Quick Question on photo of 1957 Hank Bauer debacle

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Posted By: leon

So in all of my travels I have made some contacts with folks that go to estate sales and call me with potential items to buy and split with them. So far nothing has popped up very good but it's no harm to be nice to folks and see what happens. Today I got a call from one of these gentlemen that said he can get a Hank Bauer photograph with his lawyer in the 1957 CopaCabana nightclub lawsuit debacle. He said it's an 8 x 10 and is nice...and is $70.....is there any room to make a buck on that photo with that kind of price? I have a feeling that is about a retail price or even high already? Thanks in advance for any help.......

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Posted By: Jodi Birkholm

Well, as you know, it would have been better if the photo was of Billy Martin and HIS lawyer, or somesuch. I'm not a photo guy at all, but I would figure you might be able to profit ever-so-slightly from such an item. The only questions are: a. How much? and b. How long would you have to hold on to it to find the right buyer. I too would be interested to find out what some of our more knowledgable photo collectors would have to say on this one. Just a shot in the dark, but could it be worth any more than $125? There really isn't much interest in Bauer, but the connection to that infamous incident might push the interest level up a notch or two.

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Posted By: leon

Thanks for the feedback. It's an interesting NY story but from less than a very top tier player. Bauer was good but he was no Mantle and didn't have the draw of say a "Stengel"......thanks for the feedback though.....and if anyone else cares to take a stab it would be great.....

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Posted By: Mark Steinberg

I don't think there's much room in there for profit (if any...) I would guess luke warm demand for this obscure piece, at best. If this is a favor to a friend (splitting up a group lot or something), I would bet you don't stand to gain or lose much either way.

My mantra is just to "buy what you like", and when selling time comes along, chances are that someone else will like it too. Unless this Bauer incident is meaningful to you, I would see little reason to bother with this.

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Posted By: davidcycleback

I agree that the $70 price is high. That doesn't mean it would never sell higher, but I would the $70 is high for a profit making venture.

Unlike with baseball cards, there is a wide variance selling 1930s-70s photos. It's hard to predict the prices, with one selling lower than expected and one selling much higher-- and the seller isn't quite sure why. So, for resale, it's best to be conservative in buy pricing or, even better, buy big collections.

Obviously, if an estate photo is a cabinet card of King Kelly or original 1909 Tigers team photo with Cobb, then you can be more confident of its resale value. But with a 1950s Hank Bauer photo, it's harder to tell and it's always best to buy it safe.

You can buy bulk lots of baseball or football wirephotos at auctions, at bulk rate and be able to sell the collection photo by photo at ultimate profit. The pricing variations are averaged out over 500 photos. Obviously, you have to still buy low enough to get the profit. Many of the big auction houses, including Mastro and Lelands, are knowledgeable about wirephotos and news photos (the stampings, vintage versus later generation, etc) so the bidder can be confident in what they are buying.

Though, I think original/news photos from famous vintage scandals are popular. As with Super Bowls and All-Star Games, scandals are famous events that stand out in people's memories.

Speaking of Lelands and scandals, below is one of the more remarkable news scandal photos in an old Lelands auction. It's an International News photo from 1935 and shows the dead body of actress Thelma Todd (in fur coat!) who was found dead in her car but in someone else's garage. It was/is one of the most famous Hollywood mysteries of the time, ala Fatty Arbuckle's murder trial. She was a co-star with the Marx Brothers and Buster Keaton, appeared in several Laurel and Hardy comedies and starred in a number of Hal Roach shorts.

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Posted By: barrysloate

Not to hijack Leon's thread (okay, I am hijacking it) but Thelma Todd's murder is unsolved to this day, and still gets brought up on tabloid TV. She was in two Marx Brothers movies. She was pretty and funny, kind of a poor man's Jean Harlow, but when she was killed in 1937 she was forgotten by everyone except movie buffs.