1913 Tom Barker game complete set!!
 

Hello,
As a longtime collector, everyone wants to be the person who finds a once in a lifetime item. It is always someone else who uncovers an incredible item. Well , three months ago, after 55 years of collecting, it was finally my time. My wife and I were in an Antique Co-op that we go to once a month. I am 74, with bad knees, and I am always 25 steps behind her. She went into a small backroom so I decided to wait for her. After 10 minutes she did not come out so I stood in the doorway to see where she was. As I strong there, I looked down at the table I was next to and noticed a deck of cards. At first I thought they were some Coca-Cola cards. I saw that the deck was old and when I picked them up, I noticed a baseball diamond and the writing said “the Fenway Brewing Co. I live outside of Boston, do know my anxiety started to increase.
I opened the box and the first card I pulled out was Cy Young and it was in beautiful shape. I slowly put the card back in the deck and I gave it to my wife and told her to pay for it with the rest of her stuff. When I got home I printed out the set listing and had my wife read off each card. All 54 cards were there, which also included the original box, in fair shape, the scorecard and the game instructions. I decided that at my age I was going to sell them. I sent 16 cards to PSA and two , One being Hans Wagner, came back as 5. One, Shoeless Joe Jackson, was a 6. Ten cards, including Cobb, Young, Speaker, etc. came back as 8’s. And 3 cards, including Mathewson, and the Fenway overwrite Frank Baker came back as 9’s. The Fenway Brewing Co. Baker overwrite grade 9 is the highest grade PSA has ever had. The previous high was a 7.
The cards are being sold as a set next Friday. I am not sending this to trump up the price of my cards, I am sending this because everyone I have told this story too gets a big smile on their face. It brings hope to everyone that fate has a lot to do with being in the right spot at the right time.
My wish for everyone is at least once in your life you get to have that one special moment.
Merry Christmas and Happy Hunting in 2026!!!
Wally Richards

Holy crap, that is amazing! Congrats from a fellow Massachusetts resident who is wondering why I didn't go to that antique shop on that morning!!

After being at the Philly show most of today I have to say I am tired but I too have a smile from reading your post. Congrats on the good fortune! There will be one lucky collector who buys this.

Wow! Great find. Congratulations to you, your wife and the new owner. I’ve always wondered why they only stamped Baker card.

Wally awesome find, Congrats!

I would not have expected such high grade cards to come out of such a well worn box. Amazing find.

set of cards
 

Where are these being sold? Please let us know so we can follow and maybe bid.... congrats on the great find! You didnt tell us what you paid..... I figure it wasnt too much...... Rocky

True...I have a Fenway over stamp on my Tom Barker Scorecard, which probably came out of a similar beat up box, but my scorecard is somewhat roughed up and has pinholes in the bases, as any good rule follower would have done, because it says to do so right there on the card.

Fantastic find, glad over 5 decades on the search finally paid off, and good luck on the sale.


Brian (Here are some Nap Lajoie game cards found in a dumpster, not by me, as a condition comparison)

Wally:

As the saying goes, "Better to be lucky than good!"

Congratulations on having a collector's dream come true!

Kevin

1913 Tom Barker complete set Auction
 

Hi
I want to thank everyone for the great feedback. I figured that during these crazy times we all could use a “feel good” story for the Holiday season. The cards are being auctioned Friday December 19 by Heritage Auction. The auction
number is #50081 and the cards are Lot 80364.
It is hard to believe that with the box being in fair shape, the cards could be in such excellent condition. There is not a crease or big stain on any of them. Once again I want to wish you all and your families a Merry Christmas and a New Year full of love, laughter, great health and fantastic additions to your collections.
Wally Richards

First, congratulations on the amazing find! We would all love to make a discovery like that. I’m very surprised that Heritage is selling it as one lot and not separating out some of the stars. Most likely whoever wins the auction will piece out the set.

You deserve it Wally.

Great story and find there! Just when you think all the good stuff has been soaked up, a little more pops up.

With have a wife that sell in the antique stores, it is truly amazing that they made it to a shelf without the owner at least looking them up and noticing some value, even if not fully understanding the serious value of that group. My wife looks up everything, even $3 wooden spoons!

Congratulations, that had to feel great!

Bob

Awesome find and great looking cards in that beat up box.

I know some people totally shun or put on a lower tier WG/game cards for various reasons, but the National Game/Tom Barker Game cards are easily my favorite 1910s set. I'm a Cubs collector and the 2 Cubs in the set (Evers/Bresnahan) are some of my overall favorite cards in my collection.

The "full size" photo images are great looking and because enough cards are around in decent-to-great condition, the prices are a relative bargain compared to other more popular 1910s sets.

Congratulations!! I love hearing of fresh finds and these are great! The feeling you must have felt when you saw that must have been amazing:D

Congrats!

I have to ask what everybody is wondering - how much did they cost you?

I think my nightmare, is I would have looked straight at them in the antique shop, assumed it was too good to be true and they must be reprints, and then walked right on past them.

Same here!

1913 Tom Barker reply
 

Hi Doug and Carter
Their is an old saying “a gentleman never kisses and tells” my wife says that when I die , she is going to post on my gravestone how much I paid for the cards
Also, she is still kicking herself because she walked right past them when she was in the back room. She did pay for them, so I told her I would double her money.

Great find and I hope the sale goes well for you! Here is a link to the lot.

https://sports.ha.com/itm/baseball-c.../50081-80364.s

Alan

Thank you sir, that answers all of our questions, and it was kind of you to double her money.

Congratulations on completing a set from that far back! Must have been a fun journey.

Edited to add - OMG, what a FIND!!!

Well, it does say "Price 50 cents" right there on the front of the package :)

Yep, it does, hahaha.

I won’t say how much I paid, but with the price marked at $.50, I guess I overpaid. Oh well, everyone needs to make a profit!!
Wally

So how much did you pay for them?

I can not tell a lie, I can not tell !!!

Good call, Wally. Nobody’s business but your own. And your wife’s, of course. :)

Hope Breeds Eternal--
 

Good story Wally.
It did make me smile.
Thanks for sharing.

Doug

I only have one word for this; WOW!

Love this! Congratulations on an amazing find!

Bill