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So, am I the only one who bought a large collection of cards over the weekend, ones being sold among a bunch of other random items in the middle of what I can only assume was once a parking lot?

Just me, huh? And if you look closely in one of the boxes, there’s a small container with (thankfully fake) teeth. Quite the bonus.

I’ve actually been to a sale at the same location once before a couple of years ago and it was pretty disappointing, but this time the Craig’s List ad mentioned trading cards, so I figured I’d take a chance since it isn’t far from my house.

I paid $160 for everything and I’m slowly making my way through to see what’s actually in there. I had given a cursory look at the actual sale and thought there was likely enough to justify the cost, but wasn’t 100% sure.

So far, I’ve located one card that jumped out at me (and it actually came from a bunch of scattered cards underneath the teeth container).

Not a vintage card, I know (and there aren’t that many vintage cards as of yet), but the card has me feeling a smidge better about my purchase.

And then there’s this one, of someone I also know, but a card I’d never seen before. It seems to have a pretty wide range of sales (between $20-100), but something tells me this card would go in the lower end of that range, based on the condition.

This is a big part of the fun of buying a collection — running across cards I’ve never seen before and getting to learn a little more about the hobby. I hope to eventually put together a video about this collection.

In this issue you'll find:

Auction highlights
News in the hobby
Tracking player runs for the 1970s “GOATs”
Dan Fouts’ rookie card and player profile
ICYMI
Recent Vintage Card Voyage videos

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Auction Highlights

In order of closing date:

Elite Collectibles (ending on August 25)

Fanatics Weekly Auction (ending on August 30)

Other active auctions:

The Collector Connection Post War Sports Cards & Memorabilia (ends on September 6)

Clean Sweep Auctions (ends on September 10)

Hunt Auctions (ends on September 16)

News Briefs

💰 Unopened 1952 Topps Packs Lead REA Summer Auction Past $18 Million

⚾ The 5 Most Iconic and Valuable 1969 Topps Baseball Cards

🏀 The Basketball Hobby Timeline: 1948 Brings a Key Set to Collectors

⚾ Tommy John Cards Plentiful, Affordable After Death of Pitching Legend

⚾ Joe Wilhoit’s Cards and the 69-Game Streak That Still Stands

Hobby Thoughts: Tracking the Prices of 1970s “GOAT” Player Runs

Takeaway: Mike Schmidt’s cards show consistent gains, Thurman Munson’s second-year card seems to have exploded in value, and George Brett’s rookie card has a LOT of sales.

I put quotation marks around GOAT because I think many will question why someone who isn’t in the Hall of Fame would qualify as a GOAT, but here’s my rationale.

I thought about the rookie cards that stood out in the 1970s and two immediately came to mind — Mike Schmidt and George Brett. Coming up with the third one, though, was a bit of a challenge.

The more I thought about it, the more Thurman Munson came to mind, because I felt like a lot of people in the vintage hobby have a fondness for him — and he also has the advantage of his second-year card being even more sought-after than his rookie card.

Additionally, I wanted someone early in the 1970s so that the player run wouldn’t consist of too many cards from the ‘80s. And, you know, having been a Yankees captain holds a certain cache in people’s minds as well. Combine all that and he became the third choice.

I’m sure Carlton Fisk, Dave Winfield, and Robin Yount fans, for instance, will have issue with my choice. Let me have it in the comments.

Comment

Methodology:

I used Card Ladder, with a date range from 8/23/24 to 8/23/26, and tracked collector grade cards (PSA 7 for the 1970s, PSA 8 for the 1980s) for the first 10 of each of their base cards
Percentages were determined from the difference between the earliest sale within the date range and the most recent sale

Some notes:

I was admittedly surprised that the Munson rookie didn’t increase ($305 two years ago and now), with the highest sale in the last two years being $397.72 (in October of 2024) and the lowest sale being $214.50 (in December of 2024), so about a 30% variance either way
Meanwhile, Munson’s second-year card started the two-year period with a $600 sale and has recently shot up, with the most recent sale clocking in at $2,199, one of 16 sales above $1,000 — and that recent sale isn’t even the highest price during that period, which was $3,850 (!!) this past Friday. I should note that card had an MBA Gold Diamond rating — I’ve been seeing more and more Mike Baker Authentication popping up in vintage cards, so that’s something to track going forward
Schmidt’s cards are impressive in their consistency, with only the 1978 Topps price not showing an actual gain — and I should note that the three sales prior to the most recent one were $5-13 higher for that card
It’s not shown on the above bar graphs, but the George Brett rookie card had more than 400 sales in a PSA 7 over the last two years, which is more than double any of the other 29 cards I looked at this time — and more than 50% higher than the second-highest card of the nine baseball players I’ve looked at so far, which is (for some reason) the 1976 Topps Nolan Ryan

Vintage HOF Rookie Card: Dan Fouts

Fouts led one of the most potent offenses of the early 1980s, assisted by wide receivers John Jefferson, Charlie Joiner and Wes Chandler, along with tight end Kellen Winslow, with the four producing seven 1,000-yard seasons in the decade’s first four years. In those four seasons, the San Diego Chargers lead the NFL in total yards every season.

Dan Fouts - QB

HOF Induction in 1993

Standout Stats:

6-time Pro-Bowler, including five consecutive
4-time All-Pro (two first-team and two second-team selections)
1982 AP Player of the Year
Led the NFL in passing yards four consecutive times and in yards per game six out of seven seasons, including five straight from 1979 to 1983
Career AV (Approximate Value) - 163