The vintage card collecting thread.

There is always lots of interest when vintage cards pop up on the site usually questions being asked.

I thought I'd post this thread up to discus this overlooked part of the hobby in our country and answer any questions asked as good as I can. In a world where most vintage collectors dont frequent message boards or buy and sell a great deal of their cards on eBay a lot of the sales and info goes unnoticed by todays collectors.

Post away and discuss all those players that you leave out of your NBA top 50 and replace with Ben Gordon

Hmmmmm.....what credentials do you have to make you the oracle of all things vintage in Australia (and perhaps the world)??

Chad-vintage>>>>>Ray-Jordan.

chadjaja said:

Chad-vintage>>>>>Ray-Jordan.

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Wow, that's very harsh on yourself

Do any of the major vintage sales that occur through the auction house have web pages (either for the collection/card for sale or their listing on the auction house websites)?

Memory Lane Inc. is a good place to start. Legendary Auctions Sports Memorabilia is another in the wake of Mastro being shut down by the FBI for shilling.

Sotherby's has the occasional lot and really high end stuff too. There are more but the bigger players are easier and safer to deal with.

Its a small world and if a great set or card is up in one of the smaller auction houses word usually gets around the vintage card community. A lot of sales are thru private sale too as you would expect with such large sums of money cutting out fees and commissions saves collectors thousands of dollars. If a high end collector wanted to move cards he would most definately have a short list of names to contact who he knew needed the card for a set. Here is where the PSA registry works in their favour and they can scan sets by person and see who has gaps to fill and would pay the most for the filler card for a set.

man this is a great read, who'd have thought lance armstrong was sitting on such a wealth of knowledge that measly player collectors like me dont know of...keep it coming mate this is an awesome thread! i might check out sotherbys for pippens! sounds like everyone within this little vintage community know of each other, must make it stupidly hard for people to get certain cards for sets if alot of it is word of mouth.....im sure the prices reflect that too of some of the cards....it sounds like ebay but for grown ups hahahahaha

Hey Chad,

I have a 1993/94 Penny Hardaway Rooke Card.....is this considered vintage?

Cheers
Matt

P.S about time you had your own vintage thread!!

Matt26 said:

Hey Chad,

I have a 1993/94 Penny Hardaway Rooke Card.....is this considered vintage?

Cheers
Matt

P.S about time you had your own vintage thread!!

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ive still got one in a screw down! and a mashburn!

Getting away from the mainstream sets and high end graded vintage some people dismiss simply because the player was a hack but the grade is high dictating the price.

I thought I'd share the other side of high end vintage that most would not of heard of. Bear in mind this means most of these cards are what we consider promos, oddball etc etc but lets take into account the first card set the included basketball was the sportskings set in 1933 and even then it only had a handful of basketball in the multi card release. The Celts have three cards in it. Some in my opinion should be short prints too based on how much they pop up.

Most high end vintage starts and ends with Mikan.

First up
1950 Scotts potato chip

This card was in scotts potato chips when Mikan was not only a star but a sideshow due to his enormous height at the time. The games biggest star. This card could be redeemed for actual Laker tickets and most were either redeemed or met some other fate other than in a penny sleeve, one touch and temp controlled room LOL The rarest of the rare and sales are rare. Four know sets complete of the 13 players and a few singles most in terrible condition. Todays estimate for one would be in the region of $20,000US + for the Mikan alone. The last set sold years ago at an auction house for $25,000 and many vintage collectors are still kicking themselves for not buying up then.

2. Mikan bread for energy.

Bascially its card the you found on the end of a loaf of bread. Back then bread was rolled in sort of wax paper and the ends folded over at the end. These bread stickers were placed at each end to seal it. Only 4 players in the set and the promo with Mikan on it lasted only 3-4 weeks! Only EIGHT Mikans are known to exist. Again $20,000 these days would 'probably' get you one but could easily fetch more. Last sale I know of was in the early 90's.

