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Vintage Basketball Cards MARCH 2003 NEWS

TODAY'S NEWS IS ON THE MAIN PAGE

Monday, March 31, 2003

New Additions

As promised, I put up pictures of the front and back of 1957, 1958, 1959, and 1960 Kahns cards. Now, you will notice that in these early years you really need to look at the back of the card in order to figure out its year (although there are ways to determine the year based on the front). The 1957 and 1958 Kahns basketball cards are extremely rare. In fact, I only have 3 1957 Kahns cards in my entire collection. Cards like these that should fetch huge premiums can actually be found for 1/2 of book. One of the reasons for this is because it is almost impossible to find a Kahns that will grade higher than a 5/6 (yeah, you heard me). The prices should reflect this where a 5/6 goes for book, but this is just not true. Here are the facts about this issue. First, the Kahns were placed INSIDE OF Kahns weiner packs (that is right, hot dog packs). If you look at all of my "fronts" you will notice long strips of brown coloring going vertically on each card. That, my friends, is the residue of the actual hotdogs. Now, you will also notice that some of the cards have pieces of paper missing. This is because people would take the cards out and just sit them on a table or a napkin etc without cleaning them. Next, when they went to pick the card up (I assume) some of the fat from the hot dog dried to the table/napkin and some of the card was ripped away. Furthermore, the basketball Kahns are, by far, the rarest of all the sports that Kahns issued. Now, you may see a few really nice, e.g., PSA 8 examples. I know there is a 1961 PSA 8 Kahns Robertson. All of the other graded ones, however, have been graded between a 3-5. Now, there is actually a reason why that Robertson PSA 8 graded an 8. The reason is because there is at least one promotional set known for hte 1961s and I assume that the robertson was from this. Basically the promotional set was given to someone (I assume the purchasing department of major food chains?) and were not put into hot dog packages. Thus, these promotional cards were pristine (from the perspective of what the ones placed in the packs looked like). Now, you also see a lot of creasing in this issue (hot dog packs being bend and disformed) and you see a lot of bad edges (people throwing hot dog packs into their carts etc). Thus, the Kahns are almost always beat up. I have heard of 1960 promotional sets (e.g., Wests RC set). What I want to know is if there is a cleaner to get some of the hot dog fat residue off. If anyone has an idea, let me know and I'll test it on a common '61 or something. Anyway, go to the 1950 and 1960 pages to check out the pics of the Kahns I just scanned in. I put the '57 and '58 Twyman's up!!!

Sunday, March 30, 2003

Vintage Information

As some of you know, there exists a variation for the 1948 bowman cards. Known as "grey backs" it appears that the red ink ran dry on some sheets of the cards and, as a result, no red appears on the cards. Red was mainly used as the background color and that is how you get the term grey back. Now, grey backs are pretty rare and actually do not fetch that much of a premium. From what I have learned from Mike R. and Howard, I have developed a new theory on how the cards were distributed. It appears that PSA won't grade grey backs because they appear to be hand-cut. The theory then would be that, generally, the sheets were not cut at the factory and placed into packs. Instead the sheets were saved by someone (because they did not pass quality assurance and were not released into packs) only to later be cut and sold as collectibles. Now, I need to do research, but I assume that the grey backs are only found in series two (you can see an example of the grey backs on macavoy's site. he wants insane prices for them and he won't get them ... but check the pictures out). Now, MacAvoy's cards are actually of an additional rarity. The backs of the cards were triple printed with some other information (e.g., moviestar cards). I have not seen a triple printed back.

Website Update

As most have you know, my weekend updates sometimes are really skimpy. I just realized that very few people have seen what all the Kahn's cards (1957-1964) look like. I'll try and scan an example of each set tomorrow and put them up. If you have any Kahns for sale, let me know as I only have a total of 50 of them. I changed my for sale list.

Dinner Update

It looks like we are definitely having a dinner. We have about 10-15 people definitely coming in. We are still trying to decide on a time/location/price but if you are interested, send me an email.

Saturday, March 29, 2003

Auction Update

The superior sport auction has just ended. The sparrow PSA 9 was won for about $1750. WOW. Check out the results at www.superiorsports.com

Friday, March 28, 2003

Website Update

1. I just put up a list of the 32 Bread for Health labels out there. If by any chance anyone knows of anymore, or has a variation, let me know. I also started to post multiple pictures of rare cards so people can get a sense of the average condition of the cards. I posted 2 examples of the Bread for Health Mikan's that I know of. There are probably around 30 BFH Mikans in existence and about 10 BFE Mikans. Everytime I see a Mikan BFH, BFE, Royal or Scott, I will post the picture. Enjoy. 1950 Bread for Health.

2. So you can tell what nights I actually go to Law School because they are the nights in which I update this site the most. A pack of 1972 Fleer Globetrotters.

