Trader Speaks

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!

Wanted Wheaties Panels 1935 To 1941

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Do you know how folks found cards for their collections in the early 80s? They took out ads in hobby periodicals like John Spalding did in this request for 1935 to 1941 Wheaties Panels in the July 1983 issue of Trader Speaks.

Spalding was also looking to hear from Wheaties collectors for a few research projects and was willing to refund postage costs for info. He passed away in 2012 but was a prominent hobby contributor as a writer, researcher, and collector. 

By the way, the panel included in the ad is from 1936.

1953 World Heavy-Weight Championship Marciano Vs. Walcott Tickets

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I ran across this ad, from Mastro of all people, in the July 1981 issue of Trader Speaks, looking to sell or trade full unused mint tickets for the world heavy-weight championship boxing match between Rocky Marciano and Jersey Joe Walcott at Chicago Stadium. 

He mentions having five different tickets, each with clear portrait photos of the boxers, for $10 each (or for trade). 

After exploring the PSA registry, it looks like Mastro was advertising a combination of phantom tickets for April 10th (white, orange, pink, and cream) and the actual fight on May 15th (blue and orange variations). Here are all the examples from Heritage Auctions.

When PSA first started grading tickets, I don’t believe they were not putting the ticket color on the slab, like the following example.

St. Louis Cards Sports Collectors Club 8th Annual Spring Sports Collectors Convention

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Here’s another morsel of card show history, this one from the April 1983 edition of Trader Speaks. It’s an advertisement for the St. Lous Cards Sports Collectors Club and their 8th annual spring sports collectors convention, held May 20-22, 1983, at the Cervantes Convention Center, four blocks from Busch Stadium.

I’d love to see that Lou Brock painting in color; if anyone knows what it is, please leave a comment. I’d also love to time travel back to some of these early ’80s card shows, meet some legends of the game, check out cards before grading, and see what was popular at the time.

Whitey Ford, A 1982 Card Show, And His 1951 Bowman Baseball Card

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Have you been to any great card shows lately? I’ll bet the Sports Memorabilia Show #4 in Whippany, New Jersey, was a good one!

This ad comes from the July 1982 issue of Trader Speaks and highlights Whitey Ford’s attendance during Sunday’s show, where he had agreed to sign 1000 autographs on a first-come, first-served basis.

Given that the ad features Ford’s 1951 Bowman baseball card, I thought it would be fun to take a look at a few sales of them:

REA has sold a handful, including the following PSA VG 3 Auto 10 copy with an HOF ’74 inscription for $780 in 2018, a PSA authentic copy for $510 in 2021, and a fairly beat-up card with an authentic signature for $450 in 2022.

Interestingly, REA re-sold the PSA VG 3 Auto 10 copy in 2023 for $3600, quite an increase! That’s probably because Ford died in 2020.

Now, some cards change hands quite often, so guess what? Probstein sold the same PSA VG 3 Auto 10 Ford on eBay on May 29, 2024, for $2200.

What’s more, the beat-up version above with cert 17605781 is also on eBay, with an asking price of $1699. There’s another PSA authentic copy on eBay as well, with an asking price of $1299.99 (cert 43601626). Given these prices, someone possibly got quite a steal when they picked up this blue-label version in April 2024 for $500.

The Official Pete Rose 1983 Price Guide To Baseball Cards

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I was flipping through the June 1982 issue of Trader Speaks when I came across this ad for The Official Pete Rose 1983 Price Guide to Baseball Cards. It looked familiar, and that’s because I have a copy of the book in the Hobby Library!

The ad is great, and I love how they highlighted Burger King, O-Pee-Chee, SSPC, and TCMA, along with Topps, Donruss, Fleer, and Bowman.

The book is “pocket-sized” at ~4 1/4” x 5 3/4” but is jam-packed with information. Thomas E Hudgeons III edited it via The House of Collectibles Inc. To follow are a couple of scans from the book (which you can pick up for $7-8 on eBay).

I love how the card producers helped prepare the book!

Here’s the table of contents; it’s always nice when guides have something unique beyond prices and checklists, and this one has quite a bit, including some information from Pete Rose (of course).

The first sets in the guide were 1951 Topps Blue and Red Backs, followed by the 1952s.

This is the ‘Full Color Collectors Card of Rose’ highlighted on the cover.

And lastly, here’s the back cover.

The December 1981 New York 1 Show Featuring Mickey Mantle and Duke Snider

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I ran across this advertisement for “The Largest Show Ever Held in New York” in the December 1981 issue of Trader Speaks.

Mickey Mantle and Duke Snider were probably decent draws to a show offering free admission! And they appeared on both days of the show.

I’m curious about which items made up the display of the hobby’s ten most valuable cards. If you know, drop a comment. By the way, many collectors used to order from Gelman’s catalogs. Unfortunately, I don’t have any of them in the Hobby Library to share yet.