Treasure Detectives Tackle The Cobb-Edwards T206 Wagner

Thanks to shows like Pawn Stars, sports memorabilia has been getting its share of prime time coverage.  I usually make it a point to watch if I hear that a sports related item is going to be featured in one of their segments.  One of the newest shows that deals with collectibles began this month on CNBC Prime called Treasure Detectives.  In this show, experts take a look at specific items brought to them by individuals and they determine whether or not the item is real or fake based on a handul of forensic tests.  The hour long program usually swaps back and forth during the investigation process between the two items that are in question.  Its a refreshing show that doesn’t focus mainly on the item’s value, although dollar amounts do pop-up when they talk about what the item could potential be worth if it is determined to be authentic.

In the second episode, part of the show covers the Cobb-Edwards 1909-11 T206 Honus Wagner tobacco card.  Out of the 50 or 60 examples that exist today, this one has been in question for years.  According to Edwards, it was purchased from someone who obtained it at an estate sale in 1980.  Before that, there isn’t too much history on how the card surfaced or who owned it.  It was originally purchased supposedly for $1,800.00.  Over the years the card has gone through a handful of tests each coming up with vague yes-no determinations.  Eventually it landed itself in an ACA Grading holder which deemed the card to be authentic.  Why would they use ACA Grading to authenticate their card?  Most likely because they were the only company willing to touch the card and say it was real.  ACA probably wanted some attention from the hobby too.

For a majority of the show, Mr. Edwards wouldn’t let the examiners remove the card from it’s holder.  It wasn’t until the end where they brought in the individual from ACA Grading who encased the card and asked him to remove it so they could take a closer look under a microscope.  While taking a look at it with the microscope, you could clearly see the print pattern on the Cobb-Edwards card was not consistent with other T206 cards from the same set.  The font and spacing was off too.  One of the best ways to determine if a T206 card is counterfeit is to compare it to another common card from the set.  These cards were originally made as promos, and were expected to be thrown out.  They didn’t go out of their way to make some cards better looking than others.  Scanning the card in the CT scanner revealed that there was a potential bulge near the middle indicating that there might be more than one piece of paper present.  Given that the card was still in its holder at the time of the scan, they indicated that their measurements could be off.  I personally don’t buy that for a second.  CT scanners are designed to see through skin, muscle, tissue, and bone.  Not to mention tumors deep within the brain.  A little plastic holder shouldn’t be a problem.  Then again, I’m no doctor.

It was interesting to watch the show’s experts go about making a fake.  The end result was a spot on match to the Cobb-Edwards card.  The paper used on the Cobb-Edwards card is old which leads me to believe that its probably just an early fake.  Given all this information, it was no surprise that in the end they came to the conclusion the card isn’t the real thing.  Most collectors that were already aware of this card have had that in their heads for years.

As for the Canadian based ACA Grading.  What little reputation they had in the industry has been blown out to sea.

Treasure Detectives can be seen on CNBC Prime Tuesday nights @ 9:00 EST.  They also run re-runs all the time.

2013 Press Pass Platinum Cuts Inscription Edition Preview – Do We Really Need Another Cut Signature Driven Product?

I have to be honest.  The hobby doesn’t need another all cut signature driven product.  Panini, Leaf, TRISTAR, and Historic Autographs already do plenty of them.  We don’t need another.  Is there a spot for them?  Sure.  But just because a few companies do something doesn’t mean you have to join in.  Competition is good for collectors, but when it comes to cut signature products you’re not really competing for much.  When an entire product is based on the signature itself, design goes straight out the window.  Nobody gives two cents about the border design or if the card is encapsulated in a Beckett holder.  With each release the market gets flooded with the same signatures.  Of course they all contain cards we would love to pull, but the chances of that happening are slim to none.

2013 Press Pass Platinum Cuts Inscription Edition is Press Pass’s first venture with a cut signature product.  With 2,000 “1 of 1” cuts in an already saturated market, I’m sorry to say I don’t see this going too far.  I also don’t think cut signatures should be made of people that are still living.  Personally, I’d like to see some fancy insert cards made of these people.  Do something different.

2011 Upper Deck Exquisite Football Is Here… Finally

Football collectors have been enjoying Exquisite Collection since January of 2005.  The cards that Upper Deck makes for this set are the centerpieces of many people’s collections.  That’s how nice of a product it is.  Exquisite Collection rookies are by far some of the most valuable.  Patches, autographs, rookies, legends, you name it, its in there.

