Cracker Jacks on "Antiques Roadshow"

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Posted By: Paul Carek

Just watched the recent episode featuring a scrapbook full of Cracker Jack cards. The appraiser (don't remember his name) valued the '14 Mathewson at around $20K. Given that the card had a visible crease, and was pasted into the scrapbook, does this seem accurate? Interested to hear your reactions.

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Posted By: andy becker

i saw the episode. nice group, they looked mostly stain free. i would say the matty is worth every bit of 20k. if removed from the book properly i would guess 40-50k just for matty.
cobb and jax were also present. i did not see a 1914 chance.
whole collection is worth easy 50k in the book. much more if removed properly.

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Posted By: Paul Carek

Possibly a very stupid question (I've been known to ask them from time to time), but can cards soaked out of a scrapbook be graded?

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Posted By: leon

Yes, cards soaked out can be graded. If there is staining from the removal they will be graded accordingly. SGC hammers them pretty hard for stains. I don't know about the other graders.

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Posted By: boxingcardman

I saw the Mickey Mantle checks episode last night. A woman whose father worked for the Independence baseball team in 1949 and saved a bunch of payroll checks had 5 checks endorsed by Mantle as a kid in his first pro season. They were estimated at around $150,000, which reduced her to tears (I got the impression she was not a wealthy person and that kind of money was very, very significant to her). People do come in with some unbelievable sports stuff every now and then.

As far as the question goes, if the cards were pasted down with a plant starch (usually rice or wheat paste), then they will soak out readily and often without a trace. If they were adhered with oil-based glues, forget it.

Sic Gorgiamus Allos Subjectatos Nunc

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Posted By: Brian T.

Since it has been brought up, what is the best method for gently removing such cards. Approximately how long do you soak them and in what? Distilled water, I presume? Typically, is a gentle prying all that is required after soaking? How about remaining residue on the back of the card? How long does it take for vintage cards to become damaged from soaking or do they at all? I also imagine that air drying on a flat, clean surface is best, but are there any other tricks of the trade (short of getting into card restoration)?

Obviously it differs based on the kind and amount of adhesive used, but I am just trying to get a feel for it. Full disclosure: I have no such cards to remove, but have often wondered about the methodology to do it.

Additionally, do you disclose if the cards have been soaked in order to be removed from a scrapbook?

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Posted By: Dean H

I would hope that a seller would diclose the fact that any card (graded or not)was soaked and removed from an album if they had first hand knowledge of the soaking. Then let the buyer decide if it is an issue or not.

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Posted By: Frank Wakefield

I know an old collector who'd advertise in a city paper about being at motel such-and-such in room #____ and that they'd be buying old baseball cards Friday evening, Saturday, and Sunday morning. This was 35+ years ago. He and his friend would check in, open the door, and sit there. Folks would come in, and they'd buy cards. Scrapbooks full of old cards.

They'd run the tub full of water, tear out the scrapbook sheets, and put them in the tub. Next morning they'd rinse them off, blot them dry, then dry them between paper and books.

No distilled water... just a good soakin'.


I was aghast when I heard this. I had a few T206s, and could not believe that anyone would put one in water. He assured me it was no big deal. Eventually, with great trepidation, I selected a worn T206 with scrapbook bits on the back. I put him in a glass of tap water. The scrapbook remnants released, the card looked better. I rinsed him off under the tap, blotted him, and pressed him dry. The card looked much, much better!!!

My understanding is that most of the worn, corner rounded T206s we see today weren't in a scrapbook. And that almost all of the ones with nice corners were in a scrapbook, that's how the card survived so well. Those nice cards were soaked out. And some eventually found their way to a grading company.

Can a soaked card be graded? Absolutely, MANY have been already.

Do you need to use distilled water? NO, not unless you have really bad tap water, or free access to distilled water. I've used it, it is a waste of time and money. Tap water is fine.

If you've never done it, soak one really rough T206. Stay with it, because you're going to be afraid that it will peel apart into layers. It won't, it will be just fine. But the first time you put a card you think so highly of in water you feel a bit foolish. After you've done a few, then you'll believe the 'scrapbook pages in the bathtub' story above.

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Posted By: Scott Fandango

not sure all the "oldtimers" agreed with this...i have had a few Lionel Carter cards that were covered in black resin specs, and scrapbook paper on the back...one quick soak after cracking made these cards looks very nice! the resin and residue came off and i remember thinking "maybe lionel would be mad at me"

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Posted By: Frank Wakefield

I still have cards that have bits of scrapbook and flour paste on them... but that fact doesn't mean I've never soaked a card. It would be proof that I didn't soak that particular card.

Wonder if any of Lionel's collection included cards still on scrapbook pages...

I think Lionel soaked some cards in his life. I doubt that he soaked them all. I find it difficult to believe that he never soaked one.

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Posted By: Anonymous

I completed a 1914 Cracker jack that was still glued into a album, this story was written up in the SCD, my company is " Gone with the stain". All the cards were removed stain free- all graded , the West coast dealer made a killing. Dick Towle 315 375 8542 if more info is needed

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Posted By: Alan

Greetings & Salutations, Dick. Welcome to the forum or welcome back if you've been here before.

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Posted By: boxingcardman

"greetings and felicitations."
Felicitations = expressions of pleasure at someone's success or good fortune; congratulations.
Solicitations = an urgent or persistent request, esp. sexual in nature [not that there's anything wrong with that...]

Sic Gorgiamus Allos Subjectatos Nunc

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Posted By: Anthony S.

I currently have a salutations on Ebay if you need it.

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Posted By: Frank Wakefield

At first I thought maybe Alan misspelled it, and hit upon the wrong word as he tried to make that red line go away... but I now think he knew what he was typing all along...

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Posted By: boxingcardman

"Greetings and Salutations"

Sic Gorgiamus Allos Subjectatos Nunc

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Posted By: Alan

Adams's right. Actually, I should have just said Mazel Tov & left it at that.