Koufax/Brady private signings
 

Sandy Koufax, must mail in by February 17, limited to 75 slots total.

Single signed baseball, $1,000

Cards, photos up to 16x20, licensed jerseys, hats/caps - $1,250

Bats, bobbleheads, standard ticket stubs, canvas prints (maximum 20x24), multi-signed baseballs, photos larger than 16x20, approved sketch and fan cards - $1,750

Full standard game tickets, gloves/cleats - $2,200

1955 Topps Rookie Card, no inscriptions - $3,750

First win/MLB debut tickets/stubs - $7,500

Maximum two inscriptions per item - $1,250 each

Tom Brady

No trading cards

Flats up to/including 16x20 - $1,999

Oversized flats/mini helmets - $2,299

Footballs - $2,499

Helmet/Jersey/Equipment - $2,999

Inscription - $1,599

So, I’ve got one question.

Does anybody have this week’s lotto numbers so I can send something in?

I need Koufax on a few cards but I just couldn't get myself to do it. Somewhere you have to draw a line you wont cross. if you find yourself mortgaging your house to do a signing or buy something from an auction, you might need a therapist. Teh again you might let something pass that quadruples in value and you kick yourself for not getting it when it was "affordable":)

It's insane the prices on this stuff anymore. But people will pay. I have some Koufax items for sale on Ebay with certs and nowhere close to these prices. Granted if you need it on a item you have its different and you have to decide, autograph or house payment. Koufax getting up in years maybe justifies the cost but come on not Brady. Just my opinion

I think Brady makes sense for the most part. It would be no different than Michael Jordan doing a signing and I already know people would love to pay Brady's prices for Jordan.

You aren't ever going to get him another way for the rest of his life.

Brady: Signs stupid little squiggle.

That will be three million dollars, please!

Who do you contact for Koufax signing

cardboardlegendsevents@gmail.com or call 818-342-8948

The prices are beyond ridiculous IMO but to each his own.

No kidding. Why do you think I asked for this week’s lotto numbers so I could afford to send something in?

Thats a heck of an hour wage wow

Incredible.

At least Koufax is kind enough to entertain signing trading cards. :rolleyes:

Anyone charging that kind of money can go pound sand as far as I'm concerned. As said above, you have to draw the line somewhere, and those guys just crossed it and went way beyond.

Koufax sells out (quickly, I might add) every time he does a signing, regardless of prices. Keeps his numbers low and IIRC raises some decent money for charity every year. I'd do the same if I were 88.

The $7500 price point really takes the cake. The clouds part, revealing a world of Ruths, Gehrigs and so much more once that kind of money enters the conversation.

Koufax was great, but he's really not in contention for a "The Greatest" argument. Sorry. You could pick up several Cobbs at that price, and he will forever be in contention as The Greatest. Or Cy Young, if you wanted keep the tired argument strictly to pitchers.

Tangent: Mike Bossy was definitely the Koufax of the hockey world; indeed, he may have out-Koufaxed Koufax with his similar story. Insane, almost unfathomable numbers over his ten seasons before his career succumbed to too much pain. Both Bossy and Koufax would have definitely been in contention for The Greatest if their careers weren't shortened. Bossy wasn't exactly keen on signing autographs, either, but never thought to charge exorbitant amounts.

Am I wrong that the cost of just about every autographed item is MORE than a nice example available on the open market? It might be worth a premium if you were able to see him up close in person, maybe exchange a smile, and have him sign the item. But, if you are ultimately just getting an autographed card, ball, or ticket in the mail, what is the upside versus just getting a previously autographed example?

Well depending on your perspective, a TPG can either be depended upon or not. So if you're one of those collectors who doesn't trust a TPG, then getting the signature yourself is the only way you'll ever be satisfied with authenticity.

Agree these prices are crazy but hard to place the blame on the signer. Back in the day Koufax was a generous signer, either in person on TTM but if someone is offering an 90 yoa person probably 100k for a couple hours of writing why would he say “no.”

