Cuban cards and Cuba
 

Has anyone speculated on the numbers of pre-war Cuban cards that are currently held by families in Cuba, relative to the numbers in circulation in the U.S./Canada/Ebay/American auction house market? What sort of impact might it have on the popularity or value of the cards when American and Cuban collectors are free to import and export their baseball cards with each other? I realize this is rather a trivial point in the context of international relations, but it might be an important point in the context of Cuban baseball cards.

I was thinking about the same thing recently. Do folks in Cuba even know how much money we would pay for those photos and pieces of cardboard in the U.S.??

With the amount of care that Cubans show to their classic cars I'd assume there are some very nice cards in family collections.

Perhaps baseball cards would be their top export...

It's a good question. I would think we would see some new stuff appear.

I recently sold a large lot of Caramelo Deportivo on ebay and someone from California sent me a message asking if one of their relatives was in the set. They did not collect cards, but thought the relative might be in the set. I was glad to report that the relative was in the set..


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I think they know. Collectors, and Dealers have been going down there for years and advertising that they are buying the cards etc. I doubt EVERYONE knows, but I bet you would find that a large percentage know that old Baseball stuff is worth money and people have been looking for the cards for decades. I think all the Tropical Storms, poor living conditions and many other factors there that are all not good for paper collectibles have taken their toll and that is the main reason for the scarcity today. I am sure there are still nice collections tucked away, but probably not as many as we might hope for!

I think that more collectors would buy Cuban cards if more were available in the market. I know I would. Under Castro(s) its almost impossible to get them out of the country

At this point I suspect that there are far more Cuban cards over here than there are still located in Cuba.

You are probably correct, Kenny. However, with the current scarcity, I would think that even a few "new" caches - suddenly made available - might really make a difference. I hope so. Been wondering about this for awhile, myself.

you may be right Kenny. I'm still hoping that some "new" discoveries turn up once Castro is gone and things change there

I agree with those who have said there are more Cuban cards in the US than in Cuba.

I visited there on a cubaball tour http://www.cubaball.com/ in February 2010. There is an incredible interest in baseball--it is discussed daily in the square in Havana

There was no doubt that Cuban collectors were well aware of the value of early cards, and despite Castro, such cards can and easily do leave Cuba. I picked up some ratty cards and photos in the market, and the dealers there were knowledgeable and aware of what prices the high end cards would bring.

Here's a link to 900 or so photos of my trip. Highlights include Mendez's grave, meeting Martin Dihigo Jr but most of all Connie Marrero

http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4005/4...218577b_z.jpg/

http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4023/4...8b05c266_z.jpg http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4061/4...ba1e4be1_z.jpg http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4005/4...c218577b_z.jpg