Sky's Inheritance

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Posted By: Bill Stone

We are all thrilled with Sky's inheritance and I am sure
we are anxious to hear about the ultimate disposition of the treasures. I do have a question for the forum--this group, because of your experience and knowledge, is usually the most
skeptical group I know when it comes to requiring proof beyond a reasonable doubt of the authenticity of vintage
cards and there is also a healthy skepticism of stories of discovery--found these in the attic etc. My question is --what did Sky say or show you that made everyone on this board ( I don't recall a skeptic) believe so quickly in the authenticty of the find. Was it the story? The quality of the photographs? I assume no one has seen the cards in person and they have not been graded so what convinced everyone that they were the real thing? Please believe me when I say I am not doubting that conclusion and I am happy for Sky and the vintage card community but I would like to know what factors convinced the experts.

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Posted By: dennis

who's convinced?

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Posted By: Dave

I tended to believe the guy based on the pictures, and the locale and story. It was a remarkable find and not unbelieveable. I suppose the pictures could have been taken of an already known collection, and some collector or dealer out there could be trying to excite the board members into a frenzy. I loved the April fools post this year with the T206 Jackson card....I think some people thought it was real and offered to buy that card. If someone had emailed the board and claimed to have found a box of T206 cards with several Wagners, I think more skeptics would have surfaced. there are still tons of Tobacco cards out there in places you would never expect to find them. My greatest find of 260+ T206 cards in VG or better condition took place in Johnstown , PA.....go figure

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Posted By: brian

I think someone is having fun with the group.

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Posted By: joe

Not totally convinced. The Babe Ruth Jersey's in the story concern me.

Joe

Ty Cobb, Spikes flying!

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Posted By: Ken W.

I thought this was a joke from the start. But then everyone started chiming in with their praises, so I figured I was mistaken. I still think someone may be having a good laugh on us all????

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Posted By: Joann

I was skeptical at the start, but then started changing my mind.

First, the photos of the TT's weren't familiar to anyone here - no stolen scans, etc

Second, it was that sky didn't seem to know exactly what he had. Someone joking would have been more precise at the start. When someone listed all backs in T206 he said he thought he had them all. When he actually listed them his backs were more common. Also thought he had a T206 Plank, but the photo was E93. So either he was legit and knew he had something but not exactly what, or else someone that was sophisticated enough to joke was doing a great acting job - full of nice touches. I tend to believe the former.

Finally, his reactions have simply rung true for me. Everything from not knowing exactly what he had to being afraid to take them out of the holders once he figured out he had something good.

Those are just my impressions. It could still turn out to be a hoax, but if it is I will consider it a dang fine one!

Joann

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Posted By: D. C. Markel

Sky wrote:

"I'll give you some background on these things....They belonged to my wife's Great-grandfather...he passed and his wife threw them in the trash. My Father-in-law arrived the next day and upon hearing what happened drove to the dump and found all of them(still in the box)!! What he didn't find were the 2 signed Babe Ruth jerseys,or the 5 World Series programs..... He is now gone and my wife and I have just recieved them."


When I initially read this, and I'm no expert on sanitation management, but all garbage trucks that I've ever seen the past 40 years all have hydraulic compaction systems, otherwise, they would fill up to capacity within an hour. So, the odds of a box not getting compacted among a bunch of other garbage seems remote, let alone finding it intact at the dump. Not an impossible story, but highly improbable for me, but there is a chance I could be wrong. As for 2 Babe Ruth signed jerseys, that seems to be way, way out there too.

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Posted By: Anonymous

Municipal/county/regional dumps and trnafer stations were very common then, and are around even today in many communities of smaller size especially in more rural regions, and many take anything from local homeowners for small bills. Since the woman was older, a nice neighbor might have hauled her trash for her in a pickup.

For instance, I grew up in Cook County were our local municipal dump stopped accepting residential trash in the 1970s. I currently work near Cooperstown, NY, and the local transfer station takes almost anything for $6 a load.

Regarding the compression, I suspect, but do not know, that the dumps did not compress. I expect the transfer stations compress trash.