Ranting and Raving

I probably shouldn't post this message until I get my clean sweep auction cards, BUT I just wanted to rant and rave about how the clean sweep auctions are run. First, Clean Sweep Auctions run for 30 days (no ranting or raving needed). Second, the auctions are illegally extended (illegal from the rules set forth on the site). I mean the clock literally stopped at 8minutes for a few hours and again at 5 minutes for a few hours. I understand that there may be phone calls coming in, but you have to at least put in the rules "the auction may be halted near the end of it if I start receiving an overwhelming number of telephone calls. So in my first point we have an annoyance. In my second point we have what looks like an established policy (this happens all the time with them). Now, I wanted to see just how what happens if you try to break a rule. There is a rule that states you can not bid on an item, that you have not previously bid on, after 6pm on the closing day of the auction unless you have bid on 20+ items. I had bid on 1 item, with 8 minutes to go I bid on a totally different item. My bid was accepted and I was declared the winner (Note: no-one else had bid on the card so the breaking of the rule shouldn't matter, but still, I broke the rule and nothing stopped me).

Now, I have to say, I praise clean sweep auctions. I got a BFH Mikan for $650 (after all the fees are thrown in). Go me.

Great Item On Sale

I received an email a few hours ago with a real beat up (possibly PSA 1) 1948 George Mikan Bowman card. The guy is looking to sell it. I would post the picture, but I actually have it on my work email (which I'm currently not able to access). If this interests you, shout me an email at jmullen54@aol.com.

Thursday, March 27, 2003

Auction News

I posted this page at 9:30 on Wednesday night. Both of the Superior Sport and Clean Sweep auctions end soon. You should check them out to see the results. If the auctions haven't ended. GO BID. My favorite Superior lot is the 1957 PSA 9 Sparrow. My favorite Clean Sweep lot is the BFH Mikan. I can't believe that a 1961 celtics team issue is up to $660 at the clean sweep auction. 3 of them sold on ebay a few months ago for about $100-$150 each. Go figure. I can only assume that people noticed that the set was not in the standards or becket price guide. I can then only assume that the people thought it was really rare and valuable because they didn't know what it was. My opionion? If you've never seen something, spend a few hundred. But don't spend anything more than that until you find out just what the item is. (I mean I'll throw away $100 on something I don't know because half the time the item is really rare and worth it ... so in the end you never really lose money. However, if you shell out a large amount, e.g. $1,000 then you may get yourself in trouble).

Great Item for Sale

I don't have the auction number offhand, but ebay has a PSA 9 1948 bowman card for sale that is a 1/1. Now, I know a few people that will be bidding this card up. Personally, I think the money could be better spent, but hey, what do I know? If you are a competitive, mainstream set-builder, this is a card that you should keep your eye on.

Looking for a Card

I received an email about 2 weeks ago from a gentleman who said that he saw 2 basketball bread labels at a Ft. Worth show that weekend. He asked what I thought they were valued at and then told me that the BFH Fulks was on-sale for $1,000 and that a really poor common was on sale for $50. I do not have any interest in paying $1,000 for the Fulks (because I'm broke from my last few purchases) BUT I would love to pick up a common for $50 if 1) I don't have it; and 2) its a complete label. If you know who the dealer is, send me an email.

Wedneday, March 26, 2003

Mullen Returns From the NCAA Tourny in Tampa, FL.

So luckily for you guys, Colorado lost to Michigan State at the NCAA tourny that I went to. That means that I won't be able to make it to the NCAA rounds in San Antonio this weekend (which really sucks). However, Colorado definitely had the best cheerleaders at the tournament. And by best, I mean hottest (I really do not care about any "technical dance ability" I mean would you rather have 1) The Knick City Dancers doing a routine; or 2) those same girls just aimlessly jumping up and down on a trampoline? (I assume that women do not collect vintage basketball cards). If anyone wants a summary of my Tampa trip, I can give it to you in a single sentence "I will never send my daughter to the University of Southern Florida."

GAI v. PSA

So I tried out Global Authentication as a grading source (I also was asked to be in their "mentoring program." Anyway, so I submitted a Topps Test Walker and the Paul Beer Hoffman Gunther Beer Card (the one which I currently have on sale on my site). I expected the Topps Test to grade a 6, possibly a 7, and the Paul Beer Hoffman to grade an 8/9. The results were that the Topps Test graded a 7 and the Paul Beer Hoffman graded an 8.5. Now, I do not know what PSA would grade them so I think I'm going to do PSAs "cross over" for the Topps Test. If PSA keeps the 7 then GAI approximately is equivalent to PSA, if PSA does not grade it a 7 then GAI is easier. However, what I should really do, is break the case of the Topps Test and send it in ... because otherwise PSA may just take GAIs word for it. As for the Gunther Beer Hoffman that I have for sale, it is the only one ever graded by any company (that I know of). Who do I prefer? I prefer PSA without hesitation. However, GAI has better holders BUT most importantly GAI grades packs. I'm looking to buy a ton of vintage graded packs as I see them as a phenominal investment. I don't think the grade of a pack would really matter though, just that it was authenticated by GAI.

