Blog, Batta, Blog!

It's been quiet lately, as I'm still reeling from the expense of the two DiMaggios I picked up in the recent auctions. Of course Mastro has a few high-grade '38s in their upcoming auction that I might take a crack at, but I'm waiting a while for some potential news that I may disclose later this week, for the masses of people who read this blog.

Meanwhile, I've still managed to pick up a few new cards. A few more midgrade W502s (and a Net54 post) have gotten me to a total of 17 cards in that set, but no closer to solving the mystery of the backs. Thanks to some of the people on Net54, I've started a database of W502 backs, but it's not an easy proposition to catalog.

I also picked up 7 new Henry Johnson backs this week, doubling the size of my collection of those. A few of them have star-shaped hole punches, as is the case with one of the others I currently own. I think the star punch represents a redemption of some kind, but there's absolutely no way to know this for sure. One of the new Henry Johnsons I picked up is an Eddie Collins, so he'll join Ty Cobb as one of two HOFers in my Johnson Confectioners collection.

Lastly I picked up a few R311s to add to my collection, all off grade. I just think they're cool, and usually pretty cheap.

A few comments on the maelstrom/witch hunt going on at Net54 right now:

I generally think that alterations in the baseball card hobby are rampant, and anyone who thinks otherwise is kidding themself. There's way too much money involved in this hobby, and anytime money is part of the equation, there's the temptation to be dishonest.

Anybody who's been a part of this hobby for any length of time knows how difficult it was to find a truly high-grade vintage card in, say, the 1980s. And they're everywhere today. Granted, some of these cards have shaken out due to the increased availability that the internet has brought us - I once heard someone postulate that building a '33 Goudey set in 1985 may have taken a lifetime, but building one today might take a month - but a good portion of these cards have been altered in some way.

The thing is, I'm not talking about super-talented chemists sitting in a high-tech lab turning VG Wagners into NMT specimens. I'm talking about modest guys, cleaning cards, stretching/trimming corners, taking out wrinkles, lightening creases, removing stains. It's easier to do than you'd think. Plus, for the investment of a few thousand dollars in a vending box of mid-60s Topps, why WOULDN'T an unscrupulous seller give it a shot? Turn a few 7s into 9s with an X-Acto and a few other common items, submit them for grades, and hope for the best? The downside risk is minor. The upside potential is huge.

This basement restoration really only needs to yield one success in every 8 or 10 cards to have been worth it. And that's just mid-60s commons. What happens when you buy a lot of T206s glued to scrapbook paper - as was sold in the last Heritage auction - soak them off, and try and stretch/trim a few? What would a NM-MT HOFer bring, versus the cost?

The only thing that surprises me about the whole episode is the disclosure on the part of the major auction house. That, of course, is where the maelstrom started. Until this weekend, it's all been speculation. Now we know.

The question is, does it change your collecting habits? In my case, not really. I want a grading company that can protect me from DETECTABLE alterations, particularly on what little high-grade stuff I buy. I don't really buy a lot of high-grade stuff, though. Look at the HOF set items on my website. That stuff makes up the bulk of my collection, and it's not until you get to the commonly available 1960s and 70s material that the high grades start. Sure, there are some high-grade older cards, but almost all of them were purchased raw and self-submitted. I'm just far more interested in scarcity than I am in picking up common HOFer cards in high grade.

That's just me, though. I'd be interested in hearing from you.

Somebody please explain this shit to me, because the more I think about it the more frustrated I get.

And no, there's nothing wrong with the back. And there are no wrinkles, no writing, or no invisible print lines, footprints, tooth marks, or chocolate stains. The upper left corner has a ding.

There's a dartboard in Newport Beach with ten numbers on it. Jimmy the Grade Monkey tosses a dart, it hits he number 4, and bingo. Add one PSA 4 to the pop report.

I'm not one to bash grading companies, and I'll willingly disclose that the company I work for counts SGC among its client base. But I've always been pretty fair about touting both PSA and SGC, and using both companies regularly as well. I've submitted a significant number of '38 Goudeys to PSA, in all grades, and over the last six months I have seen a definite increase in the number of grading oddities.

By the way, this Foxx was on the same submission as the Hank Greenberg I posted last month (that was rejected for trimming after being a PSA 4, 3, and 2). Also on the submission was a 38 Goudey Demaree that was once an SGC 50 that is now a PSA 6, a T206 Joe Kelley that was blatantly trimmed that is now a PSA 5, and a '38 Goudey Medwick that PSA rejected three times in a row for trimming (it took me a while to find where the trimming was, but now that I can see it I'm thankful that PSA is so consistent).

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Joe DiMaggio.

Joltin' Joe came to me for an unprecedented price that my wife would shoot me over, an absolutely stunning SGC 70 with stellar centering, dynamite corners, and unbelievable print registration that may be the best I've seen in a '38. Most definitely undergraded, despite the lightest of invisible wrinkles in the upper-right corner. The card is a 7.

But it does look great in that holder, eh?

I'm all comfoosed about what to do now. I've got 47 cards in one holder and one card in the other, and the guys that make the holder the 47 cards are in are on my shit list. Would it be ballsy to cross my whole set, now just a fraction away from #4 on the ATF list?

Oh yeah, these came too:



A veritable bumper crop of W502s; I've picked up something like 8 of these this week, and discovered a cornucopia of new back variations. To the point where I started a thread about it on Net54; almost as many people comment on this blog as have responded to the thread, though, so I'm not quite sure I'm going to dredge up the type of information I'm hoping to find.

I'm up to something like 18 cards now.

Yep, I have officially lost my mind.

I mentioned in my last entry that I snagged a PSA 6 DiMaggio for my '38 Goudey set. It came in the mail this week, it is a sweet-looking card for sure.



I have purchased entirely too many 38 Goudey DiMaggios in my life; this is the 5th one I've owned, and I just bought another one tonight, and I am clearly losing my mind. However, I'm done now, as I can't see myself springing to bring either card up to a 7.

Watch this site, there will be PSA 5 DiMaggios aplenty, and they'll both be for sale.

Oh yeah - snagged a bunch of W502s over the last week, too - five in total. More on that stuff after I catch my breath.