Who won at Pook & Pook?
 

We know almost (almost) no one else on board here gives a hoot about tabletop baseball games,
but Pook & Pook Auctions (Noel Barrett of Antiques Roadshow) handled the Bud & Judy Newman collection
of Americana and antique tabletop sports games and other boardgames (auction last Friday).
These were not just all-star games in our backwater niche of a hobby, but Hall of Fame-level items,
early 20th-Century and mostly 19th-Century games, many of them exquisite rarities, condition issues
notwithstanding. Did anyone here take anything home?

Missed out on lot 241, the Zimmer Game :(

Although I don't have any in my collection, I think tabletop baseball games are pretty cool.

For anyone interested in taking a look, everything's still on display at
https://www.pookandpook.com/auction/...nia-12893/lots
-- boardgames start with lot 183, sports games with lot 205, and baseball games begin with lot 229.

Thanks for the link. I was not aware of the auction (never heard of Pook & Pook actually), but over the years have picked up a few old baseball games when I came across them. Had I known of this auction I probably would have gone after a few of the lots in it.

I don't consider myself a game collector per se, but was surprised to actually see a few of the games I have picked up over the years included in that auction. In Lot #230, I've got the McLoughlin game that is the bottom one of the two shown, and is in nice shape with a complete box. For Lot #235 I have a Big Six game board, without a box though (man that is a big game board also). For Lot #236, I have that complete game as well, including all the individual player pieces of the starters from the two 1913 world series teams, the NY Giants and Philadelphia A's. For Lot #239 I actually have two copies of that game, with a number of the original lineup sheets still there, but missing the spinner and playing pieces with one, and the condition not like the item being auctioned, bit still have two of the boxed game boards (that wooden box those come in is something else). And from Lot #258, I have a copy of the Walter Johnson game, though nowhere near in as nice a shape as the one shown in that auction. It was nice to see some current values put to some of these games I've picked up over the years.

Your post also got me to take a look at the Baseball Games site you and you friends have set up, and I was quite impressed. When I looked at what your site refers to as a "short" list of tabletop baseball games, I started laughing out loud. If that was a short list, I'd hate to see what you guys call a long list. What really got me excited was how all of these weird, obscure little games I'd picked up over the years were actually included on your list and finally gave me a better idea of what they were and when they were from. For example, I've for years had this one odd little black box with a small peg board game inside with really no names or anything else to help show what it was and when it was from. The only markings were on the one side of the outside of the box that reminded me of the binding of a book. At the top was the word "Baseball", in the middle it showed "Vol 533", and at the bottom "E.S. Lowe". When I looked through your game listing on the site I was stunned to see that there were actually five different games called "Baseball" that had a Vol # associated with them, and all five by a different manufacturer apparently, and all five from different years in the 30s and 40s. And mine was manufactured by E.S. Lowe and was put out in 1942-3. Never knew that.

Your site and the games list also got me looking at some of these games that I hadn't paid attention to in years. And I may have learned something because of it I never knew before. I have a copy of the Olsen's Baseball Played with Cards game, from 1922 according to the games list on your site. Cards are okay, but the box is in pieces and the instructions were on such thin paper that I'm afraid to handle them as they look like they'll crumble. Your site got me to open the box up and look a little more closely at them, and when looking through the instructions I opened up a folded over page and came upon what looks like an ad to sell what I'm guessing are W573 cards. Very interesting to say the least. I'll have to look at the games site some more. But wondered how much activity actually goes on there. Looks like the last main forum post made dates back to November of last year??? Surprised there wouldn't be more activity than that. Great site though anyway.

Love the graphics on the football games. Wish I had known.

Hi BobC, thanks very much for your comments! Warms the cockles of our shrivelled old hearts
to hear something we put up was informative and useful to someone and got them a little excited
about tabletop baseball!
Those are some nice items in your collection and we're more than a little envious. We have some
delightfully obscure rarities among the few hundred games combined in our own collections, but
not much at all from the 19th Century and not many of any vintage with huge market value.

Please take another look at our Forum (and sign up while you're at it!) -- it's pretty slow and quiet
compared to Net54 here, but it's at least much more active than you noticed. Click on "Discussions"
and you'll see what's being talked about currently.