The problem is that they're not offering him the money. He has a fee that he charges and then the people putting on the show figure out how many autographs he can sign in the amount of time agreed upon, and then charge enough to make back the money with a profit.

Yes, that's how it always works but the cost for the athlete's time is factored into the cost passed on to the ticket buyer. I highly doubt Koufax is going to sign for $75 a signature and then watch tickets be sold for $1,250 and be at ease with that. I would guess that if the ticket costs the buyer $1,250 then it probably cost the promoter $700 to $800. The split might even be closer than that.

Ridiculous prices

It seem to me that the price might be to high. I understand that at this time they have not sold out. On koufax.:o

Supply and demand, pure and simple. If players can make half a BILLION dollars in their careers, who's to say what a legend's autograph should be worth? Look at ticket prices, concessions, merchandise, etc., it all seems crazy to me, but most ballparks are pretty well packed every night with fans ponying up for those.

I only collect and sell cards, and in that context, the prices make limited sense. Koufax has been an autograph guest at shows for decades. If you just want an autographed card, there are hundreds out there at any given time available for a lot less. Where it does make sense to get them signed would be on the rookie and on a rare card that might be a 1/1 when the inevitable happens and Koufax passes away.

What is going on, really, is a cycle of price escalation. The price of having an item signed has been raised every time and the asking prices for signed cards have been adjusted accordingly. A few months later, Harlan Werner (Koufax's longstanding agent for signings) raises the price on the signings and the sellers raise too. If Shelly is right that they are not selling out, we may have reached the price point where the market is saying "enough".

And it's about time.

I'm sure many athletes have seen autographs they sign for free show up on ebay for sale the next day, so have little sympathy for those say they should be obligated to sign for cheap.

If they're greedy, they are being no more greedy than most collectors and many fans.

And then the opinion sellers might not agree that it's real, hahahahahaha!

Koufax made less money in his career than the current major league minimum.

And he spent many years signing anything sent to him for free.

Now that stuff sells for crazy amounts good for him charging what he charges.

If 75 first win or debut programs / tickets even exist, and they take up all the available spots, he stands to make more than he made in his career, and still less than Conner Capel made last season.

Looking at the listed prices, I'd start with a loan officer!

Well, let's say he picked up the slack on whatever his sister, Charlie the Brow and the other ghost signers didn't get around to signing on his behalf.

In Connor Capel's defense, inflation over the last 60 or so years has gone up exponentially more than salaries. The $125K Sandy made in 1966 equates to about $1.2M today. Koufax has not struggled financially.

Still, the guy is nearing 90 and if he doesn't need/want to sign stuff, he's definitely free to charge whatever he feels makes it worth his time. The market will simply bear it or it won't. If the latter, there won't be any more Koufax signings. Good on him if he can get it, that's the free market working as intended.

Athletes always cry about money from a bygone era but they forget they were the equivalent of millionaires in their time.

Like the 1966 salary example. Koufax made $125,000. The average individual income in 1966 was just under $4,300.

That's funny! They should have a tie-in with AAG, so Tom Selleck can talk you into a reverse mortgage to afford this.

I've made posts about this before. I think the only upsetting thing to me now, is how inaccessible some of todays Star athletes are when it comes to getting their signature, if you are a young person with little money. Hell, most adults have to put aside money to afford some of these prices. Look at the advertisement I linked. In the 1980's you could pay $8 for Mantle to sign your item. That's the equivalent of $22.81 in todays money. And Mantle was THE draw for many people at the time. It's gotten out of hand.

http://mickeymantle7.net/wp-content/...show-flyer.jpg

My understanding is that Koufax donates his share to charity when he does signings, he doesn't need the money for himself. As we know, he's a very private guy, and doesn't like to be the focus of attention.

These prices are clearly targeting those who would like to get a special item signed. I had all my Koufax World Series and perfect game lineup cards signed by Sandy 15 years ago for $300 each. but have more recently acquired a set of lineup cards from the 1963 World Series, game 4, when the Dodgers completed the sweep of the Yankees, with Koufax on the mound. Since it was the only unsigned one, I asked them for a quote since it doesn't fit into any of the categories. When I was given the amount, I initially decided to pass as I couldn't justify the price, but them decided to go for it since it is for my personal collection, and will be sold after I'm 6 feet under. I may never get another chance to have it signed.

