Posted By:
Ted ZanidakisThis is by no means my most memorable Willow Grove experience; however, it is certainly quite
noteworthy.
Early on the Friday's of the Show, many of us would arrive at the George Washington Motor Lodge
by noon; and, start our "wheeling-n-dealing" in our motel rooms. The show didn't start till 5 PM on
Fridays.
It was the March (or September) Show of 1987 when Bill Mastro was shopping around from room to
room a T206 Honus Wagner card. This was not the usual Vg type Wagner that most of us had seen
before. It was a really "sharp" looking copy of this famous card.
I looked at it, and several other collector/dealers that were in my room looked at it. We were all
amazed at its condition......and, at the same time thought that Bill's asking price of $25,000 was
a little too much to pay for it. Up until then, prior Wagner's had sold for less than 20K.
In any event, this Wagner card certainly generated quite a "buzz" throughout the Willow Grove
show that entire weekend.
Several years later, we were to find out that this Wagner sold for $110,000. Subsequently, many
of us were at Sotheby's when it went for 451K to Wayne Gretzky.....and, the rest of the story is
history.
Perhaps, 25K would have been a nice investment that day back in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania.
T-Rex TED