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Posted By: D.C. Markel

m-mac,

The hydraulic compaction I'm referring to happens on the truck, not at the dump.

I grew up in a very rural community myself in Western Pennsylvania from the late '50s to the late '60s and everyone burned their trash, especially paper products. Typically items made out of metal and glass which were thrown out for the weekly trash pickup, and in that particular community, the city dump was nothing more than a landfill.

Again, I'm not saying Sky's account is impossible, but one would have to have a lot of lucky breaks to recover a box of cards under such circumstances and remain in decent condition.

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Posted By: barrysloate

You can't beat a conversation about the nuances of garbage disposal. It doesn't get any better than that.

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Posted By: Max Weder

Barry

We're into the 24th day of a garbage strike in Vancouver. At this point, we don't worry about the nuances.

Max

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Posted By: barrysloate

24 days in the heat of the summer is not nuanced, that is correct!

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Posted By: D.C. Markel

"You can't beat a conversation about the nuances of garbage disposal. It doesn't get any better than that."

Indubitably.

Here's a must read:

http://www.tigerdude.com/garbage/

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Posted By: PAS, skeptic

The one thing that struck me as a bit odd is that on the one hand he seemed pretty uninformed about cards as JoAnn pointed out, yet on the other hand he was so psyched to find the tin toppers his hands were shaking, see his holy **** post. Also the cards all seemed to be in top loaders with what looked like a dealer's notations on them. So how did he know enough to appreciate the rarity of the tin toppers yet be unaware of t206 backs etc.

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Posted By: Paul

Bill,

I think you made the same mistake as me. You missed Sky's first thread, where he asked for advice on obtaining an appraisal of the collection. It's now on the second page of threads. There was a fair degree of skepticism expressed there.

Speaking of skepticism, how common a practice was it for players to sign jerseys during Ruth's lifetime? I think (but I'm not sure) that Ty Cobb's surviving A's jersey is signed, but I can't remember hearing of too many others that were signed during that era.

Paul

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Posted By: Dave

Hey Guys....perhaps we'll no the truth if some of these tin tops appear in upcoming auctions. On the other hand he didn't seem to want to sell them from what I gathered, so why bother with the questions on the forum ? Why would all the sleeves have those stickers on them also ?

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Posted By: skydash55

First of all,as I said in my first thread,I can't blame anyone on this thread for doubting this story! I wouldn't believe it either!!Let me address a couple of issues:
1) The trash dump story- This collection belonged to a fellow who died in 1964. When he passed, his wife collected 3 boxes of "junk"(her exact words) and threw them out.My father in law arrived the next day for the funeral preparations and asked her about the baseball memorabilia. That's when he found out she had tossed all out the day before he arrived. He got in the car right then and drove to the local dump where he found one of the boxes,but not the other two. He had been told earlier by this man what the collection contained. My Father in law was an honest man,and given the scope of this collection,I have no reason to doubt what he said regarding what was in the other two boxes. That's the whole story!!
2) " The one thing that struck me as a bit odd is that on the one hand he seemed pretty uninformed about cards as JoAnn pointed out, yet on the other hand he was so psyched to find the tin toppers his hands were shaking, see his holy **** post. Also the cards all seemed to be in top loaders with what looked like a dealer's notations on them. So how did he know enough to appreciate the rarity of the tin toppers yet be unaware of t206 backs etc."
My father in law was retired, and with an old Becketts guide,priced the cards himself. Those prices you see on those cards are his,and his alone.
The reason I got so excited when I found the rare Thorpe topper is simply that I had looked at many other sites and threads before I decided to post on this one. I knew the Jackson card was rare,as was the Wagner to a lesser extent. The Thorpe card had been discussed previosly,so I knew just in-passing that it was rare.
I am quite a busy person,and I honestly don't have the spare time to devote the kind of time and effort I've devoted up until this point just to dick with a bunch of people I don't even know for the mere narcissistic hellofit!
3) I have been in contact with Brian via e-mail and have told him he could see this collection anytime he would like because:1) He's been very helpful.2) I want someone who you all respect to see it so these type of threads will stop(even though I don't blame any of you for posting one like this to begin with).
That's really all there is to it.All I really wanted in the first place was to get a few names to get this collection appraised. I didn't want to get as deep in it as I did because I knew it would get weird. I still appreciate everyone's input and I have taken all of the advice offered humbly. Skydash

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Posted By: brian

<<I honestly don't have the spare time to devote the kind of time and effort I've devoted up until this point just to dick with a bunch of people I don't even know for the mere narcissistic hellofit!>>

You clearly will not fit in around here...