Great Item for Sale

Being a really fair guy, I'm going to do something I shouldn't and tell you guys about a card that I am currently the high bidder on. Clean Sweeps Auctions has a BREAD FOR HEALTH George Mikan for sale. The current bid is $550. I must seem crazy right? Well I just want you guys to realize how rare it is for these things to go on sale. I also want you guys to look at the card. This is an example, believe it or not, of a presentable bread label. Even though there is a tear in it and a lot of creases, I would say that 1 out of every 5 bread labels in actually in worse condition.

I know of a quality topps magic photo basketball set for sale (email me for details) but the guy is looking for a lot of money (like $20-$75 a card, 10 in this set). You can find these on ebay all the time for like $5 each except for the HOF MaCauley which brings a whopping $15 on ebay. However, these guys cards are in better condition then your normal ebay finds.

A Mullen Find

This is the second of "A Mullen Find" article. I'm going to create this column to show people that the average person can find vintage cards without using ebay or a major dealer. The cards that I find will usually just be normal vintage non-major issue cards, but I think this section may be useful to a reader. Anyway, I got a '61 Kahns last night for $10. Big deal right? YES. Why? Because now I have an example to show you guys one of my tricks (see my prior "A Mullen Find" post for my mass-emailing strategy based on website names). Anyway, basically I have a list of all the pre-1970 cards that I want to purchase. This list is somewhat large, 50 issues. Whenever I notice an ebay seller with something similar, I send them the entire list. In this instance, I emailed the list to a baseball card dealer who was selling a basketball postcard. I emailed him the list, he emailed me back saying he did have 1 1961 Kahns basketball for $10 and voila ... a find.

There are many benefits in "finding" cards other than just obtaining the card. In the above example, I saved myself about $10 because the seller probably thought to himself "I sell baseball all day, when is the net time that I'm going to find an interest for this card again"

Sign My GuestMAP!!!

Why is it that I get about 2-5 emails a day from readers and only like 10 people have signed my guestmap? Sign my guestMAP!!! Also, joing my mailing list will ya.

1954 Quaker Oats Sports Oddities

So about a year ago, I bought a complete set of the Sports Oddities for $100. The set was placed in a binder so it is literally pristine (except for some staining on the back of one of the cards). I except all of them to get PSA 9 or 10s (and I wouldn't mind selling the set for a premium if anyone wants it, a PSA 9 basketball sold for $30 the other day). Now, what is REALLY interesting is that the set came with a mail in coupon. It basically showed boxes of Quaker Oats with one card being pulled from each box. The coupon said something like "your friend can now get a set to, just have him send in a proof of purchase and a $1". So, this coupon is evidence that quaker oat's sport oddities were both 1) put into boxes and 2) part of a promotion.

Website Update

I added a few cards to my "for sales section."

March 21 to March 25, 2003

Website Update

I definitely have been slacking on updating the site and things aren't getting anymore pretty. This weekend i decided to go Tampa to watch the NCAA tourny. I won't be until Monday.

Great Item On Sale

Mint State, www.MINTstateinc.com told me that a PSA 8 1969 Topps Checklist was consigned to him today. He wants $3,999. If my recollection serves me, only 5 checklists have ever received an 8 or higher (and they have all been 8s). The last checklist I know about being sold went for $2,999. So the cosigner wants his to sell for an extra 33%/$1,000. At the time the checklist was sold for $2,999 there were only 3 (I think). Now, this is the hardest 1969 topps card find in good condition. The reasons are mainly two fold. First, the card was the last card in the set and was a checklist. Thus, if the set was placed in order, the card was the last card and suffered the most damamge (because it was exposed more to bad conditions). If the set wasn't in order, the checklist may have still found its way to the front to act as either 1) a checklist or 2) a protection card. I used to do this myself when I was a kid. I would always place star cards between two no-bodies when I was storing the cards in a card-box of some sort. The second main reasons that the cards were damaged was because almost everyone in this era actually physically crossed off cards on the checklists. The 1969 checklist actually contains check-mark boxes to do so (unlike other checklists that just lists cards) therefore portraying its use as a recording medium. My personal opinion? For $3,999 you can get a PSA 8 1957 Bill Russell Rookie (the last three sold for $3,400 if my memory serves me.

March 20, 2003

Mullen Find

This is a new section. Whenever I make a good find, I'm going to tell everyone about it and, hopefully, everyone will either become 1) encouraged to look for things; and 2) may get some tips. So I went online today and went to a page with like 200 sportscard related links. I didn't want to click on all of them, but I wanted to ask everyone the same question. The question was "do you have any of these X, Y, Z cards?" So, what I did was create an email list with the domainname.coms of all of the sites. For example, if my site was on the list ... I made an entry for vintagebasketballcards.info. Now, who to send them to? Every domain name has an email address postmaster@ Most have info@. I chose info@domainname.com and guess what, I've gotten like 20 replies already. (note: this only works for websites with domainname.com not like xxxx.yyy/fffsss/nnsaas.com. One of these reply emails was from a well known vintage card dealer. Guess what he had??? He had 3 '57 Kahns and 1 '58 Kahns. These cards are almost as hard as any other vintage cards to find (the later years, of course, are much easier to find). Four cards from Kahns first two issues. It was a great find.