Yesterday Upper Deck released 2011 Exquisite Collection Football.  That’s correct everyone.  Upper Deck released a 2011 product when 2012 is already half over.  Upper Deck has a 2012 product out on the shelves and they’re just releasing ’11 Exquisite Collection.  I don’t see many people upset about it, because the cards look absolutely amazing.

One thing confuses me a bit, and maybe you can help me out.  2010 Exquisite Collection was released well into 2011.  Upper Deck randomly inserted “2010” rookies of guys like Cam Newton.  2011 Exquisite Collection was released well into 2012.  Upper Deck inserted 2011 rookies of guys such as Cam Newton, as they should because this is when he was a rookie.  So you have rookie cards of the same players from both 2010 and 2011.  Its a rookie card overlap that is a total mind blower.  On top of all that, Upper Deck included rookie cards of 2012 rookies in ’11 Exquisite Collection.  Its almost like a hybrid product, covering both 2011 and 2012.  Its cool and confusing all at once.

2010 Exquisite Collection Cam Newton Rookie

2011 Exquisite Collection Cam Newton Rookie

Which one do you consider to be a true rookie?  I’d say both.

I would like to commend Upper Deck on the newest version of Exquisite Collection.  The patches look great, inscriptions are cool, but most of all the Dimensions Shadow Box autographed cards are a nice innovation.  Looking at them on eBay isn’t the best way to view a card of this magnitude.  To get the full experience you need to see one in person.  The interchangeable autographed cards are neat too.  Now you can create your own dual autographs.

Including dual autographs of guys like Brian Bosworth and Tony Mandarich are a nice touch.  They are two of the biggest busts in NFL history, but that makes them popular.  I want to see Ryan Leaf autographs next year.

Anyway you look at it, Exquisite Collection shows off what Upper Deck is good at, making fantastic looking high-end cards.  I’d love to bust a box, but at $555.00 its way out of my price range.

2012 Leaf Pete Rose – The Living Legend Preview

If you’ve been reading Sports Card Info, you know what a fan I am of 2011 Leaf Pete Rose Legacy.  For under $90.00 you get five base cards (if your lucky maybe a reverse negative), and one Pete Rose autograph.  There are tons of inscriptions and relics to pull too.  It was one of my favorite products last year.

This year, Leaf is bringing another Pete Rose themed product to market – 2012 Pete Rose – The Living Legend.  For $30.00 you get ten packs plus one Pete Rose autograph.  Boxes will look like blasters.  Collectors can also look for redemptions that can be redeemed for Pete Rose signed baseballs, bats, and jerseys.  Some baseballs come inscribed “I’m sorry I bet on baseball”.

I’m not too sure about this product.  This product is much cheaper than its 2011 predecessor, but it comes with a lot more base cards – 60.  If your a Pete Rose collector on a budget, this should be right up your alley.  As for me, I think I’d stick to the 2011 boxes for now.  Nobody has come front yet and said they pulled the Rose autograph that states you’ve won a batting lesson with him.  Pete Rose signatures are really getting watered down.  Rose will soon be up there with Bob Feller for having the most autographed cards.

2012 Leaf Pete Rose – The Living Legend is scheduled to be released in August.

Panini Brings The HOF To You With 2012 Cooperstown Baseball

The National Baseball Hall of Fame & Museum is one of the coolest places to go if your a baseball fan.  They have artifacts on display from the early days of the game all the way up to the current time.  I’ve been there three times and its really fun.

Back in February, Panini announced they came to an agreement with the Hall of Fame to produce cards featuring its Hall of Famers and their artifacts.  Its good to see more cards with Hall of Famers on them, but lets face it, its been done many times before and with MLB logos.  What I’m interested to see are the cards about the artifacts.  There are a lot of baseball fans that can’t make it to the Hall of Fame to see these items in person.  Producing cards of the artifacts really brings the Hall of Fame to collectors in a way.  A real nostalgic factor can play in here too.  Pulling a card picturing an item you remember seeing on a trip to Cooperstown with your father could bring back a lot of memories.  The hobby is currently filled with resurrected designs and the same old stuff we see over and over again.  I think this is an interesting way to go.  There is an insert set called “Voices of Summer”.  I asked Panini if Phillies broadcaster Harry Kalas was going to be included within it, and they stated they were trying to get him in.

