14 1952 Bowman Unissued Original Artworks

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Christie’s East offered these 14 original 1952 Bowman paintings of never-issued cards in its October 1992 Sports Memorabilia Auction.

They were offered as Lot 93 with the following description:

14 original Bowman paintings of cards that were never issued. Players depicted include C. Lavagetto, M. Martin, J Hopp, C. Van Cuyk, G. Shuba, J. Merson, V Trucks, B Thorpe, T. Moore, B. Addis, J. Wilson, B. McCoskey, R. Gumpert, and J. Dobson. Each card measures 5 x 7 in.

The estimated value was $8,000-10,000.

Christie’s reference to R. Gumpert should have been Bill Henry, the second-to-last card on the bottom. Randy Gumpert has a 1952 Bowman card.

Bowman scrapped more than 14 players from their 1952 set; I previously shared Bill Dickey’s unissued original artwork that Ron Oser Enterprises sold in April 2000, REA sold artwork of an unidentified Detroit Tiger, and The Topps Archives has a post that shares Gelman’s find of 29 original Bowman art pieces including 15 who did not appear in the issued set. Those 15 (the 14 from Christie’s plus Bob Kennedy) were re-printed by TCMA in 1982 as a 1952 Bowman Supplement set (no Bill Dickey or unidentified Detroit Tiger in the supplement set).

Beckett describes the 1952 Bowman extension set as follows:

In 1980, 15 unissued pieces of artwork initially intended to be used by Bowman Gum in their 1952 baseball card set were discovered. This set consists of 15 cards made from this original artwork. The backs have been created to resemble the original 1952 series, and the set has been numbered 253-267 (the next 15 cards in the 1952 Bowman sequence). The facsimile autograph on the original 1952 Bowmans has been omitted from the cards in this set. This set was originally available from the producer for $3 per set.

For completeness, Heritage sold the original art for the 1952 Bowman Bob Kennedy card in May 2020 for $1,110. I’ve also included photos of the unidentified Detroit Tiger and Bill Dickey cards.

Also, check out my earlier post, 1952 Bowman Baseball Original Artwork, Proofs, And Retouched Cards, for more about the Willard Ramsdell and Cliff Mapes cards.

1977 Beckett Price Survey Results

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Here’s a scan of Dr. Jim Beckett’s first report on baseball card prices from the April 1977 issue of The Trader Speaks.

The survey he referenced was distributed across multiple hobby channels, but in keeping with The Trader Speaks theme, here’s the one from their January 1977 issue.

And here’s Part 2 of the Price Survey Results from the May 1977 issue of The Trader Speaks.

As I said, Beckett distributed the survey and results across multiple hobby channels; David Kathman provided a nice overall summary on the net54 boards, including when Dr. Beckett printed details in Sports Collectors Digest.

In the fall of 1976, Jim Beckett, then a professor of statistics at Bowling Green State University as well as a collector and dealer of baseball cards, got the idea of doing a survey of other collectors and dealers in order to determine the market value of various cards and card sets. He wrote up a survey, and the September 30, 1976 issue of Sports Collectors Digest announced his project, and his intention to distribute the survey at various card conventions and by mail. The October 31, 1976 SCD had a status report by Beckett, clarifying what he hoped to achieve with the survey, and the January 15, 1977 SCD printed the survey itself. The results of this first survey appeared in SCD in two parts: in the March 31, 1977 issue for Topps and Bowman cards, and in the April 30, 1977 issue for all other card sets.

Hobby History!

1952 Topps Color Process Proof Cards

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The other day, I published a piece about the 1952 Topps baseball progressive proof uncut sheets. I shared that, after buying all seven of them from Sotheby’s in 1992, it looked like the owner trimmed the full-color process proof sheet before reselling the full series of seven sheets at REA in 2006 (they very well could have changed hands a few more times over the years, I have no idea). The next owner saved the final color-process proof sheet but cut up the other six progressive proof sheets and slabbed each card with SGC before reselling them all with REA again in 2009.

The final color-process proof sheet sold for $18,800 in that 2009 REA auction. In the description, REA wrote “The final sheet was originally accompanied by six color process proof sheets, which have since been perfectly cut and organized by player, and are represented by the twenty lots that follow this one.”

Each of the twenty 1952 Topps proof card groups included the following color processes: 1) Red, yellow, and blue printing. A card which is very close in appearance to a final process card, but with the black printing missing. 2) Yellow and red printing.  3) Yellow printing. 4) Red printing. 5) Blue printing. 6) Black printing.

The two priciest groups of six color-process proof cards sold belonged to Andy Pafko ($3,819) and Warren Spahn ($2,644).

The other 18 lots of six cards sold for between $470 and $1,763.