3. Mikan bread for health.

Again another bread label but there is 32 in the set this time rather than the 4 in the bread for energy. Like all bread labels condition is usually poor simply due to getting it off without ruining the collectable. Rarely see a Mikan sell as some sets have been compiled and sell complete. Maybe another $15,000US + in todays market.

Mikan also had a more easily available XRC of sorts. These pop up on eBay reguarly and usually fetch around the $400 mark or so depending on condition. Its a larger size card in black and white and isn't easy to find in top condition. This card came out before the 1948 Bowman Mikan but because its a multi sport set and so limited its not considered his RC. Most cards in the set are baseball. They were distributed in penny machines at 1 card for a penny.

pics ...........

amazing read mate! great read on the bread cards....was micky mantle in the multi sport release with mikan? or was that before mikan times?

An affordable Mikan is the 1952 Wheaties cards - they regularly sell on the bay. Also features 2 cards of The Kangaroo Kid Jim Pollard.

When you are talking vintage, nothing tops (no pun intended) the 48 Bowmans. The Jim Pollard RC from this set is one of my most prized cards.

Nah Mantle isn't in the set and not sure what years he crosses over with. Of all the multi sports card sets that feature basketball the 1933 sportskings is prob the best as it also has Babe Ruth and co in it. The same set last years sportskings were modelled on.

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chaddy42 said:

When you are talking vintage, nothing tops (no pun intended) the 48 Bowmans.

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Not when you are talking mainstream sets that is The above cards prove that. The best Mikan mainstream is def the grey back RC version, it lacks red ink but can be found in better condition as they were from an uncut sheet found a few years back.

chadjaja said:

Not when you are talking mainstream sets that is The above cards prove that. The best Mikan mainstream is def the grey back RC version, it lacks red ink but can be found in better condition as they were from an uncut sheet found a few years back.

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That's a matter of opinion. I prefer the Bowmans that were issued in '48 and show the wear of history, rather than an inferior print (it is missing the red after all) which is only in better condition due to not being released. Sales prices may disagree with my view, but that is the beauty of this hobby.

chaddy42 said:

That's a matter of opinion. I prefer the Bowmans that were issued in '48 and show the wear of history, rather than an inferior print (it is missing the red after all) which is only in better condition due to not being released. Sales prices may disagree with my view, but that is the beauty of this hobby.

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my mate has a mantle RC with a big crease down the upper left corner and the corners are dinged...IMO that card looks far better then PSA 10/9/8 etc....cards such as that really do look better showing the wears of time...sort of like an antique

slobbythegreat said:

cards such as that really do look better showing the wears of time...sort of like an antique

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Wash that mouth out mister!

chadjaja said:

Wash that mouth out mister!

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hahahaha i thought id cop some for that...dont get me wrong id love to own a crisp mikan or mantle or wagner but some of those older cards appeal to me more with the used, wethered look, creasing and yellowing and all i think with cards like that, i wouldnt own them for the sake of their $$ value, it would be more to say ive got a mikan/mantle/wagner. it separates them from others like the the jordan/magic/bird rookies because they're so readily available...old super rare stuff like the mantle/mikan/wagner should show signs of time....i think thats their appeal, but hey, all this coming from someone whos oldest card is a terry lamb rookie card!

Well i expect your Pips to look tired and worn in another 50 years LOL

My oldest card is actually baseball and its pretty gnarled but I picked it up cheap just coz i liked it. A 1909 Wagner from the same set the Honus Wager is from but my guys name isn't Honus LOL IF ONLY!

chadjaja said:

Well i expect your Pips to look tired and worn in another 50 years LOL

My oldest card is actually baseball and its pretty gnarled but I picked it up cheap just coz i liked it. A 1909 Wagner from the same set the Honus Wager is from but my guys name isn't Honus LOL IF ONLY!

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got a scan of it?

Sure do