Collectors can look for 2012 Cooperstown Baseball in July.  Each box will contain (1) autograph, (2) commemorative Class Patches, (3) Bronze History cards, (3) Crystal Collection parallels, (2) Voices of Summer inserts, (2) Induction inserts, and (2) Credentials inserts.  The base set will contain 200 cards that includes 20 SP Color Tint cards.  Of coarse cut signatures will be thrown in there too.

Trade Cards Highlight 2012 Upper Deck Football – Who’s It Going To Be?

Oh I might as well jump on the bandwagon and talk about these trade cards too.  Lucky collectors have been pulling these from their boxes of 2012 Upper Deck Football.  Its the first licensed college football product that contains rookies of the 2012 Draft Class, and collectors are eating it up like mom’s meatloaf 🙂  One of the best things a manufacturer can do is slip something totally unexpected into a product without announcing it to the public.  Letting the collector make the discovery is a great marketing strategy.  That’s exactly what Upper Deck has done with their trade cards.

The back of the card states that Upper Deck will trade you this card for an Upper Deck Football card of a 1st Round Draft Pick Quarterback.  There are unsigned (silver) and signed versions (gold).  I hope you don’t mind waiting awhile for your card to arrive, because Upper Deck won’t start filling these mystery redemptions until June, 2013.  I have a feeling it could be Andrew Luck or Robert Griffin III.  Upper Deck may have decided not to fill them until next year so it allows Luck’s exclusive with Press Pass to pass by.

Then again, it doesn’t state that it would be a card of a 2012 1st Round Draft Pick Quarterback.  Perhaps it could be someone from another Draft Class.  For all we know it could be Ryan Leaf.  Either way, slipping in a card such as this gets collectors talking, and that’s what Upper Deck wants.  This isn’t the first time Upper Deck has gone the sneaky route.  In 1992, Upper Deck offered a trade card which could be redeemed for a Shaq variation.

Christy Mathewson’s Relic Cards Have Increased 283% In Price Over The Last Four Years

Here is something you don’t see very often, especially within the hobby today.  The increase in price of a modern day card that isn’t related to some 18 year old prospect that was just bumped up to the majors.

Christy Mathewson relic cards have been on the rise over the past few years.  His first memorabilia card was issued in 2001 Upper Deck Legends of NY, and was limited to only 63 copies.  After that, Mathewson had relics appear in other products such as 2003 Upper Deck SP Legendary Cuts, 2005 Upper Deck SP Legendary Cuts, 2005 Upper Deck Trilogy, and last came in 2007 Upper Deck Sweet Spot Classic.  Since he has not had a new relic card issued in almost 5 years, the demand for his relics has drastically increased.

In 2008, I purchased a Christy Mathewson 2005 Upper Deck Trilogy game-used pants relic #’ed/75 for $58.00.  Last weekend I sold it for $222.50.  That is an 283 percent price increase in only 4 years.  During the time when he had a somewhat steady line of relic cards being issued, it wasn’t that difficult to find one up for sale.  Now you’ll be lucky to find one up for sale at all, and if you do be prepared to spend a hefty price.  Just take a look at some of these recently closed auctions:

• Mathewson 2003 UD SP Legendary Cuts Historic Swatches #’ed/100
• Mathewson 2003 UD SP Legendary Cuts Historic Swatches #’ed/250
• Mathewson 2005 UD SP Legendary Cuts Pants Relic #’ed/75
• Mathewson 2005 UD Trilogy Generations Past Materials #’ed/25

Christy Mathewson is a perfect example of what can happen when manufacturers stop making relic cards of a popular HOFer.  Among the first five inductees into the Baseball Hall of Fame, Mathewson has the second fewest relic cards.  Walter Johnson would be first considering he doesn’t have any.  Mathewson relics have really dried up.  It looks as if all the collectors that purchased his relics are keeping them in their personal collection.  I don’t know if I’d like to see some new Mathewson relics hit the market.  Someone would have to get their hands on some more Mathewson relics first, and those aren’t the easiest to find.  If new ones were to be issued, I have a feeling they would drive the price down on the older ones.

Mathewson’s 373 career wins still sits atop the number one spot in the National League, along with Grove Cleveland Alexander.  He attended Bucknell University which is only a few minutes away from where I live.  His body is also buried in the Lewisburg Cemetery and is right next to the college.

