA I was mad at the world, and still in disbelief.  

I didn't think at the time to offer a price on the trimmed card to fill the collection spot for now, then in the future upgrade to a better copy. I was just too flustered.

Fast-forward to today.  I make a call to the dealer, asking for a price on the very same card, hoping I could get it for significantly less than $200.  To my utter surprise, they offer $180, only $20 less than what I originally bought the card for.  Doesn't surprise me at all actually, their original price for the card was WAY above what anyone wanted to pay for it, thus it sitting for 4+ years in their display case.

I explain to him that the card is trimmed, and the legitimacy is compromised.  He argues that the card is still in G-VG condition. "No, sir, it isn't. It says right on the label that it is authentic."  He then goes on to say that they will resell the card as G-VG, but trimmed, and set the price at $190.  Seriously? Sorry bro, but that card will NEVER sell. 

Have fun letting it sit for another 4 years.

/rant

I did a bad thing... Math.

So, last night with friends I decided to show them my collection. With that came a lot of questions.  So, with a fancy iPhone calculator and a tired brain (mine) I somehow recollected every price I paid for each vintage card I owned, including these two, at          and          respectfully, the most expensive 'non-vintage' cards I own.

I surprised even myself at my memory. It maybe have been because it was after midnight, and everything is more fun after midnight, and there were two attractive women at my house. I don't really know what that has to do with it, but whatever if you had to remember something with them in the room you'd do it too.

My total came out to be           .  This total includes the price of the cards (less shipping b/c calculating that would have been a nightmare) as well as grading fees ($10/card).

Can you imagine what I could have done with that money in the past 4 years of my college career? It's kind of crazy to think about, but at the same time, I have accumulated all these cards at a very reasonable price. In better condition, I could have spent more than double that amount.  I am fortunate that I have a low budget, and patience (at times) to wait for the right deal.

Remember, the cards totaled were less than half of what I have in total. The modern cards I have cost me less, on average, but they outnumber the original vintage cards I have.

Well, now that that's out of the way, I can chart from now on how much my collection has cost me. 

Thanks friends -

SIKE

Turns out I hate Tumblr lol. Staying on Blogger for the near future.

Moving to brnrth.tumblr.com

More efficient, prettier, and more awesomer.

The Rookie Card

As a young up-and-coming kid from Brooklyn, Greenberg garnered a lot of attention from the New York Yankees, looking for a first basemen to replace Lou Gehrig. Greenberg remembers an account of Gehrig, describing him as a "man amongst boys". A 20 year old being the successor to Lou Gehrig? Hank didn't have that in mind for himself. 

Instead, he signed a contract with the Detroit Tigers, a team with a solid core of veterans that were one year away from winning a World Series championship. 

Now to the card. I bought this card in the Fall of my first semester of college in 2008, a time where I had a lot of disposable income and chose to buy a lot of vintage instead of boozing.  It cost me about $45 on eBay, and I haven't found a card go for that low since.  Although it is pretty beat up, it still retains that nice vintage look and smell, if you're into that kind of kinky shit.

I am looking to upgrade it to maybe a SGC 40 (VG condition) but I would not part with this card simply because of the importance of it to my collection.

All Them Cards

If you don't want to scroll through all of the pictures, use this link and navigate through that:

If you're the lazy type

Sorry that the format of the pictures got kind of messed up at the end, but at least they are all there.

Enjoy-

An Introduction

For many of you, this next portion of the blog may be a lot of gibberish to you. Below are all the baseball cards known to exist of Hank Greenberg between the years of 1934-1950:

1934 R320 Goudey
1934-36 R327 Diamond Stars
1934-36 R318 Batter Up
1935 R321 Goudey 4-in-1
1935 R309-2
1935 M114 Baseball Magazine Premium
1935 George Burke Detroit Photo Stamps
1935 Detroit Free Press
1936 R311 Glossy and Leather Finish
1936 R312 Pastel
1936 R313 National Chicle Fine Pens
1936 R314 Goudey Wide Pens
1938 R323 Goudey Heads Up
1939 R334 Play Ball
1939-46 W462 Exhibits Salutations
1940 R335 Play Ball
1941 R336 Play Ball
1941 R330 Double Play
1943 R302 M.P. & Co.
1948 R346 Blue Tint
1950 R423
1936 BF3 Pennant type 1
1936 BF3 Pennant type 2 batting
1936 BF3 Pennant type 2 throwing
1936 BF3 Pennant type 3
1936 BF3 Pennant type 7
1936 V355 WWG
1936 Detroit Times Sports Stamps
1936 Wheaties series 3
1937 R314-5 WWG
1938 W463 Exhibits "4-on-1"
1938 Wheaties series 11
1938 Wheaties series 15
1938 PM8 Our National Game Pin
1939 R303-A Goudey Premium
1939 Wheaties series 12
1940 Diamond Dust Punchboard card
1941 Wheaties Champs of USA
1946-47 W603 Sport Exchange All Stars
1946-47 Cuban Propagandas Montiel
1947 W602 Sport Exchange Mini (gold border)
1948 W712-2 Cleveland Indians Picture Pack
1949 W712-4 Cleveland Indians Picture Pack (action) (GM)
1934 H-Unc. Annis Furs
1936 R301 Overland Candy Co.
1937 BF104
1937 BF-Unc. Felt Pennant
1937 V300 O-Pee-Chee
1940 Michigan Sports Service 

Don't know if I missed any, but I'll be putting pictures up of all of them, so you will see them eventually.

Now, here is that same list, but now I will cross off the card that I have, leaving the ones I need, +/- a few:


1934 R320 Goudey
1934-36 R327 Diamond Stars
1934-36 R318 Batter Up
1935 R321 Goudey 4-in-1
1935 R309-2
1935 M114 Baseball Magazine Premium
1935 George Burke Detroit Photo Stamps
1935 Detroit Free Press
1936 R311 Glossy and Leather Finish
1936 R312 Pastel
1936 R313 National Chicle Fine Pens
1936 R314 Goudey Wide Pens
1938 R323 Goudey Heads Up
1939 R334 Play Ball
1939-46 W462 Exhibits Salutations
1940 R335 Play Ball
1941 R336 Play Ball
1941 R330 Double Play
1943 R302 M.P. & Co.
1948 R346 Blue Tint
1950 R423
1936 BF3 Pennant type 1
1936 BF3 Pennant type 2 batting
1936 BF3 Pennant type 2 throwing
1936 BF3 Pennant type 3
1936 BF3 Pennant type 7
1936 V355 WWG
1936 Detroit Times Sports Stamps
1936 Wheaties series 3
1937 R314-5 WWG
1938 W463 Exhibits "4-on-1"
1938 Wheaties series 11
1938 Wheaties series 15
1938 PM8 Our National Game Pin
1939 R303 Goudey Premiums
1939 Wheaties series 12
1940 Diamond Dust Punchboard card
1941 Wheaties Champs of USA
1946-47 W603 Sport Exchange All Stars
1946-47 Cuban Propagandas Montiel
1947 W602 Sport Exchange Mini (gold border)
1948 W712-2 Cleveland Indians Picture Pack
1949 W712-4 Cleveland Indians Picture Pack (action) (GM)
1934 H-Unc. Annis Furs
1936 R301 Overland Candy Co.
1937 BF104
1937 BF-Unc. Felt Pennant
1937 V300 O-Pee-Chee
1940 Michigan Sports Service 

Some of these remaining cards will cost me over $1,000 to buy, even in the worst condition (fuck you R301 Overland Candy Co. $2,100 for a candy wrapper, the fuh?).

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Now to get to some FAQ's I often get about my collection.

Why Hank Greenberg? 
The answer is not complicated. He and I share a religion (Judaism), and he was the first Jewish superstar in baseball, in a time and place (Detroit) that was not at all accepting of Jews. When I played baseball, I was a first basemen, which is something we share as well.  Also, he has succeeded at every single aspect one could have in baseball; playing, managing and general managing/front office.  He was also a vital ambassador for Jackie Robinson and his journey to the Majors. Aside from Branch Rickey, Greenberg played a big part in the integration of Robinson, and more black players to follow him.

What is your collection worth, and how much have you spent on it?
To be honest, I don't know the answer to either question. If I had to guess how much I have spent on it, total, not just the cards listed above, would probably total close to $3,000. That's a guess though. I don't want to venture how much it is actually worth because that would involve selling it. Which won't happen.

Why do you grade your cards?
I grade them for protection and aesthetic purposes only. They look nice and provide the best protection available to me outside of a bank vault. 

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Alright this is getting super long, my next post will include all the pictures of every vintage card that I have. Enjoy, thanks for the long read.

Brian