Wednesday, March 19, 2003

Notable Sales

A bunch of notable sales took place last night. First off, the three 1961 sealed packs that were authenticated by GAI went for a clean $1,000 each. Next, I sold my Ed Watcher PSA 8 for $1,200.

Hobby News

PSA just announced last night that it will offer crossover service. Basically, what this means is that if you give them a "foreign graded card" (e.g., BGS or SCG or GAI) then they will break the holder and grade it. Cool. Go to www.psacard.com for more details.

Tuesday, March 18, 2003

Website Update

I'm on spring break this week and I am not sure how eventful the updates will be because I'm going to focus on my job (I'm a patent agent that goes to law school at night). Oh yeah, if you need me to write a patent, I do work for the best IP law firm in the world and I would love to write your patents.. But check back, no one else is going to write anything daily on the hobby!!!

NCAA

I have 4 tickets to the NCAA tournament, 1st and 2nd rounds, in Tampa Florida this weekend. Because of the whole Iraq thing, I don't want to go. If you live in Florida, please take these off my hands for their face value. They are great seats and are only $65/ticket/round.

Auction News

There is a PSA 7 Kellogg's PEP Mikan on ebay for $350. If you can get it for this, its a GREAT PRICE. You hardly ever see these without creases. The one on ebay is pretty much perfect except that the centering sucks. For some reason, the centering sucks on all of them. I have 3 and the centering is the same. I only know of 1 other 7 and the dealer wants 1,000 bucks. So if you have any money (unlike me), pick it up!!!!

Monday, March 17, 2003

New Addition

I am beginning to post pictures of mainstream wrappers/boxes/cases. You can check my initial effort out here PACKS/BOXES. I also listed some new items for sale.

Sunday, March 16, 2003

Great Item For Sale

Looking for a good investment? Mikan's true rookie card. Ebay item number 2717016682.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=4237&item=2717016682&rd=1

Saturday, March 15, 2003

Website Update

I am now going to post today's news on the main page of the website. A link in the menu has been added to direct you to archived or OLD NEWS.

New Addition

So I know that I haven't been updating the basketball card information and that I haven't been adding any new sets recently. The reason is because I am focusing on the aesthetics of the site since I do have a substantial amount of the pre-1970 cards here. Now, you guys can check out a preview of what I think the next step in this site will be. Full page descriptions of each set, with a picture of each card. Now, I'm not going to do this for every set because I want people to have a reason to open up my book, but here is almost all of the 1950 Scott's Potato Chip Set. If you go to the 1950-59 page and click on 1950 Scott's Potato Chips ... this is the new page that pops up (instead of just a picture of Grant). Anyway, the pictures I posted are just photo-copies of the actual cards. They should only be used to get a sense of the artistic nature of the set, not actually the medium that they were printed on. ENJOY!!!!

Friday, March 14, 2003

New Addition

The majority of you reading this are return visitors and probably have gotten fairly acquainted with the material on the site. For this reason, I will be noting what pictures of cards I add to the site. This will allow you to see the new cards as they are added. Without my reporting this, you guys may be slow on seeing a posting (I mean who really noticed that yesterday I added four pictures). Anyway, to inaugurate this section of the news, I am posting a picture of probably the "honus wagner" of basketball cards, the Scott's Potato Chip Mikan.

Thursday, March 13, 2003

Ranting and Raving

As most of you are aware, PSA allows you to post your PSA graded collections on the web for everyone to see. PSA then ranks these collections and gives an award out every year to the collector with the best collection for a particular set. I love this concept, but I don't like what it has done to the market. As a result, I would like to offer a word of warning as PSA graded cards skyrocket. Looking at the 1957 topps set, the card prices have been going through the roof. Commons are going for $200-$350 in PSA 8. For $200-$350 you can get a vintage basketball card that is fifty times as rare and of a better player. It almost seems like people are buying the cards for the recognition of having a great collection. If you were ebaying it last christmas, you could have gotten a Dick McGuire 1952 Royal Custard for $300. This card depicts a Hall of Fame Knickerbocker and probably fewer than 30 are still in circulation.