I also asked for a price on another item, but it was double what I thought it should be, so passed on that one. It would have been nice to get it signed, but not something central to my collection.

Rick

Baltimore/Washington sports broadcaster and talk show host Phil Wood told me a story about a show he promoted in the late 1970s at George Mason University in Virginia where Joe DiMaggio was the autograph guest. The fee was $5, and Phil said people were coming up to him during the show complaining that Joe was charging money for his autograph. Phil said many collectors just wouldn't pay it, and that Joe spent most of his time there sitting all alone behind the table. Phil felt sorry for DiMaggio and would go and sit with him just so he would have somebody to talk to.

Rick,

I'll also add on, in terms of guys like Koufax, or even Aaron when he was still alive and signing, you don't mind paying as much. They were both prominent signers in their day. I tend to cut guys like them some slack.

I thought Koufax lost almost everything to Madoff? It's been a while, but can't him for trying to make some back

Its across the board though, not just stars and mega stars. I saw someone post on a facebook group recently a bunch of 1990-92 UD if I am remembering correctly. He got about a dozen or so signed at private signings. Nothing was less than $10 and they went up from there. These were not big names either. In my mind, most were $3-5 cards, but he was willing to pay $20-30 for them. His money, his choice.

People seem to just be willing to pay quite a bit more now than years back, not only autographs, but everything. I think we are still fighting with buyers who came back to the hobby during Covid with no real feel for the market, just paying whatever it took to win what they wanted. Fighting each other and pricing out those who had a nice pulse on the market, as those existing hobbyists were just shaking their heads at what people were paying for stuff.

Most of those cards are probably easily found for sale on ebay or elsewhere for a few bucks, but even that type of deal seems to be drying up. I used to be able to pick up a good number of vintage 60s/70s and sometimes even 50s signed cards in ebay auctions, semi-stars and fan favorites, for a few bucks each. Now I see those often selling for $10-15 and more. I might bid on 25-50 cards now and win 2 on a good day.

I am happy that I started buying autographs when I did, because if I started now, there wouldn't even be a chance I'd keep going.

Not for everything that's autographed. I was just musing to myself yesterday how a Home Run Baker 3X5 will set you back the same dollar amount today as it would have 20 years ago, inflation aside. Several long-gone HOFers on lower-end items (either cuts, 3X5s, GPCs or album pages) are in the same category. If you factor in for inflation, it would have been wiser to wait until today to purchase them! Maranville, Clarke, Heilmann, Paul Waner, Arky Vaughan and more. Keep in mind that values on some of the listed types of items may have risen while others stayed the same.

I understand that these players, while HOFers, aren't as popularly collected as the household names, but there are plenty of people trying to put together HOF sets to the best of their financial abilities. Most collectors also realize that a full set is literally an impossible accomplishment and financially impossible for most people to get extremely close to completing.

20 years ago, a bean burrito at Taco Bell was 99 cents where I live. It's now over $3. But Home Run Baker is still a $400 3X5. Figure that one out.

I have been working on signed 1960 to 1963 Fleer sets and often wonder how many of the cards I've added will retain their value a decade or three down the road. Sure, Max Carey is a Hall of Famer, but someone that was born on the same day he died is now closer to retirement than they are to the beginning of their careers. Will anyone but a precious few know who he is and want one of his signed cards? Beats me, but I am not going to worry too much about it.

And, bringing this around to the opening topic, when I sent my 1963 Fleer Koufax in for a signing in 2015 the fee was $350. It felt like a kingly sum to me. 9 years later, it is almost four times that.

Jeff- I agree with someone like say Oscar Melillo who is in the 1961 set or Bobo Newsom in both that no one will ever have heard of him. On a 3x5 they may go for next to nothing but in that set they will always be worth alot as that is a great set to collect and they are some of the toughest in there

Oh, how I would’ve taken up on this if I was alive back then.

