1935-36 Diamond Matchbooks # 73 William 'Babe' Herman ENDS:.316. RED (Cubs)

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1959 Topps displays vintage 1959 Topps Baseball sports cards.
Bowman Mickey Mantle displays all Bowman Mickey Mantle sports cards.

Auctioneer Guernsey's went thru Topps offices gathering over 3,000 items for the auction. Topps spokesman reported auction sales of OVER $1.5 million !!! Additional sales were made from a mail-only auction. Collector Keith Olbermann, at the auction, described it as an archaeological dig.

Topps archive material continued to accumulate after the auction ending up with another treasure of over 250,000 transparencies, uncut sheets, color separations, art, photos, slides, proof sheets & wrappers, canceled checks, contracts and one-of-a-kind items to sell.

In 1958 Topps started a continuing feature with their first "All-Star" subset. A part of the All-Star subset, the Mickey Mantle 1958 All-Star card is famous for being in the back pocket of famous sportscaster Bob Costas.

Official authentic vintage UPI/AP Wirephotos/Laserphotos are very limited, normally only 1 sent to subscribing newspapers. Photos were black & white printed on electro-static printers, usually sent in 3 stages, Cyan, Magenta & Yellow, then combined into a color photograph. Photos are work products and VG to NEAR MINT. As a bonus, some have editor's blue-line cropping marks.

Scarce, interesting and snapshots of history, wire photos of major subjects and moments make for great collectibles. Wirephotos and laserphotos are no longer transmitted in this manner (stopping around the early 90's). Images are now transmitted from computer to computer with no need for hardcopies.
old UPI wirephotos old AP wirephotos Wirephotos images taken with low res camera so images do not do then justice. The wirephotos are nicer than in the image. Most wirephotos from San Diego Union Tribune archives and make nice additions to your collection.

Baseball card collecting terms (part G)

Grade/Condition Centering, corner wear, photo clarity, edges, creases, print flaws ... all combine to determine a card's condition or grade. Along with rarity/scarcity it is the major factor in a card's value.

Graded Card As values increased the condition of cards and the determination of fakes and alterations became increasingly more important. Various companies became "graders" of your cards. For a fee they would grade your card (usually on a 1 to 10 scale) and then placed in a sealed plastic holder with labelling of the vital information.

From past experiences, most people are NOT HAPPY with the grades they receive. To keep values up, graders can be extremely picky. Things you don't see, they do so don't be surprized when the NEAR MINT card you send in ends up with an EX or EX/MINT grade.

There are TOO many grading companies - if you do, do choose carefully. PSA / SGC / GAI / BGS are some of the many companies. It is good to know that getting a card graded by a company that people do not recognize or respect will usually just cost you time and money and not help you in any way.

1935-36 Diamond Matchbooks # 73 William 'Babe' Herman ENDS:.316. RED (Cubs)

Topps Vault & Proofs

1958 Topps Baseball Cards
Checklist & Values

Vintage Baseball Wire Photos

UPI/AP Wirephotos

1935-36 Diamond Matchbooks # 73 William 'Babe' Herman ENDS:.316. RED (Cubs)

Topps Vault & Proofs

1958 Topps Baseball Cards Checklist & Values

Vintage Baseball Wire Photos

UPI/AP Wirephotos

1958 Topps Baseball Cards
Checklist & Values