OT: Christies/Baseball Magazine Archive Photo's

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Posted By: Ken Beukenhorst

Sorry that this is not about cards, but I thought someone here could be of help. I have came across about 30 original photo's from the Baseball Magazine Archive sale at Christies in 1996. There are original photots of Ruth, Gerhig, Walter Johnson, and many other HOF'ers as well as photos from the 1890's through 1940's. THey all have the sticker on the back that say they are genuine. Does anyone have a good source of info on these or happen to know if they are of much value. They are part of a collection that I bought at a local estate sale. Thanks in advance.

Ken

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Posted By: davidcycleback

The collection is worth a decent amount of money. They are the photographs used by the famous magazine. Specific prices depends on dates, the quality of the images, who was the photographer, etc. For example, if the Ruth or Gehrig or Johnson has a high quality image and the back has the stamp of Charles Conlon, the photo would be worth hundreds of dollars.

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Posted By: Ken Beukenhorst

So far I have identified three of the photos by Paul Thompson. They are of Sherry Magee, Mickey Doolan, and George Kahler. Most of the the others seem to be from various press organizations. Examples are John McGraw by Press Illustrating Service, Inc. Connie Mack and Jimmie Foxx by Wm. C. Green. Walter Johnson, Associated Press. Babe Ruth, International News Photos, Inc. Ted Lyons, Pacific and Atlantic Photos, INC.

It appers that I may have some of the lower grade photos from the archive.

Most of them have paper captions attached.

Anymore information that anyone would like to share would be great.
Ken

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Posted By: davidcycleback

Paul Thompson is a well known photographer and the other stamps you listed are all legitimate.

One of the keys to judging photographs (age, originality or lack thereof) is looking at the stamps and knowing what they mean. All the stamps and tags you've mentioned are consistant with your photos being original and legimate. The sell price will depend on the image quality and photo condition, but no one ever had any trouble selling a Babe Ruth baseball photo with an International News Photos stamp and BBM/Christie's tag-- as both these prove the the intelligent buyer that the photo is vintage. So, if you're hoping to sell the photos, you're in good shape.

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Posted By: Ken Beukenhorst

David, Thanks for your help. I guess the only question I have is if these come up for sale very often and if so, where could I find some comparable pricing. I really ahve no idea if these photos are worth $5 a piece, or $100 a piece. Is there a general price range? Also, some of the photos appear to have been smeared around the outline of the player, most likely to make the form of a cut out in print. Am I correct to assume that this drastically affects the value?

Thanks again,
Ken

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Posted By: Scott Forrest

might want to check it.

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Posted By: davidcycleback

Whether it's for Baseball Magazine or Vogue, photos used to make images in magazines will often have various production marks, shading, outlines, etc. One nice thing about these types of markings and 'enhancements' is that they show that the photo was the actual original art for a magazine photo. How they effect the sale price will depend (severity, etc), but they are a legitimate part of the photo and were originally put on there by the magazine.

They sell for what they sell for. Sounds lke a cop out, but that's my honest line. If the images and photos are nice, you won't have any trouble getting fair coin for your Ruth, Johnson or Gehrig. And the Jimmie Foxx, Paul Thompson of Magee, etc aren't chopped liver either. Check eBay if you want to compare prices.

Each photo is rare to unique, and the price will depend on a variety of factors. A 1909 photo of Johnson in Senators uniform will sell for a lot more than a 1940 photo of Johnson in overalls. Image clarity, artistic value, etc are an integral part of the value, as photos can be works of art. Without seeing with your eyes, it's simply impossible to valuate a "Photo of Babe Ruth."

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Posted By: Ken Beukenhorst

Scott, my email is working fine, although I dont think I got anything from you. I have received many emails from other people on this board.

David, thanks for the info. Its not a cop out answer at all. I was just able to trace the sticker on the backs, to an article I found on the internet about the Christies sale. That made me desire more information, and I was not able to find any more with a simple Google search.

These photos were really a surprise to me, they were just in the box with some magazines, some old Who's WHo in Baseball books, and some other various prewar base ball stuff. No cards, just mainly stuff that looks like the guy may have used to decorate with or something. The photos may end up being the best part of the lot and I did not even know they were there.

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Posted By: davidcycleback

Ken, I can tell you that most any advanced baseball photo collector or dealer would say that a collection of original BBM photos with Ruth, Gehrig, etc is something they'd like to stumble across in a box at an estate sale.

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Posted By: Ken Beukenhorst

LOL, yeah David, I knew that much. Im not trying to gloat and definatly not trying to make a nuisance of myself, really just trying to learn. Thanks for putting up with me tonight.

Ken

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Posted By: Scott Forrest

perhaps you have a spam-blocker set up.

In any case, sounds like you have things covered here.

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Posted By: Anonymous

Here are a few pics for a few of you that wanted to see. The first is a Sherry Magee

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Posted By: Anonymous

Here is one of the Ruth's

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Posted By: davidcycleback

The Ruth is typical-- late in his career, batting practice. Probably worth $80 minimum, though more likely would sell for over $100.

I wouldnt be surprised if someone paid $100 for the Magee. Fine image and stamped on back by a famous photographer.