I feel your pain. I talk with a lot of the older guys in the Hobby, Is there such a word for yearning for a time you weren't alive? I would've completed a signed and unsigned Mantle run if I was around back then!

Never in my life have I ever heard or been part of a debate about who the greatest pitcher of all time was where Sandy Koufax was not at least discussed. And he's often the front-runner for a lot of people. As for Cy Young, I've never once heard anyone argue that he was the greatest.

Koufax's dominance at his peak was otherworldly. We only really saw something similar with Pedro's run in Boston 25 years ago. In terms of peaks it's hard to look past what Sandy did and not consider it one of the greatest. Longevity certainly wasn't on his side, but I don't think anyone could argue the talent.

For me, longevity plays a significant role if you are going to call someone The Greatest. Yes, Koufax was incredible for that decade, but that's not enough for me. It can be enough for you, and we can both be content in our opinions. My comparison to Mike Bossy comes nicely into play again. He's often mentioned as "one of the greats", but never in the same "The Greatest" breath as Gretzky, Howe or Hull. At his prime, he was either just as good or better than any of those guys! And, like Sandy, his "prime" consisted of his entire career before both were tragically cut short by failing bodies.

I think the reason you don't hear Cy Young's name thrown into these conversations (anymore) can squarely be blamed on the passage of time. There's simply no one alive who saw him pitch at any point in his MLB career. True, the same can now pretty much be said about Cobb and Johnson, but we're still just bascailly a generation or two removed from those who saw that era of ball. Heck, I'm just in early middle age, and I had friends who played both with and against Cobb and Johnson. So, while both men have been dead for a very long time, first-hand memories of them as players (rather than as older gentlemen) are still living on today in people like me, who heard them directly from these players' contemporaries. I don't think the same can be said about 19th century greats; therefore, we're just not hearing their names tossed into the ring when it's time for these debates.

Today, "The Greatest" argument really seems to start with the Cobb/Johnson era and ascend chronologically from there (yes, I'm including Honus and Matty in with this generation, as they seemed to straddle two). It's as if anybody who hit their peak in baseball generations prior to those guys didn't even exist for the purpose of these conversations. By the time Cobb and Johnson started, Cy was pushing 40. It didn't stop him from notching successive 20-game seasons, but that was nothing compared to past showings by him.

Most of Cy's numbers are monstrous and speak for themselves. When they went to name the award, it wasn't the Walter Johnson Award or the Christy Mathewson Award. That has to speak volumes, unless there is something more to the reason Cy's name is on the award of which I am not aware. In the late 1940's, there were still many men alive who saw Young pitch, and it was him for whom the award was named.

If I have the history of the award right, they named it after Young because he had put up such a great record in both leagues and at first there was only one award between the two leagues. Something like that. And many people think that when it broke into two awards, one for each league, they should have given them different names, like maybe after WaJo and Matty. It's always been instructive to me that, great as he was, two pitchers were elected in the first HOF vote, and neither were named Cy Young.

People always forget about Randy Johnson. I'd take Randy over Sandy every day of the week. Randy won 4 Cy Youngs in a row with over 300 K's in each season along with a Triple Crown at the absolute height of the steroid era.

Points taken. It had completely slipped my mind that the award was only given out to one pitcher initially. Had I stopped to consider this, the answer would have likely come to mind.

I think that there are two possible correct answers as to why your grandfather and Matty were elected before Cy. The reason is either what you're suggesting, or what I am suggesting that more recent players would be fresher on the minds of those voting. This is not said to diminish the others, as their greatness speaks for itself (not to mention that, as people, their characters were even more admirable).

None of this really matters to me, as all three rightly belong in of these types of discussions. I just feel it odd that Young wouldn't be discussed more, to the point that Travis had never heard his name mentioned as a contender. A five-time 30 game winner and 10 time 20 game winner, among his jaw-dropping litany of other accomplishments. 511 wins?! Now, there will never be another 300 win pitcher, and Cy nearly doubled that.

