Monthly Archives: February 2009

Bernice Gallego's 1869 baseball card sells for $75,285

The 19th century baseball card discovered by a 72-year-old California woman sold Tuesday night on the auction block for $75,285 (bidding ended at $64,073 with a 17.5 percent buyer’s premium).

Antique dealer Bernice Gallego‘s 1869 Peck & Snyder Cincinnati Red Stockings advertising card was sold by Tustin, Calif.-based Memory Lane Inc. after a groundswell of publicity surrounding her story had her on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno last month.

Because of Memory Lane’s 15-minute rule, the auction closed at 9:47 p.m. Eastern time after 96 bids instead of at 9 p.m. as previously announced. (The bidding window is extended for previous bidders until there are no bids placed for 15 minutes.) Four bids were placed after 9 p.m. gradually bumping the high bid from $60,073 up to its final price.

The buyer? TRISTAR Productions President and CEO Jeff Rosenberg.

“Bought it for my collection,” Rosenberg said via e-mail. “However, in the past we have given away items from the collection including T206 Wagner, Babe Ruth Rookie, etc.”

The starting bid? $10 — exactly what she had originally asked for the 140-year-old card on eBay last summer.

The final results for the PSA-authenticated card, which is considered to be one of the first baseball cards ever made, can be seen here.

To read more about Gallego’s reaction to the auction, see the Fresno Bee‘s story by Mike Osegueda here.

Chris Olds has collected sports cards and memorabilia since 1987. Before coming to Beckett Media, he wrote about the hobby for the Orlando Sentinel on his blog, SportsStuff, and for the San Antonio Express-News and The Tuscaloosa (Ala.) News. Do you have a comment, question or idea? Send e-mail to him at colds@beckett.com.

New on DVD: WWE's The Best of Saturday Night's Main Event

If you grew up in the 1980s, the latest DVD from World Wrestling Entertainment – The Best of Saturday Night’s Main Event – is a can’t-miss release that arrived in stores today.

For those not in the now, Saturday Night’s Main Event aired occasionally on NBC (free TV!) from 1985 to 1992 — the height of pro wrestling’s recent explosion onto the pop culture landscape — and was revived briefly in 2006. These cards were mini pay-per-views of sorts, showcasing high-caliber matches in the years before wrestling became a weekly live-on-the-air staple of cable television.

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Card Gallery: 2008 Playoff National Treasures All Pros

Haven’t seen enough of Playoff National Treasures? Check out these cards from the set …

Chris Olds has collected sports cards and memorabilia since 1987. Before coming to Beckett Media, he wrote about the hobby for the Orlando Sentinel on his blog, SportsStuff, and for the San Antonio Express-News and The Tuscaloosa (Ala.) News. Do you have a comment, question or idea? Send e-mail to him at colds@beckett.com.

Collecting Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue cover models' autographs not so tough with certified trading cards

By Chris Olds

If you watched The Late Show with David Letterman on Monday night — or if you’ve been over to SI.com Tuesday morning, you know all about the model who appears on the cover of this year’s Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, Bar Refaeli.

While she’ll be busy doing signings and personal appearances to promote the magazine staple that has printed annually since 1964, our crack staff decided rather than examine the value of the issues to examine a different niche — certified autograph cards of the cover models.

(Besides, editor Chris Olds already wrote a column on the collectible aspects of the swimsuit issue way back in 2003. The findings? Most magazine dealers say a few issues sell particularly well, but the demand is nothing like the first appearances of prominent athletes like Michael Jordan or Tiger Woods — and we won’t mention that it’s one of SI‘s most overproduced issues of the year. A list of going rates back then appears right here — values likely haven’t changed much.)

For the models, the cover is an iconic achievement that may lead to movie roles and added stardom, but that doesn’t guarantee an appearance on cardboard. In fact, only nine cover models have appeared on trading cards which they then signed for inclusion in packs (certified autographs).

In fact, only two of those nine have cards that weren’t produced for a Sports Illustrated trading card set, meaning they made it enough mainstream to appear in something beyond the four Swimsuit Issue sets made by Stellar Collectibles from 2003 to 2006.

Who are the two?

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Barack Obama & Jackie Robinson dual autograph hits eBay

The Topps American Heritage dual cut autograph card of baseball pioneer Jackie Robinson and President Barack Obama is on Ebay with 15 bids currently reaching $3,000.

The fold-out booklet card includes authentication from Topps and Professional Sports Authenticator.

You can see the auction here.

Chris Olds has collected sports cards and memorabilia since 1987. Before coming to Beckett Media, he wrote about the hobby for the Orlando Sentinel on his blog, SportsStuff, and for the San Antonio Express-News and The Tuscaloosa (Ala.) News. Do you have a comment, question or idea? Send e-mail to him at colds@beckett.com.