As I have stated, it appears that high grade PSA commons are being purchased not as an investment, but as a chance to get recognition. The prices differences between PSA 8s, 9s, and 10s are incredible. For example, a PSA 10 West went for $37,000 last year, which is like 8 times more expensive than the last PSA 9 that was sold. If the PSA 10 West is truly worth $40k, then buy the PSA 9s which are going for next to nothing. In my opinion, the differences between the PSA 9s and 10s are minimal and, in some cases, can be interchanged. As proof, I would like to know how many PSA 9s have been upgraded to 10s over the years. I would believe that the number would surprise many people. I mean all you really have to do is take a PSA 9 that an ordinary Joe Shmo submitted, break the case, have it professionally cleaned up, (not restored, but cleaned) and resubmit it. It would obviously be better than the 9 and could easily get the 10. Mainstream PSA 10s will always be found, and the prices will probably go down. Last year, there were 10 1969 Topps Tall Boys in PSA 9. This number remained steady throughout PSAs big push (the $5 tall boy grading special) on getting the Tall Boys graded when they finally got a case that the cards would fit in. Within the last 6 months, the number has risen to 175 (which is still a very small number for a 99 card set, but a tremendous growth).

Although these cards probably will continue to rise as more people become addictive to the PSA pheonom, I think that the wise investment is in the pre-1970 non-major issues. Over the next ten years, I estimate that some of the rare, currently unknown, pre-1970 cards will become attractive to collectors who seek both value and investment collectibility. I see that same Dick McGuire card selling for $600 before the decade is out. I do not see the West obtaining the same return (e.g., selling for $80k).

On Sale

Every morning at work I run my 10 custom searching scripts through ebay and find all the new pre-1970 material that was recently added. I usually find a few things that I like and I wanted to share three of them with you guys today. Hopefully, you have all heard of the baseball card kid www.bbckid.com (I think his real name is Mark). Anyway, the BBC kid has become the largest dealer of vintage wax packs. Just last national, he opened 10 1952 Topps baseball packs. Anyway, he has teamed up with GAI, www.gacard.net , to provide a grading service for vintage packs. I have always strayed from collecting vintage packs because most of them are fakes. With GAI graded packs, you can rest assured that if it is a fake, it is at least a good one. Anyway, the BBC Kid posted 3 graded 1961 Fleer packs. One has a West RC on the back, one has a Robertson RC on the back, one has a Baylor on the front. They are all graded GAI 8 and if the BBC Kid is offering them, they are most likely the real deal. I had placed bids of $700 on each pack, but alas, I was outbid for all of them. If you have the funds, I would strongly suggest picking up one of these packs. They should go for a huge premium and ungraded, "un-starred", packs usually go for ~$550. To find them, simply go to www.ebay.com and enter in "1961 fleer pack" in the search engine.

03/12/03 -- (Auction News)

Everyone here should be checking ebay almost religiously. Now, you guys may want to seek bidding assistance. I use a sniping program when I bid www.auctionstealer.com In using a sniping program, I don't have to worry about missing the close of auctions. Now, I actually spent a semester in college doing research in advanced auction theory. 1) Don't consider sniping a way of cheating. IF EVERYONE SNIPED THEN THE REALIZED PRICES WOULD ACTUALLY BE HIGHER (known fact). The most successful auctions are second price sealed bid auctions, then sealed bid auctions, and finally open bidding auctions. Now, when you bid you should always bid the amount that YOU are willing to pay for the item. In doing so, you will optimize the utility you receive from the item.

03/12/03 -- (The Dinner)

So I've been getting some positive emails about the dinner that I want to host at the National. Check out the Events Section for more details and LET ME KNOW IF YOU WANT IN. If I get enough people, I may try and cook up a surprise. jeff@vintagebasketballcards.info

03/12/03 -- (Website Update)

Sorry about the skimpy update guys. I hate to say it, but its also going to be hard for me to post meaningful updates tomorrow. The law student has a midterm on Thursday (yes, in case I fooled you, the vintage basketball card guy is only 24). I'm going to try though

03/12/03 -- (Auction News)

www.hakes.com has an auction going. Now, not to many people know about this little auction house and I really shouldn't have posted it, but I want people to know that I'm out to help everyone fill their collection needs. Now, unfortunately, this auction doesn't have any interesting vintage basketball cards, but bookmark the site. They always have a selection of bread labels (one of which I'm bidding on) and other premiums (e.g., TURKISH TROPHY SPORTING GIRLS) so you can find some great items here. Additionally, www.greyflannel.com has posted up a preview of his new auction. CHECK OUT THE BOB COUSY GAME WORN CELTICS JERSEY.

03/11/03 -- (Website Update)

I now have a new email address ... Jeff@vintagebasketballcards.info

03/11/03 -- (Website Update)

I posted a picture of a draft page from my upcoming book.

03/11/03 -- (Auction News)

Hunt Auctions is currently running an internet auction, www.huntauctions.com. They really don't have anything of interest for the basketball card collector, but bookmark their site. I have seen some great vintage basketball memorabilia sell through Hunt Auctions.