Interchangeable Shadow Box Cards Coming To 2012 SPx Football

Upper Deck introduced the Shadow Box insert to collectors back in 2009.  Collectors gladly welcomed them into the hobby and consider them to be some of the nicest looking insert cards to date.  In most cases they are case hits and quite difficult to pull.  The autographed Shadow Box cards are even harder to find.  The Shadow Box card is a perfect example of the type of innovation Upper Deck can bring to the table.  Cards like this beat out any card that might contain built in video or anything along that line.  The other week I got my first look at a Shadow Box card in person.  I’ve seen them online before.  It was of Tim Tebow and it looked really cool.

This June, Upper Deck will release 2012 SPx Football.  Collectors can look forward to finding more Shadow Box cards, except this time they will be a little different.  Upper Deck is introducing interchangeable acetate slots (that sounds scientific) so you can create your own Shadow Box cards. There will be all kinds of different rarity levels and autographs.  I think its a decent upgrade.  At least they didn’t try to include video in them.

When something becomes popular in today’s hobby, its usually overproduced to the max.  One day jersey cards are found (1) per case and the next you start finding them in every pack.  That’s just how things go.  With the popularity of the Shadow Box card, I’m surprised a product hasn’t been released where you find one per box or one per pack.  Upper Deck has kept the production of Shadow Box cards low from product to product helping them to retain their value.  Creating a non-autograph/relic insert and having it become popular is something almost unheard of today.

As for the rest of 2012 SPx Football, you will find (4) autographs or memorabilia cards on average inside each box.

This George Washington Art Card Is Going To Cost You $$$$

There is no doubt that the two most expensive products on the market to break right now are Famous Fabrics 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and Leaf’s Oval Office.  Neither one deals with sports in any way.  Both products are very limited and cost around $1,500.00 each.  Given the current economic conditions, I’m surprised we are seeing products like this being released.  They sure aren’t for your average collector.

I have to admit, Famous Fabrics has the better product.  Normally I would side with Leaf, but not this time.  Oval Office has (1) Presidential cut signature per box.  That’s it.  1600 Pennsylvania Avenue on the other hand has (1) Presidential cut signature, (1) non-Presidential cut signature, and (4) base cards each numbered to 10 per box.  For around the same price, you can obviously see 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue has much more to offer.

Another fun thing Famous Fabrics is doing is rewarding the first collector that puts together the entire 96-card 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue base set.  This first collector to do this will receive the George Washington 1/1 Hand-Painted Art card by Jared Kelley.  Kelley’s work can be found in Sports Kings and he was behind the Presidential Art cards found in Goodwin Champions.  They look absolutely amazing and collectors spend big bucks on them.  This base set won’t be an easy or cheap one to complete.  Having each base card limited to 10 copies really drives the price up.  Base cards have been selling anywhere from a low of $10.00 to over a high of $250.00+.  Get ready to spend some major $$$$ 🙂

Collectors that come in second, third, and fourth putting together the 96-card base set will receive 1/3 reproductions of the George Washington Hand-Painted Art card.

Leaf’s Legends of Sport Is Live

This week Leaf released its newest product Legends of Sport.  Inside each box you will find three cards, each one autographed.  Every card in the set is autographed and limited to 50 copies or less.  Legends of Sport is one of Leaf’s higher-end products and is currently selling for $155.00 per box.

I think the cards look good, but I do have a few suggestions.  To start off, I love the thick card stock Leaf used.  Thick cards are always better than flimsy ones that could easily be damaged.  Just like other Leaf products, the cards come in their own top loaders.  I like cards that come with their own supplies.

Leaf did a good job making use of the color white in the design of these cards.  I do think that they could have done a little more with the design when it came to the “Moments of Greatness” cards.  I was also surprised to see Leaf use sticker autographs.  They usually are the poster child for on-card signatures.

Charlie Sheen signed a bunch of cards for this product.  I’m digging the painted look which features Sheen as Rick Vaughn from the movie Major League.

This Ichiro/Pete Rose dual autograph is just amazing.  Two of the biggest hit kings baseball has ever seen.

That is one used Bench/Piazza printing plate.  It looks like something I drew in 1st grade.

Guys like Jose Canseco and Rafael Palmeiro have autographs in here too.