[QUOTE=BillyCoxDodgers3B;2414130
None of this really matters to me, as all three rightly belong in of these types of discussions. I just feel it odd that Young wouldn't be discussed more, to the point that Travis had never heard his name mentioned as a contender. A five-time 30 game winner and 10 time 20 game winner, among his jaw-dropping litany of other accomplishments. 511 wins?! Now, there will never be another 300 win pitcher, and Cy nearly doubled that.[/QUOTE]
When I wrote my biography of WaJo 30 years ago, I included an appendix entitled "Was he the greatest?" I didn't go in for statistical comparisons so much as outline the major discussions and polls on that question over the years, concluding that according to those, Johnson was the overwhelming choice. But I also named thirteen pitchers, including Koufax and Young, for whom I thought a strong case could be made, using various metrics, for that honor. Today I would have added several more names to that list. In trying to explain, or perhaps I should say defend, my (slightly biased!) opinion that Walter Johnson was the greatest pitcher ever, I put it this way: if you have the ten top experts on baseball history and pose that question to them, I believe at least four or five would name Johnson and you'd have a smattering of other names, probably including at least one or two for Young. I really do think that's true. It's not a complete consensus, but pretty close, and in any case makes great grist for the discussion mill, as it is here. With Koufax, you have the short career and relatively small numbers to deal with. As for Young, if all or most of his numbers had been posted in the 20th century, he'd win hands down. Unfortunately for him, there are many pitchers from the 1880s and 1890s with gaudy numbers who not even the average baseball fan has ever heard of, so I think there is quite a bit of discounting of his big stats for that reason, justified or not. His thing was that he pitched a LOT over many years to post those numbers, but didn't have the strikeouts, shutouts, E.R.A., etc., to go along with them. And that's not meant to diminish what he accomplished in any way--he was put in the HOF in the 2nd election, for gosh sakes. It's just that, in the opinion of most back then, and now, he didn't quite clear the highest bar of all, for GOAT.

100%

I would guess that, because of the award in both leagues, more people think Young was the GOAT than any other pitcher in history. As for Sandy, he will always be prominent in the discussion of the best five-year stretch by any pitcher, otherwise known as "peak dominance." However, 11 years and 165 wins just doesn't meet the bar for GOAT, just too short a run for that. I saw him pitch many times and never saw anyone better, but there are pitchers that had 15 or 17 really great seasons in their 20-year careers that must take precedence in this argument, IMHO.

I do think people in Cy Young's time would have probably said he was the greatest. He was clearly revered in his time. He's referred to as the "Grand Old Man" on his Tom Barker game card, for example. Nobody had ever seen a Perfect Game before either.

He was a bridge between the old game and what we now know as modern baseball and he pitched equally well in both worlds. Somebody mentioned him not being in the 1936 HOF class. Well, that vote was split into two votes for players: a 19th century vote and a 20th century vote. Cy Young straddled both centuries and his votes were split between them. That's why he wasn't inducted. The next year they did away with the split century vote and he got in.

Young was, indeed, considered the greatest until Matty came along. I didn't know that about Young and the first HOF election--you'd think they would have realized the unfairness of a career splitting votes between the centuries and adjusted for that. Do we know how many total votes he got and where that would have put him if combined? I see where he's #1 in career WAR, and that's impressive considering the respect that stat has come to have recently. But he's also 61st in lifetime E.R.A. and down the list in both strikeouts and shutouts, so I'm not sure how the SABR guys regard him in a statistical light. It's so hard trying to compare across generations in any category, including pitching, so I'm satisfied with my list of 15 pitchers I honestly believe you can mount a truly serious case for as GOAT employing various metrics, and leave it at that. I will also tell you that, from my many years of research, the anecdotal opinion of those who played against Johnson is no less than overwhelming on this score.

The first HOF vote was very complicated and confusing and the Wikipedia page's explanation is equally complicated and confusing. But essentially, it was almost impossible for Young to get inducted on that first ballot with him split between centuries and his votes being recorded in a very confusing way.

