1915 Cracker Jacks

[Yoda]

With the "hot money" now sniffing around pre-war and the perennial popularity of the Cracker Jack sets, I was still taken aback by a current Ebay listing; a 1915 Cracker Jack Joe Wood, PSA 2.5 with a current price of $4,400. To me, this is a $1,000 card, regardless of the fact that it is a CJ, featuring the ever-popular Joe Wood.
This does not feel normal. The speed of these massive rise in values is not a good thing for the hobby. We are racing towards a bubble. I can see panic selling of intrinsically worthless pieces of cardboard. Hope I am wrong.

[ullmandds]

The demand for cj's seems real to me. I've seen lots of guys having completed their t206 goals moving on to other things. CJ's are AWESOME!!!

[calvindog]

Originally Posted by Yoda

With the "hot money" now sniffing around pre-war and the perennial popularity of the Cracker Jack sets, I was still taken aback by a current Ebay listing; a 1915 Cracker Jack Joe Wood, PSA 2.5 with a current price of $4,400. To me, this is a $1,000 card, regardless of the fact that it is a CJ, featuring the ever-popular Joe Wood.
This does not feel normal. The speed of these massive rise in values is not a good thing for the hobby. We are racing towards a bubble. I can see panic selling of intrinsically worthless pieces of cardboard. Hope I am wrong.

Normally I'd agree with you. But when have you seen any kind of crash in card values that you're predicting? Cards have gone down in value at times, including Ruth rookies, T206 prices, etc. But have you ever seen a vintage set crash?

[JJ McGraw]

I’m not sure the prices will exactly crash, but the question might be, when will they be out of reach for most collectors. I’ve seen guys buying just one in order to own a Cracker Jack as part of their collection. Some hold at that, but many are bit with the “molasses stain” bug and continue to collect them….like the old Lays potatoe chip commercial with Bert Lahr….you can’t collect just one.
I started collecting them back in the early 1990’s and regret stopping at 23 or so. Started up again this past fall( about 20:years later) , now I’m up to 56 and also bought a 1915 Album. At first I said, I’ll just finish my Boston Braves sub set….I didn’t even finish it before I started buying other cards. But even since the fall, I’ve noticed crazy rising prices, with no end in sight. My goal is to get to at least 100, not sure that is even possible at this point, but I’m not giving up yet. We all want our collections to be worth as much money as possible, but if I knew ( had a window to the future) that prices would crash in 5 years, I’d still continue right now to collect more to the best of my ability, because, and yes this may be corny, but it is all about “collecting” Cracker Jack cards. I have a great retirement and health care that I worked hard for, so I’m not relying on this to get me through my last days…I’m simply collecting the set, as far as I can afford to get. The folks here and on other platforms, for the most part, have been kind to me and dealt with me on their price( some won’t budge for various reasons) and that helps keep me adding to the set. Last fall I got some pretty decent 1915’s ( and even a ‘14) for under $200……that doesn’t seem to be happening anymore. My last one, I recently won on the LOTG auction….it was over $400 as I recall…..that seems to be the norm with commons. I’ve had my 1915 Wood for over 20 years, it’s raw, but a beautiful card that probably would grade well. Regardless of what the future holds, it is, to me, the most beautiful of all the sets.

[jsfriedm]

Originally Posted by JJ McGraw

I’m not sure the prices will exactly crash, but the question might be, when will they be out of reach for most collectors.

"They're so expensive, nobody buys them anymore."

[JJ McGraw]

Originally Posted by jsfriedm

"They're so expensive, nobody buys them anymore."

I don’t know about that…I just bought these two this morning….but I think we all agree, “ they ain’t cheap!”

[Yoda]

Originally Posted by calvindog

Normally I'd agree with you. But when have you seen any kind of crash in card values that you're predicting? Cards have gone down in value at times, including Ruth rookies, T206 prices, etc. But have you ever seen a vintage set crash?

Jeff, I may have sounded like Cassandra, but I wasn't predicting a crash, only that I see warning signs that vintage cards are overbought and there seems to be a much shorter time frame when a card reaches a new high, only to see it reach another high shortly thereafter. Since cards are considered by Wall
Street to be an admitted asset, I don't see why cards couldn't mirror stocks if there is a major correction on the Street.

[calvindog]

Originally Posted by Yoda

Jeff, I may have sounded like Cassandra, but I wasn't predicting a crash, only that I see warning signs that vintage cards are overbought and there seems to be a much shorter time frame when a card reaches a new high, only to see it reach another high shortly thereafter. Since cards are considered by Wall
Street to be an admitted asset, I don't see why cards couldn't mirror stocks if there is a major correction on the Street.

