Buying all #332 Tony Bartirome 1952 Topps cards + his Gold Canary + Griffey + Tiger

[the 'stache]

This thread is surreal, but also fascinating. I feel bubbles in my head, like I've had too much champagne.

I'm curious as to why you want the 10 2011 Topps Lineage Gold Canary cards of his? Should you acquire all of them, how do you determine which family members get these?

Why if you're also hoarding the '53 cards do you only want PSA 7 +? That seems, to me anyway, to reinforce the notion that you are hoarding these cards for future profit. The '52 Topps cards are from the first full set Topps ever did, and are from the high series. They are innately valuable, condition not withstanding. But the '53s don't have the same demand. However, collectors pursing the 1953 Topps registry will want high grade examples of the card. Can you comment on that?

[Leon]

I took moderator privileges and moved this to the front page from the BST. It's an interesting discussion...

[Rich Klein]

I"ve written, commented on kind of sort of similar circumstances:

Here are some other exampels

The man who chases 1964 Curt Flood cards

The man (and he has a cool blog and I've sent him cards and will do so again) who chases every Tim Wallach card ever produced (No he will not get them)

The story Roger Neufeldt told me about George Kernek who at point had more than 100 of his 1966 SP Hi # Rookie Card (and his only Topps card I believe(

Now this ---

WHen I was a dealer/collector in NJ in the 1980's -- ( bought a ton of Joe Cunningham carfds in case I ever wanted to open a store in my home town.

Love to hear mose stories such as this and would love to talk to the OP -- and Tony became the Pirates trainer for many years.

Rich

[1952boyntoncollector]

Originally Posted by Rich Klein

I"ve written, commented on kind of sort of similar circumstances:

Here are some other exampels

The man who chases 1964 Curt Flood cards

The man (and he has a cool blog and I've sent him cards and will do so again) who chases every Tim Wallach card ever produced (No he will not get them)

The story Roger Neufeldt told me about George Kernek who at point had more than 100 of his 1966 SP Hi # Rookie Card (and his only Topps card I believe(

Now this ---

WHen I was a dealer/collector in NJ in the 1980's -- ( bought a ton of Joe Cunningham carfds in case I ever wanted to open a store in my home town.

Love to hear mose stories such as this and would love to talk to the OP -- and Tony became the Pirates trainer for many years.

Rich

Who is this 1964 Curt Flood chasing guy...we talking Topps? Theres 5 or 6 of them on ebay right now and several on no reserve auction including a psa 8....

I assuming he no longer chasing them....the cycle repeats..

[savedfrommyspokes]

Originally Posted by 1952boyntoncollector

Who is this 1964 Curt Flood chasing guy...we talking Topps? Theres 5 or 6 of them on ebay right now and several on no reserve auction including a psa 8....

I assuming he no longer chasing them....the cycle repeats..

As mentioned in the article, he is still chasing them....in my dealings with him, he has been a shrewd negotiator and cites both the "Flooded" market for this card (90+ ebay listings) and the fact that he is responsible for creating it. Within the past year I refused to accept his (low) offer price and subsequently sold to another buyer at a higher price. In other words, at this point he appears to be in the market for only the more reasonably priced copies of this card and is now a victim of his own creation. Copies of this card, that based on their condition (low to midgrade) used to sell for $20+ in past years, sit today as unsold BINs for half the price.


The collector chasing the 61 Topps 242 Hal Smith card is still very active in regards to collecting every reasonable priced copy of this card. I would not be surprised if he has more copies of this card than the Flood collector has of his card.


If I were a collector of just a single copy of a card, I would patiently wait and buy as the cards appear versus publicizing my quest thus driving the price up.

[1952boyntoncollector]

Originally Posted by savedfrommyspokes

As mentioned in the article, he is still chasing them....in my dealings with him, he has been a shrewd negotiator and cites both the "Flooded" market for this card (90+ ebay listings) and the fact that he is responsible for creating it. Within the past year I refused to accept his (low) offer price and subsequently sold to another buyer at a higher price. In other words, at this point he appears to be in the market for only the more reasonably priced copies of this card and is now a victim of his own creation. Copies of this card, that based on their condition (low to midgrade) used to sell for $20+ in past years, sit today as unsold BINs for half the price.


The collector chasing the 61 Topps 242 Hal Smith card is still very active in regards to collecting every reasonable priced copy of this card. I would not be surprised if he has more copies of this card than the Flood collector has of his card.


If I were a collector of just a single copy of a card, I would patiently wait and buy as the cards appear versus publicizing my quest thus driving the price up.

right a guy chasing a card without paying a premium is a non-issue to deal with.. that was my point...

[PolarBear]

Interesting thread, for sure.

[sac_bunt]

Originally Posted by Leon

I took moderator privileges and moved this to the front page from the BST. It's an interesting discussion...

Great thread!..so many story lines... thanks Leon for creating more visibility to this thread.