I don't know that you can look at strike out totals for him because of his era. But if you look at his WAR totals, he led the league six times, spent 14 seasons in the top five for the entire league, and he's still third all time today for all players.

He never got hurt either. It wasn't until he was 43 years old that his innings dipped below 200. I see him as a Dead Ball Nolan Ryan for his time. Not in the strike out sense, but in the durable freak sense.

Cy Young = Country Strong

No question that Koufax was the GOHT (Greatest of his time).

Just back from the private signing is the line-up card from Game 4 of the 1963 World Series, signed by Sandy. At 88, still a very nice signature. According ot the guy supervising the signing, he spent about 5 minutes looking at this item, as it apparently brought back some memories. I would have loved to have been there to ask him his thoughts.

Rick

Attachment 611548

Amazing artifact, Rick! Congrats on deciding to get this signed.
It was totally worth it. :cool:

Something bothers me about calling the loss leader (315) in major league baseball the best pitcher of all time.

If the truncated career of Koufax was too short, then I guess the elongated career of Cy Young was too long.

If Cy Young is the GOAT, then George Blanda is the GOAT, best QB, of all time.

One could put Cy Young in the same basket as McGinnity, if you consider the Iron Man's minor league stats, that nearly equal his major league stats, with 470 total wins and 343 total losses. Their records suggest that in the 1890s and early 1900s, the disparity between the bigs and the minors may not have been that much.

OMG Hank, you've opened the door to the reversed signature market. That will give the esteemed authenticators fits.:D

I agree with BillyCoxDodgers3B- Longevity must be part of the discussion when one is discussing the greatest. For me, the winner easily is Walter Johnson.
Not taking anything away from Koufax, but he was dominant for only 6 seasons. In those 6 seasons he was the undoubtedly best in the game, but that was only half of his 12-year career. He was backed by a great team and in 3 of those 6 seasons the Dodgers were in the World Series.

From 1910 through 1919-10 straight years- Johnson won 20 games or more games, two of those years winning 30 or more, and in 9 of those 10 years his ERA was under 2.0. The Senators were a pretty miserable team during those years ending the season with a winning record in only 4 of those 10 years. They never won a pennant during those years. Johnson's WAR stands at 152.4, second only to Cy Young. Johnson could also hit, cranking 24 career home runs mostly in the dead ball era and fashioning a .235 lifetime BA.

For those reasons, I think Walter Johnson was the best pitcher of All Time, but everyone is entitled to their opinion.

Saw these pearls posted on FB today from the recent Sandy signing:

Beautiful! And I would rather have those than a new car.

I might take the car just because I’ve got more than 100,000 miles on mine, but those are great.

I would love to get Koufax, being an SI collector.

someone on Twitter posted a Valenzuela that he sent to be signed.

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Koufax signed a Fernando Valenzuela card? ;) I believe you mean the Venezuela Retirado

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yes, oops! thanks for that correction!

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He's getting older, so it's possible. I'm going to send him a Jerry Reuss and see if he'll inscribe it "1980 All-Star."

What a great story, how’d you even find something like this? It’s an incredible piece of history!

As for me, I’d love to get a Koufax auto one day, but on my budget, I can’t warrant spending that much. I’m a full time student, so the PC money I do get I use deal hunting, unfortunately Koufax isn’t the kinda guy I can find for $50 and lower, maybe if it was 2005 😭😭😭LOL.

Saw this article on Yahoo today about an event signing Brady did where people were charged $3,600 for autographs. These people are very angry with the quality of "autographs" they got:

https://sports.yahoo.com/tom-brady-a...151456696.html

More photos in the Post story:

https://nypost.com/2024/04/23/us-new...tograph-event/

I am not a fan of the modern signature thing; too costly for what it is in the majority of cases. If I can get one for less at auction, why bother? The only items I get signed now are the really, really unusual ones that are not likely to have more than a handful of examples. Like this 1971 Virginia Squires TI Dr. J photo I had signed at a National a few years ago:

https://photos.imageevent.com/exhibi...I%20signed.jpg

That, or something that has personal significance to me, like a card I pulled out of a pack when I was a kid.