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Posted By: Bill Stone

George: I don't know why you spend time with this guy.

Jerry: What can I do? Break up with him? Tell him I don't think we
are right for each other? He's a guy! At least with a woman
there's a precedent. You know the relationship goes sour
you end it.

Sky --This is a tough crowd but hang in there. You will keep coming back even if you don't want to and the group means well.Please let us know how it all turns out for you. You have a whole lot to offer to the vintage card community and I hope you will stay involved.

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Posted By: Steve f

Sky, I believe the apprehension of some towards your particular acquisition is simply healthy paranoia -In reality your Find mimics a familiar example of past pranks.

From your reply, I think you understand this.


To the lurkers or newbies,

This group's skepticism should not be misinterpreted. The VBC is frequented by laymen and novice collectors for advice on their new found fortunes, opinions on deceptions, counterfeit recognition, possible reprints and countless Pot 'o Gold schemes of all kinds. Sadly, nearly every synopsis is an unfavorable one. Hang out for a week or so and see for yourselves.

In the appraisal of these rarities, the approach is often a necessary "guilty 'til proven innocent" eval. The seemingly back-asswards approach is highly effective, in that many uninformed buyers have been saved from themselves (I sure have) by the vast knowledge base here. Steve F

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Posted By: leon

I have spoken to a few folks about these, and the situation, and Sky seems no different than most of us if we weren't addicted collectors....I am sure it's a great group of cards and I hope he (hi Sky) will take his time and make the best informed decision for him, his family, and the cards.....It's a wonderful find. I also would reiterate what has been said about our forum being skeptical of things as there are so many folks that like to try to pull a fast one or crave attention. I don't believe that's the case here...Once again congrats......best regards

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Posted By: Kevin Saucier

"This is a tough crowd"


What a shame that almost every new person (rephrase, any person) that comes here a has to face these type words. Then there is the ever so popular "you need to have thick skin."

I like to do this - Watch a thread build but don't read it for a few days. When it hits about 75 posts I go back to look at it to see who is insulting who...which is usually a number of individuals.

...an absolute shame!



Kevin Saucier

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Posted By: Jason L

certainly haven't believed any of this, only because I have grown into a surprisingly cynical and bitter old person (for my age) who can't stand to see great things happen to people, because I would much rather see them happen to me.


Sky, as others have said...good for you, persist through the chatter, and please keep us updated on what comes next. This is the storybook fairytale that collectors daydream about during lunch!
And even if this isn't all true, and you ARE being a malicious, lying jerk, well....then thank you anyway!

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Posted By: Bill Stone

Calling our forum members a 'tough crowd " was a compliment to the forum members. Had I said supercilious then you could complain.I think any new person visiting this site --such as Sky--should understand the sophistication of the collectors who regulary visit here.

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Posted By: Joseph

I was skeptical too, but the story rang true to me when I saw those toes in picture of the entire collection...

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Posted By: Ed Ivey

super silly us

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Posted By: Jimmy

I think all of us here would want someone we trust to look at them in person before they would go out to the open market. I was there at the beginning and I had my concerns, but the few that were asking questions at first did not push or lead him in a different direction. It was not until the second day things got out of hand, still interesting and will follow any more posts about the collection.

Jimmy

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Posted By: Kevin Cummings

If Brian goes to see the collection in person and doesn't respond with "And by the way...they're real, and they're spectacular..." Barry will be very disappointed!

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Posted By: barrysloate

You said a mouthful!

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Posted By: Jason L

was it real or fake?
any updates?