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As Tiny Tim said in A Christmas Carol: "God bless Us, Every One!"
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Not sure what makes the corner tear suspicious. Both of the top corners are deeply creased with the top left one nearly falling off. I think it's safe to assume the bottom corner was creased into oblivion and fell off.
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The Rookie Dihigo
I like this post on many levels
I knew exactly what this postcard was when I saw it a few days ago because this is the second one I have seen The other one was in beautiful condition and I bought it down in Cuba from a well known (at least down there) collector/dealer I was down there with the great Luis Munoz, the true dean of Cuban baseball memorabilia Luis is unique in terms of not just knowing the sport and the stuff, that he has owned most of it, but also because he was the first and started us all in this very unique, mysterious and fascinating field I have known many of the other followers of this field quite well such as Jeff Eastland and Yuyo Ruiz But apart from Luis Munoz I respect greatly Ryan Cristoff (who really knows his stuff and was the first to promote it which has been of great benefit There will never be another Richard Merkin who bought pretty much everything Luis showed him Richard was one of my closest friends and legitimately a mentor to me Boy do we all miss Merkin, we were so lucky to have him in our hobby But I still have the hat he wore on the cover of the Beatles Sgt. Peppers album to remember him by I sold him the best RPPC of all, the Lelands Giants team postcard with Rube Foster I remember Luis getting a little crazy when he saw the Cuban stars piece I knew it was Dihigo but he said he was a rookie right away He did not specify 1922 or 1923 but he said "first couple of years" as it did not matter We're not talking robin yount here Ryan is right on target with his evaluation and the way he approaches it He is basing it on the look of Dihigo and he is a baby here Luis evaluated it the exact same way Kudos to you Ryan After I bought it I recall Luis wanting to buy it from me but I don't recall if I let him have it or not Probably yes I hope so because if not it was taken along with all my other stuff by U.S. Customs on the way back home That is another story for another time The cards ultimate demise would have to have been burned along with all the cigars and other things they grab I had no cigars but they view artifacts like these the same way A sad but true fact, that is hopefully being changed as we speak Anyway, I see absolutely nothing nefarious going on here in the bidding This was a guy who had no idea what he had but it didn't matter because the correct search words were there and ultimately the right people saw it And I don't believe anyone got "caught" bidding $4000+ They simply wanted it badly and that is what they were willing to pay Look at what negro league pieces bring sometimes and these are many of the same people collecting Cuban baseball I have put in some pretty crazy numbers on eBay when I really want something and I don't recall regretting it much in the long term You can't go to the store and buy Cuban baseball postcards at least not any I know of Except Richard Merkin walked in off the street to my office and bought that Lelands Giants postcard right off my desk But that was a different "store" and a different era Things will never be the same As for RPPC's being promotional or not, you are looking at it the wrong way This was merely a format, another choice in choosing what type of photo you got from the photographer Through the years the have been CDV's, cabinets, mounted, and all different sizes Real photo postcards were just another choice, another format to use Interestingly, the Cuban collectors and dealers up until a few years ago didn't even realize the huge premium Americans were willing to pay for postcard backs Basically I and others would pay the same for blank back photos as for these infinitely more desirable RPPC's Jackpot I remember going over an untold number of postcard sized baseball photos saying a little prayer each time I turned them over hoping to see a postcard back And btw rarely were they ever posted and I do not believe the photographers cartouche was in the bottom right corner Besides it does not look like it would have been It's just not fancy enough, doesn't have the look of an more expensive studio piece And the guy who sold me the Dihigo rookie over the course of the relationship realized this not so secret trade secret eventually but not before I got the Cuban Stars on that fateful balmy Havana afternoon But it didn't really matter It could also have been autographed by the team and Fidel and Che and he still would not have fully appreciated it Interestingly, the one point rarely discussed in this thread is the condition When I put my meager snipe bid of 888$ the missing corner played a major role for me But I was wrong Not because I personally did not like the corner missing but not realizing that others would see past it and rightfully so Whoever said that it did not matter much (Ryan?) was spot on In the greatest things where there are no other options it shouldn't matter And traditionally condition has never played as anywhere near as major a role as in the Cuban material Cuban stuff is almost never in good condition The bugs eat those little holes in the paper The weather is a killer, water damaging almost everything somewhat And most cubans did not take care of their stuff because of cultural reasons land So we feel lucky to have in any condition It shows great sophistication for collectors to realize all this and not care so much about condition This thread shows changes and I feel progress in our hobby and maps out the future somewhat for those willing to open their eyes and listen That makes sense right? Have a happy holiday everyone and yes my auction is up on the net as we speak Some great stuff there Feel free to email me directly if you have any questions about anything Also catalogues are out soon Free catalogues to all net54 members as always Just email me and I'll take care of it Jevans@optonline.net Sincerely Joshua Leland Evans Chairman Lelands.com Since 1969 |
Thanks Josh -
I sure hope another still exists! I'm holding out hope that I didn't miss my one opportunity to land such a great card!! |
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Nice post Joshua
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Interesting post Josh. Re the loss of the items purchased. -Too bad that you didn't drive up to and then fly out of Toronto (or Montreal) as many of the Americans I met while in Cuba on various trips did. The Cuban authorities wouldn't stamp their passports but instead would issue an insert page that could be discarded once off Cuban soil. Each brought back cigars etc and then mailed them back to themselves from Canada (sometimes sending the cigar bands separately from the cigars). Then driving across the boarder to Detroit, NYC etc.
Please don't judge me as promoting this behaviour as I am just reporting what I saw repeated many times. I certainly wouldn't have an issue personally as I believe the embargo to be outdated and unfortunate. |
Cuban travels and travails
Thanks for your kind words
Chris, it wouldn't have mattered I went through the Dominican Republic which is pretty much the same The problem was my style, I was just too visible People got jealous and I became a pawn in the jealous struggle between two of the biggest Cuban collectibles dealers Sounds ridiculous but it's true I had been there before in the olden days with Mastro, Lifson, and Rosen so took in stride But those guys aren't going to shoot you I'm talking about the Cubans |
Couldn't agree more . The prices of some of the RPPC's has really skyrocketed in the last five years .
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