Auction Highlights

Currently Available (prices as of 11/23 evening PST):

Goldin (ends November 29, with extended bidding):

🏈 1974 Topps Football Unopened Wax Pack PSA 8 - $110

⚽ 2006 UK Traditions Football World Stars Lionel Messi PSA 10 - $250

🏀 1980-81 Topps Basketball Unopened Wax Pack (Possible Magic/Bird Rookie Cards) PSA 8 - $360

Heritage Auctions (ends November 29, with extended bidding):

⚾ 1968 Topps Game Mickey Mantle #2 PSA 5 - $55

🏈 Signed 1955 Topps All-American Graded Quartet - $75

🏀 1972 Topps Julius Erving Rookie Card #195 PSA 4 - $130

Love of the Game (ends November 29, with extended bidding):

🏀 1970 Topps #90 Nate Thurmond PSA/DNA Authentic - $50

⚾ Dual Signed 1973 Topps #61 Batting Leaders Williams/Carew PSA 3 / DNA 10 - $80

🏈 1964 Philadelphia #91 Merlin Olsen Rookie Card PSA 8 - $100

News Briefs

🤦 Probstein’s New Auction Site snype Disabled Following Technical Glitches

💰️ eBay Offers New Sports Card Price Guide on the App

⚾ The 1951 Bowman Willie Mays Is on the Upswing

🏀 Celebrating Elvin Hayes at 80 and Some of His Cards

⚾ Review of “One Splendid Season,” a Book About Baseball and America in 1912

Vintage HOF Rookie Card: Dave Winfield

An exceptional athlete, Dave Winfield had the incredible distinction of being drafted in three different sports (baseball, football and basketball) and four different leagues (MLB, NFL, NBA and ABA), and when the San Diego Padres drafted him, it was as a pitcher. Meanwhile, the Minnesota Vikings drafted him even though he had never played college football.

Dave Winfield - RF

HOF Induction in 2001 - Named on 435 out of 515 ballots (84.5%)

Standout Stats:

• 12-time All-Star, all of them consecutively

• 1,833 careers RBIs, 19th all-time

• Won seven Gold Gloves and six Silver Slugger awards

• Had 108 RBIs in his age-40 season

• Career WAR - 64.2

Six of the 10 purchases were made via auction (the other four being Best Offer), and the average price came out to be $108.41.

Hobby Thoughts: Basketball Card Collector Grade Affordability

My look at collector grade continues with basketball, and for new subscribers, collector grade is based on the decade - a 7 grade for the 1970s, a 6 for the 1960s, and so on.

I’ll again look at PSA graded cards, focusing on basketball Hall of Fame rookie cards from the 1970s. Because of the type of cards being considered and the decade, I’ll define “affordable” as $50 or less (with each price based on the average of the last three sales).

Before tabulating, my guess is that more than 75% of the cards fall into the “affordable” category.

And here’s the data from Vintage Card Prices:

That huge drop-off was one of the main reasons I thought so many of the cards would come in at $50 or less, because I assumed the two primary rookies of the decade would drive most of the pricing. And because I was under the impression that vintage basketball was less desirable than vintage football, I (incorrectly) assumed that the prices would drop accordingly.

I was obviously wrong about the price drop, primarily because, while I think a lot of defensive players in football tend to see lower prices (higher prices being driven by quarterbacks and running backs), basketball doesn’t necessarily have the defensive player equivalent. Therefore, I was way off in my estimation.

Only 10 of the 33 HOF rookie cards fell under $50, a whopping 30.3%. Meanwhile, if I had kept the $75 affordability price I used for football, it still would’ve come in at 63.6%, with 21 cards at that price or below. And much like the previous baseball and football cards, the average card price was pulled up by uniquely expensive rookies (Dr. J and Maravich, in this instance), with the average coming in at $127.57.

What’d you think about these prices?