I agree with all of this. However, as a collector of vintage for decades now, it seems that cards just don't behave like other assets due to the emotional connection we have with them.

[Yoda]

Originally Posted by calvindog

I agree with all of this. However, as a collector of vintage for decades now, it seems that cards just don't behave like other assets due to the emotional connection we have with them.

Too true. That '52 Bowman Mantle you hold no doubt has a far greater personal meaning than Apple stock at roughly the same value.

[ajjohnsonsoxfan]

Originally Posted by Yoda

With the "hot money" now sniffing around pre-war and the perennial popularity of the Cracker Jack sets, I was still taken aback by a current Ebay listing; a 1915 Cracker Jack Joe Wood, PSA 2.5 with a current price of $4,400. To me, this is a $1,000 card, regardless of the fact that it is a CJ, featuring the ever-popular Joe Wood.
This does not feel normal. The speed of these massive rise in values is not a good thing for the hobby. We are racing towards a bubble. I can see panic selling of intrinsically worthless pieces of cardboard. Hope I am wrong.

You think 15's are hot?! Try buying 14's right now! Damn. Went from $200-$250 for a PSA 1 common to $500-$800 and up depending on pop scarcity. And if you need the JJ (like I do), be prepared to sell a kidney. That card went parabolic after the potential HOF news.

[sacentaur]

CJ’s are indeed hot but they are seldom seen on the West Coast.

At the recent WCCS in Anaheim, I saw only a few examples: two graded (1 Poor) 1914’s, one graded (Authentic trimmed) 1915, and a couple badly stained old (over)graded 1915 slabs, that’s it.

Prices were high (except on the trimmed), so I came away empty-handed.

[Kidnapped18]

+1
14 CJs have spiked in value and will continue to rise. They are highly sought after vintage cards with limited supply. One of the main reasons people collect the 15 CJs is the 14 CJs are so much more expensive for the same image with a few exceptions. Roush and Griffith are the only HOFers added in 1915.

Smoky Joe is probably the second most popular non HOF CJ after Shoeless Joe.
My Top 5 non HOF CJ list
Shoeless Joe
Smoky Joe
Ed Cicotte
Del Pratt
Chick Gandil

If you can find any graded (PSA or SGC) 14 CJ for under $500 I say go ahead and buy it.

Rueckheim Bros. and Epstein ain't making them anymore!

Originally Posted by ajjohnsonsoxfan

You think 15's are hot?! Try buying 14's right now! Damn. Went from $200-$250 for a PSA 1 common to $500-$800 and up depending on pop scarcity. And if you need the JJ (like I do), be prepared to sell a kidney. That card went parabolic after the potential HOF news.

[Kidnapped18]

See this thread from March 2019
https://www.net54baseball.com/showth...n+cracker+jack

[Casey2296]

-
Hey Tony,
Where does the 14 Magee lie on the difficulty level?
Thanks in advance,
Phil

[Kidnapped18]

Originally Posted by Casey2296

-
Hey Tony,
Where does the 14 Magee lie on the difficulty level?
Thanks in advance,
Phil

Hey Phil
Magee is another popular non HOF in the 14 CJ set!
Magee has just over 50 graded examples from the 3 major graders 38 PSA, 12 SGC and 1 BVG

I would put him in the tier below the 5 I named earlier.

[brianp-beme]

Originally Posted by Yoda

With the "hot money" now sniffing around pre-war and the perennial popularity of the Cracker Jack sets, I was still taken aback by a current Ebay listing; a 1915 Cracker Jack Joe Wood, PSA 2.5 with a current price of $4,400. To me, this is a $1,000 card, regardless of the fact that it is a CJ, featuring the ever-popular Joe Wood.
This does not feel normal. The speed of these massive rise in values is not a good thing for the hobby. We are racing towards a bubble. I can see panic selling of intrinsically worthless pieces of cardboard. Hope I am wrong.

One of my hobby regrets is that I didn't pursue lower condition Cracker Jack cards years ago when they were somewhat reasonably priced. In my experience they were always at an elevated price in comparison to cards from the most commonly encountered prewar sets.

As far as owning a Cracker Jack Wood, this will be as close as I am likely to ever get (or for that matter the same is true about the very popular Cracker Jack Wagner).

woodcj637 (467x640).jpgwoodcj638 (640x463).jpg

Brian

[FromVAtoLA]

I bought a few 1915 CJ's over the past year. All were altered, including this Smoky Joe, but that kept the cost down. This one is trimmed but I'm pretty happy with the quality otherwise and it was well below $1k. Also, remember that not all cards sell for the price they are listed at. Time will tell if a 2.5 actually sells for $4400. There are numerous cards on Ebay that I want, but don't even bother offering or watching because the price is so I high I feel like I would be wasting my time trying to negotiate. Some sellers even use it as a strategy. Posting a price way too high then reducing the price so it shows at a big discount in the listing. Or they offer viewers/watchers a temporary offer that's substantially lower than that the list price.

