eBay sellers selling vintage sports photographs
 

Are there any other eBay sellers, or other online sellers like " historicimages" that are currently selling vintage sports photographs in great volumes (1900's-1960's)? I've found a few that sell vintage sports photographs and negatives, but none so far that have the quantity that "historicimages" currently has. But I could have just missed other online sellers. Also ... are the photographs that "historicimages" currently sells considered representative of what goes around the hobby right now, i.e. original photo's, wire photo's, etc? I know this question probably has no one answer and is perhaps a difficult question to answer. I only have the Henry Yee auction to compare it to, and it looked to me like the photo's that Henry was selling were perhaps rarer in some cases and maybe more desirable (better condition?), in general. But I could be wrong as I'm still very new to this hobby of collecting vintage sports photo's. Thus I was looking for other entities selling vintage sports photo's so I can compare. Any comments/advice appreciated. Thanks!

The short answer is, yes, there are others along the same line as historicimages selling photos on eBay. Some are more focused on sports images than others, but they're out there.

I would suggest rather than trying to compile an exhaustive list, if you're specifically looking for other outfits besides historicimages, just do a search, then click on the "Advanced" link in the upper right corner, scroll most of the way down the page to the "Sellers" section, check the "Only show items from:" box, change the drop-down to "Exclude", and type in the User ID's of the sellers you don't want to show up (you can do multiple ID's, just separate them with a comma).

Then do your search again, and click through to see who some of the other sellers are. There are at least a half-dozen good-sized resellers of newspaper archive photos, using a variety of usernames. Some, like historicimages, deal with "fresh to market" material straight from the archives, while others (insert shameless plug here) buy in various auctions and other venues or take consignments for re-selling on eBay. Keep your eyes open when you're searching for the kinds of photos you like, and you'll start to see some recurring seller IDs to explore.

P.S. And lest anyone think otherwise, I'm not suggesting that eliminating historicimages from your searches is a good thing in general. It's just the easiest way to address the op's question that I could think of without compiling an exhaustive list of photo sellers.

Rhys usually has a pretty good selection of vinatage sports photographs. eBay ID: prewarsports

+1 about Rhys. I've always wondered is historicimages a John Rogers affiliate? They show to be out of Memphis and John is in Little Rock, but have several different seller ids and are John Rogers in size and quality

Perhaps at one time, but not any longer (I think. I know at least one of their principals reads this forum, so maybe he can chime in).

The sellers that John Rogers uses can usually be identified by the "Argenta Images" watermark that they use on the scans that they post when selling.

+1 for Rhys from me as well. I typically buy to re-sell, which usually kicks me out of his target market, but he does have that rare combination of quality material and knowledge of the subject matter. He probably also has a firmer grasp of the "true value" of the photographs he deals in than most sellers, so even if you have sticker shock when looking at his eBay store, don't be afraid to offer him a reasonable price for an off-eBay deal.

Really quickly I will say a couple things. First, thanks for the compliments. Second, I know the guys from Historic Images very well and have even been to their Memphis offices a few times. They are WONDERFUL people and some of the nicest most ethical guys (and gals) you will ever meet. I know some people dont agree with the mass selling tactics, but if you guys could see where many of these photos were before they got ahold of them (IE, rotting away in warehouses and sometimes destined for landfills) you will understand the preservation that is happening in this industry. From what I have seen in viewing their facility, they take great care in attempting to preserve the history of the images while dealing with such a large volume and genuinely CARE about the images and the history behind them.

Also from what I understand, they are not a John Rogers company, they used to sell items for John similar to a a subcontrctor working on a house but they are their own company and they only sell their own items now. All the recent "NEA" items are owned by Historic Images.

I am not plugging them in any way, but I have bought a TON of stuff from them and they are BY FAR my favorite people in the hobby!

Rhys Yeakley

Thanks for all the feedback about "historicimages" and other online sellers of vintage photographs. For someone like me who is new to the hobby ... all information and experiences is very helpful. Thank you.