If you search other auction house archives, you’ll find that many have been resold over the years. For example, MHCC sold the Runnels cards for $840 in March 2019, Brockelman sold the DiMaggio cards for $2,085 in June 2018, and REA re-sold the Pafko cards for $3,120 in their 2023 spring auction.

Dynamite Magazine Number 2 With A 1974 Topps 6-Card Panel And A Story Of 1973 Topps Airbrushing

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I’ve been sharing my collection of Dynamite and Hot Dog Magazines on X, highlighting those with 6-card baseball and football panels. Issue two included 1974 Topps baseball cards, but there’s more; it also included a great article called The All-American Card Game. 

Before I share more about this specific release, here’s a bit of a Dynamite Magazine 101 that I had shared in an old article I had written about Dynamite Magzine Issue 47 that included a panel of 1978 Topps baseball cards: 

Scholastic Inc.’s Dynamite Magazine launched in March 1974 and continued to be released through March 1992 (165 total issues). It was Scholastic’s most successful publication and inspired four other magazines you might be familiar with if you were a kid aged ~8-14 at the time; Bananas, Wow, Hot Dog!, and Peanut Butter. It was a bit of a pop culture update and included articles, comics, puzzles, and other interactive content like puzzles, games, masks, etc. They’d often contain inserts like stickers, glow-in-the-dark items, 3-D posters with glasses, and of course, baseball cards.

Ok, back to Dynamite Magazine Issue Two. First, here’s the cover.

Next, here’s the table of contents, with the top two 1974 Topps cards from the six-card panel.

Notice what’s on page 30; it’s the article I referenced, The All-American Card Game: Press runs big hits and some errors in the Baseball Card Series. Page 30 was the visual (first scan in this blog post), and the following page, 31, had the text.

It’s interesting particularly because in it, Sy Berger highlighted to the author that when Topps would send out photographers to take pictures of players for cards, they would snap a few in full uniform and a few others that could be used in case the player got traded, “just-in-case,” like Ken McMullen’s 1973 Topps card that was taken when he played for the Angels. However, Gary Gentry’s cap had to be airbrushed by Topps artists. 

Here’s the next page with the bottom four of six 1974 Topps cards included with the magazine.

Let The Judge Make The Call!

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How many of you used a tool like ‘The Judge’ in the early 90s as a Mintfinder?

The cutout pictured above is from the following larger ad that was placed in Allan Kaye’s Sports Cards News & Price Guides December 1991 – January 1992 release. You’ve gotta appreciate the directions at the bottom, “Here’s How The Judge Works:”

Just $4.95 plus $1.50 for postage and handling.

Reggie Jackson Signed Topps Baseball Card Contracts

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Here’s a neat piece of hobby history: Reggie Jackson’s signed Topps Baseball Card Contract from August 1971.

The piece was available in Ron Oser Enterprises’ December 2000 catalog and was described as follows: “Very desirable contract for his appearance on bubble gum cards signed in blue ink ‘Reggie Jackson.’ Also signed by Sy Berger, the famous President of Topps Chewing Gum. This August 14, 1971 contract extends for two years the existing contract that Topps had with Reggie. He raked in a whole $75 for this transaction. Signed baseball card contracts are quite sought after, as the signatures are unequivocally genuine. LOA from Mike Gutierrez/MastroNet.”

The contract itself is an “Agreement between: Reginald M. Jackson player, and TOPPS CHEWING GUM, INC.”

It reads, “We, the undersigned, hereby agree to extend the term of our present contract, plus extensions, if any, for an additional period of two years or two full Baseball Seasons, as the case may be, on the same terms and conditions contained in said contract. This extension agreement shall be governed by the Laws of the State of New York. A bonus payment of $75.00 will be due the player the first time after signing this extension that he is or becomes an active member of a Major Leagae Baseball Team between May 15 and August 15.”

I found another contract on Cooperstown Expert. They wrote, “Shown here is Jackson’s contract with Topps Chewing Gum to appear on baseball cards for 1974, ’75, and ’76. Signed by Jackson at the bottom, this deal calls for the slugger to receive a $75 bonus payment.”

And REA included the following signed contract extension between Jackson and Topps, along with a few signed checks in the fall of 2019.

Wouldn’t it be amazing if a single collector ever managed to snag a complete run of Reggie Jackson Topps contracts?

LA’s The Place And Darryl Strawberry’s Topps Traded Rookie Card

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Terry Melia’s Editor’s Game Plan intro to Trading Cards Magazine’s June 1992 issue reminded me how elite Darryl Strawberry was and how much hype Dodgers’ “Outfield of Dreams” had at the time.

Since Melia wrote that Strawberry’s card was fetching $100 in the summer of 92 (I presume mint copies), I was curious how the market is pricing them today. From a graded perspective, only the 10s are >$100 cards. PSA 10s with 10s autos are pushing $500, PSA 10s go for between $350 and $415, 9s are $60-70ish, and 8s sell for between $30 and $40.