Bored With Cards?

[Mark]

Originally Posted by LincolnVT

Over the past year, I've become pretty bored with cards...seems like the same stuff in every auction and most of the cards that I have had an interest in are either drying up or overpriced. My focus has shifted some in recent months to historically significant baseball memorabilia. I see this as a niche that offers the ability to gain significantly more knowledge and growth as s collector. For me, it's time to broaden my interest...anyone in the same boat? If so, what (beyond cards) keeps you interested and actively collecting?

I still like my old baseball cards, but, like most people on this side of the board, I really enjoy memorabilia. I recommend you try it. I started collecting old, game used bats about 30 years ago, when more were available than now. If, like me, you end up working on specific teams or seasons, there's likely to be a lot of waiting. But when you find something that you've wanted for years (or decades), it's a great feeling. It has been a lot of fun learning how to evaluate a bat, especially when learning from other collectors.

[MickJ]

What I have done is got a card a autograph baseball and a book about each player. Have picked up some cool books like "How to play the out field " by Babe Ruth and a little book sent to the troops during WWII on the life of Lou Gehrig. Book on the life of Tris Speaker. Looks really cool displayed on shelves.

[Snapolit1]

I've started following some modern sports artists and picked up some really cool pieces at reasonable cost. Feels good to support an artist and some of this stuff is real cool.

[mrozie21]

I moved away from cards in the mid 90’s and have concentrated on game used jerseys and stadium artifacts. I like things that are affiliated with the game itself vs. a piece of cardboard.

Lots of great items to collect, you just have to pick something you like.

[BobC]

I still collect cards, but with the sometimes ridiculous prices things are going for these days and all, it is often nice to be able to dabble in other things, such as memorabilia. Just today in fact I received a package from Brockelman Auctions (thanks Scott), which included a 1955 first ever Global World Series souvenir magazine/book. I didn't even know such an event existed, let alone originally occurred back in 1955. And the magazine/book was in pretty nice shape, measuring 11" X 14" inches and including 100 pages of articles. stories, ads, and anything else you can think of regarding Milwaukee. where this inaugural event was held, and stories of the people running and involved with it and so on. Some stories and pictures of ballplayers, including those of different areas/countries competing in the event. Didn't really include specific details of teams/players in the event, and was more about the event and the city itself. Still an absolutely neat item that I basically just sat down and started reading right after opening the envelope it came in. No idea how many of these are out there, but for what I paid, it was a bargain to me.

My winnings also included a 1938 Wheaties football game, that came in the original envelope it had been mailed in, with instructions, game board and original 5 wooden die. Really neat item that you do not see every day. And given that it did not come in a box and was actually just mailed out in an oversized manila envelope with game graphics on it, I'm guessing not too many have survived with the original envelope still intact. A little the worse for wear, but still all there.

I also dabble in picking up other old games (primarily baseball), every once in a while as well. Figured that since we card collectors also occasionally collect things like E.R. Williams, Allegheny, National Game, Tom Barker, Polo Grounds, 1921-30 Major League Die-Cuts and S&S Game cards, it wouldn't be too much of a reach to pick up some of the myriad of the other actual baseball board, card, pin ball, and other assorted types of games out there when they pop up. Have some really nice, very early 20th century games, including a Walter Johnson game, a Christy Mathewson Big Six game board (need the box) and even a late 19th century McLoughlin Bros. game, all original in the complete box it originally came in. There are some fantastic graphics and images in a lot of these games, and some really obscure ones out there, that occasionally turn up for not that much at all. And you probably wouldn't believe how many different known games are actually out there.

If you're ever interested in learning more about the games, and seeing what all may be out there, there's a great site called Baseball Games at - baseballgames.dreamhosters.com
And one of the owners/moderators is a member on here, Butch7999 (Hi Butch). Highly recommend this site if you've ever interested in pursuing this other facet of the hobby.

[jthorst75]

Very bored, still waiting for that PM on someone who wants to buy it all...

[LincolnVT]

Bob C...thanks for your suggestion about checking out the website discussing early baseball games. These do interest me some as they can often be found for a fairly reasonable price. I came accrossed a couple of really nice games (one board game and another metal pinball game) recently and like you have said, the artwork is beautiful. Thinking about picking up one or both of them to display on the wall.

Cheers.

Ethan

[BobC]

Originally Posted by LincolnVT

Bob C...thanks for your suggestion about checking out the website discussing early baseball games. These do interest me some as they can often be found for a fairly reasonable price. I came accrossed a couple of really nice games (one board game and another metal pinball game) recently and like you have said, the artwork is beautiful. Thinking about picking up one or both of them to display on the wall.

Cheers.

Ethan

Hi Ethan,

Be sure to check out the site. Butch and his two buddies run a great site, and the alphabetic listing of baseball games that they have on there is just incredible. Last year I actually got them to add another game to their list when I pointed out one of those baseball related punchboards from the 30s, 40s & 50s you often see was actually a game, and not just a punchboard to win cigarettes or money off of. This was a Damon Runyon Memorial Cancer Fund punchboard that was baseball themed with baseball graphics. You paid 1 penny for each punch, and got a paper that had three numbers on it like 1-0-2, which stood for the number of runs your team scored over three innings of a game. So you and a friend would each spend 3 cents and punch out 3 papers, and then add up your scores to see who had the most runs for a nine inning game. They knew of the punchboard when i pointed it out, but said they never realized it was an actual game and not just a lottery/gambling type of piece that pretty much all these punchboards were. So they added it to their recognized game list. The punchboard itself was pretty thick and had a hollow, middle space to collect all the coins dropped into it. And I guess when the punchboard had all the holes punched and used up, they simply turned it, and the change collected, into the cancer fund people.

I was surprised I could actually contribute to their site with a game they didn't realize was a game. And this, like a lot of baseball themed/related games isn't always incredibly rare. In fact, there's one of these punchboard games for the Damon Runyon Cancer Fund for sale on Ebay right now, though the BIN/OBO price of $250 seems a bit high to me. Seem to remember seeing these usually selling in the $50-$100 range before, but who knows anymore given the pandemic and recent price surges.

And of course they include the other games that you normally see as a card collector, like the Tom Barker, National, Polo Grounds and S&S Game cards. But then you find other games like the metal spinner game called "INSIDE" THE PARK with a 1911 patent date on it. I believe it was based on a re-enactment of the 1913 World Series between the A's and the Giants, and there were actually small coin-like tokens that had the names of the various players on both team involved in the series printed on the tokens. So you had an actual game piece named for Mathewson, another for Bender, and so on. No actual player images on the pieces, but still, how rare and how many of these pieces do you think have survived till today? And you'll likely be surprised when you see how many ballplayers had their names associated with various games over the years as well. Neat little collecting niche that hasn't completely blown-up price-wise, at least not yet. LOL

[Exhibitman]

With the crazy price increases with cards, memorabilia seems to be a good bet for future appreciation. Photos, for example, are just starting to get the respect they deserve but they are still almost all modestly priced compared to cards.