Friendly competition + unemployment = lots of cards

Some weeks ago I cultivated a relationship with someone else in this world that collects Hank Greenberg cards.

You might be thinking, "what, someone else collects this stuff?"  In fact, yes. they do.

While speaking with him and comparing our collections, I think it fueled a bit of a fire in me to best his collection. He has a ton of high end cut autographs, low numbered cards, bat cards and some vintage.  Nothing short of a great collection.

I really enjoy talking with him (almost daily) and asking for advice on purchases, prices etc. If you don't know someone who collects the same way you do, I highly recommend you reach out to them for their friendship, guidance and knowledge.

So I've been buying.  Also probably aided by my being unemployed since early January. With time comes opportunity.  And with opportunity, comes a hot streak.

Everything below is what I've acquired since early January, with two more cards coming this and next week:

It's been a while

For 2015 I want to be posting more regularly.  Wanted to give a broad overview of my pickups over the past few months.

July was nice, landing a couple of nice vintage cards, 1 an upgrade and the other a variation of what I currently had.  A 1935 Goudey 4-in-1 #9F courtesy of Kevin Savage auctions.  Probably overpaid for it considerably, as it graded only a SGC 20, but I like the card for what it is.

Also found my upgrade to the 1939 Exhibit Salutation "Very Truly Yours" from a deal on the Blowout forums, then sold my older version for $5 less than the price that I bought my upgrade.  Not a bad deal if you ask me!  This graded as an SGC 40, a bit less than I thought it would, but still very pleased with it.


August was fruitful.  Went to a show and sold a few cards for $195, and gambled to win $81 in the same day at the casino upstairs to help fund my biggest purchase to date.  A 1937 O-Pee-Chee beaut graded an SGC 50.  The card is more beautiful in person and is now a huge puzzle piece sealed in my quest for the master vintage set.

After this quite massive purchase I sequestered myself from buying to help recoup my cash pool.  September was slow, with no purchases, but I did submit 3 cards to SGC for grading.



October proved less-profitable, but did get the grades back from SGC, including the blue Batter Up that got an SGC 10 which was expected.  This was also the month that 2014 Panini Classics came out.  I ended up landing the base card, a parallel /149, a Home Run Heroes insert and a couple of triple bat cards featuring famous Tigers and Pirates.

November came to be great, where my long discussions with a dealer and web designer proved fruitful of my first printing plate, and fourth 1/1 for $50.

December had been uneventful, until tonight, where I just agreed to buy the brand new 2014 National Treasures bat /99 from a guy on the Blowout Forums that should be my last pickup of this 2014.





















Happy New Year all, and thanks for the read.

New pickup: 1934 Batter Up v2

There are certain moments, when cards go on eBay and I say to myself, "Yep, I'm going to win that card." I bet more collectors feel that way as well.

I had decided at the NSCC this past August that I wanted to go after all color variations of the 1934 Batter Up # 57 Hank Greenberg.  I bought and graded this one a few years ago, and was a fan of this issue ever since.

At the National, with this in mind, I found two Batter Ups that I pondered, and passed, and pondered, and passed, and offered and counter-offered several times on both cards.  I had to pass on a blue version (shown in this link) because of back damage, and the fact that the dealer's price was too high for the card.  I think I might have already explained this story once here before, but I'm not remembering so I'll just continue.

The second of the two cards I was much more interested in.  A black tinted, raw, sharp card. Guy was asking $300 for it, but $250 if I decided to pay in cash.  I mulled the buy over, and over, and over the three days I was there. I finally gathered up the stones to withdraw the money (with trouble I might add, Wells Fargo didn't take kindly to me withdrawing large amounts in Chicago, Illinois without telling them in advance.)

I was at the table. Took the card out of the book that I found it in, and heavily inspected it.  I found a slight tear where the end of the bat reaches the top edge of the card, and I was immediately turned off. It created a tear in the card, and for $250 I couldn't warrant spending that on a card I know didn't meet the grade for the price.

I passed.

So, present day, I found the card on eBay, and like I said, I knew I was going to have it. I placed my bid with 6 days and change left and carefully watched the auction, padding my bid twice once the activity came from other bidders. I won the card easily, and now it's a day away from arriving, and I can't wait to own it.

Card(s) Spotlight: 1935 Diamond Stars #54A & #54B

One of the most sought after cards that Greenberg has in his player set is his 1935 National Chicle Diamond Star.

Issued by the National Chicle Gum Co. of Cambridge, MA, the set was produced for 3 years, between 1934-36.  As players would make their debut in the majors, or become prominent enough to warrant being placed in the set, they were placed accordingly.  Featuring drawn players strewn across pastel backgrounds of stadiums and scenery, these cards have become a favorite set to collect among pre-war set, type and player collectors.

Hank Greenberg actually has two cards that were produced in this set.

This was the first card produced in the set. However, an error made it's way past the editors and onto the card. Can you spot it? Hank GreenbUrg never played a single major league game, but Hank GreenbErg nearly 1,400 games in his career.

This error, as well as the error with Ernie Lombardi's card were quickly brought to the attention of those in charge, and were corrected in subsequent releases of the product. So in turn, this card became highly sought after because of it's rarity.

Typically, the cards in this set do not look like the card to the left.  This card has been made a work of art by a 10 year old that didn't like the white border around the card.  I bought it for about $12, and it will remain a place holder in my collection until I can afford to purchase one in a condition I feel is adequate enough.

The card that was the result of a printing error was this on the right.  Notice the U changed to an E.  There is a significant difference in the value of the error compared to that of the corrected card.  Although the corrected card "books" (hate this term by the way) at $400 in Near Mint condition, and the error "books" at $600 in Near Mint condition.  Well let me tell you something about book value Beckett. An error card that is in NM condition in an SGC or PSA holder will never, ever, EVER EVER EVER sell for $600.  It will sell for much more. That is for another post though.  Sorry about that.


Anyhow, this card had eluded me for sometime before I was finally able to land it in a private deal. I am guessing that I might have been outbid/lost out of 15 or more different cards similar to this one before finally acquiring it.  I might have overpaid for it at $100, but I NEEDED this card. It is a staple for any Hank Greenberg collection.

I know that I am not the only Hank Greenberg collector out there, and I am not striving to be the best, most high-dollar spender there is. I just know that I probably won't stop until this project is over and done with, and I can look at the collection as a whole and reminisce to myself about the journey, the struggles and the triumphs.

Thanks all.


[Information gathered from Old Cardboard]