03/10/03 -- (A Mullen Theory)

So, here is something that most of you probably did not know about the 1952 Royal Desserts, there is a blue variant. In my initial description of the 1952 Royals, I mentioned that I have not yet seen a blue variant, although I know one is out there. Well guess what, you can see the variant on the Royal Box that I just posted a pic of (it was sitting in front of me the entire time). Now, why is there a blue and a black variant? Here is my theory. You will notice that the blue variant is on a custard box. You will notice that the front of the custard box has three colors, blue, red, and yellow. The back has the same b/c if you were to add black, that means you would have to change the printing process. By making it blue, they just add in a different mask for the blue ink. Now, if you look at the advertising sheet that I put up, you will notice that the cards were included on the back of pudding and jello boxes ... I bet ya that the pudding and jello boxes had the black variant. Now, we just need to find one still on the box. Both the Mikan and Pollard still on the box are blue variants. I have yet to confirm if the Mikan is on back of a custard box (but I believe that he is).

03/09/03 -- (Great Item on Sake)

I am about to go away for the night and wanted to get some news in for tomorrow just in case I can't connect and upload some news tonight. Anyway, Steve Taft shot me an email with a list of the carnations that he has. stevetaft@aol.com. The carnations that he has are Goodrich, Lattin, McLemore, Snyder, Van Arsdale, Wilson.

03/08/03 -- (Website Update)

I almost never give updates on cards that I just uploaded (even though I try to upload about 5 each night), but I feel like I have to for this one. I had promised some people that I would upload a color picture of the 1950 Mikan that I received from Rob Lahammer (www.lahammer.com). However, I was a dummy and left the card at work. My solution? I included something that is, believe or not, on par with the Scott's Mikan. I included a picture of a 1952 Royal Dessert Jim Pollard (which is something in and upon itself considering its rarity) STILL ON THE FREAKIN BOX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!(I'm going to stop with the exclamation points even though it deserves many many ....... many more). 1952 INTACT ROYAL BOX.

03/08/03 -- (Website Update)

Rick Snyder of www.MINTStateInc.com reported in with some record prices that were obtained last year for cards. His report of a 1961 Fleer Jerry West PSA 10 selling for $37,000 is outstanding. I love it. Anyway, if you are a mainstream collector and you've been reading my site, you will know that Rick's site definitely deserves a weekly check-up and a spot on your favorites list.

03/08/03 -- (Reader Asks A Question)

I received the below email from one of the readers of this site, Kevin.

"Hi Jeff,

I stumbled across your website and really enjoyed it.

I've got a question that perhaps you can help with. I'm looking for any
maker basketball card of John Ezersky (sometimes spelled Ezerski). John
is my great-uncle and still alive and well in Walnut Creek, California. He
played 4 years in the NBA and before and afterwards in the American
Basketball and Eastern Basketball Leagues. In the NBA he was with the
Tri-City Blackhawks in 1947, the Providence Steamrollers, Baltimore
Bullets, and Boston Celtics in 1948, the Baltimore Bullets and Boston
Celtics in 1949, and the Boston Celtics in 1950. He's listed in the
Basketball Encyclopedia (although they are missing his Tri-City Blackhawks
stint), scoring over 1000 points in his NBA career. In addition to the NBA
he was in the ABL with the New York Gothams and Brooklyn Gothams from
'45-'47 (setting the Baltimore Coliseum record for points scored in a game
at 47 which Mikan would tie a few years later) and then played from 1951
-1954 for Wilkes-Barre and Scranton of the Eastern Basketball League (also
called the ABL in those final years of the league due to merging with some
of the old ABL teams). Led the league in scoring in 1951.

He's not in the 1948 Bowman set, although many of his teammates from
Providence, Baltimore, and Boston are. That's the only set I've been able
to check thoroughly. Given your knowledge of the lesser known and perhaps
more regional basketball sets of those years, I was wondering if you could
find him in any set? John's 82 now, and although he has plenty of photos
from the teams he was with he doesn't think a basketball card was ever made
of him.

Thanks for the help and the terrific web site."

Off the top of my head, I am not aware of any of John's cards, I have circulated the email through some of the well known collectors and am waiting for a response. Can anyone help? or does anyone have any information/stories involving John that Kevin may appreciate? If so email the .info to me and I will forward it to Kevin.

03/07/03 -- (Great Find)

I would like to start reporting news on "Great Finds" or any other great collecting stories. If you have a story please email it to me and I will post the story for all to see. The best find that I have ever heard of was that of a young man who walked into a Mom's and Dad's antique store and found a Bread for Energy George Mikan for $2. I actually, accidentally, ran into this young man (who actually turned out to be a little older than the word-of-mouth story portrayed) last year. I'm going to try and locate him and get the real scoop on the story. Even if he was a dealer that found the card for sale for $2, HE STILL FOUND THE CARD FOR SALE FOR $2 IN THE 90's!!! It just goes to show you, vintage basketball cards are out there waiting to be found. In all honesty, I'm sure more vintage basketball cards are out there hiding on some shelf than any other sport because of the limited amount of knowledge held by the normal basketball collector. I mean the same thing is true with baseball, most baseball card collectors have limited knowledge on Pre-WW1 baseball cards. I mean if you hold up a Plank's candy card to the normal collector, they will realize its rare, but they won't realize that only 2 cards are known for each player in the set and that they are looking at an easy $2,000. Yes, basketball cards don't fetch nearly as much as our nations pasttime. You probably will not find any basketball card (right now), that sells for over $20,000. But, in all honesty, I think that mark may be met before the decade is over. (Has there been a $20k basketball card? I don't follow mainstream but if there is a PSA 10 1957 Russell or PSA 10 1948 Mikan I could see these cards fetching huge premiums. Please let me know!!!).