Originally Posted by Yoda

With the "hot money" now sniffing around pre-war and the perennial popularity of the Cracker Jack sets, I was still taken aback by a current Ebay listing; a 1915 Cracker Jack Joe Wood, PSA 2.5 with a current price of $4,400. To me, this is a $1,000 card, regardless of the fact that it is a CJ, featuring the ever-popular Joe Wood.
This does not feel normal. The speed of these massive rise in values is not a good thing for the hobby. We are racing towards a bubble. I can see panic selling of intrinsically worthless pieces of cardboard. Hope I am wrong.

[FromVAtoLA]

Reading the other messages in the thread and realized I misread the original post. I thought the list price was $4400. Shocked that it's been bid up to $4400. (And face palm for my post.)

Originally Posted by FromVAtoLA

Also, remember that not all cards sell for the price they are listed at. Time will tell if a 2.5 actually sells for $4400.

[ksato]

The Wagner sold for almost $25,000. A PSA 2 sold for $19,520 in June 2025.
What is the approximate multiplier of 14 vs 15? is it 2x? 1.5x?

[ChasingPaper]

It was a Probstein auction...
That price for that card makes no sense.

[JamesGallo]

I saw that Wood which is a full auction FYI. It looks nuts to me. The card does present well and I could see it in a 3 or 4 holder easily. That being said I am not sure it would be worth the current price even in that holder.

I agree with all the has been said I sold my 1915 set minus the Jackson and Cobb in 2019, and it is one of the few regrets in my life and probably the only hobby regret I have to this day. I have been pretty aggressive about trying to get the set back over the last year or so and am up to about 40 cards but buying a Wagner, matty and johnson will probably cost me more then I got for the whole set in 2019. That is the way it goes. I specifically look for eye appeal and could care less about the grade mostly. So most of what I have is between 1-4 grades which is fine because I have picked up some 2's that could be a 4 or 5 so I buy the card and not the flip.

I agree that low grade '15 commons are $300-500 buy in wise. There was not a ton at the National this year as I went just for them. I did pick up 5 cards, but it was tough for me. Could have picked up a few others, but the eye appeal just was not there. There is certainly a group of active buyers, but I do think they are spilt well. Some only looking for high grade, some just looking for the card at a price level they can afford. It seems that REA is going to have a ton in the auction in the fall so that maybe a good indicator of the market at that moment.

One thing I have noticed is PSA seem to be very tight on grades so current 2's and 3's look sooo muvh better they are selling for higher prices, and that is something to be taken into account.

James G

[Yoda]

In the same Probstein auction as Wood there is a Honus Wagner. It is a 2.5 well with current price 16K and change. Probably will finish over 20K. Any guesses?

[puckpaul]

Originally Posted by JamesGallo

I saw that Wood which is a full auction FYI. It looks nuts to me. The card does present well and I could see it in a 3 or 4 holder easily. That being said I am not sure it would be worth the current price even in that holder.

I agree with all the has been said I sold my 1915 set minus the Jackson and Cobb in 2019, and it is one of the few regrets in my life and probably the only hobby regret I have to this day. I have been pretty aggressive about trying to get the set back over the last year or so and am up to about 40 cards but buying a Wagner, matty and johnson will probably cost me more then I got for the whole set in 2019. That is the way it goes. I specifically look for eye appeal and could care less about the grade mostly. So most of what I have is between 1-4 grades which is fine because I have picked up some 2's that could be a 4 or 5 so I buy the card and not the flip.

I agree that low grade '15 commons are $300-500 buy in wise. There was not a ton at the National this year as I went just for them. I did pick up 5 cards, but it was tough for me. Could have picked up a few others, but the eye appeal just was not there. There is certainly a group of active buyers, but I do think they are spilt well. Some only looking for high grade, some just looking for the card at a price level they can afford. It seems that REA is going to have a ton in the auction in the fall so that maybe a good indicator of the market at that moment.

One thing I have noticed is PSA seem to be very tight on grades so current 2's and 3's look sooo muvh better they are selling for higher prices, and that is something to be taken into account.

James G

Here you on PSA, i submitted a whole bunch of cards at the National and PSA seems to be unable to grade above 4.5+ on vintage and 6 on post-war vintage (50’s/60’s). 1-3 was random.