That is true and one of the best post war stories out there. Apparently they never mailed out Gil's back in the day (the players used these to hand out to fans, and some were sold at specific stadiums) and his stash was found in the artists basement years later after he passed, not that long ago. The VERY FEW that were in the hobby were going for 5 digit prices, even for poor cards and it was considered by many as one of the rarest post war cards of them all. The discovery was purchased in whole at an auction and unfortunately for anyone who spent big bucks to get one, the value dropped exponentially. There is a PSA 10 on ebay for like $300 right now. The stash was in mint shape. I have a 7 I graded myself, and also picked up an 8 a while back for next to nothing. Just goes to show there are winners, and LOSERS when there is a big find. If you google it there are many articles on this...again, a pretty cool story.
I've read, not sure what the truth is, but Skowron and Elston Howard threw most of theirs away, thus the premium.
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John Otto
1963 Fleer - 1981-90 Fleer/Donruss/Score/Leaf Complete
1953 - 1990 Topps/Bowman Complete
1953-55 Dormand SGC COMPLETE SGC AVG Score - 4.03
1953 Bowman Color - 122/160 76%
Last edited by Harliduck; 05-06-2025 at 05:37 PM.
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