03/07/03 -- (Website Update)

I am in the process of quickly throwing together a really bad attempt at a top 50 vintage basketball cards of all time list. Please note that this list will be changed dramatically over the course of the next few months as I see, through trial and error, what works and what doesn't work. I am also in the process of trying to establish some of the notable sales from times forgotten on my Historical Sales page. Also, as most of you have noticed, I usually post up a day's news the evening before. This is because I don't have time in the morning to upload the news. Take advantage of this because it will give you a jump start in securing a vintage bkb card.

03/07/03 -- (Ranting and Raving)

I can't belive that PSA does not have Buy/Sell/Trade message boards dedicated to each sport. Its hysterical, I meam PSA card has one of the top sportscard collecting websites in the hobby, but their B/S/T/ message board is a mess. I mean go open the message boad up, the entire first page you see will contain entries of the last 15 minutes. So many people post to this 1 board for every sport. So, today, I created a post about the subject and I got an answer "SGC has sport-specific message boards." It's hillarious, I don't want to go to stupid SGC, I want to stay with my PSA ... they are just hurting themselves. I really should have an ID check for this next statement because, otherwise, I will not be able to curse. WHAT THE F%&$ IS GOING ON WITH PSA. I mean I tried to check out a population report for a card the other day, and they made me buy a subscription. I PAY ENOUGH SUBSCRIBING TO THE SMR, DO I REALLY HAVE TO DO THE SAME THING ONLINE. This alone makes me so furious that my 50 or so Ashland/Aetna oil that I was going to get graded is no on hold. I am not getting anything graded by PSA because, even though I love them, I feel like I'm being anally raped by PSA (Note: its just an expression). And you know what, I would be happy to pay the $23 per 6 months, but I'd like to see website improvements. I mean I love the Set Registry and I think its been revolutionary in the hobby but charging $$ for the stupid online SMR is rediculous. My only alternative is to just save the $23 and bring the actual SMR to work everyday. But, don't you worry, I have a plan. No more $100/year for the published SMR. They may now be getting $40 a year for the online SMR, but they will not get another penny for their printed version. I think everyone should do this because 1) you save $60; and 2) you will make PSA change IF you tell them the reason you are cancelling your subscription is because of the online SMR. Yes, you won't be able to get your cards graded, but you could easily just 1) use a friends account; or 2) wait a few years until PSA figures itself out.

03/07/03 -- (Great Item on Sale)

I was floating around beckett's marketplace last night and I found a few Carnation Milk cards for sale. Not surprisingly, these cards were being sold by Steve Taft (this guy is one of the best when it comes to rare vintage cards). Now, I know I mention items that he has on sale frequently. I just wanted to assure you guys that I am no way affiliated with Steve Taft, its just that everyone else sucks at getting the hard to find vintage cards. Anyway, he had listed a 1969 Carnation Milk Gail Goodrich in great shape for $275. I actually bought my Gail Goodrich Carnation Milk (in extremely great shape) from Steve Taft in the spring of 2002 for $300. The Goodrich is the king of the 1969 Carnation set and, if my memory serves me correctly, may be his true RC. In all honesty, if Steve still has this card when I get some money, I'll probably take it off his hands. I know he had more of the 1969 Carnation Milks so, if you are looking for one in particular, it may be worth an email. stevetaft@aol.com

03/06/03 -- (Humor)

As you may have noticed, I deleted the "hoosiers" theme song from playing on this page when it loads b/c, I assume, it is illegal (although I got it from a well-known site). Anyway, here is a video clip that you most definitely have seen before. Video Clip.

03/06/03 -- (Great Item on Sale)

So I got another update, the Sport Card Plus Topps Test Set is actually on sale for $27,500 not $23,500. Now, I know a group of collector's who are trying to put their cash together and buy the set but they still have some cards that they need people to buy. All they want is SMR for these cards. The main card that they are looking to find a buyer for is a PSA 7 Wilt Chamberlain. They SMR is $3,500 so the group wants someone to take it for $3,500. There are a few other cards that they are still trying to find people to take. Send me an email if you are interested and I will put you in touch with the appropriate people.

03/05/03 -- (Auction News)

Clean Sweeps auction is about 20 days from ending. Clean sweeps is known to have some good vintage stuff. This one is no exception. http//www.csauctions.com

03/05/03 -- (Auction News)

As most of you should be aware, Superior Sports is in the middle of its new auction. They don't have anything that is really rare, but they do have a ton of high grade mainstream issues. Particularly, if you are in need of 48 bowmans in PSA 8, this auction is a must. http://www.superiorsports.com/

03/05/03 -- (Website Update)

Wow, I guess the collecting community was in need of a vintage basketball card site. Since February 27th, at 11pm when a really bare bones version of vintagebasketballcards.info, the site has been viewed by 200 unique users (i.e., unique IP addresses reset every 12 hours) and over 1000 hits. I really want to start making this site the place to visit every morning if you are the vintage basketball collector. If you have any news (e.g., vintage items that just went on sale or that were just sold) please email me. Hopefully, in a few months I will be getting daily emails that I can filter out and post, the following day, an entire page of news. The goal is to replace the main page with the news page. Unfortunately, as of 11pm, the website that hosts a lot of my functionality went down. Therefore, none of my submission devices work and my counters are out (among other things).

03/04/03 -- (Website Update)

Those of you that are return visitors will notice a ton of added functionality, as well as a new appearance, for vintagebasketballcards.info. Some of the aesthetics still need to be worked on (e.g., logo sizing is different on each page). Its 2am and i have work tomorrow, time to hit the hay. Please pardon the today's appearance.

03/04/03 -- (Great Item On Sale)

Steve Taft has the following Ashland/Aetna Oil cards for sale in PSA 8!!! E. Baxter (Ken), E. Fraley (Ken), Mills (U.K.), Riddle (Morehead). Steve is selling them each for ~$159. I would recommend buying these because there are only about 10 Ashland/Aetna Oil cards to ever reach this grade. I am not sure which are Ashland's and which are Aetna's. To give you a brief history on why they are hard to find in tip top shape is that they were issued to gas stations in strips that were 1 card wide. Most gas personnel just used scissors to cut the strips instead of breaking them apart. PSA usually grades these, unless the cut was dead on, as miscuts and, as a result, will not give them an actual number grade.

03/03/03 -- (Event Notice)

I just wanted you guys to start planning your trip to the National. The event will be open to the general public July 24-27, 2003 in the Atlantic City Convention Center (NJ). Now I am probably going to host a dinner that Friday night (July 25th, 2003). Email jmullen54@aol.com if you are interested in attending. The details will not be confirmed until probably mid-July, but the talk will be all pre-1970 basketball.

03/03/03 -- (Great Item On Sale)

Jim Crandell reported in that Sports Card Plus had a 1968 Topps Test complete set for sale at $23,500 at the Ft. W show on Friday. They were resubmitting several of the cards to PSA for regrades. This was the set that I referred to on my March 2, 2003 post, I assume it is now public knowledge if it was being offered for sale at the show. $23,500 seems about right. My guess is that this set will be divided up and sold as singles as most of the big collectors already have their sets completed and I hope that this happens because I am in need of 19 of the 22.

03/02/03 -- (History)

Donald J. Shelly put out a book, that is now almost impossible to find, entitled "Bread End Labels of a Gone By Era." This is considered the bible of bread labels and contains a list of known labels at the time. I wanted to note a paragraph in the introduction of his guide.
"The reason the basketball set of 32 is the rarest of all sports sets (Bread for Health) is that it was only issued for a short time, only four to eight weeks. The most ever paid for one basketball label was $4,200, for a George Mikan in the Athletes, Cowboy & Movie Stars set in 1993." I've heard of a few advertising panels that exist for this Athletes, Cowboy & Movie Stars set. I've seen a picture of one and basically it contains a production sheet, uncut, of the labels. The one that I have seen contained 16 labels, one of which was a Dick McGuire bread label. I heard of one selling recently for ~$2,000. If you know of or have one of these, I do need one for my collection.

03/02/03 -- (Great Item On Sale)

I have learned of a set of 1968 Topps Test that is for sale. I have not contacted the seller directly to see if I could post his name, but if youare interested, then please email me. I do not know the asking price, but it is probably in $20,000+ range. Now, I have estimated that if you collected all of the known cards together, you would be able to have enough cards for 8-10 sets. Not as rare as some sets (e.g., Bread for Energy, Scott's Potato Chips), these cards have definite investment potential being that they were made by topps to test the concept of introducing a basketball card set (which topps did in 1969 with the Tall Boys). 22 in the set, I only own 3. I've been able to pick up all of mine, which are commons, for roughly $400 a pop.

03/01/03 -- (Great Item On Sale)

Steve Taft (stevetaft@aol.com) has a Buddy Jeanette 1952 Royal Dessert card for sale @ ~$575. Even though the card only books for $300, his sale price is not that high. You probably won't see another one for sale for the next few years. Coming from a new find, this card was 1 of 5 Royal Desserts that were sold on Ebay last Christmas. To give you an idea of the scarcity of these cards, I have only seen 6 cards (5 of which were in the Christmas of '02 find, go on sale in the past 3 years. Coincidently, the 6th card was a Buddy Jeanette Royal Dessert card that sold on ebay a few years ago for $450.